Comic book shop in an apartment.

I have comic book mystery shop in my area. I Googled the address and it comes up as an apartment complex. There is no store to take pictures of, it's someone's home. I sent an e-mail to the MSC. I won't do a shop inside someone's home. Have you ever had this happen? Would you go?

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While there are shops that are in peoples homes, this likely isn't unless they have a home based operation. Don't always take googles word for things. It's not always accurate. Messaging your scheduler is a great first step or if it's not far away just drive by. Ive done those shops in several states and it's always an actual business.

Have you tried googling the name of the location to see if maybe the wrong info is on the MSP site?

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2018 10:25PM by jrossetti.

I Googled the business name and there's nothing in my area. I Googled the address, and it comes up with an apartment.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2018 09:43PM by johnb974.

What year was the Google Maps image taken?

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Is the word apartment in the address? If not, the location might be in an office condo or suite.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Is the word apartment in the address? If not, the location might be in an office condo or suite.

I Googled the address and it came up as an apartment complex. I used Google Maps and it shows the address in a residential area.

@johnb974 wrote:

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Is the word apartment in the address? If not, the location might be in an office condo or suite.

I Googled the address and it came up as an apartment complex. I used Google Maps and it shows the address in a residential area.

DId you google the name of the comic shop? Not the address.

CEO The Mystery Shoppers Depot
US Wide route shopper with 12k+ shops completed over 48 states and 6 countries.
Airbnb host based in Chicago and 10% discount if you mention this forum

Maybe you could call the store and ask for directions?

Some apartments have businesses on the first floor. Maybe that's the case, and it's confusing Google Maps?

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@jrossetti wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Is the word apartment in the address? If not, the location might be in an office condo or suite.

I Googled the address and it came up as an apartment complex. I used Google Maps and it shows the address in a residential area.

DId you google the name of the comic shop? Not the address.

I Googled the name of the store and there's nothing.

For $9, you are asking a very small business owner to break his contract and that would conceivably put them out of business. I'm sure the comic book shop owners have come to terms with the fact that this shop is part of doing business, however, I can't imagine that they are happy about it. I, personally, would not do this shop at someone's home, given all of the odds. But I wouldn't do this shop at all, so take that with a grain of salt.

I was once assigned a shop where the listed address was the owner's home address, which was not even in the same city as the actual business location.

@JerseyGirlShopper wrote:

For $9, you are asking a very small business owner to break his contract and that would conceivably put them out of business. I'm sure the comic book shop owners have come to terms with the fact that this shop is part of doing business, however, I can't imagine that they are happy about it. I, personally, would not do this shop at someone's home, given all of the odds. But I wouldn't do this shop at all, so take that with a grain of salt.

I told the MSCI would check out the address and take a picture of the outside. If it is an apartment, I won't do it.

I was just given a citation for not doing the shop, with this message: "The shopper did not complete a very important DCD shop. They were warned via email and phone of the importance"

That is a LIE. They NEVER called me and I told the scheduler (by e-mail) I would check out the address today.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2018 07:50PM by johnb974.

If you have a paper trail, and you're so inclined, escalate it to the supervisor. You may get the citation removed. The scheduler may receive needed training. Or not.

On the other hand, I have a few citations. I have no doubt that I was in the right, and didn't pursue the citations. Better things to do with my time. Years have passed, and I still see the citations when I log in. I have not been denied opportunities, and I have 10 ratings, plus a handful of hero citations. In my experience, my work has rendered both types of citations worthless.

My understanding is these shops must be done on Tuesdays only. Why would you tell the scheduler you were waiting until Thursday?

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I sent them an e-mail on Saturday, telling them about the issue. They didn't back to me until Monday. I told them I would drive by there on Thursday, when I had another shop in the area. They said "ok", and than this morning (Thursday) I see the citation.

If the due date wasn't changed, the scheduler may have misread your email. Even if you thought the place didn't exist and your visit would just be a verification, you should have gone Tuesday. Look at it this way, what if the street view you saw was out of date and there really was a retail store there? The shop cannot be done after the comics have been released on Wednesday. It's why they are so time sensitive.

@LisaSTL wrote:

If the due date wasn't changed, the scheduler may have misread your email. Even if you thought the place didn't exist and your visit would just be a verification, you should have gone Tuesday. Look at it this way, what if the street view you saw was out of date and there really was a retail store there? The shop cannot be done after the comics have been released on Wednesday. It's why they are so time sensitive.

I was asked to go take a picture of the area. The scheduler did not say anything about the shop needing to be done on Tuesday. I was very clear I could go by there on Thursday. According to the citation, it said they called me and stressed the importance of doing the show. They did neither. There was no call and no mention of the shop needing to be done on Tuesday.

I sent this on Tuesday: Hi Matt: The address for this shop is an apartment complex. I live in the area. I looked it up on Google maps and I Googled the address. It's an apartment. Will not go today, will wait for your answer.

Matt answered Wednesday morning: Would you mind putting that information and any photos you have in the report? Please let me know if you need any help submitting.

He never called me and there was no stressing the importance of getting the shop done now. As he said in the citation. I even said I would not go on Tuesday and would wait for his response.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2018 03:48AM by johnb974.

The new comics get released on Wednesday, like Lisa said. I'm pretty sure it's in the guidelines that the shops always must be completed on Tuesdays.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

The new comics get released on Wednesday, like Lisa said. I'm pretty sure it's in the guidelines that the shops always must be completed on Tuesdays.

He claimed he stressed that with e-mails and a call.....he never did that. I told him I would not go on Tuesday and would wait for his response, which came on Wednesday.

Look--I get the emails frequently about these shops (I have been with this MSC for over a decade), and I just copied and pasted this from the initial email received a few days ago posting the city and state locations:

"This shop may only be performed on Tuesdays after 3pm."

If that doesn't make it clear, I don't know what does.

Also, I went back through my shop log and I had done this shop in 2012. I was able to view the guidelines, which states clearly on page 1 that the shop can only be done on Tuesdays.

On page 3, it states: Potential Problems
If you call the location and there is no answer or the phone number is disconnected or incorrect, search for the store hours online. If you cannot find the location online, you must still attempt to perform the shop at the address provided. If the location you are assigned is permanently closed or the address provided is invalid, you are still required to photograph the location or building at the provided address and submit your report.

So all you would have had to do in order to get paid is to show up at the apartment complex, take a photo, and you would have gotten paid.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Look--I get the emails frequently about these shops (I have been with this MSC for over a decade), and I just copied and pasted this from the initial email received a few days ago posting the city and state locations:

"This shop may only be performed on Tuesdays after 3pm."

If that doesn't make it clear, I don't know what does.

Than why when I told him I wasn't going there on Tuesday, did he not just cancel the shop right there. I made that very clear.

"So all you would have had to do in order to get paid is to show up at the apartment complex, take a photo, and you would have gotten paid. "

Maybe, maybe not. If I did not go into the apartment, they could just decide not to pay me.

What's done is done. Not losing any sleep over this. I have plenty of other shops to do.

Why didn't you just go take the required photo and get paid your $10 for 2 minutes work?

Look--i know this MSC would have paid you. I have done 100S of shops for them and some have been closed locations. I've alway gotten paid.

@johnb974 wrote:

I sent them an e-mail on Saturday, telling them about the issue. They didn't back to me until Monday. I told them I would drive by there on Thursday, when I had another shop in the area. They said "ok", and than this morning (Thursday) I see the citation.

I responded to this comment where you state he got back to you on Monday. Then you post this, "I sent this on Tuesday:........."

This whole thing is just not adding up. Those of us who have done these shops and receive the emails regularly know there is only one day and date they can be done. You had to know that before self-assigning or having the shop assigned to you. For you to say you would go on Thursday because you had another shop in the area then doesn't make sense if you were originally going on Tuesday. It seems you are trying to make this out to be the fault of the MSC when all you had to do was go to the location on the assigned day, take a photo and get your money.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Why didn't you just go take the required photo and get paid your $10 for 2 minutes work?

It wasn't just 2 minutes of work. It was a shop on my route, not worth it to go back. I wish you people would actually read the comment by the scheduler...HE LIED. He never called me, he never stressed the need to get the shop done quickly. HE LIED. that's the whole point of this conversation.

I took a comic book shop that's in an apartment. We talked about this before, I finally took the shop. I went to the apartment. A man answered and I said is this blank, blank, comic book store. I was told yes it is, but they only sell online. They don't have any comic books there. He said, they don't sell comic books on Tuesday, that are scheduled for release on Wednesday. They know who the mystery shoppers are, because we're the only ones showing up on Tuesday. Everyone else orders online. He did print out the business information for me.

This shop as appeared on the MSC site several times over the past year. It appears they are still sending shoppers to the apartment.

Will I still get paid for this shop?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2018 11:57PM by johnb974.

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