This is just a rant. I know I'm right, I've been doing scenarios like this just the same for years. I went to a gas station that requires 2 pictures of the restrooms, no matter how many restrooms there are. At this particular, exceptionally disgusting station, the men's restroom was open and functional, and the ladies room was locked, with signs on the door that said it was out of order. I asked to get a pic of the inside and the man at the counter refused, he said that it is locked because it cannot be used and is not available. So, for the ladies room I posted a picture of the door, and for the mens room I posted a picture of the inside of the restroom. Would any of you do it any differently?

The editor said I can't post a picture of the door, I have to post a picture of the infraction inside the restroom. But I can't do that, I didn't and don't have access to the inside of the ladies room. And I'll give up the $75 in a heartbeat if he thinks he's going to make me drive for 12 hours (again) just to get a single picture of the inside of the ladies room that wasn't available to me when I visited the location.

Definitely fight it.

You drove 12 hours to perform an assignment that paid $75?

I have done the exact same thing you did. Mr.or Mrs of Ms.editor the sign on the door is self explanitory. Should not have to take picture of inside could be s bio hazard inside. If the editor rejects I would take it up with program management especially given it was a $75 shop. Good luck!

@Morledzep You are correct. Follow @Zek 's advice. These editors must be on drugs. Under what circumstances do they think you can get the cashier to open a locked door for you and there is a sign saying it is out of order. Are they suggesting that you threaten the employee? Seriously, a quick note to the project manager should set things right. I feel that all editors should have to do go out in the field and perform a couple of gas shops to see that everything is not perfect and hiccups arise. A shopper has to pivot from there and adjust. Some of these dummy editors expose how clueless they really are

no DT, I did a route of good and better paying gas station shops further away from home than I am comfortable with. I think the day ended up being close to $300.

Zek and momo, yea, I'm going to let this play out, I sent the editor all of my pictures of the restrooms and explained what they were and told him to fix it the way he thinks it should be. I put the picture of the mens room in both spots for restroom pictures so that I could send it back to him. We'll see if it comes back, yet again.

If they won't let you in, they won't let you in. The door was tagged. Hard to believe you are getting any pushback on this at all. Since you didn't list the business, what company is causing you this problem?

Editors who make their own guidelines, something unclear or lacking in the real guidelines...I'm pretty sure i can guess which MSC.

Escalate this, More! The rogue editor will probably not relent. Take it up the chain. You gotta fight - for your right - to be right! (And get paid)

I have never done the inspectiopn that requires 2 pictures of the restrooms, no matter how many restrooms there are. So I can't say if I would have done it differently. Is the editor insisting on a photo inside the ladies room, or are they just saying ignore the ladies room and treat the station as having only one restroom? If this is the revealed audit for the brand that also has the conditional reveals, I do recall them saying at one point that if one restroom is out of order, automatically treat the other as a unisex restroom. In either case, I think you have made the smart response. Sometimes the editors need a gentle nudge.

what a jerk he sounds like

Myst, I said there was an infraction because the restroom was out of order, and the door was locked. And I posted a pic of the signs on the door saying that it is out of order. Which I have done NUMEROUS times, with this station and many others. So when I returned it the last time I removed all of the infractions and just posted 2 different pics of the mens restroom. And I sent all of the pics of both restrooms to him in an email and told him to fix it the way he wants it done.

hmmm, this makes me think I shouldn't delete all of my old restroom pics lol.

@BarefootBliss I'm sure you know this but digital images are tagged with data revealing when they were taken. They might not notice but I wouldn't bet my reputation on it.

I believe some of these editors are on a power trip. If there's only one restroom then I just take a 2nd photo of the restroom door like you did and my reports are rarely returned. There's been a few editors that would try to reject the assignment because there's only one photo of one bathroom (As some stores only have one bathroom marked for everyone) and I had to talk to the PM directly to clarify. Even they don't understand why some editors do that. I wonder if this editor is the same one always giving me issues over the smallest things. I had 2 errors in my report and my score was dropped to a 4.

The post of Deedeez is accurate for the overwhelming number of shoppers. For we, though, employing a literal camera, all metadata is simple to eliminate. Merely have that feature disabled in the device's menu.

In 2007, I was paid $5 to snap a pic; today, I factor that amount into the fee I require. Most MSCs are unwilling to meet my price to work, so I work less than in the past. I completed my first shop 04/01/2003 and folks, "The old grey mare, she ain't what she used to be."

Either the bad editor is on a power trip, or something has changed. The editor that normally edits my shops sent me an evaluation with a reduced rating, and told me that she changed one of my pictures.

I figured out what happened.. my usual editor fixed it and put the shop through so I could get paid.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2025 08:13PM by Morledzep.

There are editors on power trips in all the different genres of mystery shopping (and elsewhere).

I’ve stopped working with one MSC because of it when I felt dread with every assignment and looked at the back and forth time with the editor and the stress involved and decided the final hourly pay wasn’t worth it…on top of the 60 days it took to get paid.

@SBP wrote:

There are editors on power trips in all the different genres of mystery shopping (and elsewhere).

I’ve stopped working with one MSC because of it when I felt dread with every assignment and looked at the back and forth time with the editor and the stress involved and decided the final hourly pay wasn’t worth it…on top of the 60 days it took to get paid.

I deleted two of my accounts because of the back and forth with the editors. One in particular was so nasty and never replied to any of my emails but gave me a low rating score. Ironically this same program has problems getting people to take their shops. There's a bunch on this MSC page.

Having trouble getting people to take shops isn't any part of the MSC's consideration when deactivating or limiting shoppers. There are always newbies who don't know any better, and folks that are so desperate that they'll work themselves into debt taking jobs that don't pay enough. And there are always the hobby shoppers who don't understand that they're crippling the folks that try to make a living doing this.

@Morledzep wrote:

And there are always the hobby shoppers who don't understand that they're crippling the folks that try to make a living doing this.

Weeeellll. I will never again be able to complete sufficient and consistent work to qualify as a business. I am hobby at most and best. I can perform some work and will do what is sensible for me. I can even figure out what is right for myself. This is something to celebrate!

What would you have me do? And, how do you explain the notion that I am crippling your work efforts?



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2025 06:08PM by Shop-et-al.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

And there are always the hobby shoppers who don't understand that they're crippling the folks that try to make a living doing this.

Weeeellll. I will never again be able to complete sufficient and consistent work to qualify as a business. I am hobby at most and best. I can perform some work and will do what is sensible for me. I can even fugure out what us right for myself. This is something to celebrate!

What would you have me do? And, how do you explain the notion that I am crippling your work efforts?

I think he feels some hobby shoppers perform work for less than a living wage.

The person merely presumes such.

Supra,

I'm not a he, no matter how you describe me. I'm a short fat old woman who made a living as an automotive technician for 30 years and can no longer. I don't know and can't see what shop-et-al says, and I really don't need to.

I was forced, because of the injury that kept me from continuing my career, to make a living doing MS for nearly 10 years. I get SS now, because I'm finally retirement age, but less than I could because I opted for early retirement so I would have a cushion and reliable income.

Once I figured out that they would increase the pay if no one did the jobs at the base pay, I started waiting for bonuses, and pay increases.

Most of my income since the world opened back up after Covid has been gas stations, I work a LOT in the first few days of the month, and pretty steadily the last week or sometimes three at the end of the quarter, doing only jobs that the pay has increased on, and a few fast food shops to make it so I don't have to go out of pocket for my meals while I'm out working.

My son and I have gotten by, sometimes not well, but we've remained fed, as have the dogs and the chickens, I've managed to keep the lights on and the taxes paid. IF it weren't for hobby shoppers, I could have been doing slightly better than barely managing. Shoppers would be able to command better pay, because we do a better job, because of our experience. And I know there is a learning curve, it takes 3 or 4 years to finger it out, especially when you don't know about forums like this one where folks will talk to you and tell you that you did it wrong (or right.. just sayin').

My mobility issues are limiting the work that I can do now, so I have to rely even more on my SS income, and my son.

I would give nearly anything to have my old 1990 Toyota Corona still, it was @#$%& brown and smelled bad on the inside (I think the foam was rotting in the seats), but it was a VERY good car, instead of my "new" car. The Dodge gets better gas mileage, but that is really its only redeeming feature, well maybe cup holders too..

Haha. There goes Moreled, with the "finger it out!" I have a good chuckle every time! And a slight urge to pick my nose. Thanks, More!

P. S. Did you get this issue resolved?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2025 10:58AM by sestrahelena.

*sigh* still wondering how my business-turned-hobby impacts the OP's work. My last gig was in 2023...

Yep ses, the lady who normally edits my shops took over, did it right and I got paid, but with a lower score.