I did an assignment for HS Brands International. You are supposed to get be able to get a pass to try out a gym. I went and the gym refused to give me one. I let the Scheduler know and I was told to go ahead and enter the report. Then I would find out if it was accepted or not. Next thing you know, I see a note saying I did not provide the information in time so they gave me a grade of 1 and excluded the shop! That is such a lie! They did not ask me for any additional information. What can I do? They wasted my time and had the nerve to give me a poor grade as if I did something wrong!!!

Not being able to get the pass should not cause your shop to be rejected - that sort of thing happens and it out of a shopper's control.

However, I do have some questions about timing. First, how long did you have after completing the shop before you were expected to enter your report? Second, did you make that deadline?

No MSC is looking to reject reports. If your report is rejected, they have to have it shopped again and they don't get paid. If there were no other issues with the report and you did make the deadline, it seem strange that your report would have been rejected. If you need clarification, you should be able to contact the project manager.

It was due on the 15th and submitted on the 16th but mind you, I could not submit it because the majority of questions were based on being able to get the pass. I contacted the Scheduler of the inability to do this. The response was okay and I would find out if it was accepted. That acceptance, I was told, was based on getting the pass. At first, the Scheduler kept pressing that I didn't get the pass. We went back and forth on this, via email, where I explained that not getting the pass had nothing to do with me. It was late but it was the issues that contributed. At first, I had to convince the scheduler that it should be submitted!

The shop not being accepted had the following reason: Reviewer comments: This shop has been excluded, as you did not provide the required information by the deadline. You have been issued a rating of 1 for this shop and you will not be compensated.

That is not what happened at all.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2018 10:09PM by Rachey47.

IMO, if the shop instructions provided by the msc did not state what to do if you couldn't get the pass then you should be paid. It sounds like u followed all shop instructions and went to the shop, u should be paid. It isn't your fault the msc wasn't clear about what to do if u couldn't get the pass.
You may want to ask for a mgr at the msc to get involved. You may burn some bridges there though, so it's something u have to decide if it's worth it.

It doesn't sound as though the lack of a pass was the problem. If it was due on the 15th and submitted on the 16th it seems it was a day late, unless an extension was granted.

This may be a 'for future reference' matter. Apparently, there was no plan B for the shopper who was unable to get a pass. Not having the pass negatively impacted the completion of the report. Another factor in not completing the report on time was the lack of a workaround for the shopper. Can the MSC now provide a workaround, a backup plan, or some other feature that can prevent this situation for other shoppers? Could this be an additional paragraph in guidelines, or a change in the survey flow chart?

This is another one of those where the guidelines aren't clear and a bunch of people will come on saying the shopper did not provide enough information. I actually called the gyms where I live and all except for one said they don't give free passes. I passed on the assignment. I wouldn't buy a $20 pass for which I might not be reimbursed. I've never been able to contact anyone at HS.B, nevertheless in time for instructions that are not clear in the guildelines.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2018 12:25AM by spicy1.

If it's the same gym shop I saw their job board, the shopper is reimbursed for a pass if they have to purchase one.

"The staff member should offer a day pass to help you in your decision – You may be charged up to $20+tax for the day pass. If so, purchase the day pass and you will be reimbursed for it."

Doesn't sound like not getting a free pass would be a valid reason for not being able to submit the shop on time. You were supposed to buy it. Are you saying they would not sell you the day pass?

I passed it by because the required 30 minute workout would have put me out of commission for a week.

Yes. I asked if I could work out that day and the Associate told me I had to sign up for a membership. I asked her again to clarify because I have completed these over 10 times and that has never happened. I was shocked. I told the Scheduler that I had it on tape as well just in case they thought I was lying.

@TroyHawkins wrote:

I passed it by because the required 30 minute workout would have put me out of commission for a week.

Maybe you should join.

It wasn't the lateness because I was in touch with the Scheduler about the issue and submitting the report.

@Rachey47 wrote:

It wasn't the lateness because I was in touch with the Scheduler about the issue and submitting the report.

Being in touch with the scheduler is a good thing. But did she give you an extension?

@Rachey47
Unless the scheduler gave you explicit permission to submit late, it could be the lateness. Is it possible that @TroyHawkins is correct and that you needed to purchase a day pass?

I still suggest contacting the project manager (not the scheduler) to find out the reason the shop was discounted.

Oh please there is not an MSC out there that is going to exclude the shop simply because it's late. I mean I get how most shoppers are all OMG THE DEADLINE IS MIDNIGHT AND IT'S GONNA BE 12:01 BEFORE I GET IT SUBMITTED!!!! but really it's not a big deal. I will freely admit reporting deadlines are like the WORST thing I do but I'm fairly certain that I have submitted a late report (at least 24 hours) for every single company I work for and I'm not talking about the times I asked for an extension in advance. Heck several of the companies I work for the most don't even ask me about them until like a week after I do the shop. I might understand if it's the end of the month but I would bet a large amount of money whatever MSC this is has until the 3rd or 4th of April to get the shops performed, reported, edited, and submitted and often they don't even submit the shops to the client until they're all done because they look at trends and metrics and they need all of the reports for that.

I know the guidelines say you must workout and that's fine. But there is nothing in the guidelines that speak to what happens when it's denied. My thinking and what I said is that the point of these shops is to see if employees are following company policy and guidelines. For the Associate to deny me a pass is not what they are supposed to do.

I did ask to speak to a Mgr so I will wait for a response.

There was no clear, I'm getting an extension. There was just the back and forth about the issue/submission.

@bgriffin wrote:

Oh please there is not an MSC out there that is going to exclude the shop simply because it's late.

Perhaps you are right but I can't recall ever submitting a late shop without contacting the MSC before hand and getting it extended. For example, I have 4 shops due today and 7 tomorrow and called for and received extensions due to the the snow. I'd rather be safe than test your theory.

I wasn't suggesting you do. I was merely stating it as evidence the shop being rejected was very unlikely due to a late submission. And if it was then that was just the reason they used to reject a report they did not want to send to the client.

If OP has been giving her real name at the gym, i’m sure that they limit the number of times you can buy a single pass or get a free pass. I’ve actually seen this happen at the front desk.

So it is quite possible that she is not eligible to do the shop ever again because she’s in their system. It’s not the biggest tragedy in the world. She’s out a trip to the gym and a five-minute conversation with the person at the front desk.

Since the gym refused to let you purchase a day pass, and you informed your scheduler that the report wouldn't submit since you weren't able to answer the questions about purchasing a pass, it seems like they 'do' owe you an attempt fee at the very least.

@Rachey47 wrote:

I have completed these over 10 times and that has never happened.

I would guess that's the problem. If they refused to sell you the day pass, then you've likely exceeded their limit. If there was nothing in the guidelines about what to do if they won't let you buy a pass, I would definitely follow up with HSBI until you hear back from a manager.

I didn't know there was a limit. That's good to know. In this case, she never took my name or anything. Nothing would have come up.

It's a little more than a 5 minute conversation/workout missed, lol. This was a bonused location (not close). I also toured the gym in addition to entering the report. My time is worth money too...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2018 05:15AM by Rachey47.

Most businesses will have a limit on how many free trials or discounts they give a customer over a certain time period. Even fast food restaurants limit how many “incorrect orders” they’ll replace. If you didn’t give any information, not even a phone number, it could just be a training issue.
I know it feels awful not to get anything back for the time and effort you put in, but at least you’re not out $20 too.

I wonder. When KSS schedules assignments, do they also edit / approve them? Because that would explain a lot. I've not known HS B to be unfair or inconsistent but my shops are different when they are scheduled by KSS.

This sounds very frustrating. If this particular shop didn't state what to do if the shopper was denied a pass, and the shopper had to go back and forth with the scheduler -- which, in turn, caused the report to be late -- I think the shopper is due the fee, or at least part of it. Not her fault the place wouldn't let her have the pass nor that the shop guidelines didn't address this possibility.

This is part of why shopping can be so frustrating! Instructions that aren't thought through and are incomplete. Shoppers should get the benefit of a doubt in these cases, imo. Better yet, MSCs should send guidelines for new shops (or significantly updated guidelines) out to focus groups of shoppers for review and comment.

I had a situation once where I was to call the location first to make sure the presentation I was supposed to shop was still being held. I did, and it wasn't. I called and e-mailed the scheduler, the company's main contact info, etc. Nobody got back to me, so I didn't go. The guidelines said if you couldn't reach someone or were told the presentation was still on, you were to go. Once you got there, if the presentation had been cancelled, you had to take a picture of the place and submit your report. Nowhere did they say what to do if you called and were told ahead of time it had been cancelled. I wasn't going to drive almost 30 miles, knowing it wasn't being held. I went back and forth with them. They kept saying I should have gone to the location. I kept telling them that their instructions said to call first, but didn't say what to do if you were told it was cancelled, plus I'd tried numerous times over a couple of hours to reach them. Logic would say not to go. The MSC just ignored my references to that. They weren't going to pay me. I said I should have ignored the instructions and not made the call. In essence, I was being "punished" for following directions! I asked for a partial fee, and I think they ended up paying me the entire one as a "courtesy." But I suspect that once the company owner got involved, he must have realized that their instructions were flawed.

Market Force is the biggest and possibly the only real stickler over deadlines. Even they will give shopper a pass on the deadline when getting an answer to an issue causes the report to be late.

@LisaSTL wrote:

Even they will give shopper a pass on the deadline when getting an answer to an issue causes the report to be late.

I've found this to be true, too. They asked me to do a late-night shop once, and I said I wasn't sure I could do it and meet the deadline. They said not to worry, that they wouldn't count it as late if I couldn't get it in within the normal deadline. I did get it in, but it was nice to know that I had a cushion if I needed it. They were very accommodating, and I appreciated it.