I had six shops lined up, all within a couple miles of each other, about 16 miles from home for today. First went off without a hitch. Second was fine as far as me making sure I did everything I needed to do, but the employee seemed like they kept forgetting I existed. Only hit one timing mark out of many. Finally get it finished, and I put my leftovers in my prepared cooler.
Go to the third. Store is gone. I had checked location and hours online before hand. But it's gone. Windows are literally covered in paper. Funny enough, while I was typing it in in the parking lot, a woman a few cars down was saying, "I could have sworn that's where it was. Do you think (store name) is just closed? Did they just close all of a sudden?" I had to do the entire shop form, though, and just keep saying, "The store is gone" in various ways, adding things in order to make the minimum character amounts because there was no way to skip them. No option for "not able to complete shop" or "store is closed". And no discernible way to contact anyone - "email the scheduler" does nothing. I even tried it on my computer after I got home. I picked it up for the reimbursement because I knew exactly what I was going to get (something I need) more than the pay. No idea if I'll get anything now.
Go to the fourth. The employees clearly had no idea what they were selling and I specifically asked about 1) something generic that the store sells and 2) something that was in stock at the store. On the rack. They didn't know it existed. It's not even that big of a store. And didn't suggest any alternatives. So, I can't answer most of the questions with anything besides, "No, they didn't". But, whatever.
On a whim, pick up a new one on the otter app with a short form and decent pay. Complete disaster. I'm supposed to be timing and getting photos - it's a drive-thru where they take your order on tablets while you're in line - and the employees are asking me to switch lanes after I've already entered, there are no menus or QR codes, I got a brand new person who has no idea what anything on the menu is, she had me order something that apparently doesn't exist, despite what her tablet said, so I had to re-order midway through the process after another employee came over explaining that what I *had* ordered isn't really an option, the new order wasn't even correct, and I couldn't get a receipt because the printer wasn't working. Apparently.
I pick up a 5 Guys to kill time until I could start my next couple, due to timing restrictions. That one was fine, and into the cooler go the leftovers. Go to my original fifth one, and that one was fine. More leftovers (When I can, I specifically order food that will freeze/reheat well for days when I'm super-busy, like this past week, when I worked my regular job and my part time job to the tune of 65 hours combined. Thank God the school year ends this week). Look at my luck changing!
Get in my car to leave from that one, and, holy cow, the STORM. Tornado warnings busting through on my radio, my phone, etc. The rain and wind is so bad I can't see more than twenty feet in front of me, things are FLYING across the road, it's starting to look like they might flood. I pass an accident, a couple emergency vehicles with lights on go by, and about ten minutes into this drive, I decide it's time to pull into the middle of a parking lot to ride out the storm, hopefully away from flying objects. Reschedule my last shop to later this week when I'll be sort of near that way again (it was on my way home, so, it's not 16 miles away, at least) because I was *done*. I hate having to write when people don't do their jobs well, and I was really disappointed about not being able to get what I needed from that one store.
Today was just depressing. But at least a tree didn't fall on my car.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2026 02:22AM by mysterioso412.
Go to the third. Store is gone. I had checked location and hours online before hand. But it's gone. Windows are literally covered in paper. Funny enough, while I was typing it in in the parking lot, a woman a few cars down was saying, "I could have sworn that's where it was. Do you think (store name) is just closed? Did they just close all of a sudden?" I had to do the entire shop form, though, and just keep saying, "The store is gone" in various ways, adding things in order to make the minimum character amounts because there was no way to skip them. No option for "not able to complete shop" or "store is closed". And no discernible way to contact anyone - "email the scheduler" does nothing. I even tried it on my computer after I got home. I picked it up for the reimbursement because I knew exactly what I was going to get (something I need) more than the pay. No idea if I'll get anything now.
Go to the fourth. The employees clearly had no idea what they were selling and I specifically asked about 1) something generic that the store sells and 2) something that was in stock at the store. On the rack. They didn't know it existed. It's not even that big of a store. And didn't suggest any alternatives. So, I can't answer most of the questions with anything besides, "No, they didn't". But, whatever.
On a whim, pick up a new one on the otter app with a short form and decent pay. Complete disaster. I'm supposed to be timing and getting photos - it's a drive-thru where they take your order on tablets while you're in line - and the employees are asking me to switch lanes after I've already entered, there are no menus or QR codes, I got a brand new person who has no idea what anything on the menu is, she had me order something that apparently doesn't exist, despite what her tablet said, so I had to re-order midway through the process after another employee came over explaining that what I *had* ordered isn't really an option, the new order wasn't even correct, and I couldn't get a receipt because the printer wasn't working. Apparently.
I pick up a 5 Guys to kill time until I could start my next couple, due to timing restrictions. That one was fine, and into the cooler go the leftovers. Go to my original fifth one, and that one was fine. More leftovers (When I can, I specifically order food that will freeze/reheat well for days when I'm super-busy, like this past week, when I worked my regular job and my part time job to the tune of 65 hours combined. Thank God the school year ends this week). Look at my luck changing!
Get in my car to leave from that one, and, holy cow, the STORM. Tornado warnings busting through on my radio, my phone, etc. The rain and wind is so bad I can't see more than twenty feet in front of me, things are FLYING across the road, it's starting to look like they might flood. I pass an accident, a couple emergency vehicles with lights on go by, and about ten minutes into this drive, I decide it's time to pull into the middle of a parking lot to ride out the storm, hopefully away from flying objects. Reschedule my last shop to later this week when I'll be sort of near that way again (it was on my way home, so, it's not 16 miles away, at least) because I was *done*. I hate having to write when people don't do their jobs well, and I was really disappointed about not being able to get what I needed from that one store.
Today was just depressing. But at least a tree didn't fall on my car.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/15/2026 02:22AM by mysterioso412.