Hey all —

I don’t want to name names, but I’m irked about the response I got from a scheduler when I had to drop some shops. It is someone who has been posted around here, so I should have expected it…

I generally try to let my schedulers know if there’s an instance where I can’t complete a shop — in this case, it was a legitimate situation involving my day job that required me to travel this week that just happened to come up as a possibility on Thursday and finalized yesterday; the two shops I’ve had since the end of last month, and I’d slotted them in to complete on Monday the 10th— but that was before this came up. They are due the 12th, there is a specific note that says there are NO extensions for the client — so I wrote a note explaining the situation and please offer them to another client.

I’d done something similar with 7 other jobs I had next week — all the schedulers were gracious, and put them back on the board or offered me extensions when I get back.

This particular woman decided to guilt me that “you’ve had them all month and knew they were due”, as well as left the note I sent her on my shop board and a citation for each.

1. They weren’t due til the 12th — I planned on doing them the 10th. You didn’t ask for a specific date when they were assigned or you’d know this. Not my problem.

2. Would you rather I flake? I made it a point to reach out to you. So you post this on my shop board? I am quite reliable — and I thought the preference by schedulers was that a shopper reached out so these things could be reassigned and you wouldn’t be stuck wondering what happened on the due date.

3. If the expectation is they get done the second you post them — why put a date range? Why not put a specific date and you can pick the person who will do them the earliest? I have a real issue being talked to like a child by you. If they are due on the 12th — then there’s a chance I’d have done them on the 12th. I don’t take them with the expectation of NOT doing them.

4. These will go quickly — I snagged them early because they are snapped up within an hour of going on the board. It’s a popular shop.

I just had to vent a bit… no, I’m not a full time shopper, and my day job comes first — but I felt like I got a snotty response for doing what I am supposed to do.

N

Sounds like Nikki...

I just attempted to do a similar one yesterday and the restaurant was closed last minute for whatever reason. So frustrating to drive out there and have it closed. I'm sorry this happened to you. I don't think the citation will really hinder you if you have a long history of completed shops.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2023 06:35PM by Mellifluy.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Regardless of who the scheduler was, she was not out of line in this instance from what the OP described.

The OP snagged two popular shops early because the shops tend to disappear from the job board quickly. The OP has had the shops since the end of last month. The deadline was 4/12 and the OP planned to do them on 4/10.

The OP knew last Thursday (4/6) that there was a possibility they would have to travel for work this week and be unavailable or inconvenient to do the shop on 4/10. (It is not clear when the OP needed to start their travel this week.) Unless the shops had blackout dates from 4/7 through 4/9, the responsible thing would be to do the shops on one of those days.

It was the OP's prerogative to plan to do the shops on 4/10 originally, but it was also the OP's responsibility to get the shops done by the deadline.

Instead of doing the responsible thing and honoring their commitment to perform the shops, the OP was irked and felt entitled enough to post about a "snotty" scheduler. For the OP to blame the scheduler and say "Not my problem"? Snotty.

Not being a full-time shopper and the day job comes first? That's not a good excuse. Notifying the scheduler? Sure, that was better than flaking but that was a low bar to meet.

The scheduler issued a citation for each dropped shop and documented the reason for the citations. That was her prerogative. There was nothing snotty about that.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz I totally agree with you.

Put yourself in the schedulers shoes and try to feel what she feels.

I had an experience with a snotty scheduler, too. I guess they have all the power until they are begging for you to do a shop. My experience was a little different in that I offered to do a set of shop for a $20 bonus each. After it seemed like they agreed, suddenly one of the schedulers said she wasn't going to give me a $20 bonus because last month I did it for a $10 bonus. And I fired back that back in August of 2023 she offered a $45 bonus to get me down there to complete 1 of the 2 shops. In any case, she was hoping to shame me into doing it anyway and I said that I had offered a fair and honest deal which should have been acceptable, and that I didn't appreciate the terms changing after it appeared to have been accepted and to remove the shop as I didn't appreciate it. Pretty sure they will offer a larger bonus later in the month to get it done, or text me asking when I will do the second shop since I did that 1st shop. But I can't be arsed at this point to go out of my way. I did the one shop for a $10 bonus because I needed something from the store. But not having a need, I don't want to go since their shops can be demanding. Anyways, it happens sometimes. Bad day, I guess?

OP, in your own words, "...in this case, it was a legitimate situation involving my day job that required me to travel this week that just happened to come up as a possibility on Thursday and finalized yesterday; the two shops I’ve had since the end of last month, and I’d slotted them in to complete on Monday the 10th— but that was before this came up."

BusyBee is right. You apparently had three or four days in which you knew that you might have to travel, so why not do those shops during those few days, rather than simply deciding to cancel? You had four days in which to do them (unless dates were blacked out). You gave the scheduler two days in which to fill them. And you're upset with her? Whether she's snotty or not doesn't change the fact that you could have chosen to do them before you'd planned to and didn't. If there's a window of time instead of a fixed date, then couldn't you have re-arranged your schedule before your possible travel dates?

It sounds as if you take on too much MS work given you have a full-time job with travel requirements. You apparently canceled or re-scheduled a total of nine shops for this week. That's a LOT of shops to cancel or request extensions for in just one week. I realize that many people juggle full-time jobs with MS, and naturally, the FT job comes first, but maybe you're overbooking yourself with MS, It kind of sounds as if this (cancelling or re-scheduling/asking for extensions) is something you need to do somewhat often.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2023 03:26PM by BirdyC.

Were these shops M-F shops? Is there a reason that you couldn't have squeezed them in on the weekend?

I understand prioritizing your FT job, but like others have pointed out, it sounds like you could have given more notice, or did them earlier if you had them since the end of last month. I didn't find her response necessarily snotty or that it was necessary to give a citation, but every company handles things differently and she may have just been following protocol on her side.

@joanna81 wrote:

Were these shops M-F shops? Is there a reason that you couldn't have squeezed them in on the weekend?

If these are the certain restaurant shops that are very popular, I'm guessing it's an issue because multiple shops are assigned at each location, and only one shop per day is what makes these difficult to schedule/change dates on. You can't necessarily just pick another day, because there may already be another shop assigned those day(s).

From the OP's description of the shops, no specific date was (or needed to be) picked. The OP simply planned on doing the shops on 4/10.

If it’s the restaurant shop I think it is once you choose your date from the set available dates that’s it! The email that is sent out for shops states no date changes as the restaurant is shopped multiple times a month.

I’ve personally never had issues with this MSC however I see how curt the communication from the MSC on this particular shop can be.

At this point it is what it is. Whether or not OP had more time to notify the MSC of her cancellation the MSC would still frown upon this. As it states in the email shops cannot be rescheduled.

"1. They weren’t due til the 12th — I planned on doing them the 10th. You didn’t ask for a specific date when they were assigned or you’d know this. Not my problem."

To the OP - I certainly can feel your pain but also I feel that you are in the wrong in this instance. For the same reasons the others posted above me. Maybe look at it in a different way. Say that you found a slow leak in your faucet that was creating a problem with the floor underneath. You call for a plumber and he says hey, I can come out between Wednesday and Friday. Since it is a slow leak and has been going on for awhile you say "Okay. That works.". You take the time and days off of work waiting at home for him, and then the plumber calls you on Thursday - hey, listen my other job had a more important issue than yours so, sorry - can't make it to you. Hope you can find someone else before it blows a hole in your floor.

How will you feel at that point? Maybe that is not the best example, but I'm trying to point out a different perspective.

I, personally, have never had any issues if it's the company/scheduler I am thinking it is. Sorry you went through this.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

From the OP's description of the shops, no specific date was (or needed to be) picked. The OP simply planned on doing the shops on 4/10.

Exactly! So they could have been done sooner. OP chose not to, even after finding out that he may have needed to travel on that date. The OP implying that it's the scheduler's fault for not asking on what date he was going to do the shop is kinda bizarre, since the shop is set up to be done within a window. Why would the scheduler ask for a specific date?

So this isn't the shop some people are thinking it is, where you choose a specific date and can't reschedule.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2023 12:48PM by BirdyC.

Anybody else on reddit? This feels like AITA.

Except those who ask ATIA questions are usually willing to entertain the possibility that they may be the A. The OP? Not at all.

LOL!