Share Your Worst Shop Rejection/Nonpayment /No Reimbursement Story

Got a rejection recently from a hamburger place because I added extra cheese. The instructions didn’t mention this as a problem, and listed specific things that would’ve been a problem. I didn’t fight it, cause it doesn’t matter anyway and they are nice to work with.

Same place I agreed to do a shop and went and did it 10 minutes later. I never got confirmation and it was assigned to someone else. Now I’m out here doing scenarios for myself lol. All good. My mistake. Should’ve confirmed assignment.

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Reimbursements

Contact them directly by phone. Message me if you need help. The phone number is on emails.

Why couldn't you just follow up as a prospective client? I don't understand why you had to "out" yourself?

@Tanischri87 wrote:

Got a rejection recently from a hamburger place because I added extra cheese.

Was this for a burger place that is a local chain that has recently expanded a lot?

@bradkcrew wrote:

I have messed up a few shops and not been paid, and have had a couple with out of pocket expenses that weren't reimbursed, but nothing huge yet thankfully.

I am just wondering if there are horror stories out there of losing large payments or reimbursements?

Hi. I only got stiffed once. It was for a company that is no longer in business and like 15 years ago. Every other time, I was not paid it was for a reason that was passable as being valid I suppose. There is a shop for the USPS where you’re supposed to wait 35 minutes between locations. I did the second shop 24 minutes into the “blackout period” and wasn’t paid. Hey...rules are rules but I’m at a loss to explain the rationale behind that one.

The closest I’ve been to getting shafted was one time when I had to make a pre-visit phone call for an apartment complex. I made like 11 calls over five days. The shop was going to pay $25 and a $75 bonus. But since I could not get someone to answer the phone...the MSC paid me $5. Five dollars. Yeah...I was pretty hot about that one but...oh well.

1_Eval_Dude,

Wow, that's a lot. And I haven't worked for the shadow company in ages, since they adopted that name but I didn't work for them often before they changed their name. But I can honestly say that there is no way I would have left that apartment complex without my laptop. Not for any amount of money that they might pay to do the shop.

@FrugalCat wrote:

I had a grocery store rejected a few years ago because I did not shop the seafood department. Their guidelines said to wait 2 minutes for assistance. All the seafood (and meat, and deli) employees were clustered around a sample display that Boar's Head had brought in to showcase new products. In other words, I was ignored for 2 minutes because the staff was too busy eating samples meant for customers. Wouldn't the store want to know about this and counsel the employees about customer service? Nah, just reject the shop!

It seems to me that you DID shop the Seafood Department and did not receive service. That rejection would have really ticked me off.

I've only had one MSC reject 3 shops - all were done on the same night and same client. Wendy's drive thru - shops done between midnight and 2 AM. The text I got and guidelines stated I had to order sandwich cooked on the grill, fries and drink. At the time, Wendy's had a buy one burger, get the second for $1.00. So I bought the second burger on all three shops - the employees really pushed it and I thought they would be thinking "who in their right mind would turn down a $5+ dollar burger for $1" and I could possibly be identified as a shopper. These were highly bonused shops due to how late they were and the locations. All three were rejected because of the extra burger. I tried arguing that the guidelines did not say we were limited to one single sandwich, one order of fries or one drink. My bad, I did not download the guidelines, but did have the text message. They wouldn't budge. Learning opportunity for me.

@bradkcrew wrote:

@1_Eval_Dude

That's horrible! Were you using an alias, is that why you hesitated to say something?

omg you read all that?

Some years ago, I did a lawn care estimate shop. Shop went fine, absolutely no issues. However the MS company (now out of business) never paid. They eventually stopped responding to my queries for payment. I contacted the client directly and explained the situation. They apologized and paid me directly!

I've been shopping over 20 years with only the rare rejection but it seems the last few months I've run into a few - generally my own fault. I shopped a hotel breakfast buffet that I had done several times. The requirement was to pay in cash, leave the full amount on the table, and try to see what the server did with the cash if possible. I completely spaced at the end and paid with a credit card. UGH. I told the scheduler and there was no need for me to actually write up/submit the shop because no chance of getting paid. That was an expensive lesson at $45 plus tip out of my pocket.

Another one.. I was doing an fancy chocolate shop I had shopped before. I knew the general location on the particular street. Went into the shop, paid my $25+ for a tiny box of candy, walked out, continued up the street and there was a second location which was the correct one. (The store was in the process of moving but had both locations temporarily open). I did the correct address and got paid for it... at least I enjoyed the (unreimbursed) chocolate from the wrong shop as well.

Third one I did recently - at least there was no out of pocket. It was the bank shop where you inquire about credit cards but are not allowed to do anything using the ipad - must sign everything on paper. I went through the whole thing - guy was great and even got me approved for a new card. I viewed the disclosures on the ipad and he told me to page through. I didn't sign the ipad but because I touched it, my shop was rejected. I think that one was supposed to pay $40 or $50.

I may have just screwed up on 2 USPS shops. I think they were like 33 minutes apart. Oh well. My mistake. Its only money!!

At least 10 years ago, I signed up for a roof quote shop for $150 and was required to have 3 companies come out and give me an estimate on "Good, Better, Best" pricing. One of the companies did not offer those three tiers, and the editor (I still remember her name, but not the company, I think they are out of business) basically said that I did not perform the shop correctly because they only gave me two pricing tiers. She advised for me to call and see if I could get pricing emailed to me, so I did, and they still only offered the two pricing tiers. Then she asked me to go on their website and get screen shots, which again, came up with two tiers. The whole shop wound up being rejected, and the sales pitches were horribly long of course, so it was a complete waste of time and then the follow up phone calls, emails, screen shots, etc were an additional waste of time.

I also did an apartment shop with a camera the company sent me once, with a really gross hawaiian shirt - it didn't fit right and I improvised by trying to put the camera in the buttonhole of a sweater but it didn't capture video right, so although they could hear all the audio, they rejected the shop.

I also once did a casino shop - for Bare - it required a LOT of interactions at a smallish casino that didn't even have the number of staff to meet the requirements.

Luckily, none of them were things that required me to put money out, but they all would have been high paying fees that I missed out on. The roofing one was the most aggravating.

They only have to be 30 minutes apart. They have to be 35 minutes after open and before close.

@Insight wrote:

I may have just screwed up on 2 USPS shops. I think they were like 33 minutes apart. Oh well. My mistake. Its only money!!

@mystery2me wrote:

@bradkcrew wrote:

@1_Eval_Dude

That's horrible! Were you using an alias, is that why you hesitated to say something?

omg you read all that?

lol, well, it got more and more bizarre...who leaves somewhere without filing a police report on their stolen $2800 laptop (plus proprietary whatever and what not)...and who thinks that a MSC is going to in any way help you?? I was...intrigued I guess!

@FrugalCat wrote:

I had a grocery store rejected a few years ago because I did not shop the seafood department. Their guidelines said to wait 2 minutes for assistance. All the seafood (and meat, and deli) employees were clustered around a sample display that Boar's Head had brought in to showcase new products. In other words, I was ignored for 2 minutes because the staff was too busy eating samples meant for customers. Wouldn't the store want to know about this and counsel the employees about customer service? Nah, just reject the shop!

What I learned from getting these specific grocery stores rejected, is that you DID go to the department. You saw that there were associates there, and they ignored you. You tried to get their attention, tried to talk to them. You watched and waited and "shopped" the display case, and were never served.

I made that mistake with the bakery.. It was clearly closed, everything was put away and the prep area behind the counter was dark. There was no one there to serve me. So when I answered the question about shopping in that department, I said no. Which got my shop automatically rejected, because you MUST go to each department and try to be served. They tried to make a comeback after the Covid restrictions were relaxed, but it apparently didn't work. I don't miss them anymore now that Kroger found a new MSC.

@bradkrew -

I think the obvious answers to that question are 1) Someone who is naive, new to the industry, who respects the relationship his client has with their clients, want's to make sure his actions are within the guidelines of his client and did not wish to muddy the waters with what appeared to be the single largest provider in the Portland area of high paying shops he was seeking to specialize in. There was also the fact I was using an alias... calling the police to the scene would have (for a non-emergency) taken several hours and blown my cover. I knew also police reports of that nature could be filed online.

I'm not sure how you think calling the police to the location would have made a difference in getting the laptop back. With the hindsight of seeing how they blocked and interfered with allowing me to view the surveillance footage, they certainly would not have handed it over without a subpoena and it would have likely been altered or destroyed or mysteriously lost. A responding officer would have no authority to demand or confiscate it without any eye witnesses to verify the crime had taken place.

Other than indirectly implying I am a fool and making light of someone else's costly misfortune, I'm not quite sure what the point of your questioning is.

Footnote: A police report was filed online with the city of Gresham and a lawsuit is underway against both the property management company and The Shadow Agency. I might respect rules, guidelines and relationships with a regard that is idealistic and outdated but I am also a person who doesn't retreat and does not hesitate to use every tool and tactic to get justice.

Yeah, I hear what you are trying to say - but the reality of the situation is by the time the tour was over and the device discovered missing... it's more likely it was no longer on the property. And even had it been, obstinantly refusing to leave the property after making a claim the laptop was stolen to people who may likely be part of the plot in some way is a surefire way to get yourself several citations (trespassing, menacing, causing a disturbance) or even get yourself arrested and your credibility undermined. Not a smart or desirable topper to a day that has already gone south.

@1_Eval_Dude You never know how you will react in a situation until you are in it, and of course the alias makes it all weirder, so who knows what I would have done.

@joanna81 wrote:

"I also did an apartment shop with a camera the company sent me once, with a really gross hawaiian shirt - it didn't fit right and I improvised by trying to put the camera in the buttonhole of a sweater but it didn't capture video right, so although they could hear all the audio, they rejected the shop."

Yes, in regard to video shops - to anyone considering one or has been assigned one for the first time - these kinds of shops warrant much more preparation and practice before actually performing the shop because there are more moving parts and chances for failure. On a video shop, the key element is the video footage of the target and the shop. Also, there is little room for error and no room for omission. It is my opinion these kinds of shops are not the best opportunity for either new shoppers or even seasoned shoppers do not consider carefully all the ways they differ from other shops they have gotten used to.

Rehearsing the shop at least twice is something I highly recommend., The first run is to make sure every question and every response given to you as a requirement in your scenario feels natural, flows comfortably and is used the way it is worded in the scenario. Ideally you would want to run through it several times with a person who also is at least familiar with how leasing agencies conduct business. Feeling natural and comfortable In my honest opinion is paramount to keeping your identity a secret and not becoming flustered or creating suspicion with your target. You also must be certain you tick off every item you are asked to cover by the client. Forgetting to ask about a specific amenity or forgetting to ask the LP anything specifically mentioned in the scenario or guidelines like: about how close the nearest Starbucks is, directions to the closest grocery store, what the crime rate is in the area etc must be clearly addressed or you stand a good chance of not being paid. Once you have that down, I suggest you familiarize yourself with running through it several times with the video equipment you are planning or have been assigned or provided just to get used to it. This a totally different effort from familiarizing yourself with how to use and operate the camera equipment and how to download or transfer the video. Why? because its easy to do things innocently without thinking that can totally screw up your video - like positioning your hands, or the brochure while talking in direct line of the camera blocking parts of the recording, scratching an itch or making adjustments to your collar or putting something in your pocket can shift the angle and view of a button cam - you get the idea now.

Being familiar and comfortable with the equipment, using it and understanding its role along with being meticulous about the shop's guidelines, questions and objectives in addition to testing and verifying it is charged and operational immediately before the shop - and having a redundancy device recording video as well in case one fails are all good ways to maximize your chances of your shop being paid - but represent a lot more preparation and effort than most shoppers are used to, will consider and I think more than most shoppers want to bother with.

@bradkcrew

That is it exactly . . . it never occurred to me to have a plan for how to react in the event my personal property was stolen while performing a shop. Then it never occurred to me that the company I was working on behalf of would have absolutely no guidance to reference -- and even then, as I new shopper who was surprised initially by how "on your case" nearly all coordinators had been with reminders telling you everything from a shop was assigned to reminders you have not yet checked a certain box to show you agree with this, that or the other, reminders you must download the guidelines, reminders your due-date is approaching etc, I had no plan or knew I would need one for a shop coordinator to be completely avoidant and non-responsive...

but I do now!

This isn't really a shop rejection, it's getting terminated.
I agreed to do some resetting of grocery checkout candy displays at a store close to me. Back then the company name was Certified Reports, I believe. I was told that the local merchandising rep would contact me before the day of the visit and finalize details. The call never came. I called Certified Reports and told them that if I didn't hear from the rep by 9pm the night before the scheduled visit day that I would not be making the visit. The call never came, and the next morning I emailed Certified Reports and told them that I wouldn't be visiting the store. I went on with my day.

The next day Certified Reports calls me and I got terminated. The person at Certified Reports was well aware of who dropped the ball, but I got terminated anyway. He told me:
"We cannot tell our client that their rep was the one who messed up. If we do that, we risk losing the client. So we are telling them that you messed up and are terminating you. That way we save face." Wow.

I forgot that I recently had a competitor shop rejected, I went to the wrong address (probably the client!) Good news is that I enjoyed the coffee and croissant and it was an inexpensive lesson. And they didn't reduce my "self-assign" status.

I did a shop for a local furniture store in my area. They unexpectedly changed their hours that day (handwritten sign on the door!) and due to a certain company’s VERY strict 8 hour window policy, I lost the shop and had my entire account deactivated because of it.

The store changed the paint color on the building recently, and removed their sign (to fix up so it matched, I guess) so it took forever to find the place as well. Was in the area the other day and noticed the sign was back and it appeared their hours were normal again. Grrr.

I took a high-paying shop a couple of years ago where I had to purchase a laptop over the phone, have it shipped, take pictures, and then return. The laptop to purchase had to be over $900. I picked one that was around $1000, but during the call, the operator offered me a "online discount" and lowered the price to around $800. The shop was rejected because the purchase was below the $900 listed in the guidelines. I argued to the scheduler that it would have looked suspicious to pass on an $200 discount over the phone, but they wouldn't have it. This is the only company with whom I had shops rejected, ever. I do not shop with them anymore.

When I started doing Sonics again for the EYEball, I ordered tater tots with cheese out of habit. I realized my mistake, hit the red button, and asked if they could make them regular. "Sure." I got regular tots for the picture, but I was still charged for tots with cheese, so I submitted it and said that I was charged incorrectly on the receipt. I was paid for the shop. Sorry, Sonic, but I wasn't going to take that hit.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown

@jazzzyjd wrote:

I definitely had one that I thought was so wrong and egregious that I spent a tonne of time trying to get it accepted. It was for a gas station convenience store. The stores were franchised and the receipt listed another address miles away (say 15 or so). I shared my google location for the whole day and maintained I could not have possibly been at this other location and the photos were of the correct location. No payment. It wasn't that much money but I had driven out of my way, bought food I wouldn't eat, overpaid for gas and no payment. All because the store had the wrong address in it's register (only the one inside not on the gas pumps) something I think they would want to fix...

If you have documentation you did in fact shop the correct location, that should have been enough to get paid. Any time I have an inconsistency like that, I will document as much as I can about the area, with phones putting GPS location into pictures along with date/time I would hope that's enough.

I just had my worst one, and it was my damned fault. A few days ago, I took a few shops at a destination about 65 miles away. There's a hard-to-fill 5G there, so I figured I'd try to add to the proceedings. The earliest date offered, with MAO, was 11/17. My other shops were for 11/18, so I put in a high MAO for 11/18. It got rejected. I tried again with an offer $3 lower, and this time it was accepted, still at a very nice fee. So I went up there today and did the 5G along with three other shops.

Well, wouldn't you know it, but when I made my second bid on MAO, I forgot to re-adjust the desired date from 11/17 to 11/18, and somehow I missed the 6 a.m. email today telling me my shop was late and I needed to reschedule pronto. So now I'm out my nice bonus and no reimbursement either. I'm just sick.

Koko..I can see how that can easily happen..Sorry for you. Maybe email them and tell them you did it and if it's still available they can change the date to 18th.

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

Mark Twain

I had a recorded phone call & website review shop for an oil change place. There were about 10 different questions I had to ask over the phone. One of the questions was "What time do you close?" and another was "When is the latest I can come?" When I asked when they closed, the guy on the phone answered, but also said "You can arrive no later than 5PM." I was trying to make the conversation sound natural so I said, "So 5 is the latest I can come?" and he said yes. My shop got rejected and I was given a 0 because I didn't say "When is the latest I can come?" in those words. At least I didn't lose money, but I spent over an hour typing everything so I was pretty irritated.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

Share Your Worst Shop Rejection/Nonpayment /No Reimbursement Story

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine