Just a word of warning to new shoppers for this company. I have been in the secret shopping industry for over 17 years. I have very high ratings with the companies for which I work. I recently completed my first shop with Buckalew. The report form was not overly difficult, just a lot of information. When I checked out of the hotel I wrote the editor Aimee that the report might be a bit late. The internet at the hotel was having trouble and I needed to travel back to my state before I could complete it. After completing the report one day late I was contacted by Aimee. She had an angry tone that I had made the shop late to the client. I apologized for the issue and told her I had emailed about the issue. She graded the report and sent the feedback to me as falling just below the range of being able to remain a shopper. I asked her to back up the feedback I had received which she refused to do. I called her out as purposely giving me a low score so she could have me removed from the system. She told me this was not the case and again I asked her to follow up with support which again I did not receive. I at that point took my case to David Buckalew, the owner. I asked for him to simply read the report and give honest feedback on the issue. He refused to do anything for me and was quite rude about everything. I found the fact that there is no leniency for a first time shopper and the fact that the owner would back up something without even looking into it to be very unprofessional.

Is this danitk24 aka BetteL?

The form does not require you to be on the internet...

danitk24 Wrote:
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> I recently completed my first shop with Buckalew.
> The report form was not overly difficult, just a
> lot of information. When I checked out of the
> hotel I wrote the editor Aimee that the report
> might be a bit late. The internet at the hotel
> was having trouble and I needed to travel back to
> my state before I could complete it. After
> completing the report one day late I was contacted
> by Aimee.

Since you do not need the Internet at all to complete a Buckalew report, the Internet is a non-issue. A report being a day late is not a bit late. Even if you did need the Internet, there are plenty of places to suck up the free wi-fi so there would be no need to have to drive back to your state.


> She graded the report and sent the feedback to me
> as falling just below the range of being able to
> remain a shopper. I asked her to back up the
> feedback I had received which she refused to do.

I have always received comments/feedback along with my scores so if you can use a scroll button and read, they should be right there.

Buckalew gives 36 hours to submit the report via Excel.

Sorry, but when you accepted the shop you accepted their terms. Emailing to tell them that you're not going to hold up your end of the bargain after all isn't any more acceptable than if they had emailed you to say they decided not to pay the agreed upon amount.

Sorry, a day late is a day late. Deadlines are deadlines. Sometimes we can beg mercy, but expecting to get it is unrealistic. Excel does not require an internet connection. If you could email her about the internet problem, you could have attached the Excel file and sent it along. Or, as others have said, find a Starbucks or McDonalds or one of myriad other places with internet access (libraries?).

And how do you know the owner didn't read it? He could have had a copy from Aimee long before you talked to him.

After 17 years in this industry you surely know how important those deadlines are. You didn't ask for an extension; you basically demanded one by saying you would be late. What did you really expect to happen? "Okay, fine, sure, send it in whenever. We were just joking about it being due last night"?

While some MCS's give you 12 or 24 hours to complete the report, Buckalew gives you 36 hours. As mentioned by other members, you do not need internet connection to complete the report. To email it, you could have walked to the nearest Café and use their hot spot. Dave and his team are really nice and easy to work with. Why didn't you call Dave on his cell phone when you realized that you will be late with the report? He is always available.

What the OP posted is suspect. I've shopped for Dave for 8 years and he has always been more than lenient and nice in dealing with shoppers. He gives a generous 36 hours from check-out to email the Excel form to Aimee. One of the nice thing about working off Excel is that you do not need internet to complete the report; just 2 seconds to email it back to them. That can be certainly be done at any airport, Starbucks, McDonald's, hotel lobby, etc.

danitk24 Wrote:
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> I found the fact that there is no leniency for a
> first time shopper and the fact that the owner
> would back up something without even looking into
> it to be very unprofessional.

Your first shop for any MSC is your sole opportunity to make a first impression. Leniency to a shopper with a proven track record who has already shown their value makes sense. What reason do they have to be lenient with someone who botched their first assignment?

As others have pointed out, Buckalew reports have a generous 36-hour deadline, and don't require internet access to work on. You only need to be able to send an email attachment once the report is complete. If you're not motivated and/or resourceful enough to find a few minutes of internet access after a day and a half, then you're the "very unprofessional" one in this situation.

danitk24 Wrote:
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> I called her out as purposely giving me a low score
> so she could have me removed from the system.

You say that as if any MSC needs a reason to deactivate you. You're not an employee who is entitled to any sort of training, mentoring, or loyalty. You're an independent contractor and your only value to the MSC is the quality and timeliness of the service that you provide. In this case, you failed to provide the services as agreed, and the MSC has decided not to contract with you again, as is entirely within their discretion, regardless of the score you received.

Seriously.... if you have been shopping for 17 years and you can't get a Bucklew report done in 36 hours, you aren't that good. The forms are logical and simple. Don't ever do a casino with a $5000 advance.
I have been shopping for 16 years next spring.
I just did a job in Spanish (Mexican dialect) on a form written by somebody who probably spoke Chinese, turned into an editor in Argentina for a company based in Spain (totally different type of Spanish). My first language is English. That was probably the hardest report I have ever done.

Oh, I only do a shop for them every couple of months, so I'm not exactly their most active shopper. No butt-kissing necessary, just the truth.

I thought this was a convoluted joke. I had to read it twice before it began to sink in that this fool was serious. This should be used as an example of how to get booted from consideration as a shopper. I doubt the assertion that this person actually ever had an assignment from Bucklew.