Update: After escalating this rejection, I emailed the manager, Ian, who sent me this response:
"In our guidelines, we do note that if the FLA asks for “ID, date of birth and/or social security number,” then you should ask if there is a way around providing that information; if the FLA indicates that that information is required, it is at that point that the shopper should ask about splitting the transactions. In our guidelines, though, we did not account for other information that the FLA could request. In your situation, the additional information that was requested was a phone number. Since we did not account for this in the guidelines, we cannot rightfully place the blame on you. I have therefore reinstated payment for this shop.
I really appreciate that you brought this issue to our attention. I apologize that we initially revoked payment for this shop, and I hope that this does not negatively affect your relationship with our company."
Kudos to Intelli-shop! I just wish I didn't have to spend an additional 15 to 30 minutes emailing the scheduler and the manager with my detailed side of the story to get paid the original $10. However, I post this to let other shoppers know that you can, and should, escalate a rejection that you take issue with.
Mystery Shopper since 1998; Author of Make Money Mystery Shopping available on Amazon in the Kindle Store.