My friend is also into this game and having this experience. The emails are very specific like, please answer question D3 with the question written out. However, the questions do not match the survey. The survey has something entirely different for D3 and that exact question they are requesting to be answered is not anywhere on the survey, so it's not like it's just an error with the numbering. Each email asks for answers to 2-3 questions like this where they are not on the original survey.

Said friend got all the surveys back over 10 days after doing the shops with very specific questions being required with the demand that they be returned within 12 hours on a Friday.

I'm really appalled at this and bewildered by it. My friend has other jobs that were done today that are also due at the end of the day. This friend and I have been doing this for about a year with many jobs under our belts. So it's not like an evaluation being way out of my friend's league, etc.

I guess I'm writing in part as a vent but also wondering how others handle similar situations. I said I would say something like I want to make sure you get the information you need but what you're asking for doesn't match my survey with screenshots of the questions. I think I'd also say I needed an extension since i have other work and obligations for today but could I get it to them in 12 business hours. How have you handled similar situations if you've faced them?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2023 03:34AM by olympia tennenbaum.

I don't think I've encountered that specific situation, but I did get a lot of back and forth about screenshots of my spam folder not covering the whole date range they wanted. When I would finish one edit, they would want another edit. When I finished that one, they requested I re-edit the other thing I wanted to do. It went on for over a month!! I almost gave up, but it was finally approved. Way more complicated that it should have been.

And I did a set of three in person shops that had to be done in one day, only to find out the the company, the scheduler was subcontracting for never had the reports set up. I ended up doing one report and getting paid for all three visits. There was supposed to be a request for follow-up on the first one but never heard back.

It was really odd because it was one mystery shopping company that was paying but the reports were filled in another MSCs system. And the second MSC does their own recruiting normally so I have no idea why the first company was even involved. The first company is a normal MSC, not a scheduling company.

I did 4 phone shops- luxury watch- 2 of the later ones have been approved- 2 of the earlier ones still showing pending review. I tried to apply for more- found that the directions which I printed and read over 4 times did not correspond to the questions on the certification test. When I wrote the scheduler she sent me the correct answers- I then tried to retake the test and the system was locked. I will not bother with these anymore- seems there is some issue with the guidelines not corresponding to the reports. Not going to waste my time and effort only not to be paid.

@Funny oldgal wrote:

I did 4 phone shops- luxury watch- 2 of the later ones have been approved- 2 of the earlier ones still showing pending review. I tried to apply for more- found that the directions which I printed and read over 4 times did not correspond to the questions on the certification test. When I wrote the scheduler she sent me the correct answers- I then tried to retake the test and the system was locked. I will not bother with these anymore- seems there is some issue with the guidelines not corresponding to the reports. Not going to waste my time and effort only not to be paid.

I'm not sure who is doing phone shops. These were all in person. It just seems really wrong to ask someone to rewrite something responding to questions that were not on the survey. It's also been 10+ days and was a package of jobs so asking for really detailed conversations about watch movement for different models seems really impractical/unlikely.

I really hope my friend takes some screenshots to show them that the questions they claimed needed to be addressed weren't even on the form.

Has anyone ever pushed back on responding in 12 hours? Getting that midday on a Friday seems SO rude and inconsiderate.

I had something similar with additional details requested and I was out doing a dinner shop that was very invovled and due by midnight. I made the edits, thank god they weren't invovled, but I did let the editor know that I did not find it acceptable to write me at dinner time on a Friday and tell me I had 8 hours to respond to them. I did not hear back but I don't know how they would have responded if I had said I could not do it in their time frame.

I often see these 8 or 12 hour requests in my email when I wake up in the not so early morning on the west coast. I have no idea what time zone the editor is in but it leaves me usually only a few hours to answer in my morning. Fortunately I rarely schedule anything for morning here except a cup of coffee. I often wonder how shoppers in Hawaii even manage these middle of the night deadlines.

@sandyf wrote:

I often see these 8 or 12 hour requests in my email when I wake up in the not so early morning on the west coast. I have no idea what time zone the editor is in but it leaves me usually only a few hours to answer in my morning. Fortunately I rarely schedule anything for morning here except a cup of coffee. I often wonder how shoppers in Hawaii even manage these middle of the night deadlines.

Yeah, I have gotten some that don't allow for any daylight response at all. The editors must be in another country.

I get in a habit of repeating shops that I like or work for me. Trying to remember details after a week for a shop that I do in multiples could be very difficult. I haven't worked for this particular company but I'll be putting them on my 10 foot pole list.