I made my first big mistake this afternoon. It was one of those shops where you aren't supposed to buy anything else but I couldn't remember what the paperwork said and wasn't allowed to use my phone to check my notes. I accept responsibility for it and if I don't get reimbursed for the part I'm supposed to get reimbursed for, then so be it. I'm not going to sweat it too much because mistakes happen, just hope my rating doesn't get bumped down too much. I'll just know next time.

However, I didn't say anything about it in my report. I said that I got the extra service but did not say that I knew I goofed. Now, I'm just waiting on the email telling me that I goofed. Should I have said I knew I made a mistake in my report or just wait and see what they say? What do you do?

It totally depends on the company the job is for and my relationship with them. A couple of companies I may mention the 'oops' in the report, a couple of them I drop a note to a well known scheduler. And sometimes you just let them ride and see if they come back to bite you. If I totally blew it and it would be possible to return tomorrow and do it right without being too obvious, I may just request a reschedule of the job.

Marion, between the way you handled it and also your attitude (in taking responsibility for the goof), I think you did the right thing. As Flash said, they might let it slide.

Good luck! :-)

I remember a nutrition store audit where I *totally* screwed up the photos and they still paid me the full amount. So yes, Flash is right, they might well let it slide.

I suspect that many of our visits have 'mission critical' material as well as fluff. If the client was only interested in whether the restrooms were clean, we would not be sent out on a shop just to do that but likely would be evaluating cleanliness and stocking of the store, customer service, cashier greeting and farewell, restroom and timings. This sort of falls into the category of hiding the real needle in the haystack. My guess is that in a case like that virtually any of the observations could be missed without rejecting the shop except that restroom evaluation. My sense is, when there is a restriction about what you can purchase, that the real goal is often to evaluate timings and anything that would slow those could eliminate the shop. One extra purchase may or may not throw the shop out of whack and it may not even be the purchase that was being evaluated. There was a specified purchases shop I did a couple of where the goal was to make the appropriate coupons print. Additional purchases there could have been a real issue and they emphasized that you MUST NOT buy anything but the specified items.

You guys were right. I got a 10 on the shop. They didn't say anything about it. I'm glad because this is only my second shop with this particular msc and I really like the company, not to mention it was also a pretty hefty reimbursement. Still won't make that same mistake again though.

I always air on the side of honesty. I forgot to ask an essential question once on a shop, and agonized about how to handle it. I emailed the scheduler and let them know and was told to ask the question on the return visit. Easy peasy. Not always the case; I can imagine if I had already made the return it might have been a different scenario. But, people remember your honesty, and I find that good jobs come when schedulers believe they can trust you. I'd rather lose pay on one job to know it might result in more in the future.

I did a grocery once and forgot to check the restroom. I could have lied and just said it was clean, but I wrote and said I didn't check it. They told me to go back and do another evaluation of the same store including the restroom and I would be paid for both shops. Another time I didn't realize until I got home that I had shopped the wrong pizza location (two really close together). Right up front, I said, I shopped x location rather than y location. Of course they didn't pay for that one.

DrSquash Wrote:
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> I remember a nutrition store audit where I
> *totally* screwed up the photos and they still
> paid me the full amount. So yes, Flash is right,
> they might well let it slide.


Was that a GNC audit? It seems to me that everybody always screws those up. I constantly see those go up, somebody takes it, then a day or two after it's due it's back up again, then somebody takes it, then a few more days pass and I get a call offering a bonus for it. Then I go and do it the employee says, "Wow, weren't you guys just here?" I've had two of those shops.

I have done many GNC audits the past several years. Sometimes pictures are hard to get if the store is skinny:-) My reports have always been accepted, but I could see how you could screw them up....

MarionS Wrote:
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> You guys were right. I got a 10 on the shop.
> They didn't say anything about it. I'm glad
> because this is only my second shop with this
> particular msc and I really like the company, not
> to mention it was also a pretty hefty
> reimbursement. Still won't make that same mistake
> again though.


Glad it worked out, Marion!

I did a heavy duty merchandising job a couple years ago and couldn't lift the required amount, so, whose fault was it and shouldn't MSC say this was required. I couldn't finish shop due to lifting, and told them the truth. I was paid for half of shop and shop was taken over by someone else. I recently couldn't get a job done due to it's closure at 1:00 for painting, no one knew this and they fought me on it. Wouldn't you think a cleaners would be open all day on a Saturday, honestly, no one knew and I wasn't taking the fall for it. Job could not get done, was doing my famous 7 job run and got there at 2:00. No apology, they decided it was my fault, but it ended well, and I am still doing jobs for them, it didn't effect my rating, guess she knew it wasn't my fault, but still, fighting me on it....

I always write down the most important tasks to be done now. As once I did a bank shop and actually forgot to look at one of the tellers name badge and one of the tellers hair color. Turned my car around went back into the bank and told them my braclet fell off and if they had seen it. Just so I could get the name and hair color. I know, silly simple things we humans can forget.

I recently did a dealership shop that specifically deviated from the guidelines, but I wrote it up very plainly as to why I felt it was necessary to avoid blowing the shop. They rated it 8/10 and made a comment, but paid the portion that was contracted for in full.

I'll take the 8/10 and the whiny comment-saved me a second trip to the dealer and the shop was not affected by what was done.

Yes, I would report my mistakes. Not divulging information deviates from the end result, which we may not even be aware of.

Yes.

Honesty is one of the fundamental principles of our business. I've found that being honest, even with a new MSP, pays off. Mistakes happen, so it helps to build a good reputation for integrity, which is always an issue for shoppers. As for the report, they may take it, ask you to re-shop, or reject it without an opportunity to re-shop. For me, I would rather know that I did the right thing than fudging something. Recently, I had an issue where I did not ask a question of an employee. Part of it was the fact the opportunity to ask didn't come up as the instructions asked for it. However, I could have does this later in the shop (Doing it out-of-order would not have IDed me as a shopper - probably). But, another opportunity did not present itself and I did not push the issue. So, in the report, I just documented what happened and why I did not ask. I'm waiting on that report, but am hopeful the MSP will take it.

Perhaps the best route for MarionS in the thread starter would have been to send an email to the scheduler after submitting the report. However, the receipt, if submitted, would show her mistake, so maybe that was enough. I'm glad it worked out for you.

Your reputation as a shopper is what you have. It is precious to your business. Treat it as such. Never allow your scheduler to be blindsided by a mistake you've made.

I always do inform my scheduler if I know or suspect a mistake has been made or even if something unusual came up during the shop. I don't like sitting around waiting for a hammer to fall on my head. I'd rather take action to find out if the mistake can be resolved and get the mistake fixed as soon as possible.
Informing a good scheduler seems the best thing to do because they have probably dealt with the same mistake before and can advise you on what steps to take to resolve the problem. If you've done your homework your mistakes will usually be minor and can be resolved easily with a simple fix or with a little creativity. Certainly, if you've really screwed the pooch, you may have to start from square one, and be asked to re-shop, or rarely, your shop could be rejected entirely.
Even so, there is a happy ending - going through all this will be good for you - you will learn from your mistake and most likely will never make it again!

Everone makes mistakes. Cowards hide. Persons of honor belly up and face the music regardless of the consequences. You want respect, earn it. Truth is not an elective right. All this delema over a few dollars? This as an issue under consideration should be the concern.

Integrity is what you are known by. Unfortunately, the MSP's screw up on occasion, and I do not catch it. The purple porthole is infamous for that. Who's fault is it anyway?

The people who sell furniture and offer outrageous fees is another MSP .I would watch them very closely. Unless you are looking for issues, they will try to sneak a few past you.

I would strongly suggest that if it looks awkward on paper it will look worse when you get there and try to figure it out. Schedulers want you to call and thank you when you find a fixer upper. If you fix it before you go, it will go smoothly when you get there.

I have messed up a few times when I was a newbie and asked for a "Mulligan" Sometimes you get it, and sometime they give it to someone else. If you have a range of dates, and you do the shop early in the range, you can go fix it up if you mess it up. You chalk the first one up as "practice" I have not done that for years.

The first kick of a Donkey teaches you all you need to know.You should not have to be kicked twice. That is why I like this forum, I can read about someone else getting kicked and stay away from that donkey.

Some companies I will not work for because they have ambiguous, poorly written guidelines. Offering an "easy" merchandising shop and finding this thing had not been attended to for a while and other such integrity issues add time and expense, and I am not into giving clients charity. Again, I would rather read it here and avoid it.

Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me.