I offered a mystery shopping company an offer to do two shops at the same location (which is allowed) for a bonus on each. One of the shops was bonused at my request, but the other scheduler refused. They then put both shops on my schedule and marked them as received with the note that I wouldn't do the shops because I wanted more than $10 bonus. I thought they would accept my offer since sometimes they have offered way more of a bonus and they often are not done until then. Other times they have literally begged me to get these shops done and to name my bonus.

Guess what, a week later, those stops are not yet done and they are offering more of a bonus. Rude. I'm planning to wait until there is a little more of a bonus and then...

I'm not saying anything about the shops or the company because... well...

I feel like shoppers just can't win. I told them I would be willing to go out of my way to get these done, but they just didn't want to cooperate and now want to make a big show of who's the boss. No esprit de corps here whatsoever.

Lol. You thought there was some camaraderie? You only are allowed to scratch their backs. Your itch will be ignored. But, I hope you get to get those shops at the highest bonus, so you can LOL.

But you're going to be there anyways, lol.

I don't know if it's because I am tired and in pain from an injured knee but the original post doesn't make much sense to me. I think I'll just take it as a vent and ignore it.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

. . . the original post doesn't make much sense to me.

It doesn't make sense to me, either. Two different schedulers didn't want to assign the shops to the OP, and yet somehow the shops showed up in the OP's Shop Log marked as Received with a note saying OP wouldn't do them? Say what?!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2023 10:33AM by shopnyc.

I think OP is saying that the schedulers made it look like he flaked on both shops because he could not only do the one with the bonus. He needed the bonus on both as he had requested. So he got punished because they ingored the condition he had set forth in his proposal.

I'm sorry but not completely clear - did you do the shops and they marked them as received but one didn't have a bonus? Or did you not do either shop?

Add me to the list of those for whom the OP's explanation is incomprehensible.

In addition I am not sure about your position in this whole mystery shopping world. Yes you are the boss of your business but the schedulers are the boss of our world for the mystery shopping companies. I do not understand how they can be called rude for not accepting your bonus offer. Here is what you wrote.
"I thought they would accept my offer since sometimes they have offered way more of a bonus and they often are not done until then. Other times they have literally begged me to get these shops done and to name my bonus.
Guess what, a week later, those stops are not yet done and they are offering more of a bonus. Rude."
How is that rude? I too have no idea what that means about the shop being in your account marked as received. Perhaps that made it so you could not take the shop the following week. In this business timing is everything . Because you may have been given a larger bonus three months ago does not mean you can get that same bonus any ole time. On the msc side they may not need the shop done as badly this time around. They have the right to hold out for someone willing to take the shop at a lower cost just like you have the right to hold out applying for it until the fee and bonus meets your requirements.

@mystery2me wrote:

But you're going to be there anyways, lol.

Was I though? If I'm going to do some shops, maybe I can fit theirs in. Maybe I was trying to plan a day that didn't work out.

I found their markings in my schedule rude and inaccurate. I'm not going to quote them. You're right, maybe they are trying to block me from taking the shops. This may be self-defeating for them. One of the schedulers should have just been honest and said, I'm sorry, I'm not ready for that amount. But they actually tried to get me to schedule myself and promised to adjust the bonus later, and then emailed me to say that they didn't want to give me that amount. I will never offer again. I legit though they would want me to do it for them earlier so it would be done and they wouldn't have to go literally begging.

Since almost every month they have texted or emailed me asking me to get the shop done, I thought they might want some assurance that it was done and that they didn't have to stress about it. The rude part was only after they encouraged me to assign myself the shops and promising to adjust the bonus and only after one of them was added did the other scheduler say that they would not give that bonus. The shop was removed from the schedule as agreed. But now the shops are on my schedule with remarks. Someone pointed out that this effectively blocks me from taking the shops later in the month since they have a rotation. It also means that they missed their rotation and they will have to pay even more later to get someone to do the shops.

I just think it's rude (since I can't use other swear words) that they would be shady. This may be self-defeating as they will have to pay someone else even more later to complete the shops. They are a lot of work.

Also, y'all are sorely mistaken about us not being employed by them. The shop dictates the terms, and it really is employment despite the fantasy about being independent contractors.

@sestrahelena wrote:

I think OP is saying that the schedulers made it look like he flaked on both shops because he could not only do the one with the bonus. He needed the bonus on both as he had requested. So he got punished because they ingored the condition he had set forth in his proposal.

Correct. They actually removed the one shop I had added, and I was not able to see dates for the other one and was not able to add it myself. I then logged in again and saw that they were on my schedule with notes. But they had also refused my terms. I had been a 10 shopper with them.

I'm pretty clear MSCs belong on the AITA thread on Reddit.

I intentionally left details out so I could not be identified. But basically,
1, wrote to scheduler with an offer to do some shops and requested a bonus, which she forwarded to a second sechduler.
2. They both acted like they agreed to this offer and encouraged me to add the shops.
3. I was able to add one but not the other because there were no dates showing.
4. After I added the one, the second scheduler refused to do shop for the offered bonus.
5. Since she refused, I requested that the shop I accepted be removed from my schedule as I was making an all or nothing offer.
6. It was removed.
7. I logged in again, and suddenly I had the two shops in my schedule as received with notes that I refused to do the shops.
8. Apparently, looks like a flake and I now am not able to schedule myself later.

So the rude part is trying to trick me into thinking they were going to pay the bonus and then saying they refused it after. And also even though they did not want to live up to the acceptance of the offer, they gave me flake marks when I had been a 10 shopper getting hero citations before. I wrongly thought I would extend an offer early since this is a difficult area and they have bonused a lot higher in the past. I imagined I was a reliable shopper based on my history with them and that they would accept because I'm an idiot.

@shopnyc wrote:

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

. . . the original post doesn't make much sense to me.

It doesn't make sense to me, either. Two different schedulers didn't want to assign the shops to the OP, and yet somehow the shops showed up in the OP's Shop Log marked as Received with a note saying OP wouldn't do them? Say what?!

I was contacting two different schedulers because they are different projects with the same MSC, same shop location, and can be done together but only in a certain order. Read my other posts.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2023 02:58AM by cherubino3.

@purpleicee wrote:

Lol. You thought there was some camaraderie? You only are allowed to scratch their backs. Your itch will be ignored. But, I hope you get to get those shops at the highest bonus, so you can LOL.

I know, right? I'm so naive!
I thought since I was a 10/10 shopper with them that they would be happy to work with me. I was just asking for a little more bonus. I think another poster was correct in that two blank shops marked as received (even though they had been removed or not assigned as agreed) is a punishment that knocks me out of rotation and lowers my overall scoring. That's what I get for trying to be nice. They might end up texting me like they have almost every month. Or not.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2023 03:05AM by cherubino3.

@cherubino3 wrote:

@mystery2me wrote:

But you're going to be there anyways, lol.

Was I though? If I'm going to do some shops, maybe I can fit theirs in. Maybe I was trying to plan a day that didn't work out.

I was just kidding. Some schedulers see that you have a shop in a particular location or city and then refuse to give a bonus on another shop, saying you are going to be there anyways. Which is not how it works, of course, especially if they had separately agreed to the bonuses. I'm wondering if that happened to you.

Before I terminated Trendsource, I would occasionally complete work, but only if there were a considerable PAD. The form required an entry in the "reason" box; mine was always irrelevant. I was, am and will always be an independent contractor. The reason I require more money has no bearing on business. Were I an employee, that would have been an acceptable question.

Yesterday, as an example, I had a job two doors down from another open shop. I sent the scheduler an offer to complete the work for an additional $3; it was rejected. That's life and that's business.

There appear to be differences msc to msc in how they handle bonuses, their good shoppers vs their not so good (perhaps less costly) shoppers, deadlines etc. These all seem to be part of the mystery of mystery shopping.

@shopperbob wrote:

I sent the scheduler an offer to complete the work for an additional $3; it was rejected. That's life and that's business.

Wow! $3!!! You're so unreasonable!

OP, I understood your post. And I agree that the schedulers acted poorly in putting the shops on your log as "received" and noting that you refused to do them because you didn't get your requested bonus. Why they didn't just cancel the scheduled shop and remove both that one and the second one from your list of "available" shops on the job board is kind of a mystery to me. As is why they agreed to your bonus on the one shop, then reneged. Sounds to me like they took a burn at your request and retaliated. That's uncalled for. If you can't do a particular shop without a bonus, and they can't extend a bonus, then OK, fine all the way around. No hard feelings. You may think they're being ridiculous in not accepting your offer, and they may think you're being ridiculous for asking, but that's how this business sometimes goes. It's business, not personal, but if sounds as if they made it personal. That's unprofessional.

@cherubino3 wrote:

Apparently, looks like a flake and I now am not able to schedule myself later.

I'm assuming this is in Sassie, because of the Received status. Are you able to click on and see the Citations to check for sure whether or not they considered it a flake?

@BirdyC wrote:

OP, I understood your post.

Thank you! And thank you for the rest. I also feel like people need to understand that not all of us are uncomfortable giving away all of the details since this is actually a public board.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2023 12:41AM by cherubino3.

Thanks for clarifying and I understand the desire to be anon.

I have a company that I frequently worked with and received an email for a shop at $15 that was "negotiable". I asked for $17. They stated they weren't able to give the extra $2. I continued to get emails on it for several days until they went to $17, then someone else got that location (which is fine, I'm busy with personal stuff this month). It strikes me as pennywise and pound foolish. I'm not sure what schedulers make but I would imagine it costs less to give a $2 or $3 bonus to a reliable and consistent shopper and get a shop completed than it does to continue spending a week recruiting for shops, but what do I know.

@joanna81 wrote:

Thanks for clarifying and I understand the desire to be anon.

I have a company that I frequently worked with and received an email for a shop at $15 that was "negotiable". I asked for $17. They stated they weren't able to give the extra $2. I continued to get emails on it for several days until they went to $17, then someone else got that location (which is fine, I'm busy with personal stuff this month). It strikes me as pennywise and pound foolish. I'm not sure what schedulers make but I would imagine it costs less to give a $2 or $3 bonus to a reliable and consistent shopper and get a shop completed than it does to continue spending a week recruiting for shops, but what do I know.

Right!? They have to make themselves feel important. Not sure what their pay structure is.

Well folks, trying to be helpful cost me deactivation. I shopped for them going back 15 years ago. I wonder if I should complain about this experience to the CEO. It won't get me reinstated, but maybe it will make them rethink how they work with people?

cherubino3 lamentes--..... trying to be helpful cost me deactivation.

Bob comments--Bestmark deactivated me in 2007, stating in a letter it was due to an unacceptable number of occasions where I requested more money. I am still here, but they are "Gone With The Wind," having been merged into 2nd 2 None. Their termination of our relationship never had the slightest effect upon me.

I've got another similar issue going on and am currently awaiting on a response. I may escalate it, because I do agree that some of the higher levels should be aware of what is going on. They may or may not care, they might still want the jobs to go to the lowest bidder, but they should be made aware of shady practices that get them posted on boards and forums like this one, imo.

@cherubino3 wrote:

Well folks, trying to be helpful cost me deactivation. I shopped for them going back 15 years ago. I wonder if I should complain about this experience to the CEO. It won't get me reinstated, but maybe it will make them rethink how they work with people?

I had a scheduler offer a date to do the job, and then at 07:00 (AM) of the date SHE suggested, she canceled the job and gave me a zero. And I have no idea why. It's ok, I don't like the way they manipulate their pay schedule after the fact. I was just going to do the job because I need to go to the bank anyway for another matter. But it stinks just the same.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2023 07:52PM by Morledzep.