I was not notified by email, but just saw on my account page that I have two rejected shops. Does this mean that I will not be paid? If so, I have a real problem with that. I did three shops in one day because they were geographically close to each other, although they were a loonng drive from my house. It would not have made sense to do just one of them, but if I did three it would be worth the price of gas. Anyway, they accepted one out of three. The other two were rejected for ridiculous reasons. Apparently, they want me to tackle employees and force them to assist me....even after I already asked for help. I am now actually losing money working for them, if they do not pay me. I suppose I can return the items I purchases and recoup a small amount of money.

Further, I just did a tech job for them wherein I had to layout more than $70 to have a device repaired. If they reject this one, I will be out A LOT of $$ and unable to return anything!!!

Who had experience with STN and should I actually bow out at this point? Doing this at a loss is not sustainable for me.

I would contact them. There should have been a scheduler phone number in the emails and that would be the place to start. As a last resort I show (734)302-8400 as a phone number for them. Based on your conversation you can decide how to proceed.

I had an issue with them a number of years ago and found nobody answered emails. Eventually the problem was worked out satisfactorily, but I am always fairly cautious about what I will do for them.

I had one shop rejected by them awhile back. They do not notify you. You just find out on the site. At that time, on the rejected shop history page, a note was next to the shop as to why it was rejected, not sure if they still do that.

I was upset at first, but in all honesty, it was my fault it was rejected. Guidelines said purchase an office supply item, not food or snacks. I knew this as I'd completed many of these shops before, but I couldn't find an office item for $1 so I just grabbed a gourmet sucker at the register.

I would not bow out at this point. I've completed several 100 shops for them and that was the only one to be rejected. Really read the guidelines and follow them 100%.

My experience was the same as Lisa. It was my fault because I was supposed to purchase two identical video games and instead got two different ones. Everything else has worked out well. If they need additional info they contact you. It's always straightforward and resolved quickly.

I've only done a handful of shops for them and haven't had a problem. Just in general, when I shop for a new company, I always take it slow and never accept more than one assignment at a time, so I get the opportunity to feel them out. That said, if an interaction was required, and one did not take place, they would unfortunately have grounds to reject the shop. As suggested, contact them -- hopefully it can be worked out. Good luck, and please let us know what happens.

I do a lot of work for STN and have had only one shop rejected. I used my Rewards Card for a certain store when you're not allowed to. My fault..I had a brain lapse. Other than that, I find their shops easy to do and well worth the effort, especially when bonused.

A required interaction can be a valid reason to disallow. Sometimes it is virtually impossible to have one and a shop of mine with another company almost got invalidated for the same reason. It was after I was able to explain everything I did (and it was a lot) to have an interaction and how the associate kept leaving me to wait on a customer who arrived after me that it finally got accepted. Is it possible you were not clear about all the steps you took?

I've probably done 50 or so shops for them over the last several years. They don't have a great variety in my area, but I've always been paid. I've never had a shop rejected, but I've had a couple that needed clarification.

I used to do a grocery store for them. They lost the client and it's now shopped by another MSC. The report is now much easier to complete & the pay is actually better than it was with STN! As far as I can remember, this is the ONLY time I remember a client changing MSCs and the fee INCREASING!!!

Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of STN, but I don't completely dislike them either. I think they're one of the more arrogant MSCs when dealing with shoppers. You have only 12 hours to respond to one of their questions for clarification, even though it may take them 4 or 5 days to review your work. Policies like that are what leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Susie - Let me know how it goes for you as I just did the same shop you are talking about. And if they reject my report, I'll be out about $80. I haven't turned in my report yet so I'll not know for a bit whether they accept the report or not.
One problem I've had with them is their lack of communication. I emailed one of the schedulers twice to ask a question about a posted shop and never received a response. This is the same shop that I eventually took but only because I was able to schedule a couple more in the same town. Scheduler was very quick to give me the shop - she just was too busy to answer questions initially! ;-)

I am preparing my appeal letter right now. I checked the guidelines again and I was fully compliant. Crossing my fingers!

SusieAD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am preparing my appeal letter right now. I
> checked the guidelines again and I was fully
> compliant. Crossing my fingers!


Good luck! If you don't get a response, try calling. I find that I often get better (and quicker) resulsts that way, albeit I haven't had the need to contact this company.

Thanks for the insight on Second-To-None although I have not had any problem with cancelled or dropped shops nore not receiving the fees they had promised on the invitation. They seem to be a bit slow in processing payment. But I would start bugging them, I do feel they will respond. Good Luck. BL

I, too, recently had a problem with STN. Never have had one, and I've done, 43 shops so far for them.

I took 7 of their $2.00 reimbursements shops in one day, mapped it out, okay'd it with the scheduler. The 2nd shop I got to their computers were down. The employee told me, "It could be an hour, it could be longer." Well, I couldn't stay, and the rest of the route took me to the OTHER side of town.

I got home (minus that shop), wrote to the scheduler that their computers were down. Completed the remaining shops, submitted surveys, confirmed, etc.

In my email I said, "I will try and get back the next day but I already have 8 shops scheduled, I do not know if I will be able." (this was a weekend, so no one was in the office, but I sent email correspondence as "proof" I contacted the scheduler with a problem.)

I got an email on Monday morning saying it was okay, not a problem. MONDAY, I went out of my way to get the shop done. Get home, THE SHOP IS GONE.

I emailed this STN scheduler TWICE telling her I went and did the shop - AND sent a copy of the receipt to her as an attachment. I forwarded her reply to me back to her - and she NEVER REPLIED to me. I was pissed to say the least. I did the shop, got my receipt, and this scheduler ended up removing it - even though she told me it was okay!

Now that shop is back up on the boards & available.

You know what I would do? I would send all the documents AGAIN to her and to the support or help desk, if possible. Then tell her how I feel and how disappointed I am that I did not receive any reply nor respect after all the time and effort I exerted. Then I'd call the telephone # provided above by Flash - (734)302-8400 and tell them strongly how I feel, in a polite way. Then I probably would ask them to remove my name from their database. Be sure you are ready to leave.

When I am treated that way and ignored, I usually do that and not once have they not listened! Your records are your strong deposition.

Good luck!

Susie. StN was one of the first companies I did shops for. I deactivated after they would not pay me for a shop I did. I actually did three shops that day--same client--a high-end grocery store, different locations. I was supposed to evaluate a specialty bread kiosk at the store. (And interact with employees, etc.) The guidelines said most, but not all, stores had these kiosks. The guidelines also said there "might" be a question thrown in to make sure you are telling the truth. I went to the first two stores, located the kiosk--no problem. At the third store, I saw SHELVES but no kiosk. I played it out in my mind...almost ALL stores have kiosks, but these look like shelves AND they warned me they might be looking for untruths. Took me all of 10 seconds worth of inner turmoil to come up with a solution: tell the truth. I did the reports and, for the 3rd, explained there were shelves but no kiosk. I reported everything I needed to about the shelves/kiosk. So the only issue was vocabulary. The shop was rejected. When I pursued, things got nasty. VERY NASTY. Which is why I deactivated. I have posted about this else where. It was the tenor and complete lack of respect that got to me. I was obviously at the store--had the receipts to prove it, I had done everything require--interacted with all the employees, etc--and reported what I considered to be the absolute red white and blue truth. I have sometimes thought it might have been a mistake to deactivate--means I cannot get shops. But then I remember how insulting and condenscending they were. Also,I am pretty sure they simply edited out the whole shelves vs. kiosk thing.
SusieAD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was not notified by email, but just saw on my
> account page that I have two rejected shops. Does
> this mean that I will not be paid? If so, I have a
> real problem with that. I did three shops in one
> day because they were geographically close to each
> other, although they were a loonng drive from my
> house. It would not have made sense to do just one
> of them, but if I did three it would be worth the
> price of gas. Anyway, they accepted one out of
> three. The other two were rejected for ridiculous
> reasons. Apparently, they want me to tackle
> employees and force them to assist me....even
> after I already asked for help. I am now actually
> losing money working for them, if they do not pay
> me. I suppose I can return the items I purchases
> and recoup a small amount of money.
>
> Further, I just did a tech job for them wherein I
> had to layout more than $70 to have a device
> repaired. If they reject this one, I will be out A
> LOT of $$ and unable to return anything!!!
>
> Who had experience with STN and should I actually
> bow out at this point? Doing this at a loss is not
> sustainable for me.

I've only done one shop for STN, buying doughnuts. Granted, the guidelines were laughably picky about WHICH doughnuts I could get, but they were clear. I got those EXACT SPECIFIC DOUGHNUTS and had no problem with the shop.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2012 01:09PM by Dagosto.

Dagosto, I've done those several times, but inside and drive-thru. I don't think the guidelines are to be "laughably picky", I think the client has certain doughtnuts that they want to be able to see how they look, if they are up their standards (the glazed for instance).

Lisa, you no doubt recall the focus on the top display shelf, then. It seemed laughably picky to me to require a specific one when the point was the whole top row. When I did mine, one selection was totally empty. Had that been my required doughnut, I'd have been stumped. What would I say? "Gee, I really wanted one of those Apple Cinnamon thingies....but I'll take one original glazed and something else from the top row instead."

Ok maybe I'm easily amused and find lots of stuff laughable. Given the chance, I'll do that shop again, yes.

I only like the glazed ones. Was a letdown when I couldn't get them during the shop.

I have done hundreds and hundreds of shops for STN. I like them just fine.

They do not notify a shopper of rejected shops, as a rejected shop is 'published'. I've had three rejected. I have appealed, and had each accepted.

jersey07032, I know the shop you're talking about. That was one of my rejected shops. The confirmation email from STN indicated if the store had a kiosk. I copied/pasted their words. It took three communiques at different and escalated levels. I kept it professional, and each time stated facts. My shop was eventually accepted. Yes, a hassle, though my overall percentage with them is highly positive.

Mert I kept it very professional and was STILL rejected. AND was treated quite disrespectfully. I am glad you had a better outcome. However, knowing myself, I am sure I handled it just as well. I just didn't have the positve results you did, maybe because I was a new shopper or maybe it was just my turn to be SOL. The thing is, new or not, I am willng to pay my dues but will not tolerate abuse. I was flabbergasted by the way I was treated by this company. I am getting similar treatment from GfK, which really puzzles me because I literally ran out of the house at 8:00 at night to do a last minute shop for them. There was a bonus, which they still have not paid (telling me after almost six months that they are "working on it" and I should be patient) and accusing me of violating my IC HUH???? Again, glad it worked out for you.

Please let us know the outcome, esp re the $$$ layout. I think that they are obligated to reimburse you and my guess is they will. I have done computer repair shops before and they did not require an initial payout. I personally would not do a shop that you have to invest that much in unless you have some sort of guarantee via e=mail from the scheduler.

Jersey, sometimes it's just not going to be good, regardless of tenor. Write them off. An MSP we can't tolerate, even though they have shops we want, due to unprofessional or incompetent editors/schedulers. In such case, I remove myself, then check back with them in six months or so. Chances are attrition has taken care of the problem, and there's a different editor/scheduler.

I might do that with StN (at some point). With GfK and Remington, I think the problem is systemic. They are the "Goldman Saches" of mystery shopping. IMHO.

I have a rejeciton as well...like the others, if I was to blame, then fine.

But this minor detail they rejected my packaging shop for I truly don't remember reading about!

Now I'm out $20+ - and I will not take the chance again...it feels very slimey...like they look to reject your on the bigger dollar shops.

That's what it feels like to me anyway...so long STN

dinapal

when you reviewed the guidelines, did you come across this detail? If not, they have no right not to pay you. I guess they could argue I made the mistake, even though I think that is unreasonable. But in your case, it sounds like you didn't make a mistake at all.

Jersey, I don't have the paperwork anymore, the shop was in January.

But c'mon...no one is perfect. Even if it was in the paperwork, it was a minor detail and not worthy of denying me payment!

I once had a similar situation with A Closer Look...they asked me the question, and I honestly told them I had neglected to do that, fully expecting not to be paid. But they did pay me.

But to deny payment to an established shopper for one minor detail with no warning is just wrong.

And I'm just not going to put myself in that situation again, I'll never take another job for them.

I will never do a job for STN without carefully preserving a copy of all instructions given in PDF form. The same holds true for BestMark. With STN when the shop was rejected for something not in the instructions it took quite a while to get any kind of response, but I forwarded PDFs of the instructions with each email attempt with a request that they show me where the requirement was that I 'missed'. I was paid. Unfortunately my PDF of my BestMark rejected shop did not save correctly, which I only noted once the shop was rejected. Companies that make instructions unavailable after shop submission cause me concern.

I'm agreeing with you. Seems like the MSC was looking for a reason to reject the shop if it was a minor error. Unfortunately, we have absolutely no control of situations such as this.

I have had good experiences with a number of MSCs. So I know not all of them are bad. But, as I said in a previous post, I am now as much afraid of not getting paid for some ludicrous reason as I used to be of not getting paid for some error I made.



dinapal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jersey, I don't have the paperwork anymore, the
> shop was in January.
>
> But c'mon...no one is perfect. Even if it was in
> the paperwork, it was a minor detail and not
> worthy of denying me payment!
>
> I once had a similar situation with A Closer
> Look...they asked me the question, and I honestly
> told them I had neglected to do that, fully
> expecting not to be paid. But they did pay me.
>
> But to deny payment to an established shopper for
> one minor detail with no warning is just wrong.
>
> And I'm just not going to put myself in that
> situation again, I'll never take another job for
> them.

I also suspect Second to None was looking for a reason to reject my shop. The results of this shop were negative. I did wonder if they were looking for an "everything-is-OK" report.