@LisaSTL wrote:

BTW, the fee paid by the franchisee on gas audits is paid to the petroleum company, not the MSC. Maybe you should ask how much they keep? Or maybe the petroleum company takes that fee from the franchisee and use it to offset an even higher fee to the MSC. The bottom line is we don't know who is paying what to who and how much.

Very true...we seem to be the low man on the totem pole & maybe if we stop taking those assignments which pay insulting fees ($5.00, etc, anyone) we could exert some positive influence in that regard? Just sayin.

I've seen some shops increasing their fees, when they can't find anyone to do the shops.

I saw one recently with a very nice bonus attached for a shop to be completed the next day. However, the requirements to become qualified took more than one or two days.

DOH!

@ Carmen,
Well, I never called. With his spelling errors and obvious lack of writing skills, I couldn't be bothered trying to converse with the guy,,LOL. But he offered me that $12.00 in one sentence even though I did not ask to even DO the shop in the letter I sent him. He did not even mention that nor try to defend himself. So, I did the shop.

Yep, been there. There is one that calls me regularly on a FF shop. I am in a rural area, so I get a lot of calls for locations that are 40-50 miles one way. I rently told them that I had to have a $20 bonus to do those shops... surprise!... I got two the next day. I thought to myself, "Wonder why I didn't do that months ago?"

Love your username >> housingbubblesobstory <<

How about when they say I will give you a bonus up to $18.00 and then they say Sorry it doesn't apply anymore but I can pay you 13.

x



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2015 11:41PM by MDavisnowell.

When I get the "can you help me out, we really need this shop done today or tomorrow" requests, my normal response is "maybe we can help each other out." I tell them what I need for a bonus, typically $15 - $35 depending on the shop type & location. My hit rate is only around 30%, but the pay is much better than my average shops. If they need it bad enough they usually cave in. I've noticed that certain MSC's will NEVER cave in so I just say no.

It's tough out there and getting tougher by the month...

$18 of the $60 doesn't seem that unreasonable at all. What seems unreasonable is that the company is only paying $60 for what they're getting.
It seems to me that there are WAY WAY WAY too many MSC's competing for a finite amount of work. The more they lowball each other to stay alive the more they lowball us.
How many MSC's can you think of with fewer than 5 clients (to your knowledge)? Talk about putting all your eggs into one basket.

see them monthly and also the one : DON'T MAKE ME BEG!

@Crickettt wrote:

There is a scheduler that kept sending these "urgent" messages saying they had a shop with a bonus. I wrote asking how much, every time. He never responded even once. Finally, in answer to the last one (yesterday) I just sent this--and FINALLY got a reply..LOLOLLOL!!


His reply:

Ok well I have a $12 bonus on the shop if you are interested.



Thank you

My letter to him:


From: Crickett Baker [@mail.com]
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2015 9:25 AM
To: Tyler
ect: Re: Were behind and need YOUR help!!!



Tyler,

I just want you to know that I have been doing shops for about 2 years and you are the 2nd WORSE scheduler I have seen. Over months I have written you many emails, and you literally NEVER respond. I think you should get a different job.

Crickett Baker

That's funny, but I am guessing he is laughing that you wrote, "Worse," instead of, "Worst," in the email.


"I think you should get a different job." ~ That is cracking me up, seriously.

bunnyshopper2 : I am thinking it would be improper to tell the C-store how much you are being paid, or anyone, for that matter, that asks you how much money you are making....

I agree.... that should be a definite ICA violation.

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

bunnyshopper2 : I am thinking it would be improper to tell the C-store how much you are being paid, or anyone, for that matter, that asks you how much money you are making....

@pgl wrote:

see them monthly and also the one : DON'T MAKE ME BEG!

And in a couple of days the headline will be "OK I"M BEGGING" (all in caps, of course).

I understand that schedulers have to try to fill things on the "regular" rates first, but it is also a peeve of mine that they wait until the very last second to offer any (helpful) bonus. I work in addition to MS, so no, I can't drop everything and go tomorrow. If you gave me a few days lead time, I might be able to.

This is good statements concerning who gets the big grab from those major clients not the shoppers for sure.

This must be your automatic post every time we get the newsletter from the forum. You just put this there to take up space.

This is when you tell the scheduler to go toggle themselves.

@rmguymail.com wrote:

This is good statements concerning who gets the big grab from those major clients not the shoppers for sure.

I wish I could say the scheduler got a decent cut, but it's not true.

That is why as a shopper you have to establish your self worth. If you refuse to accept any assignments under a certain value, then all of them will be over that amount. If you can't(or won't) be satisfied with that arrangement, you have only yourself to blame. Working for what you are worth is easy; finding ample assignments for what you are worth may be more problematic.

I got an email (and it looked like a phone call also) from a MSC for whom I have never done an assignment. It was a wing shop: they were offering a bonus to get the shop done by closing. I got this message 9:55 PM on a weekday; the places closes at 1:00 AM. I remember the bonus wasn't that great (16 or 18 bucks), but good for a wing shop in my neck of the woods.
Marketforce has really screwed up their grocery store shops and audits. They offer re-imbursement only- 10.00 worth of food for an pretty involved shop. They aren't getting picked up and they wait to the last minute, constantly calling shoppers to do the assignment. Today they are offering 50.00 for an audit- I have NEVER seen a fee so high for this shop. This was slapped up an hour before the audit was to be finished. Then they prolonged the deadline 3 hours, and the 50.00 fee is still standing. I haven't answered my phone. Honestly, the grocery store audits are insulting-8.00 for a tedious, time consuming job. Plus a mere reimbursement of 15.00 worth of groceries.

I don't remember what company was...but they had an automatic distance fee attached....they offered a bonus (not called the same as the distance fee) and I accepted the shop that was 30 miles away.....expecting to get both the bonus and the distance fee....

when the payment came it was only the regular plus bonus fee....no distance fee.....when i questioned it..they said the bonus was actaully the distance fee.....

they had never indicated that the bonus was to cover the distance...it was the same bonus if you lived next door or a 1000 miles away..

they did agree to pay both....but i never took another shop with them...and eventually lost my bookmark/log in info, etc. I just hope I recognize them if i do come across the company again..

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2015 05:29AM by jmitw.

I had a certain storage place that I went to a few years ago, (when the pay was a lot higher), tell me they were expecting me sometime this week. The shop was an audit on the facility, where you announce yourself upon arrival. I asked her how she knew to be expecting the visit. She told me she signed up with the MSC under another name, etc., so she would always know when to be prepared. She would see her location disappear from the list of available shops. Then she proceeds to tell me how much their company pays the MSC for the audit. $500.00. I hinted that I did not believe that. She was so comfortable telling me everything and proceeds to show me the expense charged to her location for the audit for the preceding months. There it was, the name of the MSC and when the last audit was performed, etc. I finished my audit and wrote an email to the MSC, telling them what I learned. Not to demand more money at that time, just to tell them what they were doing in order to know when the audit was to be expected. The next time the scheduler asked me to do one of those shops, by way of one of those 'urgent' requests via email, I ignored them. The scheduler calls me and asks if I would do the shop and even take a route. Nope. I am sorry, remember what I found out? The amount you get for each one? And you want me to do a route and make you $4,000, in a day? Well, that hit a nerve, but I was paid very handsomely for those 8 shops and they have given me nice bonuses since. Fortunately, that worked out well!

What WOULD they do if we organized???

Exactly and some of these involve a drive to the location and then at least an hour or more to do the narrative.

Thanks. Unfortunately it was true

Desperate for help = jobs pay so poorly that no one has accepted them.

That one and the Best Buy audits.... good grief... hourly posts....

@ShopUntilYouDrop wrote:

Desperate for help = jobs pay so poorly that no one has accepted them.

Yep, precisely