This job is testing my ethics

@Niner wrote:

I had another job I cancelled. Take a test and purposely fail. I think there might have been a "cheating" part also. I was not told about any of that before I applied. I like taking tests and figured I would be evaluating operations.

Sometimes our ethics are pushed with this.

I took that one too and cancelled it after I read the scenario. For one thing, the test was for something that I could very well have been testing on, due to my occupation at that time. I sure didn't want my reputation besmirched just for the shop. The whole trying to cheat, was not something I could do, even though I knew I would purposely be failing the test. They tried their hardest to talk me into doing it. No go for me. If they would just be upfront, they could avoid cancellations. I don't do very many shops, but now I know, if they don't list specifics, there is a reason.

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On a related note. I used to do work on Fiver, 250 word articles, 500 for extra. Someone wanted 500 and paid for it. Then kvetched because I didn't cite sources and format it etc. Told them the same thing, I'm working on Fiver, I'm not writing your college paper.

Same job, same company. I wrote to say i was shocked that the company woukd promote this kind of shop and guess what, i can no longer self assign and many shops are no longer showing up. I have sucessfully completed many shops for this company and was moving up in my rating but that seems to mean nothing if you decline a shop which goes against your morals, and foolishly tell them so.

@kcotton wrote:

Same job, same company. I wrote to say i was shocked that the company woukd promote this kind of shop and guess what, i can no longer self assign and many shops are no longer showing up. I have sucessfully completed many shops for this company and was moving up in my rating but that seems to mean nothing if you decline a shop which goes against your morals, and foolishly tell them so.

I don't think of it as a foolish decision. I told them the exact reason. If my ratings or ranking or whatever go down because I won't lower myself to their level, it's no loss.

Thanks, it was a little shocking to me. The rules for a shopper are honesty and integrity and then a job is offered asking for the opposite.

People outright buy amazon reviews online as well.

Bloggers are often paid as well. Even stay at home moms reviewing a vaccum cleaner for example. The essential oil industry pumped quite a bit of money into this strategy.

Competitors will also leave bad reviews

Youtube reviewers are paid a lot of times too. Its called influencer marketing.

Wow, I just purchased several hundred dollars of wallpaper online, from a major home decor company. I based a lot of my final decision on the glowing customer reviews. Hope it doesn't peel off the wall in a year.

I did the test-taking one. I would never have signed up for the shop if I had known ahead of time what it was.

I've done store credit card shops with no problem. Shops where you attempt to buy something and see if the employee suggest their credit card. One shop the MSC wanted to know YOUR credit score. It appears they were using the shops to target mystery shoppers for card offers. I refused those shops. My credit score is none of their business.

I performed the test-taking shop several years ago, and recently signed up for another. The guidelines were pretty much unchanged, except for one very big exception: After failing the test, I was supposed to let the proctor know that I was willing to do ANYTHING to get a passing grade. Wait, what? WTF? Do these people not realize how badly this could turn out for a female shopper working with a proctor who could also be a potential predator, stalker, whatever. You can't just go around toying with people's emotions like that. I couldn't get ahold of that scheduler fast enough to cancel that shop!

Is that really what it says??? How low can they go?

@daveclark5 wrote:

On a related note. I used to do work on Fiver, 250 word articles, 500 for extra. Someone wanted 500 and paid for it. Then kvetched because I didn't cite sources and format it etc. Told them the same thing, I'm working on Fiver, I'm not writing your college paper.

I was a buyer on Fiverr until it became a bait-and-switch site. If your description was clear, then kudos to you. Many, many sellers on Fiverr promise one thing in their ad and then deliver another -- asking for extra pay after the fact. When it started, it was mostly out of the country sellers trying to build their reputations by offering their services at a great price. I use a web developer in India that I found through them -- once I knew he could deliver, I pay him a fair wage. I would not have taken the chance if I had to fork out a huge sum initially. Unfortunately, it's not that way any longer, and the site is largely useless.

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams

I don't use Fiverrr enough to know what "largely" goes on there but I just had a great experience with a seller. She provided twice what was promised and did not hit me up for additional payment. Her reviews indicate this is not unusual for her.

@silver12 wrote:

I don't use Fiverrr enough to know what "largely" goes on there but I just had a great experience with a seller. She provided twice what was promised and did not hit me up for additional payment. Her reviews indicate this is not unusual for her.

Nice. What did you purchase? The last one that stuck in my craw was a person who advertised as a "native speaker" to a language and I paid him to translate. Got a Google translate page back. Wanted $30 extra if he had to translate "by concept" rather than by word. Not what was advertised. I left an appropriate review.

Ceasesmith, you must not like Joe Biden...good on you!

Some years ago I was paid to go into supermarkets and ask if they carry a certain brand of food. I think it was to get the supermarket to carry that brand. I was once asked to park in a NO PARKING space to see if the attendant would notice. I cancelled that one. I did not want to do that.

@tstewart3 wrote:

I canceled a job today on the ISS platform and no points were lost. When I canceled I stated it was due to requirements not in the original job listing.

@Niner wrote:

I signed up for a job that was a little vague. It was to evaluate a store and buy a certain product. I have done things like this before. So, I got the job, read the instructions, and in bold, there was a big paragraph about the real reason for the assignment was to "bring awareness" of the product. You were required to leave a five star review on the store's website. I looked at the current reviews, of which there were only a few, and they were poor. This was on the ISS platform, so canceling a job will hurt your overall rating. I really was in disbelief.

Has this ever happened to you? Where the terms were a little vague, but nothing alarming, abd then it hits you?

I had another job I cancelled. Take a test and purposely fail. I think there might have been a "cheating" part also. I was not told about any of that before I applied. I like taking tests and figured I would be evaluating operations.

Sometimes our ethics are pushed with this.

Where were you able to see your points?
Most MSC's points are only visible to the schedulers and their managers.

@ShopperFun99 wrote:

@tstewart3 wrote:

I canceled a job today on the ISS platform and no points were lost. When I canceled I stated it was due to requirements not in the original job listing.

@Niner wrote:

I signed up for a job that was a little vague. It was to evaluate a store and buy a certain product. I have done things like this before. So, I got the job, read the instructions, and in bold, there was a big paragraph about the real reason for the assignment was to "bring awareness" of the product. You were required to leave a five star review on the store's website. I looked at the current reviews, of which there were only a few, and they were poor. This was on the ISS platform, so canceling a job will hurt your overall rating. I really was in disbelief.

Has this ever happened to you? Where the terms were a little vague, but nothing alarming, abd then it hits you?

I had another job I cancelled. Take a test and purposely fail. I think there might have been a "cheating" part also. I was not told about any of that before I applied. I like taking tests and figured I would be evaluating operations.

Sometimes our ethics are pushed with this.

If a MSC client requires a review on social media, it reveals your identity, whether you use your true identity or a psuedonym. No bueno. I wonder if outing shoppers is an ulterior motive.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2019 06:04PM by CRH.

What about finding out the Job Descriptions were gross misrepresentations? You wouldn't be able to know that until you do the job. I took an amusement park job thinking it will be easy, as the description state the 5 jobs can be completed in an hour. Then you would be able to stay and enjoy the park. AN HOUR? What about 5-6 hours standing in line in the 95 degree hot sun. And you are caught because it says you would not get paid unless all 5 shops are completed. The pay was $48, the 6th job is completed prior to going to the park. Reimbursements are very little. If you buy food, and you are required to do so, the reimbursement does not cover the expensive foods available. Plus you cannot bring food or drinks into the park.

Regarding giving scores of '10'...
I used to give honest scores on my personal (not mystery shopping) surveys once upon a time. That was until I learnt how those scores affect employees. For some companies, I can't say all because I don't know, any score less than a '10' counts for zero. For example, if 5 catagories are scored and the employee receives five '9's, he might as well have received '1's or '2's from you. Only '10's count.

Since '10' is usually 'exceeds expectations' it would be extremely rare for me to give a '10' honestly as I expect excellent service but I am not about to screw over a great (or even good) employee by giving him an 8 or 9. I therefore give 10's to all if their service got the job done in a pleasant, efficient manner.

@yoya301 wrote:

It's like when you buy an new vehicle and the sales person tells you to make sure to fill out the survey with all tens. They also say they see all the survey results and they get rewarded for the high scores.
There are areas on the survey where I don't feel a ten is deserved, but they will know what score I give. Since all routine maintenance is covered by the dealership for two years, I feel pressured to give the perfect score so I don't get treated poorly when I get my service done.
I haven't filled out the survey yet and now I get calls and emails daily to remind me to fill it out.

Why give a customer a survey if an honest answer is not really wanted?

I can answer this. Dealerships use those surveys to penalize their staff. If you don't give the highest ratings on all of the things the mechanic, service writer, and dispatcher can all be penalized. Even if the only thing you don't give the highest rating on is the coffee service in the waiting area. Everybody involved in the service of your vehicle will pay the penalty.

I personally will NEVER go to a car dealer that uses these surveys to control their employees. I was a mechanic, I guess technically I still am, for 30 years. I worked at dealers, and quick lubes, and I ended my career working fleet service for a utility company. I won't put other technicians through that and I do NOT fill out surveys unless they were exceptional or VERY bad.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2019 06:30PM by Morledzep.

If one does a search using words such as " fake" "reviews" "online", it leads to many articles and sites devoted to the subject.

My spouse's annual bonus depends on part on the number of 10's he gets. He gets nothing for 9's or less. This is so totally unfair. He can get a 9.9 average over the course of a quarter but will receive nothing for it. It doesn't matter if the reason he didn't get the 10 was because the customer was upset at the company policy and not the employee, it still counts for zero.

I wish more people knew this is how it often works.

Leaving a review on sites, such as Google, Urlp, etc, for the purpose of fulfilling a shop requirement as stated within this thread is a violation of the review site's terms. The mystery shop provider should not be allowing their client to set such policy and a reasonable mystery shop provider would ban these prosperous requirements from a shady client. Sounds like the mystery shop provider being discussed here is either a start up provider or a company that allows complete online setup by the client with no human interaction on the provider's part.

My questions I would ask you:
1. Is it worth completing shops for these kinds of providers?
2. If you cancel a shop with these providers and jeopardize your rating, what is your potential for future jobs with these providers?
3. What are the chances of such providers being honest with the shoppers?

I was doing a car dealership sales evaluation and the salesperson would not give me a printed quote. I told my scheduler about this and he told me that I must get the quote by any means or I will not get paid. When I told him I could not get it after three phone calls and a return trip he became condescending and just plain mean. I wish I could print his name and company so you all can be aware. In the end he still did not pay me.

My approach to this is to leave no review. I don’t want to hurt the staff, but to me a 7 or 8 out of 10 would be “good” and 10’s should be reserved for special efforts. Even a 6 for an area that needs improvement.

Practices such as these, though, make the reviews worthless. I fault the car manufacturers, who expect all 10’s and make a fuss when that’s not the case.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2019 07:30PM by GSWelker.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2019 07:32PM by GSWelker.

@jfalzy03 wrote:

Leaving a review on sites, such as Google, Urlp, etc, for the purpose of fulfilling a shop requirement as stated within this thread is a violation of the review site's terms. The mystery shop provider should not be allowing their client to set such policy and a reasonable mystery shop provider would ban these prosperous requirements from a shady client. Sounds like the mystery shop provider being discussed here is either a start up provider or a company that allows complete online setup by the client with no human interaction on the provider's part.

My questions I would ask you:
1. Is it worth completing shops for these kinds of providers?
2. If you cancel a shop with these providers and jeopardize your rating, what is your potential for future jobs with these providers?
3. What are the chances of such providers being honest with the shoppers?

June 24, 2019 07:29PM
Mystery shopping companies should be on the lookout for situations like this and not even post the jobs in the first place.

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This job is testing my ethics

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