Got stiffed for $400 by ISecretShop

Heads up!! Caveat Emptor!!
For an ISecretShop Hotel shop I was rejected for not using the CAR PARKING Valet instead of a regular valet. This was not made clear in the vague instructions. Spent over $400 even though I did the shop correctly in all other areas. As this was an urban setting not everyone has cars but I took a car service to use door valet and checked bag in order to evaluate service. Got a pretty snotty reply back from the editor. I have done multiple hotel shops and shopping for at least 8 years. No problems on VERY complicated shops.
Not only that, but all required expenses are considered "compensation". Mind you, this is illegal by some states AND the IRS. I'll let the bureaucrats handle this one.
Just a heads up to anyone doing this and thinking you are going to have a relaxing evening and nice stay. Nothing like getting stiffed before Christmas!

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ISecretShop schedules mystery shops and you fill out your report on the website. However, there are multiple mystery shopping companies that use this platform. I think at least ten or more. You should be more specific as to the actual underlying MSC.

Good luck to the OP but, to me, this was a horse vs. zebra situation and the OP picked a zebra.

Car parking valet? Regular valet? Door valet?

I would have thought in terms of valets, porters, and bellhops.

I wonder: when shoppers read guidelines that required them to shop a valet, what percentage would think they should shop a non-parking valet.

Busy, I agree, when I hear valet for mystery shopping, I think the people who park your car.

Although when I Googled it the first definition that came up was "a man's personal male attendant, responsible for his clothes and appearance".

@wrosie The OP definitely had reasons to think the way they did.

When I see "equine," I usually think about horses first. Are zebras equines? Sure, but ...

I really don't know how "vague" the guidelines were or how reasonable the OP was. Was there a report form for this shop? Was there a section on the report that asked about parking?

I can't figure out what else equine would stand for. I wouldn't think zebras. Did you shop a zoo? Or perhaps I shouldn't ask where else it might apply.

And I agree. If the rest of the shop was correct and acceptable, the MSC should have accepted it, The OP should have been paid. They might have adjusted payment down for the miscue or given them a chance to redo that portion of the shop.

But hey, we're not the editing police here.

Equines include horses, zebras, wild asses, etc. Horse or horse-like animals.

As long as the client accepts the shop, the MSC should deal in good faith with the OP. I agree that adjusting the payment or having the OP reshop only the valet parking portion may be the way to go.

I think you should push back and speak with an account manager.

Equines are not the only critter here. Just check out what is shown at set up my hotel . com and find a lengthy list of valet job duties, of which parking cars is only one task. The OP has opened up can of worms...

[setupmyhotel.com]

... and a glossary might be provided for future shoppers. If you want a parking eval, say so. If you just want to know if they opened and closed your car doors for you, specify it. If you want more of the doorperson function, say that. If you want a general or extensive concierge service eval, please say so and identify the tasks.

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

As Rosie pointed out, 1SecretShop is a platform and as such, his/her grievance is with the MSC. The OP stated he/she has at least eight years experience. When the error was brought to his/her attention, that should have been corrected in the post's header. I am not a cheerleader for ISS, as their system of employing multiple pages is irritating to me, but that is personal, while the OP's header is business. It could even be considered libelous, in that this is a form of publishing and the statement in known to be false.

Yesterday I briefly reviewed the requirements for a hotel in NYC and it clearly stated, "You must drive a car to this location and utilize the valet service." If it was for 360 Intel, it was clearly spelled out before applying. However, I do believe the OP should be paid for the shop with a deduction or something, but to not pay at all is horrible if the rest of the shop was done correctly. I would keep trying to deal with them and try not to lose your temper...no snark.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

I can't imagine submitting an entire, lengthy hotel shop on the ISecretShop platform. Ouch!

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

@wrosie The OP definitely had reasons to think the way they did.

When I see "equine," I usually think about horses first. Are zebras equines? Sure, but ...

I really don't know how "vague" the guidelines were or how reasonable the OP was. Was there a report form for this shop? Was there a section on the report that asked about parking?

Busy BeeBBB has a good point here. I have never done a shop where I did not look at the report form first. There seem to always be questions not mentioned in the instructions to alert you to additional things to look for on your shop. And certainly questions about how long it took for your car to be returned when you left, if you were given a time stamped ticket, how much the parking cost, a parking receipt etc should have alerted the shopper to the fact they expected them to park a car. That said I have read on this forum of shoppers with hotel and fine dining shops asking permission ahead of time to bypass the parking requirement. I myself was granted this permission on a shop. So yes, especially if this msc would have agreed to that request, they should be reimbursing for the (I am assuming) well done rest of the shop.

Something else. This was one of the OP's first posts on this forum. So they were either lurking for a while or looked for a platform to vent on after the fact.

If after reviewing the guidelines for the shop, theycould have asked about not having a car here. Or if there was a question about using a car service, they should have contacted the scheduler and asked if that was acceptable or not.,

They might have found out from the community or scheduler that driving and parking a car was considered part of the shop.

But I still believe they should have been paid a decreased fee. If nothing else just reimbursement for their expenses.

It's easy to say what the MSC should do, but if the client won't pay based on the missing valet information, then the MSC is out the money. Since it was the shopper who did not complete the shop correctly, it should not be on the MSC to pay for something that the client wouldn't accept. And like somebody above said, sounds a little odd that a new shopper's first post is about a MS platform, instead of a specific MSC. Anyone who has been shopping for eight years would know the difference, and anyone who has done hotel shops for eight years would know what valet service is.

No not true candy Kane …
Valet is a varied word as explained above by MANY shopping eight or 80 years and it is still a varied word without the word CAR

@Candy Kane wrote:

It's easy to say what the MSC should do, but if the client won't pay based on the missing valet information, then the MSC is out the money. Since it was the shopper who did not complete the shop correctly, it should not be on the MSC to pay for something that the client wouldn't accept. And like somebody above said, sounds a little odd that a new shopper's first post is about a MS platform, instead of a specific MSC. Anyone who has been shopping for eight years would know the difference, and anyone who has done hotel shops for eight years would know what valet service is.

@sestrahelena wrote:

I can't imagine submitting an entire, lengthy hotel shop on the ISecretShop platform. Ouch!

I have submitted a few on iSS. Hotel/Casino shops are much easier to submit on iSS than they are on other platforms.

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Got stiffed for $400 by ISecretShop

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