I did a theater shop for this company earlier this month and was unfairly docked points on my score for THEIR discrepancy.

They had two DIFFERENT set of instructions for a particular section of the report. The guidelines stated to CALL the theatre and the instructions printed on the shop report say to VISIT the theatre website. I followed the instructions on the report and informed my scheduler via email PRIOR to submitting the report of what I had done. I asked for instruction on how to properly deal with the instruction discrepancy and a few other issues. They BOTH told me via email (which I saved as proof) that what I did was fine and not to worry about it.

Few days later, I get my score back and the reviewer docked my score, specifically stating my failure to CALL the theatre as her reasoning and for another issue that the manager specifically told me to answer a specific way. The reviewer stated that I should have said handled the issue the OPPOSITE way and that was why I was docked points. I forwarded her the email chain and requested a manager review of the score as it was COMPLETELY unfair to dock me points for following instructions that were clearly printed in BOLD RED TEXT on the report and SPECIFICALLY approved by my scheduler and her manager.

Well, Clearly no one there wanted to take any kind of responsibility and left me under the bus. The reviewer, manager and scheduler ALL refused to have my score changed. To make matters worse, they also refuse to even acknowledge that there was a discrepancy between the shop guidelines and the report instructions, insinuating in all correspondence that I was the one at fault failing to follow instructions. Hello people...I did follow instructions. Whats the point of getting clearance prior to shop submission for an issue if no-one keeps the reviewer in the loop and they unfairly grade the shopper??? Then as to pour salt in the wound, my scheduler had the gall to tell me the score I got was good, like I should settle for being unfairly graded when the error was due to THEIR OWN MISTAK??? I dont think so!

If this is the unprofessional, irresponsible way this company handles things I will never, ever EVER do another shop for them again. I will also make it my mission to let every mystery shopper on every single shopper forum I can find know about the way this company drops the communication ball and fails to take responsibility for providing their shoppers with flawed guidelines.

Moderator edited for ICA violation

ZOMG! A 2 point reduction!!!!!!!!!!

You should change your name to don't-trust-service-sleuth

Are they paying you for the shop?

I am not going to argue with them anymore. I won't come out smelling like the rose, so why bother? And, about the time they have a agreed upon, whatever the topic is.(Thats not going to happen), I could have completed twenty shops already.

are joitex and snorklebutt the same person?

Did you get paid? If you did then forget about it. I don't care about my scores at all as long as I get paid and I never really have understood why people get so worked up about them. As long as they're good enough that you continue to get work then you're fine.

Hmmm - I just signed up with this MSC today. Might have to re-think shopping for them. Thanks for the heads-up!

You're not gonna shop for them because they gave someone an 8 instead of a 10?

oh no another editor bashing thread.

Was this your first shop ever? It seems like an overreaction. You scored an 8/10 and was advised of a mistake. If you get paid, then take it as a learning experience.

Also, it appears that the OP has an IC violation in the post.

I don't think the named company was the client. They sell tickets for most first run theaters in the US. I think the shopper was just supposed to buy the ticket from them? Maybe I'm wrong. The only theater eval I've done, also for this company, I had to specifically pay cash at the box office, so perhaps this WAS the client? Confusing.

As someone who has run across conflicting instructions for shops on several occasions, I won't take one unless and until I get absolute clarification from the scheduler. If I don't get an answer before the shop has to be taken, I won't take it.

While I think the OP was perhaps graded unfairly, what I don't understand is why he/she didn't get clarification PRIOR to performing the shop! Surely the instructions were conflicting from Day 1, right? The time to ask for clarification is as soon as you see the discrepancy. A person shouldn't assume that the shop instructions are correct instead of the guidelines. You don't get to choose one--you have to find out first.

Joitex, I understand there was a problem but this is not that big a deal. Everybody makes mistakes, and sooner or later you'll make one yourself. I'm assuming they're going to pay you and that's what matters. Considering this post, you're probably correct that you'll never, ever do another shop for them. Welcome to the forum.

@bgriffin: I think we all could really do without you polluting the conversation with wild information you pulled out of Lord knows where and have no knowledge or proof of. I never said what my score was or exactly how many points got docked. So unless you are one of the three individuals at SS involved in this debaucle and have direct access to my information you might want to consider keeping quiet on that. #justsayin

@Lisastl: I was told that being paid for my shop would be left to the discretion of the client so who knows, Ill find out in 90 days or so....

@JPgilham: no - I'm not snorklebutt and am unsure what the heck their post is supposed to be referencing - as far as the scores - I for one DO care about them. I bust my ass to follow guidelines to the tee and take pride in the accuracy of my reports. If i'm gonna get docked for things I did incorrectly, that's one thing. Getting them docked for something a supervisor told me to do via direct email is a COMPLETELY different thing. Its the principle of it and more than that - it's about integrity - which SS is clearly lacking in this situation

@gigishopper: My post didn't violate anything in my ICA. I didn't buy tickets off Fandango and they weren't the client being shopped. The unnamed theater was. This is NOT my first shop...I've been mystery shopping for nearly a decade. And as far as the score again - I never said what my actual score was - bgriffin threw those numbers out there. I didn't "make a mistake" - Read my OP - I submitted a query regarding the issues, received instruction on how to answer and submitted my report according to the exact instructions emailed to me. Its not an over-reaction when you bust your butt on a shop, read the directions, pose questions for clarification, enter the report based on management direction and STILL get wrongfully penalized without as much as an "oops, we were wrong - we made a mistake here" The belligerent replies I've gotten from the representatives of this company are what drove me to pose this thread. I followed protocol and still am being told that I was wrong and they refuse to correct the discrepancy. Didnt matter that I submitted TWO emails from TWO different people there stating I was to enter the report as I did. They are sticking to their flawed information and throwin me under the bus

@BirdyB: Read the post - I DID find out before I submitted my report to be graded. I emailed the scheduler and got clarification regarding this and the SIX other issues with this shop guidelines/report. The issue regarding how to rate the 3rd party guard was not something I could forsee BEFORE doing the shop. I asked for instruction and was told to answer one way. Having a editor dock me and say I should have answered the other is just wrong. Regarding site visit vs call, since I had not yet submitted the shop, technically I would have still be able to make the call if that was what they decided was the instruction that I needed to follow and submit the shop accordingly. Instead, I got an email directly from a supervisor who stated that the manner in which I initially completed that portion of the report was in fact (and I quote) "in accordance to requirements" and to mark everything else n/a was appropriate. So for an editor to turn around and dock me saying I completed the section wrong and didn't follow directions is not only a direct conflict of information (a seemingly ongoing pattern with these guys) but a MORE than justified concern. Clearly all parties involved with this company were not in the loop. No one wants to take responsibility for dropping the ball, no on ewants to admit there are conflicting instructions in their guidelines/report and no one wasnt to acknowledge that I have hard core written proof that I was told to answer in the manner that I did by a direct supervisor and thus should not be penalized. How y'all can read that and still think its an acceptable manner of doing business is beyond me!

Sleuth has really,really good clients and I would stick with them.

They do pay slow, BUT they are upfront about it.

Their schedulers are quite nice and generally flexible.

joitex Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> @bgriffin: I think we all could really do without
> you polluting the conversation with wild
> information you pulled out of Lord knows where and
> have no knowledge or proof of. I never said what
> my score was or exactly how many points got
> docked. So unless you are one of the three
> individuals at SS involved in this debaucle and
> have direct access to my information you might
> want to consider keeping quiet on that.
> #justsayin


Assume you started with a 10. You said you got docked points, not point, so that put you at 8 or below. You also said the editor had the gall to say it was a good score, which means it was most likely a 7 or above. I went with the higher of the two numbers at 8. Tell me I was wrong?

I actually agree with you completely, you shouldn't have been docked points. Also Service Sleuth isn't my favorite company. They're not bad, I just don't like the 60-90 day payment terms. Having said all of that, it's really not a big deal. Certainly not enough to make your first post here a lengthy one talking about how unfair they are and that you'll never work for them again. It's 2 (ok, MAYBE 3) points. In the greater scheme of things, it's really not a big deal. I think you're horribly over reacting, which was the point of my earlier post.

Also I agree with Arch, 2 (ok, maybe 3) points aren't worth burning a bridge over. Good clients even if they do pay slow.

bg -
I think you make 2 (ok, maybe 3) good points.
But that's all.

Only 3!?!?! Whatever, I made at LEAST 4 good points.

Purely subjective.

joitex, the only issue I was addressing in my post to you was that of the phone call vs the website visit. You misunderstood what I wrote, too. I get it that you asked about the discrepancy before you submitted your report. My point was that you should have asked for clarification BEFORE you DID the shop itself, NOT before you submitted the report.

You must have noticed the discrepancy well before embarking on the shop. Apparently you decided on your own which instruction to follow. Maybe it was important to the client that you make the phone call prior to performing the shop. I'm just wondering why you didn't e-mail your scheduler and ask. I don't think it's uncommon to get conflicting instructions, and my experience has been that most schedulers will get back to you asap in these cases. Personally, I wouldn't do the shop without clarification, to avoid exactly the situation you've encountered.

I don't think it was necessarily "fair" that you got docked for this issue, but, honestly, I think part of the burden is on you for this specific issue, and if they only docked you a point or two or whatever it was, I agree that you're fretting too much.

I have done MANY Service Sleuth movie shops and have ALWAYS "called" Fandango because that is what the instructions have always said.

You need to HEAR the recordings and report back the necessary information.

I love SS movie shops... Easy reporting.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2013 12:14PM by SunnyDays2.

I love their movie shops, too. They're easy and Service Sleuth has been nothing but fair to me.

I think complaining about a low score is absolutely ridiculous. Wait until they don't pay you, then complain. Otherwise, it's not a big deal.

Oh, THAT'S why the OP was calling Fandango. In my area the movie theater does their own recording I think, but I could be wrong.

Although my current average with this MSC is a "10 " through 184 assignments, a few years back I was given a "4." Being quite surprised, I wrote the scheduler who, as with me, disagreed with the editor's reasoning, but was powerless to affect a change. My decision was to accept that this individual was "out-to-lunch." I have, though, contacted the company twice when a new editor made demands of me that were impossible to meet. On each occasion, the MSC rep quickly handled the matter.

My advice to the OP is to re-think the decision to de-activate.

De-activation is not the best course of action. If you don't want to hear from them now, stop the notifications. You can always pick back up later if you change your mind.

IMO, JOITEX needs to calm down. If you have been shopping for 10 years, then you know that sheeesth happens. While you value your reputation on a score or grade, I find that grades mean very little, because it does not increase the shop fee. A 10 mean 100% shop fee, but so doesn't 6,7,8,9 and maybe 5. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Also, every year or few, MSC have Us, shoppers, renew our ICA. So you might want to review your ICA. Because some MSCs mention about being publicly discussed or harassed on a public forum or blog. If they don't know who you are right now, certain key words or situations of a shop may alert them. You may not need to "never, ever EVER do another shop for them again."

SS monitors this board/forum quite regularly.

Mary states:

De-activation is not the best course of action.

BOB'S opinion:

As a blanket statement, I disagree, but in this situation Mary and I are of like minds. IF, though, after careful consideration, a shopper knows in their mind they are in a losing relationship, fire the MSC! DON'T send the E-notifications to SPAM and DON'T turn-off the mail. As a self-employed contractor, it's imperative that one carry the self over to respect. For if one lacks a positive opinion of themselves, there can be no expectation that others will have a favorable view.

What I don't understand is why people "deactivate?" Why not just turn off email notifications and stop answering the phone calls?

Because they feel like they're somehow "sticking it" to the MSC.

I guess they don't realize that there are way more shoppers than there are MSCs, so Service Sleuth will find someone to take those shops - They definitely won't miss one disgruntled shopper!

And these Service Sleuth theater shops are rated as some of the favorite shops by shoppers on this forum, so Service Sleuth will definitely find someone to take them. I rarely see emails begging for shoppers for these shops. Where I live, this shop is in high demand.