Having to cancel shops

I am a new mystery shopper. I only do phone shops right now because I don't have access to a car and I live in a rural area with no public transportation. I picked up a bunch of shops at the beginning of the month and started to get to work. A couple of days ago, I found out I have an infection that makes it hard to sit and do reports. I tried working through it on Monday and Tuesday but it got to the point yesterday where I wasn't going to be able to sit down and do my phone calls without crying from pain. I emailed all the schedulers for my shops I had scheduled and asked them to be reassigned. Only one scheduler gave me trouble. Will it look bad and make schedulers hesitant to assign me shops? I was really looking forward to doing my shops but I wanted to give the client the best reports possible.

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More About Cancelling Assignments

It really depends on the schedulers and how hard it will be to fill those shops now. But, generally, canceling a shop does not leave a good impression, no matter how good the reason. All they know is they now have extra work, maybe. But having said that, if you can't do the shop for a good reason, don't feel too bad about canceling. Some things are beyond your control. At least you contacted the schedulers and didn't just go AWOL. They will remember that too, in a good way.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2021 11:52PM by mystery2me.

I really felt bad about canceling and I went ahead and canceled my shops for the rest of the week. I am feeling better today but I don't want to risk waiting until the last minute, find out I still can't shop, and then leave the schedulers in a bind. I did keep the three shops that are just waiting for the location to call me to follow up.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2021 02:58PM by Bookgirl141.

Having to occasionally cancel a shop happens to the best of us! Don't be too hard on yourself. I hope you feel better soon!

Bookgirl inquires--Will it look bad and make schedulers hesitant to assign me shops?

Bob replies--Possibly. To your credit, you cancelled as opposed to flaking. If possible, and for the future, reschedule; that act will be more acceptable. Do not, though, permit either situation to become a habit. Independent schedulers do communicate and share. That is not always a negative, as I am known to require fees that are, as one gal stated, totally unacceptable. That fact weeds out the bottom payers.

I've had to cancel or reschedule maybe a handful of shops in the years I've been doing this, and have only gotten a hard time from two schedulers. On one, I had no transportation due to my car breaking down. I offered to do the shop a few days later, but she declined. The shop was still sitting the following week, and they had to offer a bigger bonus for it--when I'd have been doing it for the original fee I'd agreed to. That hasn't affected my getting shops from them, though. The other time was when I asked to reschedule due to hazardous weather conditions, and the scheduler was a real SOB about it. I did the re-scheduled shop, but I don't think I've ever done another one for that MSC.

The other times I've cancelled or rescheduled were when my sons were hospitalized (at different times). All the schedulers were very understanding, and my ability to self-assign or be assigned shops hasn't been affected.

Anyway, a long-winded way to say that if you prove yourself dependable over the long run, and you have a very good reason for cancelling or rescheduling, I think most schedulers are OK about it. And remember that this business is a two-way street. A good scheduler knows that!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

First, the bad news. Once, I had an unavoidable need to cancel shops at last minute. This was an unprintable bind for the scheduler, for whom I was untried. They expressed their displeasure, I accepted it, and we still work together when work is available near me. That last bit was the good news.

Hoping that your scheduler will give you a chance along with a sweet wish to feel better soon.

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

I had to cancel a couple of shops awhile back, after I had to go to the emergency with terrible stomach pains.
I had done a few merchandising jobs and a couple of ms shops,and had them reported, before the pain got so bad that I couldn't take it anymore. I ended up in the hospital after having emergency surgery for an umbilical hernia. They had to put all my insides back where they belonged as the hernia had pushed them all over inside me. Was in the hospital for 10 days. I had one ms shop left and I had forgot about it until the day it was due which was the second day I had been in the hospital. I called my brother and had him get the info. he needed off my computer and he emailed the scheduler and explained why I had to cancel the shop. She sent him a nasty email back and then called him and practically called him a liar and told him I just didn't want to do the job. I had already did 2 of hers before I went to the er.He offered to give her the hospitals phone number. Then she told him that if that was the case then he could do the job for me. He told her he didn't know anything about mystery shopping. After I had got home I had 3 nasty emails from her. I never have done anymore jobs for her.

In my experience- kind of but it's all speculative. No one comes right out and says it. I cancel shops a lot, but it's often Shopper Company specific. Some companies have very rigid rules and if you miss something they won't pay you. Like ACL. If they say arrive between 1 - 2 PM, and you arrive at 2:01, they won't pay you, even if your report was excellent and you did everything. So ACL I will cancel if my schedule or traffic is dicey given I know they are a "no-tolerance" company. LOL. They will send you a lecture and try to discipline you, but for whatever reason they don't understand that yelling at people is not going to change the state of real life. Others are way more flexible, and will let you reschedule or cancel if you need to, and don't hound you later.

I would say that, best practice is to take assignmentst that you 100% want to complete and commit to. The companies (should) know, that if they require a "guest" that this guest is not contracted by them and may have different commitments that is not at all a reflection on the shopper.

@sueac101 wrote:

She sent him a nasty email back and then called him and practically called him a liar and told him I just didn't want to do the job. I had already did 2 of hers before I went to the er.He offered to give her the hospitals phone number. Then she told him that if that was the case then he could do the job for me. He told her he didn't know anything about mystery shopping. After I had got home I had 3 nasty emails from her. I never have done anymore jobs for her.

I'm sorry that happened to you. What a nasty piece of work that scheduler was. So unprofessional. I hope she no longer has a job; if anybody who worked for me ever pulled anything like that, she'd be out the door in a heartbeat. Employee, IC, whatever.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Thanks everyone for the advice! I am feeling better and I am going to attempt the shop that the scheduler wouldn't let me request to be reassigned to someone else today. I have only had trouble with this one scheduler. I am going to try to avoid having to cancel shops in the future.

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Having to cancel shops

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