I did a shop for SECOND TO NONE. $10 fee with a $5 purchase. Well, I left out one thing in my 59 question plus several naratives.
They did not contact me. They just rejected it. I have e-mailed them with no reply.
Most of these hang out there forever as no one seems to want them.
They may want me to do another one. Well it will not happen again.
What do you bet that they used my report.

When you say you left one thing out, was it something you forgot to do or something you forgot to include in the report? If you just forgot to include it, call them. I've had a couple of minor issues in the last month and both have been resolved in my favor.

I forgot to include in the narrative where you word-for-word explain all you did. Had it been in the questions, I would have caught it.
I have not had another company to reject my reports.
Anyway, one learns from doing.

If that's all it is, I would contact them. The report should not have submitted unless everything was completed.

I agree with Lisa, cruise. The report shouldn't have submitted if you left out a narrative (unless you put some sort of temp placeholder characters in the text box in order to continue on through your survey). The thing is, that seems out of character to me, as far as Second-to-None is concerned. They are usually very good about contacting shoppers when it comes to issues with a report. They usually put these shops under 'Need Clarification' and then let you know. (I've never had this problem, but I'm sure that's what I was told by a scheduler I know).

Anyway, I would do as Lisa said, contact the scheduler. Ask if there's anything that can be done at this point, including re-shopping for them. Sometimes, especially when you're starting out, you have to be flexible. It's a learning process-- as much for you as for them. You get the chance to learn what their expectations are for you (because they're all different) and they get a chance to learn what kind of shopper you are.

I wouldn't give up so soon. =)

Sending the best,

Jen

Sounds unusual for this company. I have worked for them over 7 years and always had good communication. I will say that I had 3 shops declined in April saying that the timing didn't seem realistic. I challenged it and they still didn't pay it. That was a first in all the years of working for them. Maybe they have new managment or editors being more critical. Overall, I still enjoy working for this company!

It's been my experience that STN does not notify shoppers that a shop is being rejected. Instead, it is 'published' on the shopper's hub, and is up to us to keep a watchful eye. I have had rejects over the years. It's important to watch the progression of the shop, and if it lands in "My Shop Invoices", all is well. If it appears in "Rejected Shops" and is quickly noticed by the shopper, response needs to be immediate. I have appealed rejected shops, provided the facts, and had rejects converted to invoiced. STN is agreeable to work with, and unless the deadline was missed, it's not over.

I agree you need watch for the "rejected shops" and I have also had rejected shops converted into payable shops. I just needed to clarify a certain part of the report. These guys/gals or fairly easy to work with (IMO).

good luck.....

STN is a sore point with me because they deactivated me many years ago *without warning* due to either a case of mistaken identity (as to who the shopper was) or an employee lying about what I said during a shop.

Not only did I not say anything that even resembled the insult the employee claimed the shopper made, but STN did not even ask me what I looked like to try to determine if it was simply a case of mistaken identity.

To make the whole thing even more ridiculous, what the employee alleged the shopper said would make no sense coming from me because I was a member of that insulted group. If STN had bothered to ask me for my physical description or a picture, it would have been clear that I should not have been deactived.

My making the insult alleged by the employee would be akin to a shopper with a disability calling the employee a cripple or a shopper using an ethnic slur on an employee of the same ethnic origin as the shopper.

I don't miss working for STN because of the way it treated me. However, I am still angry and even bitter about how the whole thing was handled.

Man, that really sucks, Bee! I'm sorry that was your experience with them. You know, I think sometimes mystery shopping companies get into that headspace where they're all like, "We have so many shoppers, we're never going to need to maintain good relationships with them." I wonder, after all these years, how that's working out for some of them, you know? If you only have new shoppers to deal with because you're axing (without even talking to) your old, experienced shoppers, it's no wonder schedulers and editors always seem so ticked. =P

It's easy to see why you're upset about the situation. It would be great if somehow there could be some sort of resolution to it, even after all these years.

Thanks, Jen. Yes, I would love to clear my name but, after so many years, it will not happen.

I even met Jeff Hall (founder and CEO) and spoke with him more than once at MSPA events. I did not bring up the matter with him as I thought it would have been inappropriate and awkward. I asked him about the MSPA and G3 instead.

BusyBee, Mistakes happen, but there is always more than one side to the story. You didn't inform us if you objected and presented your side. If your facts were provided, of course, there would be hard feelings,

I am not one to let something stick in my craw. Even years after the fact, it's not too late, if it's important to you.

Mert, I presented my side of the story as soon as I found out why they deactivated me. I immediately objected and presented my side. I even had a third party talk to STN. This third party (1) was known and trusted by both STN and myself, (2) had met me in person and worked with me for a while, and (3) could and did both vouch for my integrity and describe me physically.

None of that made a difference to STN. I stayed deactivated and STN would not even respond to my objection.

I am not the type to let something stick in my craw either. My reputation was important to me. They treated me like garbage.

Watch out for technical problems! I had one picture missing (it was with Trend Source I think) and I was sure to have included it. I resent it and I received another email saying they needed that picture or they could reject the job. Sent it again and the same thing happened. I emailed them and they said they got the picture the first time. A glitch was generating the automatic email message.

Sorry to hear how it played out, BusyBee.

Thanks, Mert.

I have been very pleased with Second to None and have enjoyed many free breakfasts. I have had a shop needing clarification and got an email to go back to the website and fix it.

They have started getting a little weird lately. I have had to call them about shops being rejected without the Need Clarification being attempted.

jentodd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree with Lisa, cruise. The report shouldn't
> have submitted if you left out a narrative (unless
> you put some sort of temp placeholder characters
> in the text box in order to continue on through
> your survey). The thing is, that seems out of
> character to me, as far as Second-to-None is
> concerned. They are usually very good about
> contacting shoppers when it comes to issues with a
> report. They usually put these shops under 'Need
> Clarification' and then let you know. (I've never
> had this problem, but I'm sure that's what I was
> told by a scheduler I know).
>
> Anyway, I would do as Lisa said, contact the
> scheduler. Ask if there's anything that can be
> done at this point, including re-shopping for
> them. Sometimes, especially when you're starting
> out, you have to be flexible. It's a learning
> process-- as much for you as for them. You get
> the chance to learn what their expectations are
> for you (because they're all different) and they
> get a chance to learn what kind of shopper you
> are.
>
> I wouldn't give up so soon. =)
>
> Sending the best,
>
> Jen

I had a shop rejected a few months ago. I expected an e-mail as I didn't realize that you had to keep checking back on the site for follow-up. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until my check was short as it was a nice bonus. After explaining my side to the company, I was informed that they couldn't pay me for the shop as someone had already reshopped. Because of the odd circumstances surrounding my purchase, they did reimburse me the cost of my purchase which was around $7 as it was something I could in no way use.

While I obviously wasn't thrilled with the way it turned out, I do respect that they were willing to hear my side and cover the reimbursement. I have now learned if I do a shop to log-in there and check daily to make sure there are no questions.

Sounds a little bit unusual for the company to react in this manner. Usually they contact me and would ask me to confirm/verify/add details whatever is missing and required from my report. This applies to all kinds of shops I do for them. Be they food/sub shops or Office Shops.

Another complaint against Second to None. Every time I casually check the forum, they are one of the top threads, even with all the Franchise Compliance and Freeman complaints!

STN have weird way of either needing clarificaton or rejection outright. You are notify of "needing clarification," but they are silent regarding rejected shops. I've learned to check the rejection tab, just in case. I had one rejected shop and I challenged it successfully. They fairly decided their wording in the guideline was not clear, paid me, and changed the wording in their guideline for the future. I have no complain about them at all.

I just had a rejected shop from them. I emailed my scheduler hashed it out with him, and seeing as he was aware of the questionable situation up front, got paid anyway for the shop. He pushed the shop through.