I went to a certain gas station or store shop a few days ago, and when I arrived, the store was closed, the parking lot was empty, and I did not see a gas station. So, I left. I emailed the scheduler and told her I could not complete the shop because the store was closed. She seemed upset and asked me to go back and do the shopping again. I'm not sure how I can do that because the store was closed.

I did some research (that they don't pay me enough for). I looked up the address on my assignment on Google Maps and saw the closed store and empty parking lot. I looked for a gas station but could not find one. Then I went to the store locator website and searched, and they didn't have that address listed, but they did have a different address listed that was about a mile down the road. I relayed all this information back to the scheduler, who responded and said she was confused and that 99% of the stores have gas stations right by the store. I'm not sure what part she is confused about.

I did a Google Map of the other location, which was a mile down the road, and it does have a gas station with a store. But that is not the address on the assignment. Does this not matter? And I'm not sure how to be clearer about it...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2023 12:30PM by JSuing.

Sometimes addresses for locations like gas stations are wrong. I just noticed that on one I did. I look on Google Maps first, before I drive to a location for the first time.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2023 09:42PM by melg.

So you look up every address on google before going? And then complete a shop at a different address thats not listed on the assignment?

A picture of the wrong address probably would have helped.

Google is often wrong. When I run into a situation like that, I try to verify the address by a number on the building, and get a photo. If all else fails, I find the addresses of the businesses to either side. If I know I am at the right place, I take the required photos, and that's the end of it.

The scheduler is not the only one confused, I'm a little confused, too.

Did you visit the address documented in the shop log, and was the address visibly displayed anywhere on that site, such as on the building, the road, or elsewhere? If you are sure you went to the address on the shop log and what you expect to be there isn't there, always take photos. Never, ever leave without having photos. Take photos of any visible address, along with whatever is located at that at address (closed or otherwise). I even take photos of the nearest intersection and any surrounding locations. This is the only way they can verify you went to the correct location, and they can then at least pay you a partial payment. Stores do close, and sometimes they close and move a few blocks away. If a store had closed and moved a few blocks away, I document as described above. I do not go to the new location as that location will have a different address AND, since they moved, they could be in a grace period where they are not supposed to be shopped. So if you move forward with the shop for a moved business, you run the very high risk of having your report rejected.

The other side of the coin is that you can sometimes run into situation where the correct business is that the correct location, but the address on the shop log is wrong. Normally this is a simple mistake because the numbers typed in on the log have been typed in wrong. (e.g. 1491 instead of 4119). In those situations, unless the shop directions or report say otherwise, I e-mail the scheduler, then proceed with the shop. I again note it somewhere on the report, so the editor doesn't question the discrepancy. Google is sometimes wrong, and oftentimes whoever is typing up the shop information just pulls what Google says. So if Google is wrong, everything else will be, too.

If you are going to an unfamiliar area, it can be helpful to pull up Google Street View before heading out.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2023 01:57AM by ServiceAward.

I had a situation where the MSC had bad data, and some SASSIE weirdness.

Sent me to an address for a Phillips 66 shop that was just down the street from a 7-11/Phillips location that I was assigned twice within the quoted rotation period. One of those did not require an interior evaluation, the other one did.

I simply reported the suspect location as closed, took the required pictures, and noted there was never a gas station at the assigned address. Got the 1/2 pay without issue.

If you do enough gas stations you will see that there are some assignments that have an incorrect address. When I go to the address and the location is wrong, even just a little I report it in the report. If I can perform the shop I do so with reporting the incorrect address and if it is not workable I list the address as closed and report that the address is not a known location for that address. I may or may not take time to research and provide an address that may be the correct one. I had one is Mineral Wells, TX that had an address with a North abbreviation to the street. The street was east-west and there was no North. Once I figured out the correct address I let the scheduler know. One of the brands ask if the address is correct on the report. You can always report discrepancies there. Also check your receipts. Some gas stations get their terminals from a corporate office and the address is not always correct on the receipt. I explain this in the comments and alway have a pic of the address on the front of the store.

I tried to do a gas station today. The GPS showed that it was at the corner of two roads that I'm familiar with that are wide Open Fields. Oh well maybe something got built there because I've been not in that area for a while. So we followed the GPS to find that nothing had been built there..

Come to find out, the gas station I was looking for was 4 miles away, down a road I tend to avoid because of the pot holes. And it's actually in a better spot to be included in the route I did today. I'll find out if the GPS is wrong or the address next week..

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2023 07:40AM by Morledzep.

Some of you might want to become familiar with the "walking man" Street View feature on Google Maps. For example the gas station that I did for the first time, was visible on Street View even though the address on the Dispatch was wrong.

melg,

the walking man street view on Google maps doesn't work in most rural areas, except on main streets. And even then it's kinda sketchy and puts you at places that aren't even close to the address that type in. There is one address in Athens, AL that automatically sends me to Meridian, MS, on an entirely different highway, EVERY SINGLE TIME, for 8 years that I have been living and working here. And it still does it, even though both my son and I have attempted to have it fixed by Google several times.