Schedulers - How often do shoppers flake?

October 09, 2019 11:05PM

Just curious if there is an industry average. Perhaps 10% of initial assignments aren't completed by the due date or something like that?
Personally, I'd like to continue this side hustle and make sure I can get em all done. Unless they are on those pittance apps...then I rarely go out of my way if the timer is getting low on my end.

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October 10, 2019 03:48AM

I guess the flake rate for newbies is quite high. On some platforms you can see which jobs have been accepted by a shopper and then flaked.

In many cases you can predict which jobs will be flaked. Coyle jobs which offer reimbursement of about $30 dollars but still expect extensive narratives and contain 200 questions....

October 10, 2019 05:25AM

In most places I have worked, no call no shows are automatic terminations. I believe that's the way it should be, unless you are unconscious, comatose, or physically unable to communicate, and you call the boss as soon as you can to advise of your situation.

October 10, 2019 12:33PM

@AZwolfman wrote:

In most places I have worked, no call no shows are automatic terminations. I believe that's the way it should be, unless you are unconscious, comatose, or physically unable to communicate, and you call the boss as soon as you can to advise of your situation.

It's called work ethic and sadly this is rapidly diminishing in America. 'The land of the free' no longer means we are free from oppression but has given (some not all) Americans the mind set they can do nothing and live free. And unfortunately 'no call no show' is not automatic termination, I agree it should be, but isn't, in the major chains I know about.

Stepping off my soap box now...... next.......

October 10, 2019 01:16PM

Being one who is, by nature, curious, I have asked that question of perhaps six in-the-know workers over the years. One, the owner of J.C. & Associates, an MSC that is long gone, stated his rate was 10%. Another, in charge of the mystery shopping division of Graymont, told me 50%. That may have been correct, as they are also no longer in the shopping business. Finally, a scheduler for a third company recently stated she was running 40%.

October 10, 2019 01:28PM

That question has come up at several IMSC conferences. With a lot of schedulers also being shoppers, there were quite a few willing to answer each time. The flake or fail rates for first times (for that MSC, not necessarily all first timers) was variously estimated at 50 to 60 percent. Considering that a first time shopper for Company X may well have done shops for other MSCs previously, that was pretty shocking. But, some schedulers, addressing that aspect, basically said that, in their view, it was probably an issue of little experience, not "no experience at all," that drove the "new to Company X" flake rate.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

October 10, 2019 05:02PM

I mentioned J.C. & Associates in my prior post. His manner of assignments I completed for two eateries, was a guest being optional, a flat fee of $42, order what you desire, no alcohol required and dine at your leisure. If his statement of a flake rate of 10% was correct, it could have been due to his lack of requirements. According to my log, I ate well and departed with $20 for me.

BUT, Graymont was actually less stringent and claimed 50%. When they decided to "pull the plug" on shopping, the VP in charge shared it was simply too much aggravation for the profit.

October 10, 2019 07:27PM

It's been years since I managed a workforce, but if memory serves the standard for job abandonment was no call no show for 3 consecutive days. I don't know if that was a legal standard or a play-it-safe company policy, but 3 days was considered necessary to safeguard against a wrongful termination claim.

@AZwolfman wrote:

In most places I have worked, no call no shows are automatic terminations. I believe that's the way it should be, unless you are unconscious, comatose, or physically unable to communicate, and you call the boss as soon as you can to advise of your situation.

October 10, 2019 07:31PM

50% to 60%? Wow. With that many reshops/reschedules bonuses should be a lot more frequent, and a lot higher.

@walesmaven wrote:

That question has come up at several IMSC conferences. With a lot of schedulers also being shoppers, there were quite a few willing to answer each time. The flake or fail rates for first times (for that MSC, not necessarily all first timers) was variously estimated at 50 to 60 percent. Considering that a first time shopper for Company X may well have done shops for other MSCs previously, that was pretty shocking. But, some schedulers, addressing that aspect, basically said that, in their view, it was probably an issue of little experience, not "no experience at all," that drove the "new to Company X" flake rate.

October 10, 2019 10:28PM

Circumstances matter. The baby who insists upon entering the earth plane three weeks early and messing up mommy or daddy's previously arranged leave plans is a bit different from an alleged adult who overslept, was serving time, or forgot that a shop was scheduled. The outcome for schedulers is the same, regardless of what is happening with shoppers.

This might be one reason some MSCs provide false due dates. They want extra time to accommodate no-shows, re-shops, rejected shops, etc.

@panama18 wrote:

It's been years since I managed a workforce, but if memory serves the standard for job abandonment was no call no show for 3 consecutive days. I don't know if that was a legal standard or a play-it-safe company policy, but 3 days was considered necessary to safeguard against a wrongful termination claim.

@AZwolfman wrote:

In most places I have worked, no call no shows are automatic terminations. I believe that's the way it should be, unless you are unconscious, comatose, or physically unable to communicate, and you call the boss as soon as you can to advise of your situation.

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

October 11, 2019 03:52AM

@eveb wrote:

@AZwolfman wrote:

In most places I have worked, no call no shows are automatic terminations. I believe that's the way it should be, unless you are unconscious, comatose, or physically unable to communicate, and you call the boss as soon as you can to advise of your situation.

It's called work ethic and sadly this is rapidly diminishing in America. 'The land of the free' no longer means we are free from oppression but has given (some not all) Americans the mind set they can do nothing and live free. And unfortunately 'no call no show' is not automatic termination, I agree it should be, but isn't, in the major chains I know about.

Stepping off my soap box now...... next.......

At Walmart they use a points system and **quite often** employees will take their lunch break and just not come back. They are issued a certain number of points but not fired. It's pretty hard to get things accomplished when employees start tasks and just decide to go home.

October 11, 2019 08:19PM

Statistics, when not asked of a person who has access to the true rates, can be very misleading. We tend to remember things that stand out in our minds much more than we remember routine so if you ask someone for a number off the top of their heads they are going to remember the pain of the rescheduling and it will seem like that happens more often than it actually did. Those jobs that went smoothly will not stand out in their brains.
As an example, I was a data analyst in a big Neonatal ICU. The very early premie babies stayed for months but the majority of the babies who came in went home in 1-3 days. Those little premies were a small percentage of all the babies who were admitted but the staff remembered them all and their long stays .If you asked most of the employees they would say the average stay per patient was a month or so when in actuality it was closer to 3 or 4 days statistically.

October 13, 2019 04:07AM

Did you know 78% of all statistics are made up on the spot?

October 13, 2019 04:33AM

Mark Twain is quoted as saying, "Most people use statistics like a drunk man uses a lamppost; more for support than illumination”.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

October 13, 2019 08:39PM

I have never flaked. I have re-scheduled on occasion. I just don't understand why anyone would have to flake, we do have emails, phone calls, etc.

October 13, 2019 08:52PM

I suspect that most people who flake do not have a long career as a mystery shopper. They get in above their heads and then just disappear. Very early, I missed some shops because I applied for them and did not get an email when it was assigned to me. That is when I learned to record every application I make. There are people who think that MSing is fast and easy money, and when they find out otherwise, they just disappear.

@shopper8 wrote:

I have never flaked. I have re-scheduled on occasion. I just don't understand why anyone would have to flake, we do have emails, phone calls, etc.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

October 13, 2019 09:04PM

Yep. When my husband died earlier this year the companies I had shops for did not waste any time terminating me even though I had been shopping with them for over 8 eights years without issue. I guess I am only as good as my last shop. I didn't bother writing to any of the companies. It showed me how little they valued me. Some days you win, some days you don't.

October 18, 2019 06:08PM

This is my current issue. I came to this board to see if I could find a resolution...

@myst4au wrote:

Very early, I missed some shops because I applied for them and did not get an email when it was assigned to me. That is when I learned to record every application I make.

October 18, 2019 07:01PM

Make sure the 'notifications' setting is turned on for each MSP. If you have selected to not receive any notifications you will not receive an email when a shop is assigned to you.
If you have missed shops contact the scheduler, apologize/ explain and see if they would be willing to assign you one shop so you can prove you're responsible.

@mbrasseau wrote:

This is my current issue. I came to this board to see if I could find a resolution...

@myst4au wrote:

Very early, I missed some shops because I applied for them and did not get an email when it was assigned to me. That is when I learned to record every application I make.

October 18, 2019 07:39PM

Been doing that since I first started doing this years ago. How else do you keep track?

October 18, 2019 08:15PM

@eveb wrote:

It's called work ethic and sadly this is rapidly diminishing in America. 'The land of the free' no longer means we are free from oppression but has given (some not all) Americans the mind set they can do nothing and live free.

I wouldn't lay the blame all on the workers. People have learned that companies are not loyal to them, so workers no longer feel allegiance to their employers.

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Schedulers - How often do shoppers flake?

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