I seem to have terrible luck with shoe shops. I went on a shoe shop weekend before last and the whole shop was bad from beginning to end.

The music was incredibly loud, first of all. Not bad music, just really, really loud. The store was packed not only with merchandise but also with customers. They were very busy. I was supposed to wait 5 min to see if anyone helped me and if not, then find someone who could help me. It took me about 10 min to finally flag down an associate. I asked for my size in a shoe. Of course, he couldn't hear me, so I had to yell my size at him when he indicated he didn't hear me. He came back minutes later and told me they did not have my size, and walked away. I selected another couple of pairs, flagged him down again (literally), and asked for those in my size. He disappeared for TWELVE minutes. Not totally disappeared -- I saw him darting back and forth across the floor helping other people -- he just never came back with my shoes. I finally was able to get his attention again, and asked him about my shoes. His response was that the "girls up front" were supposed to tell me that they didn't have these shoes in my size either.

There is more to the shop story, but this was the main focus of the MSC's response.

(One of my favorite parts of the shop was that I had to buy something -- and I chose a pack of socks -- and the employee didn't take the security tag off of them, so now I still have a pack of socks sitting on my desk unopened because I'll have to make another trip back.)

Today, I get an email from the MSC stating that they are going to refuse to pay me and require that I do the shop again in order to get paid. Their reason for refusing to pay was because I didn't ask a general question about a type of shoe, like, "can you show me a good running shoe."

Okay, I get it that I didn't phrase my opening statement to the associate the way it was suggested (which the guidelines did not say was a REQUIREMENT, just a suggestion). However, I provided quite a bit of detail to show them that the associates had almost zero interest in finding out my needs, educating me as a customer, or providing other suggestions or alternatives. I know that if the client were to compare my report with he video footage, they would agree that everything I said in my report is 100% accurate and hopefully they would be flat appalled at the perfunctory nature of their employees' level of service. For them to disqualify the entire report on this one technicality seems quite pedantic.

What do you think? Should I push back on this and request that this report be forwarded and paid? Should I suck it up and just take their assessment that I shouldn't get paid for the job? I'm sorry, but re-doing this shop is out of the question. I have absolutely no desire to go back and the pay for the shop just wasn't that great to suffer this store again.

I feel that my shop satisfied the spirit of their guidelines and is totally usable by the client. I think I should still get paid.

I don't think any of us can really judge or say whether you should get paid without seeing the full instructions. However, I'm guessing if you said - "I need help choosing a running shoe"- the interaction might have been much different with the employee. I would double check the instructions and go from there on whether you should push back or not.

I love doing the shoe shops, but I've also had some really poor customer service experiences as well!

Considering you're going to go back to return the socks anyway, why not redo the shop while you're there? If this is the same shop I think it is, you're supposed to ask for a recommendation, not just if they have your size. You don't need to use the example provided, but give the salesperson something to work with. I understand the music may have been loud, and if it prevented the salesperson from being able to assist you, put it in the report, but you still need to ask.
From what you described, this does not seem to be a typical shoe shopping experience. Was something going on that caused the store to be crowded or have loud music playing? Some sort of sale of event? If you have the option of going on a weekday when the store isn't as busy, it probably wouldn't take more than a few minutes to re-shop.

@shipaddict wrote:

Today, I get an email from the MSC stating that they are going to refuse to pay me and require that I do the shop again in order to get paid. Their reason for refusing to pay was because I didn't ask a general question about a type of shoe, like, "can you show me a good running shoe."

Okay, I get it that I didn't phrase my opening statement to the associate the way it was suggested (which the guidelines did not say was a REQUIREMENT, just a suggestion).

What do you think?

I think paragraph 1 explains why the MSC won't pay you. I think paragraph 2 shows you understand. You may have provided very good detail about your shop, but I think you missed a key part of the shop's guidelines. Had you asked a general question, the employee response you got might be completely different. So it doesn't seem to me that it presents a fair report on employee performance. If I were you, I would redo the shop and not push back. I would be glad I was given the opportunity to redo the shop instead of the MSC just declining the shop and assigning it to someone else.

If part of the shop purpose was to evaluate employees' knowledge of their product lines and what you asked was if they had a certain shoe in your size, then I'd say you didn't satisfy the spirit of the shop. I get that the atmosphere wasn't conducive to doing the shop, but finding out if they had a particular shoe in your size isn't the same as offering recommendations as to a brand or style of shoe to meet your needs.

If you're going to return the socks anyway, and now that you know what the client is looking for, why not re-do the shop? It's a pain, sure, but it's also a learning experience. Sometimes I learn best from what I did wrong rather than what I did correctly....

I wonder how they knew that you asked for a certain size of shoe rather than for a type of shoe, all things considered.

You have to go back anyway, so do the right thing & re-shop. Make nice-nice with the MSC. I wouldn't over think it.

I know. Y'all are right. I should go back and redo it. My Big Girl Pants have been out at the cleaners, so I'll go pick 'me up and get back there. Even though I know that store will be like fingernails on the chalkboard, I will try to remain neutral and objective.

Thanks everyone.