I performed a shop for USPS Regular Box Shop last week and was unable to submit the report that day because it asked me to include pictures of the exterior to the building. Nowhere in the guidelines did it call out the photo requirement except to take one if the exterior is non-compliant (which my location was not). I sent a message to the scheduler and she suggested that I should perform the shop again the next day after I already paid for postage for the first shop?! I didn't think that was fair. I questioned the new requirement and the lack of notification for the new photo. I ended up going back to the USPS location, taking pictures of the exterior and when I went to submit them, the photo requirement magically disappeared so I submitted my report from my first shipment as is. Now the auditor is stating that my shop is rejected because I didn't submit the report on time?
Shoppers: Be sure to check your shop to make sure you don't get penalized unfairly.

Thanks for the heads up. I just applied for one of these.

My theory is that you might have accidentally clicked a wrong answer relating to the exterior which produced the photo upload question. I have done a bunch recently and have not had the form ask for exterior pics when there were no negative issues.

I would agree because I’ve had it happen on the USPS shops and found my error when I reviewed my answers. I’ve also had similar things occur on different shops for other MSC’s due to an incorrect answer on my part.

@sestrahelena wrote:

My theory is that you might have accidentally clicked a wrong answer relating to the exterior which produced the photo upload question. I have done a bunch recently and have not had the form ask for exterior pics when there were no negative issues.

@sestrahelena wrote:

My theory is that you might have accidentally clicked a wrong answer relating to the exterior which produced the photo upload question. I have done a bunch recently and have not had the form ask for exterior pics when there were no negative issues.

Agreed. I did a dozen last week, and there was no photo requirement.

This is what the scheduler seemed to indicate to me as she proceeded to reject my shop, that somehow it was my fault. If I accidently clicked on the wrong response and corrected it, the form should have corrected itself, but did not.

I had a form the other day that I could not submit even though it said it was complete and I had looked for anything in red outline to change. I panicked and wrote a note to the scheduler. I came back to my computer hours later but fortunately a half hour before the deadline and suddenly the number of stations open had somehow changed from what I had input and rechecked before from 1 to 14. I fixed that and got the job in under the wire. Maybe exiting the program and re logging in is what helped?
As a fyi to those who have not done a shop in a few weeks on my last shop they had added a new flag to look for and document.

I completed a shop the other day and I needed up upload a picture of the exterior. Looks like it really is a new requirement.

I did 2 Regular shops yesterday, and did NOT have to upload any exterior photos. Perhaps it was because there was nothing unusual to photograph about the exterior. The exterior photo question went away once I answered "No" to the question if there were any issues to the exterior.

I did two about three weeks ago and I did not have to take any additional pictures.. I did have to look for the other flag

I would like to edit this previous statement. I read through the shop instructions and you DO NOT need a photo. Only if there is a problem, like something is falling apart.

@chiffon cupcakes wrote:

I completed a shop the other day and I needed up upload a picture of the exterior. Looks like it really is a new requirement.

I just applied for one of these. Thank you for the information.

I wanted to give everyone an update that I actually performed a couple more of these shops since my fiasco with the exterior photo requirement and there was no photo requirement for those shops on the survey. BUT I took an exterior photo JUST IN CASE this type of problem ever happens again (so I don't get burned). The shop instructions do not require the exterior photo but that didn't stop the scheduler for accusing me of not following guidelines and denying my shop.

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gene you listed the client, the MSC and the requirements all in one post. Nicely done!

sorry guys: I made mistake..

I take the photo, after I finish the shop. The photo helps me remember all the stuff I need to answer questions

I do merchandising in USPS. The photo could be site-specific, based on something a merchandiser reported for a location.

I do a lot of these. No matter what type of shop you are doing, it is always a good idea to take a time/date geotagged photo of the location from curb view. They often are needed to verify you went to right location, to show it open or signage if not, to be proof of visit, arrival time. I aleags take one photo if front whether asked for or not.
That being said, I did have a strange postal shop this week. The Post Office was located in the basement of a business building. There is no exterior and it is noted in the task that there is no American Flag because of this. However, it still asked me if the POW flag was flying? When I said no, it asked for picture of the exterior with no POW flag flying. They obviously are having some glitches on what questions show up based on other questions answered earlier.
For these shops, i do as much as i can on the report in advance like zip codes, etc. I upload package pics in advance. This gives me a chance to run through the form for any weird questions.
I also do my reports in the car while i have 30 min to kill anyway, before departing. I dont need to be 80 miles down the road on a route and find out a new question pops up because I answered no above.
I take photos of everything discreetly for most shops. It has saved my bacon many times when things were questioned. If i find something unsat, it gets a photo just in case im questioned about it. They also show me time stamps of a long shop, like when food arrived, when i checked bathroom etc.i would encourage all to take more photos so you can have them just in case, esp one at either arrival or departure of front of business.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2020 01:27AM by MavenMom.

Sage advice MavenMom!