The Straw Man Way

Given the propensity of certain editors to put a shop on "hold" with a request for another photo, it has occurred to me that some shoppers might insert a "straw man" photo in their initial report. The editor sees it and then requests another photo.

Editor's job is done!

Would someone really do that or am I just being cynical on this Monday morning?

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I don't know if I am following you, but for a car shop I did, it required a business card and they did not have any. I put a picture of my cat! But, I wrote exactly what happened. It wouldn't let me submit the report otherwise. I was told to write down "no cards were available," or something similar, and upload that as the picture.

I don't think I understand what a "straw man" is but if they don't like a photo I have given them I then have to input another shot (better than the one I inserted originally). If they are asking for something not available for me to capture a picture of I insert a picture of the receipt in its place.

I have a picture of a screenshot that says no documents available. I got it with a shop years ago. It has been my go to when I need a placeholder for a pic and there is none. This is my straw man.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

@pegleg909 wrote:

I don't think I understand what a "straw man" is but if they don't like a photo I have given them I then have to input another shot (better than the one I inserted originally). If they are asking for something not available for me to capture a picture of I insert a picture of the receipt in its place.

Well, here is my cynical thinking: The shopper, knowing full well that many editors seem to reject a good photo as a means of justifying their employment as an editor. Since the shopper understands this, they submit their "straw man" photo. The "straw man" photo is one that might be barely acceptable and more than likely to be rejected. The editor sees this and asks for a better one. The clever shopper has kept the best version on file and readily submits it. The editor sees the better one, knows their editing is done and moves on, not asking for any other

Is it me being a cynic or do some shoppers do this?

I can't imagine anyone doing that.

I do not believe for a moment that any editors put shops on hold or request replacement photos for the purpose of asking for a new photo. Editors get paid per accepted shop. The more time they spend contacting the shopper for corrections, the fewer reports they can pass on to the client - and the less money they make.

No editor is going to return a shop if they think it is going to be approved. They might have a higher standard than needed, but it will not be purposeful as they just want to make money like the rest of us.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

If there is no photo opp for the required item/scene a pic of your thumb down should be sufficient, no?

This is a regular tactic of mine in my FTJ. Most often my work gets judged or approved by some type of committee of sorts. It is human nature of the committee members to try to find something wrong to justify their presence on the committee. So instead of letting them "pick the fly s**t out of the pepper" as I like to say, I will purposely misspell a word or some other easy to fix mistake. The committee gets to feel like they've done their job, and I get to get onto my next project. Win-Win. This has worked for more than 25 years. Never tried it on a shop though.

proudly shopping in the D.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2018 03:08AM by PaulinMI.

I have a friend who is an editor and he is paid for each job completed whether it is accepted by the client or not because he edited it. He told me that the less time he spends on the report the more he can make an hour, it is unlikely they want to have to reach out to us or change a word that is spelled wrong if they all work on this same concept and are paid by the job.

When I think about this, I am particularly reminded of a certain MSC that has "Yellow" gas stations. I've seen comment strings over and over regarding how these editors seem to find the need to find fault with every "debrief" they receive.
When I think of the "straw man", I wonder about these shops.

I appreciate the cynical approach to venting. I sometimes wonder whether some editors are hyper-perfectionistsic while others have a feel for what will work and be accepted. Editors? What say you?

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

@French Farmer wrote:

When I think about this, I am particularly reminded of a certain MSC that has "Yellow" gas stations. I've seen comment strings over and over regarding how these editors seem to find the need to find fault with every "debrief" they receive.
When I think of the "straw man", I wonder about these shops.

These use to be my favorite. I would do a whole route of them on a weekend. Now I do maybe 1 or 2 a month. The editors are now brutal.

I have not done these yellow gas station shops since last winter for the same reason. They don't pay that well and were way too demanding. It took almost as much time to re-submit for their corrections as the original report writing. I am a veteran shopper and rarely have this much trouble.

With regard to the "Yellow" gas station shops, I recently received an Email. It said something about rotation being lifted on their "darkness" shops.

Well, I know why the rotation was lifted!
There is no incentive to perform the shop! Other shops, like the "Blue" offer a $5 incentive to perform the shop.
The "Yellow"? Nothing!

It's my tendency to submit the best shop I can on my first try. I think the problem with the gas stations and the editors is that they are following the guidelines to the letter but have never audited a gas station and have no idea what they are actually asking for. The editors who do the infamous "yellow" gas station probably get paid hourly given the huge company they work for. I doubt they get paid per shop like other editors.

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