As many of you already know my husband and I both are shoppers. Some of our regular assignments close by I do one round then he does the next round. So if one of us is not eligible for the shop (due to rotation or whatever) we can still see the shop and possibly still make the money.
I've seen instances where basically the MSP says the shop is no good but it does not go back on the board and get re-shopped. I believe the MSP is using the shop but invalidating your shop and not paying you. (Marketforce can do this with the "shops must be so many minutes apart bs" of course differing contracts wouldn't even know about the other contracted assignment. Happened to me years ago with an orange [exclamation point] discount store and a jewelry store in the mall across the street. Left the first one and ran over to the mall and to the jewelry store, they invalidated and didn't pay me for either shop but had two good shops they could use for different contracts!)
Recently, my husband got confused and thought all of his shops were nighttime's except one. Unfortunately, another one turned out to also be a daytime. He had shopped it at night. He wrote the scheduler and made a note etc. They told him they would try to get it changed. Ultimately though the shop was rejected for the wrong daypart. This was to be fine and I would just re-shop the location. However, Ipsos used the shop but rejected his shop and the shop did not go back on the board. I understand perfectly that they are "within their rights" to reject the shop. But I still believe that this is unethical. MSP's should not get paid for assignments then refuse to pay us, even if it is "company policy". It is a punitive policy designed to punish the shopper and I think it is totally unethical.
Man, I miss Maritz! the days of a phone call to change a day part!
What are your thoughts?

Business "ethics" is a joke. It's profits first, profits second, and profits third.

That being said, I honestly doubt MSCs use reports that are denied.

That's my belief system, and I stand by it!

(And I have, in fact, been paid in full for shops that the end client rejected; more than once. And I have been paid in full for shops that were impossible to complete for reasons beyond my control. I wrote here a few months ago about my staggering attempt to track down a non-existent store for a cell-phone shop that was on the board for $150. I went to 3 different addresses, using hints from current occupiers of the listed premises, and found the store just no longer existed. Therefore, I could not get the required photos of the "wall of stocked items", store exterior, interior, etc. I did receive the full $150 pay, even though I met NONE of the requirements of the shop. I did, however, take photos and got names/business cards from every location, showing the location had no cell phone store, LOL! )

While I suspect there is a desire to fix up and submit a rejected shop to the client, I also am aware of a few cases of client fury with being presented with a shop for which the shopper was not paid for one reason or another. It is risky business for an MSC to do it.

There are legitimate reasons why a rejected shop may not be returned to the job board. First, often contracts do not require 100% coverage of contracted sites. A wise scheduler will try to cover all 100%, but if their contractual requirement is 95%, they may not reschedule a rejected site if they have enough locations already and would have to bonus out of their own pocket any additional shops for that round. Second, reposting the shop does not guarantee they will have a taker who will reliably get it done. I have received phone calls indicating there is a short deadline reshop to be done, caused by a flake or a reject, and looking for my commitment to getting it done in a timely manner. Once accepted, the shop appears on my list.

Bottom line, if you think an MSC is not playing fairly with you, don't work for them. If everybody else sings their praises, a little introspection may help you understand whether your response has been a response to the insult of rejection or a true suspicion of fraud.

Flash recommends-- if you think an MSC is not playing fairly with you, don't work for them.

Bob Agrees-That says it all!

How do you know Ipsos used the shop?

It is possible you can't see it due to shopper rotations or a "block" on your account. My husband and I are signed up with one company. I don't see shops I did in February that my husband sees under his account. If I ask for the shop, the scheduler will submit an "override" to give it to me.
Otherwise, like Flash said, I have noticed a lot of shops that don't show on the board but will come to me in a direct email request.

There are MANY MANY shops that would never go to the job board. (And for many reasons) just because you don't see it doesn't mean it was submitted to the client.

@luckygirl0100 wrote:

There are MANY MANY shops that would never go to the job board. (And for many reasons) just because you don't see it doesn't mean it was submitted to the client.

This piqued my curiosity. I'm wondering about all the wonderful shops I'm most likely missing out on...

This is a red/white and blue gas station with the Indian symbol. It was for base pay, 15 dollars. I don't believe I'm on rotation, plus I can see shops that I'm on rotation for. I did not think this way when it was Maritz. I don't like that we can not communicate with this company except via email. I can call schedulers for many companies but not this company. But they hold the majority of the contracts so... if you quit working for them you might as well quit doing them altogether. As for MF I know what to do and how to do it now. And I don't take all those low-paying shops anymore. I sit back and wait till they pay what I want am more selective now. I just miss those hamburger shops with the great peanut oil fried fries because my doctors said I have to eat better! wah wah! I am disabled and like doing gas stations and on-site inspections and working for MYSELF! Ga would probably hire me right now to drive a school bus or be a substitute teacher. I've thought about this and what it would do for my student loans but unfortunately, I'm lame and want to keep doing what I'm doing working for myself.

@dallastrekgeek wrote:

This piqued my curiosity. I'm wondering about all the wonderful shops I'm most likely missing out on...

Schedulers assign as many shops as they can to reliable shoppers ahead of time, and they never make it to the job boards. Some shops don't appear on a shopper's page because that shopper is out of rotation. Popular shops are grabbed as soon as they are released to the boards, so other shoppers may never see them.

Some shoppers may be barred temporarily by the msp from certain companies, so those shoppers never see those companies' shops. Some ms companies prefer that test shops for new clients go only to experienced shoppers, so newbies won't see them at all. Some companies that have luxury goods clients require your photo in your profile; if no photo, then no luxury shops from them on your job board.

At one time some ms companies gave first dibs on high value shops only to gold-certified shoppers, but I don't know how prevalent this has been since covid.

Cruises and upscale resorts are examples of shops reserved for experienced, reliable shoppers who can fit a profile. (They went away with covid, but may be coming back.) They may require the ms company to pay for the shopper to travel to and from a port city here or abroad, so there's too much in up-front expenses to use a newbie. They almost never appear on job boards, being pre-assigned to someone the scheduler knows is capable, has the right wardrobe and accessories, a high credit card limit, and is reliable. (If a cruise shop is screwed up, a do-over may not be possible, unlike a traditional hotel or restaurant shop.)

Hope this helps.
(Edited for typos.)

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2022 06:55AM by Susan L..