Is it unreasonable to cancel a shop 48 hours before the due date? Did that today and was threatened with being deactivated.

That depends on a whole lot of factors. If I were a scheduler and had advertised these shops 2 weeks ago, had 6 people interested and awarded it to you promptly, I would certainly be annoyed even with 48 hrs notice of cancellation because now I need to get the ads back out there and hopefully the other 5 will come back to request the shop without my needing to bonus it. There are also shops with 'hard deadlines' and 'soft deadlines'. Did you just straight cancel the shop or ask to reschedule it? While not all shop due dates can be extended, if for some reason a shop won't work because of some situation that has arisen since accepting it, it is usually best to start off the conversation with a request to extend the due date.

I have occasionally cancelled in the past and have never, ever been threatened. The threat even extended to other schedulers. Then, there are others that have been extremely reasonable. Being threatened will not create a situation where I will want to accept assignments from this company. I work for plenty of other companies that do not issue threats and pay better.

What is the company's policy on cancellations? If you have cancelled on them previously perhaps you're coming up on a 'magic number' of lifetime cancellations or a certain % within a time frame.

Courtney -- Apparently, according to the scheduler, it was my first assignment with them. I work for several companies and can't keep track of what number assignment a new assignment is. It would be understandable if I had been cancelling all the time, however, that's not the case. The other cancellations, which have been infrequent, were different companies. That's why it was so appalling to receive a threat from this scheduler.

It depends on the MSP as well as the timing of the cancellation. To most MSPs, cancelling is synonymous with flaking. Borrowing extenuating circumstances, rescheduling should be attempted. Cancelling is a dirty word to an MSP.

Not trying to be mean, but if it was your first assignment with them, then according to what they have seen you are unreliable. You have canceled the only job you have agreed to do. Dependent on the time sensitivity of the project you have put them in a bind. If they just need the shop this month anytime, not a big deal, but if they need it by the end of the week and now need to spend a lot of time calling and trying to find someone, you just cost the company a lot of money.

I have been doing this for 4 year and have one canceled shop ever. This was actually a shop I completed, but made a mistake on and was not able to redo in the time frame they had. I have had cars break down, horrible weather (tornadoes and snow storms), and deaths in the family, but have always called to reschedule and been able to do so.

Sorry, Shelly, but things happen in people's lives that require cancellations. And, quite frankly, I'm reliable enough that schedulers seek me out on a regular basis and I consistently receive high scores. I just respond well to threats. However, I guess I'm not as reliable or wonderful as you are.

Sorry if that came across wrong, however, you did say that they said it was your first shop with them. If you had a long history with them, I would say it was out of line, but if this is truly your first shop, they may not be willing to to take the risk that this won't be a pattern. I was not saying that you were unreliable as I have no way to assess that, but was saying that you may appear so to the company as this was your first shop with them.

Most of the companies I work for make it clear that there can be consequences for canceling. If you cancel, it is a risk you take that the company won't continue to work with you in the future. We all have different standards as to what we will deal with and the MS companies are the same. If you don't like the way you were treated one of the best things about this job is that you can typically walk away from one company with very minimal impact on your finances. Search out the companies that meet with your standards and you will do great.

And by asking to reschedule I was able to push them back a day or two or in one instance a full week. I would have canceled if needed, but was able to avoid it by asking to reschedule first. I think if most companies feel you are sincere about rescheduling it is easier for them to do so. It is possible that they were up against a firm deadline.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2011 06:43AM by Shelly.

I mostly agree with Shelly - it was your first shop. It is not out of line for them to say that the IC relationship between you and them is probably not going to work out and deactivate you, just as it would not have been out of line for you to do a shop and decide that you do not want to work with the MSC again for any reason, and deactive yourself.

I do however think that their threat of telling other schedulers (presumably that do not work within this particular MSC) was out of line and an unecessary threat. The ONLY reason that schedulers or MSC employees should "share" information across companies is in the case of fraud or illegal activity (for example, doctoring receipts and not actually doing shops) - not cancelling a shop or any other editorial opinions about the quality of a shopper.

Most MSC's will work with you, changing date or re-assigning. This is part of the business, I have needed to cancel or change, just did this morning, and called for a two Monday jobs I need to do on Tuesday...it is far and I need to go back Tues. for a second appointment with dealer, so instead of making two long trips, wanted to get it done in one day. Scheduler was great, worked it out, and jobs for them will be done Tues., no problem, I work for them monthly. First job might be different as you haven't built up loyalty, I understand that, but not the threat.

I actually was de-activated by Second to none because I asked them to stop sending me those annoying emails for print jobs I don't do. They wrote and said if you won't accept emails you will be de-activated, I didn't fight it, I'm so busy this month, just don't need that kind of interaction.

I would move on if I were you, as long as you know your reliable, that's all that matters.

I just wanted to throw in here. I had 2 jobs that I self-assigned that I never completed before, but it sounded like something I wouldn't have a problem doing. I read over the guidelines, and I'm like "ya know- this really isn't for me." So SAME DAY, I email the scheduler, and I told her I read everything over, and I didn't want the shops. So she told me she was going to citation me for each one. WHAT? My "score" is now a 4 (whatever), but some schedulers are just terrible! Was that totally necessary? It's not like I flaked! I've got a word for her, but I won't say it here XD

I do think that is one of the hardest things about this. There are a few companies out there that let you see the report ahead of time. However for most of them, the details you get are so limited it really is tough to make a decision.

I do think that there should be a provision to get out once you have access to all the guidelines. It really puts us in a bad spot when we are forced to do something we are uncomfortable with.

That is why I try to abide by signing up for only one of something at a time. Far too often many of us had made it most of the way through a shop before we realized how ridiculous one portion of the guidelines are. I hate to figure that out and know I need to do two or three more.

Shelly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I do think that is one of the hardest things about
> this. There are a few companies out there that
> let you see the report ahead of time. However for
> most of them, the details you get are so limited
> it really is tough to make a decision.
>
> I do think that there should be a provision to get
> out once you have access to all the guidelines.
> It really puts us in a bad spot when we are forced
> to do something we are uncomfortable with.
>
> That is why I try to abide by signing up for only
> one of something at a time. Far too often many of
> us had made it most of the way through a shop
> before we realized how ridiculous one portion of
> the guidelines are. I hate to figure that out and
> know I need to do two or three more.


The company for which I schedule always lets shoppers see the form(s), guidelines and anything else relevant to the shop so they can make an informed decision before hitting the 'accept' button and it doesn't make any difference. Shoppers accept without reading the requirements/instructions, wait until the day of the shop or sometimes the day after, review, then realize they are not eligible, not qualified or just don't feel like it.

I am also a shopper and am registered with companies who do not allow you to view a form before accepting or declining. I contact the scheduler of record and ask to review the form first and so far, only one company has refused.

I read everything I can before accepting. When I have asked for clarification, the shop has always been gone before getting a response. I live in an area that has very few shops available.

I hear you Shelly! Pam may have great luck in seeing the requirements for the jobs, but most frequently I get no response or a response saying, "That job has already been taken." Overall about as useful as teats on tomcats.

I nag until I get results. : )

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I hear you Shelly! Pam may have great luck in
> seeing the requirements for the jobs, but most
> frequently I get no response or a response saying,
> "That job has already been taken." Overall about
> as useful as teats on tomcats.

avitoots Wrote:
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> Is it unreasonable to cancel a shop 48 hours
> before the due date? Did that today and was
> threatened with being deactivated.


It depends on why, of course. Hurricane Irene was a good reason to do so, I think.

Many MSPs will work with you as they should for reasonable issues that all shoppers have from time to time. Value those MSPs and the relationship you build with them. Other MSPs will not take the time to consider your needs. Signup for some more MSPs so you can treat the less forgiving ones with the respect they deserve.

vlade -- I am signed up with several MSPs who have all worked with me in the past. That's how I was in a position to make a judgment call. This assignment was also set up with requirements that would have outed me as a shopper because it sought information that a regular shopper would never, ever ask about.