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Do You Keep Guidelines? If So, How Long?

February 04, 2024 01:35AM
At the beginning of every year, I go through my files and chunk guidelines that I've got a newer copy of or for shops that I know I'll likely never do again. I keep guidelines mostly so I don't have to reprint them unless they've changed.

I only keep paperwork (receipts and such) until I'm paid for the shop. After that, out it goes. In all the years I've been doing this, I've never had somebody come back and ask for documentation I'd chunked.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
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February 04, 2024 01:45AM
I keep the guidelines in a mystery shopping guidelines file on my computer. And because the "streamlined" guidelines are not complete, I started a new file for old guidelines. So I have approximately 2 years worth of guidelines, 3 years for some companies. I don't print them anymore since we're no longer required to take a printed copy of the yellow gas station guidelines with us to the station and take a picture holding it.
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February 04, 2024 02:48AM
Service,

I don't remember ever taking pics with the guidelines for the current MSC, but there was a while there that you had to take a picture of yourself with a tablet or other device that you could carry the guidelines on without printing them, and even though the guidelines didn't specifically say phone, the MSC accepted that picture with the cell phone. Now the tablet is in my pictures of me in my traffic vest anyway.. so the point is mostly moot.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2024 09:33AM by Morledzep.
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February 04, 2024 02:59AM
I never print guidelines. Instead, I create a cheat sheet and update that as needed. I have never really needed a guideline after the fact, except maybe in reponse to a discussion on this forum, lol. Occasionally an editor will say I didn't follow a guideline, and I want to go back to read it so I can throw it back at them, but that is so rare it would not be worth the time spent saving and organzing old guidelines.
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February 04, 2024 03:36AM
Paper work is kept three months after I have been paid then into the recycling bin. Some business cards are kept so the next time I need to scan one I have both sides.
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February 04, 2024 07:41AM
I don't print the Guidelines, as I don't want to waste the paper or ink. I save some on my laptop so I can refer back, especially for IPSOS since their Guidelines and Questionnaire and Editors' interpretations rarely line up anymore.
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February 04, 2024 12:52PM
I save for a few months. If no more of those jobs have come up, I toss. Generally each quarter the guidelines could change. I keep them in a spiral bound book that has those pocket folders in them. I keep the current ones up front and stick the old ones in the back. If it starts to bulge, I purge.
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February 04, 2024 01:19PM
@Morledzep wrote:

I don't print them anymore since we're no longer required to take a printed copy of the yellow gas station guidelines with us to the station and take a picture holding it.

You mentioned that in another thread which blew my mind because I had totally forgotten about that! I had printed the cover page and clipped it to a bunch of junk paper for that picture. I kept a one-page handwritten list of condensed guidelines and a one-page excel spreadsheet of report questions with 10 columns so I could fit 10 shops on one paper. Good times.
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February 04, 2024 02:09PM
Why print guidelines?

Total waste of paper, ink, and time when they are readily available on one's phone or tablet if they need to be accessed while onsite.

Have synthesizers, will travel...
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February 04, 2024 03:18PM
If the guidelines are a few pages, I still print them out.
If they are longer (like the "Green" gas station's), I just save them on my laptop. I do that as well (save them) for all the shops that I do.
For any of the shops where I've printed the guidelines, I turn the old year's over and use their blank side for my own created worksheets. Meaning of course, I don't waste paper. BTW, those "Yellow" gas station guidelines that we were supposed to show in a photo, I've reused the same way - as worksheets.
For the saved guidelines on my laptop(s), I have always saved them in the computer's files under the MSC, Type of Shop and finally the Year. Those same files also have all the other pertinent information (POP< LOA, etc) as well as the worksheet I created for that specific shop for that year.
A quick observation of my laptop's files reveals that I have files dating back to 2019.
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February 04, 2024 03:18PM
I don't print guidelines. I assume I need to reread every month, as things could change.

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.
Alexander Den Heijer
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February 04, 2024 03:22PM
@sestrahelena wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

I don't print them anymore since we're no longer required to take a printed copy of the yellow gas station guidelines with us to the station and take a picture holding it.

You mentioned that in another thread which blew my mind because I had totally forgotten about that! I had printed the cover page and clipped it to a bunch of junk paper for that picture. I kept a one-page handwritten list of condensed guidelines and a one-page excel spreadsheet of report questions with 10 columns so I could fit 10 shops on one paper. Good times.

Lol I used to do the same thing. I would put the cover page on the front of my binder, and just look them up on my phone if I ever needed them. I put shops three to a page, with three columns listing new things or other things I tend to forget.
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February 04, 2024 04:08PM
I, too, purge my paper files around the beginning of each new year. I generally print out one set of guidelines a year for assignments I expect to repeat, and if new instructions are issued during the year I print out only the updated/new pages. I organize these by the brand name of the location to be visited in a binder with alphabet tabs; when I'm heading out, I put only the guidelines I need that day onto a clipboard so I can consult them quickly if I need to (I hate having to search through my phone when I'm in the field, especially when it's cold or precipitating!). I have a separate skinnier binder just for gas shops, where I keep extra printed copies of the LOAs and an extra orange vest (courtesy Maritz) folded up inside a divider pocket, and I take that whole binder with me if I'm doing a gas shop.
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February 04, 2024 08:05PM
what are guidelines? :-)

I don't like picking up new shops unless they really appeal to me. So i find that I do the same5-10 shops over and over. I didn't know about a pronoun issue with one of the shops until I saw someone else post about it and then I saw it had been updated. This is a company that makes you recertify with a quiz each month. They should ask the NEW rules on that quiz and not the dumb rules i could answer without reading the guidelines at all. I figured the editor would let me know I didn't do it correctly. Sure enough...the editor did not probably read the new guidelines either and the shop was accepted/paid and nothing was said.

If i am keeping guidelines, it's a print to PDF. example would be the national italian chain shop that just came out this past week. There was nothing in the guidelines stating you could not order more than the required choice of 1 of 4 entrees. There was nothing limiting how many people could come. So i spent as close to all $50 of the reimbursement even though the required items purchased would have been like $33 with tax/tip. I bought extra food and drinks and waited for editor to give me a hard time so i could drop the guidelines on them asking where it said none of these things could be done.
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February 04, 2024 08:56PM
I don't print out guidelines until it is required. Everything is digital. I usually keep old guidelines until they are replaced by new ones. I keep business cards and such only as long as I am required. They go into the recycle bin sooner or later.
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February 05, 2024 01:35AM
I do cheat sheets, too. Each shop uses one sheet of paper-the front has the basic shop information (address / date to perform / payment and reimbursement info). The back has my summary of all the report questions in a two column document. After doing the shop I write my notes on the cheat sheet.
@mystery2me wrote:

I never print guidelines. Instead, I create a cheat sheet and update that as needed.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt
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February 05, 2024 08:32AM
I emailed the scheduler after I was assigned that Italian shop, because it didn’t mention if guests were allowed or what they could order. I did the shop last night, and would go again, if I could.
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February 05, 2024 08:33AM
I emailed the scheduler after I was assigned that Italian shop, because it didn’t mention if guests were allowed or what they could order. I did the shop last night, and would go again, if I could.
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February 05, 2024 09:52AM
I am a hoarder too but have never kept guidelines. I do make a cheat sheet but I guess if I am ever challenged on something it is highly possible the guidelines have not been changed since it is only a few days later. so I can look them up. I started years ago going through my tax stuff boxes from 7 years ago and prior throwing out all the utility bills etc I have saved. This year in January I went thru all my 2023 credit card receipts and only kept the ones where I bought something which might break down before I get rid of it. I went from a huge stack to just a few I will save with my 2023 tax file. I have jpgs of all the mystery shop receipts. Those I purge also once in a while...any from jobs the msc no longer has are purged or if it is 2022 or earlier. I really do not think the IRS will ask for those receipts. But the msc has them on file probably in my reports in case I need them. I do have paypal history and credit card monthly bills showing purchase prices and payments from msc if the IRS wants proof I actually worked those jobs.
Perhaps I am being too nonchalant about all these proofs but I have too many other things I hoard in my house with no room for all this paper.
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February 05, 2024 10:06AM
@mystery2me wrote:

I never print guidelines. Instead, I create a cheat sheet and update that as needed. I have never really needed a guideline after the fact, except maybe in reponse to a discussion on this forum, lol. Occasionally an editor will say I didn't follow a guideline, and I want to go back to read it so I can throw it back at them, but that is so rare it would not be worth the time spent saving and organzing old guidelines.

I agree except I sort of skip the guidelines. I re-write a cheat sheet from the questionnaire. This past weekend--the Circle K shopes--the guidelines hardly touched on half of the questions on the questionnaire.
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February 05, 2024 12:23PM
I don't print anything for shops, I download it to my computer (which I built with RAID drives, both SSD and disc drives). I make a Notebook in OneNote for Windows and use my checklists there. All of this info is transferred to my NAS (Network Attached Storage) after the shop is approved along with photos if req'd. In summary, lots of drive space and redundant drives. Yes, I lost the data on a hard drive years ago which I was able to recover most but not all files. I've now designed a system that will prevent that from ever happening again.
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February 05, 2024 04:45PM
i didn't ask. I kept the guidelines and did it. This company is very good at telling you what you CANNOT do. I'm thinking about the Chinese food chain and directions to NOT use rewards in store or get a drink.

If they didn't want me taking more than 1 person, they would have said so. Just like I maximized reimbursement to the full $50. I operate by the rule that if they do not want something done, that is their responsibility to tell me. No coupons, cash only, no alcohol, no drinks, etc. If I had to ask questions and followup on "rules" i would spend quite a bit of time asking questions. I will ask if they have CONTRADICTORY requirements like the national beer/pizza chain that just started being shopped again late 2023.

@Shar27 wrote:

I emailed the scheduler after I was assigned that Italian shop, because it didn’t mention if guests were allowed or what they could order. I did the shop last night, and would go again, if I could.
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February 06, 2024 04:48AM
HB, they only did that after a bunch of folks took advantage of an offer that PE was testing. They changed the guidelines mid-round after they rejected several of our shops.
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February 06, 2024 12:15PM
@ServiceAward wrote:

@maverick1 wrote:

I don't print anything for shops, I download it to my computer (which I built with RAID drives, both SSD and disc drives). I make a Notebook in OneNote for Windows and use my checklists there. All of this info is transferred to my NAS (Network Attached Storage) after the shop is approved along with photos if req'd. In summary, lots of drive space and redundant drives. Yes, I lost the data on a hard drive years ago which I was able to recover most but not all files. I've now designed a system that will prevent that from ever happening again.

I like your set-up. You can never have too much redundancy. One reason I'm still so attached to hard copies is because of hard drive crash I experienced years ago. I always worry about a fire, so I keep digital copies, too. And really important stuff is also kept on a thumb drive in a safe deposit box.

Yep, it only takes one event where you lose some important files to teach you a valuable lesson. RAID drives and a NAS are now my friends. The price of storage is very reasonable today.

There is an important 3-2-1 rule. The 3-2-1 backup strategy simply states that you should have 3 copies of your data (your production data and 2 backup copies) on two different media with one copy off-site for disaster recovery.
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