My major pet peeve
Warning: For Full Access Please Log In or Create an Account (Free)
When I was younger and did lots of gas station audits I would use my daughters car after mine was full of gas.
Gas cans, no matter what the MSC says.
It's because so many shoppers flake. If they give one shopper till the 10th of the month and they flake then the next gets till the 20th and they flake the MSC is scrambling to get the shop done.
Viv "hit the nail on the head." When I began shopping 21 yrs. ago, my windows were much wider and the report times were far more flexible. The Internet brought many people to the game who lacked discipline. Therefore, the MSCs were forced to adjust to the situation. Unfortunately, as is usually the case, we who were not violators of the rules were affected. That's business!
@sestrahelena wrote:
Gas cans, no matter what the MSC says.
I still haven't gone that route.
I'm wrapping up 6 days of mostly 66 visits, with a fair amount of Chevrons thrown in the mix.
The last 3 days (a loop to Colorado and back) my gas strategy has worked perfectly. And it should continue through today.
I use the P66 app to buy 25¢ or 50¢ of gas, building my inventory of 5-Hour Energies with my store purchases. When they shut down the app after 6 or 7 uses in a 24-hour period, I revert to usually buying a round number over a gallon with my credit card, unless I actually need more gas.
Today I have 7 Chevrons and 4 66's, with maybe 4 gallons sitting in my tank and 130 miles of driving to do the loop. I should have at least 3 app uses after yesterday, and will need to gas up a bit at the last 66.
Have synthesizers, will travel...
Are there REALLY a lot of shoppers who flake? I always presumed the number of "flakes" was small and infrequent.@viv0412 wrote:
It's because so many shoppers flake. If they give one shopper till the 10th of the month and they flake then the next gets till the 20th and they flake the MSC is scrambling to get the shop done.
@AZwolfman wrote:
Are there REALLY a lot of shoppers who flake? I always presumed the number of "flakes" was small and infrequent.
Oh, I think shoppers flaking is a big problem for most MSCs, but especially the larger ones that offer many different kinds of shops and have to take chances assigning shops to newbies and those with very little track record. The smaller MSCs probably have a very loyal core of shoppers they can count on again and again. Just my assumption.
In fact, I recently had an interaction with a scheduler for an MSC I hadn't worked for in about a year. The scheduler assigned a shop to me and I needed to send an online inquiry within 24 hours of being approved to do it. Just a couple hours later the same day, the scheduler contacted me to ask when I'd be sending the inquiry. They apologized for checking up on me and said, "You just wouldn't believe how many shoppers have just not done these shops and never responded after being assigned." So, yeah, I think the problem is real.
.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2024 07:47PM by shopnyc.
This is just so hard for me to imagine that the number of flakers would be large. I would like for some schedulers to chime in with some actual numbers and how they deal with the issue.
I have flaked a couple times, though not because I wanted to. I've also asked to be rescheduled many times and given a flake citation instead. And with the "Ishopfirst" program there is no option to have a shop removed if you have a problem, you have to let it fall off your shop log; and I heard that they are going to start giving a score of 1 or a flake citation for letting them fall off when they don't give you any other option. Then, they tell you not to accept shops unless you are 100% sure you can do them, but then they ask you to schedule them a week or more in advance. I can't control the weather (I choose not to shop when we are under tornado watches, silly me), and in spite of my best efforts, I can't always control my health issues. So, yes, I have some flake citations, and it sounds like I may get more in the near future.
I may be misunderstanding the term "flake" as it applies to mystery shopping. I have always presumed it to be what is called in other professions, "No Call, No Show."
It's the same in mystery shopping.
Except in mystery shopping we have schedulers who will give you flake citations and/or a score of 1 on a shop rather than reschedule it for you. I have NEVER just not gone to a shop, at least until "ishopfirst." Even with ishopfirst, I still feel guilty and send an email to ignormeforever@thatMSC.com just to feel like I at least attempted to do my job correctly.
Perhaps they could use their rating system to adjust the due date on a shop. For shoppers who have done x number of shops and gotten an acceptable rating give them extra days to schedule the job but for new to them shoppers , them being the msc, allow only a tight window. I am pretty sure that could be programmed into their systems.
I find it difficult to schedule shops I would have liked to have taken when the window is today or tomorrow. Many of us would like to combine a trip in a particular direction with other shops or errands which is hard to do with short notice.
I find it difficult to schedule shops I would have liked to have taken when the window is today or tomorrow. Many of us would like to combine a trip in a particular direction with other shops or errands which is hard to do with short notice.
When I first started, shoppers were better regarded and trained by MSCs who then seemed to value their contractors who worked well. Now MSCs (ok, maybe just the biggest one) loudly and aggressively recruit anyone with a pulse who will work for cheap. They get what they pay for. It's those of us who take pride in our work that suffer for the MSC's indescretion when recruiting. The flakes and the good workers are viewed by the MSC as one complete group so we are all thought of as screw-ups.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2024 10:21AM by sestrahelena.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2024 10:21AM by sestrahelena.
Concerning flakes, yrs. ago I discussed this problem with, as I recall, three small MSCs; the numbers I was told were from 10 to 50%. All have exited the business, with one stating the dollars required to pay dependable shoppers were in excess of what clients were willing to spend.
If the citations actually were anything other than a graphic representation of hexadecimal code this might be an issue.
I'm all about gaming the system.
Ipsos is my #1 vendor by a long shot.
The ability to self-assign shops, reschedule once if needed, and make executive decisions to drop locations that are not conducive to my day for whatever reason without repercussion is vital to how I'm rolling these days.
While I always attempt to knock out 100% of the locations on a route, it's not always possible. The system as currently implemented is optimal for the way route shoppers work.
FYI: Their claim that shops in Incomplete status will drop after the due date passes (a supposed "upgrade") is not accurate. I started a location and then ran into a situation where I was unable to complete it due to extenuating circumstances. It was due yesterday, still on my board today.
I'm all about gaming the system.
Ipsos is my #1 vendor by a long shot.
The ability to self-assign shops, reschedule once if needed, and make executive decisions to drop locations that are not conducive to my day for whatever reason without repercussion is vital to how I'm rolling these days.
While I always attempt to knock out 100% of the locations on a route, it's not always possible. The system as currently implemented is optimal for the way route shoppers work.
FYI: Their claim that shops in Incomplete status will drop after the due date passes (a supposed "upgrade") is not accurate. I started a location and then ran into a situation where I was unable to complete it due to extenuating circumstances. It was due yesterday, still on my board today.
Have synthesizers, will travel...
@AZwolfman wrote:
This is just so hard for me to imagine that the number of flakers would be large. I would like for some schedulers to chime in with some actual numbers and how they deal with the issue.
Sigh. It's not the same in NV. You shop in NV. People think that you shop in AZ due to your username.
@BayShopper22 wrote:
@AZwolfman wrote:
This is just so hard for me to imagine that the number of flakers would be large. I would like for some schedulers to chime in with some actual numbers and how they deal with the issue.
Sigh. It's not the same in NV. You shop in NV. People think that you shop in AZ due to your username.
You are giving away secrets. Now the shoppers might want to move to NV to enjoy the more favorable mystery shopping conditions
I used to live in PHX and shopped there frequently (mostly video) until I sold my house there last May. I have done only one shopping route in AZ this year.
From a scheduling perspective, when I was a scheduler, the flake rate was obviously much lower in NV, since shoppers are employees and can be fired for flaking, but the rejection rate was also much higher. Shoppers there were often paid for rejected shops (as employees), so there was less incentive for them to improve. One of the PI firms in NV used to pay to bring me in a few times each year to teach dining shops and narrative writing to the employees, so I became well aquatinted with the issues around NV shops.
More than just an all out flake, the reschedule rate is the main problem, and why MSCs try to front-load the shops to the top of the month. You would be shocked at how many shoppers would email the night before a shop and ask to reschedule, so the last week of the month is usually spent trying to get the remaining shops completed.
More than just an all out flake, the reschedule rate is the main problem, and why MSCs try to front-load the shops to the top of the month. You would be shocked at how many shoppers would email the night before a shop and ask to reschedule, so the last week of the month is usually spent trying to get the remaining shops completed.
Here's a tip (and I need to do a better job of heeding it. moving forward):
Schedule all Ipsos gas stations for the last day available in the calendar. Some projects you can load up the same day, others have daily limits and the available dates will change to the next earlier day.
You can always perform the shop ahead of the scheduled date.
Typically the date range for the project will extend as more remote locations don't get done. That's when you want to use your 1 reschedule opportunity.
My goal when setting out on a route to get all reports done onsite before moving on to the next one, but that is not always possible. That's when I reschedule the due date to the day following the visit to allow time to get the report in without being frantic about it.
Schedule all Ipsos gas stations for the last day available in the calendar. Some projects you can load up the same day, others have daily limits and the available dates will change to the next earlier day.
You can always perform the shop ahead of the scheduled date.
Typically the date range for the project will extend as more remote locations don't get done. That's when you want to use your 1 reschedule opportunity.
My goal when setting out on a route to get all reports done onsite before moving on to the next one, but that is not always possible. That's when I reschedule the due date to the day following the visit to allow time to get the report in without being frantic about it.
Have synthesizers, will travel...
Which msc will allow you to do the shops on any day ahead of the day you choose for the shop as long as it is after the start date. I know IPSOS allows this. Do any other msc allow this?
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.