Canceling shop consequences

Hi everyone I just canceled a shop because it was for a restaurant where you dine in and dining in is only outdoors in my city right now. Also the guidelines did not say if it was okay to make a reservation. It seemed like they wanted you to just walk in and wait. Seating is so limited now I was worried I would not get to complete the shop. How bad is it for your reputation to cancel a shop? The shop is tomorrow and I canceled last night.

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Depends on the MSC. I would have reached out to the scheduler before I canceled.

It’s Marketforce and self assigned. I should have emailed HelpDesk but they always take a long time to respond. I did not want the shop to be held while they could find another shopper to take it.

Many of the guidelines are for the entire country and not changed for the local situation. In my past experiences with dining shops almost every one tells you to sit in the inside dining area and not outdoors. This is before covid. So with the situation right now if it says dine in and does not clarify I would not take a shop like that anyway without checking it out. The msc may very well not want it done if you live in a city with no "dine in". I would recommend asking in advance about dining shops if you live in a city with no dine in. Since you did not you could tell them you discovered there was no dine=in so you were not sure you should do the shop. My city does not have any dine in inside either and I have not seen any dining shops. I am talking about sit down and order from a server shops, not fast food.

It wouldn't hurt a bit to e-mail the HelpDesk anyway, and explain the circumstances.

MF is hell on shoppers who cancel; like a restaurant's "hidden menu", they don't voluntarily disclose it, but it APPEARS there's basically a life-time limit on cancellations. So if this is an important MSC to you, best to explain and request (respectfully and politely) that this cancellation NOT be held against you on your permanent record.

You might get a very nice e-mail back saying they won't hold it against you.

I certainly hope you do!

If I recall correctly, Market Force's online shop cancellation function asks shoppers to explain why they are cancelling. There is a list of reasons and an "Other" option, where shoppers can type a brief explanation.

I am reluctant to cancel shops, especially two nights before they are due, and especially without touching base with the MSCs/schedulers first.

@ceasesmith wrote:

MF is hell on shoppers who cancel; like a restaurant's "hidden menu", they don't voluntarily disclose it, but it APPEARS there's basically a life-time limit on cancellations.

Perhaps that's because they seem to be more flexible on rescheduling than some other MSCs where the date you choose is the date you do it, period, no exceptions. MF seems to allow delays with some clients.

I agree the OP should have contacted the help desk rather than just canceling.

Hi guys thanks for all your replies. I had gotten an email saying to cancel if I couldn’t do the shop. I had just picked up the shop on Tuesday, gotten the reminder on Wednesday and canceled Wednesday night because of the dining in seating issues. No way could I just walk in and get a seat in my city, and dining is only outdoors. The shop was to be on Friday. So it’s not like I had the shop a long time and canceled really late. But it is still close to the date. If I had emailed helpdesk it would have cost them more time with me still holding the shop when someone else might want it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2020 01:28PM by Monsto08.

I had a bonused online order/curbside delivery restaurant shop with MarketForce. I didn’t realize curbside delivery was not offered at the restaurant until I was checking out on their website. There was nothing in the guidelines instructing me how to proceed, nor was there an allowance in the questionnaire for this situation. I bailed on the order, and contacted the help desk. Of course it was a weekend and my shop was in late status a few days while waiting for a reply.

They were apologetic and appreciative. I was advised to complete the report as a closed location. Surprisingly, i was paid the bonused fee not a closed location fee. Crazy times.

Thanks again to everyone who responded and advised I contact MF. I did and apologized and explained and they said they understand the situation.

Perfect!

@Monsto08 wrote:

Thanks again to everyone who responded and advised I contact MF. I did and apologized and explained and they said they understand the situation.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

Never ever cancel a shop without trying to contact the scheduler first. Most of the time, you will hear back from someone quickly and they will be able to work something out. ie: changing of the date/time, changing the type of shop it is. Not all states are the same, so it's hard to know who is doing what in which states. I'm sure that if you would have contacted them ahead of canceling, then you would have had a resolution without canceling. Also, when you have a question about guidelines such as reservations, ask them. Companies would much rather you ask questions, request an extension..anything other than cancelling a shop.
I'm glad this worked out for you ok this time, but as others have said, MF has a history of releasing shoppers for no good reason, I wouldn't give them a good reason.

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