I have only been actively shopping for about three years. There are probably 100 companies that I'm signed up with that are out of my area, or don't have shops I care to do, but I figured I might as well keep my options open, just in case.
Two years ago, there was a fire burning near my home. There's a casino within a five minute drive, and I had been shopping it for a few months. The day before I was scheduled to do a shop, a fire broke out in the neighboring town. Several thousand acres were burned within a few hours, and it was burning out of control. The day of the shop, the fire was three or four miles away, as the crow flies, and quickly moving towards the casino. The smoke was so bad that I couldn't see the casino from the house, and the cars and ground were covered with ash. Both of my kids have asthma, but only my daughter needs an inhaler, which wasn't helping. We could smell smoke in the house, and everyone was coughing and having trouble breathing.
I emailed the scheduler, and I sent pictures so she could see how bad it was. Her answer was it had to be done the following day. I said I couldn't commit to that at that time. For all we knew, there might not even be a casino the following day. The scheduler emailed me back stating she was in a bind, that I had a shop later in the month, the shop had to be completed the following day because I was the first shopper of the month, and to message her back ASAP when the shop was done. I replied that what I had to do was get my kids to fresh air. I asked to be taken off the schedule for all future jobs, and to be deactivated.
The wind shifted several hours later, away from the casino, and the fire was contained early in the afternoon the following day. There was still ash in the air, but the smoke had mostly cleared. We stayed with friends for two days before returning home. It wasn't my finest hour. I probably could have handled it better, but I was seeing red. The scheduler never once showed any concern, or acknowledged the fact that we were in any danger, or that going to the casino posed possible risk to my person. A friend later told me that the roads to the casino had been closed, and emergency services were directing anyone outdoors to get off the streets and get indoors because of the poor air quality. A week later, I found another company who does a casino farther from home, but the pay is a lot better. If not for the bad experience, I might not have gone looking for something better. Silver linings.