Being asked to do things not included in terms of the original shop after the shop has been done?
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2018 03:55PM by BirdyC.
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2018 03:55PM by BirdyC.
@Lisannez wrote:
Oh no! Did you have the information or could you get it?
No, I can't get it now, but I'm hoping it'll be OK.... If they question me, I'll just say the observation wasn't in either document and I didn't know I had to get it. What more can I do? It's someplace where the same employees aren't apt to be on duty all the time or work regular shifts....
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
Good idea Lisannez for not mentioning MSC in title.
Yes, I had exact thing happen, same shop, same MSC.The owner texted me and asked me for the name and I said that I did not get it and I offered to call or go back to the store. The owner said that would not be necessary, he said my report will not be accepted and adviced me to return the merchandise. I was like...WTH?! Having a small child and not being flexible with time, I did not challenge it or tried to prove the point. I returned the merchandise. I should have said something...but having an owner text you and let you know that it is a reject...caught me off guard, I guess. Good luck! I am sorry that you are having to go through this. Sometimes, you have to fight to get what you deserve. I did not do that at the time.
Yes, I had exact thing happen, same shop, same MSC.The owner texted me and asked me for the name and I said that I did not get it and I offered to call or go back to the store. The owner said that would not be necessary, he said my report will not be accepted and adviced me to return the merchandise. I was like...WTH?! Having a small child and not being flexible with time, I did not challenge it or tried to prove the point. I returned the merchandise. I should have said something...but having an owner text you and let you know that it is a reject...caught me off guard, I guess. Good luck! I am sorry that you are having to go through this. Sometimes, you have to fight to get what you deserve. I did not do that at the time.
Here's the thing: if it has happened to other shoppers a few months before your shop and they are aware of the issue...how difficult is it to just change the guidelines instead of allowing other shoppers to experience the same issues? Are they using the reports and not paying the shoppers? Something's fishy in Denmark.
@Lisannez wrote:
Thanks. I did not want to put the name in the thread because I did not want preconceived notions about the company to come into play. I found that some others had had bad experiences with the company. I also found another person that had the exact same experience a few months prior with the same shop. But they did not allow her to call to get the name, she had to return the merchandise and do a reshop later. So they are aware of the problem. The two biggest issues I take with the situation is that they are ignoring my questions (no one likes to be ignored) and they won't just say it was not in the materials. I screw stuff up all the time, and as a fairly new mystery shopping maybe it is somewhere I legitimately missed, I do not know. But I don't want to miss it next time, so can you tell me where it is? And then crickets. That is very frustrating to me. I do think it was a situation where they assumed that people would know to ask for the name and I have to tell you before I mystery shopped I likely would have assumed the same. But after doing many shops where they don't want you to ask for the name I always double check the instructions so I can do the shop correctly. They need to draft the instructions like they are writing them for their relative who knows nothing about shopping. Something like if you are unable to verify the name via name tag, introduction or receipt, you must find a way to obtain their name.
JASF, I thought of the same thing. I do not think that they use the report as you can only do this shop once. I did a reshop months later so it was my second visit to the store, but “first” shop! I completely agree on changing the guidelines. This is where I feel a bit guilty because I did not say anything, I really did not have time or energy to challenge this. The job has no fee, just reimbursement. Yeah...I hope they change the guidelines...
@MSF wrote:
Since the OP did not use the MSC name in this thread, I won't either. You can easily find the name. Use the search function and type in the OPs name in the "search by author" field. Scroll down a bit and you will see the name of the MSC as the title of one of the OP's other posts. I'll give you a hint: it has the word "site" in it. The MSC is a one-man operation with one or two independent schedulers/editors helping out.
Thank you! I don't work for that company and probably never will.
10-foot pole MSC for me now. Why don't they just change the materials to reflect this requirement?
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
This seems like that thing in typical employment in which the wage or salary based employee will perform specified tasks and "other duties as assigned". But this is not typical employment. We are independent contractors who depend upon contractual and specified agreements. It seems unreasonable that an agreement can be changed like this. Other contracts cannot be changed without negotiation, discussion, signatures, or something that formalizes the changes. Why should mystery shopping agreements (are these actual contracts?) be treated differently, as if agreements were meaningless or were meant to be changed?
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu
Even reviewing the shop guidelines, comments, scheduler emails, and report isn't always enough to uncover "hidden" requirements. I had a shop not long ago where I reviewed everything in advance, had a solid gameplan for the shop, and things went smoothly...or so I thought.
When I began filling out the report, I had several "Hidden" questions, that I could not see the first time while studying the report, pop up based on an answer I selected. Not only did this make the report longer to complete, but it also revealed items that I had no way of seeing or preparing for pre-shop.
All we can do is stick to our guns with these MSCs and politely inform them that we aren't mind-readers. How can we be expected to answers questions that we were not informed about beforehand?!
When I began filling out the report, I had several "Hidden" questions, that I could not see the first time while studying the report, pop up based on an answer I selected. Not only did this make the report longer to complete, but it also revealed items that I had no way of seeing or preparing for pre-shop.
All we can do is stick to our guns with these MSCs and politely inform them that we aren't mind-readers. How can we be expected to answers questions that we were not informed about beforehand?!
"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."
I'm smelling something fishy here. I don't work for this company (assuming I've deduced it correctly) but if this issue has been happening for some time with no revisions on the guidelines, it smells to me like the shops are being submitted and the MSC is using this hidden "detail" as an excuse not to pay shoppers their fees. How could we possibly know otherwise?
proudly shopping in the D.
Msc's can and do change the shop guidelines when there are changes needed. I've seen this happen in real time. There is absolutely no reason for this msc to not update the shop guidelines. It benefits both the msc and client.
I have not been paid yet, so don’t jinx it but I can’t see how that’s the case meaning it just does not make sense. In my case I asked and was allowed to call and obtain the name after the fact and when I did the shop was accepted. I suppose though if I could not get it that way I would have not gotten paid though. However I was the one that suggested that I call and asked their permission to do it. Their correspondence to me was my shop was not complete without the name. In that correspondence I also asked where it said I had to get the name so maybe that realized I was going to push back.
I would be curious to know if they do use the information obtained in this situation. Because in this case there were only two associates present and I was able to obtain the name of the one that did not assist me because the associate used it in speaking to her. I had a detailed description of her as well. The client could have figured it out.
I would be curious to know if they do use the information obtained in this situation. Because in this case there were only two associates present and I was able to obtain the name of the one that did not assist me because the associate used it in speaking to her. I had a detailed description of her as well. The client could have figured it out.
Agreed that’s why I don’t get why they did not update them.
When are they suppose to pay you ? I think it's been 'implied' that there have been instances where msc's have submitted reports to clients where the shopper didn't get paid. It was in some posts from within the past year. I'm not saying that is going to happen to you but don't be surprised.
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