I did a shop for Intellishop and submitted the report. I have done several of these shops over the past seven years. I get an e-mail with the following comment: A significant amount more detail is needed in all of your narratives. Each of these narratives should read as a complete and detailed account of the portion of the shop that you are writing about. Explain in each section exactly what was said to you, how you responded, and how your transaction was handled. Use the questionnaire as a guide.

I was shocked since I include everything that was said and done. I didn't know what to do so I e-mailed the editor and the scheduler. No response. E-mailed a few hours later. No response. Now, over the past seven years, I have initiated contact with schedulers about ten times. I have received two responses-both because I was canceling my shops because nobody would respond to me. There have been several times I wanted to contact a scheduler with a question about a shop I had never done. As I assume my question would never be answered, I just don't accept the shop.

It was getting late and I didn't know what to do so I just submitted the report again with nothing added to the narratives. You probably guessed already. The report was accepted but I received a 8 because they had to contact me for more information. The comments started with the fact that they were deducting two points and ended with keep up the good work. I found that last comment insulting because my good work was not good enough for them. Sorry just a rant.

This is my first post and I am sorry it is negative.

Ishop grades and citations are a joke. No one takes them seriously, rc. Relax. You're fine.

I once got a 6 because they contacted me more than once and I submitted the forms the way they had them formatted. They wanted them formatted differently. I will never do that gas station give away again.

Don't take it to heart. Only take it to heart if it's locking you out from signing up for a shop.

Don't worry about getting an "8". You get paid the same amount anyway. I am reminded of this question and answer. Question: "What do you call the person who graduates last in their Medical School class?" Answer: "Doctor"

I wish I could be as calm and satisfied as most of you are with point deductions. I must have a problem, because I cannot accept that if I know I did nothing wrong. I had a deduction, recently, and wrote the editor and scheduler about it. The editor was rude, although I inserted screen shot photographs that proved my point with my reply. They told me to deal with the MSC. (Even though the editor wrote me the inquiry and had their email listed, stating to reply to them with the explanation.) The scheduler wrote back telling me the score was 'still very good'. I wrote back again, with the photographs copied to them, again, and finally they understood my point and changed my score. I get the comment above about the doctor still being a doctor, but I am hung up on the true score. I look at it like a GPA. A 'B', still very good, but if you deserved an 'A', I cannot accept the 'B'. Over time, marks against one that are not deserved, add up and size you up, as far as the caliber of work you provide, when someone looks at your scores.

@purpleicee wrote:

I wish I could be as calm and satisfied as most of you are with point deductions. I must have a problem, because I cannot accept that if I know I did nothing wrong. I had a deduction, recently, and wrote the editor and scheduler about it. The editor was rude, although I inserted screen shot photographs that proved my point with my reply. They told me to deal with the MSC. (Even though the editor wrote me the inquiry and had their email listed, stating to reply to them with the explanation.) The scheduler wrote back telling me the score was 'still very good'. I wrote back again, with the photographs copied to them, again, and finally they understood my point and changed my score. I get the comment above about the doctor still being a doctor, but I am hung up on the true score. I look at it like a GPA. A 'B', still very good, but if you deserved an 'A', I cannot accept the 'B'. Over time, marks against one that are not deserved, add up and size you up, as far as the caliber of work you provide, when someone looks at your scores.

I agree you have a point here - but I also believe that life is short and if you get paid what was promised for the shop, let it be.....I say this as I graduated high school in 1984 and I just spent some time looking over my high school's online memorial wall and there have been more untimely deaths in my high school graduating class than I am comfortable thinking about. This underscores for me that life is indeed short, it's wise to pick your battles, and as long as you get paid as promised, I'd take a deep breath and let this one go. But that's just me.

It was not just the deduction that upset me. It is the overall treatment. I can never get an answer to my e-mails. They have an expectation for the shoppers that they do not fulfill themselves. Case in point: Several years ago, I accepted a job to perform an oil change shop. I was to call to set up an appointment. I called but the earliest appointment was after the due date. I immediately contacted the scheduler. I checked my e-mail everyday. Five days later I receive an e-mail that was sent to me the previous day about 3 pm. I had gone out of town and could only check may mail in the morning on the hotels computer. The e-mail asked if I could still do the shop. The next e-mail was a notice that I was receiving a flake citation because I did not reply to the first e-mail immediately. I didn't say anything until I was contacted by another scheduler asking to do an urgent shop. I told the scheduler no and cited the oil change shop. The citation was removed.

When I wrote the first comment, I had been dealing with this for nine hours.

@purpleicee wrote:

I wish I could be as calm and satisfied as most of you are with point deductions. I must have a problem, because I cannot accept that if I know I did nothing wrong. .......... I look at it like a GPA. A 'B', still very good, but if you deserved an 'A', I cannot accept the 'B'. Over time, marks against one that are not deserved, add up and size you up, as far as the caliber of work you provide, when someone looks at your scores.

I think most of us prefer to get perfect scores. Some of us have just learned to deal with not getting a perfect score. And some of us recognize that, even though we have spell checker, we might still have a spelling error that the program doesn't catch. Or we may have a couple of run-on sentences or grammar errors. A 6 or 7 would be something to worry about. An 8 might give me indigestion. What you say is very true about GPA. But why cry over a 9?

It's a good lesson in human nature. If the scores on reports bother us so much, think about the reactions of the clients - the managers of restaurants and stores, who we visit and report about. In many cases, their performance reviews come from comments on our reports, and our reports may determine whether or not they get raises and bonues. It gives you an idea of how they must feel when they get a less-than-perfect score ..... and why some of them fight the negative comments. It's why I try to carefully describe in great detail everything I saw (leaving out whether I thought it was good or bad), letting the editor/client draw their own conclusions from the picture I paint. We can take a lesson from the poor feedback given by editors, and we can do better presenting the negatives to clients. Any negative should be fully described and explained .... we certainly want to completely understand any negative that affects our grade, right?

It's a good idea to keep in mind that the clients who get less-than-perfect reports will feel the same way we feel when we get an edtor's grade that is less than a 10. Just saying. Food for thought.

Great perspective from AustinMom.

I'll add one thing to this mix. Intellishop is simply known for having harsh editors. Most of us have been stung by them a time or two. So it's not you, it's them. You can't control "them." You can only control not letting "them" get to "you."

It makes them feel like they have earned their keep when they find fault with our reports. They want to prove they are actually looking at them, not rubber stamping them as okay, so they pick until they find something. They're probably expected to find fault with X percent of the reports, or criticized if they give all 10's.

So it is no reflection on you, unless you are consistently getting grades below an 8. Then you might want to have someone you know look at some of your narratives to see if you are doing the things you are being "accused" of. It's hard to critique your own work because your brain knows what you meant and will read what you wrote to be consistent with your intentions.

Nobody but you and them will see your scores. They're not published anywhere. I personally only work for them if the money is worth the potential blow to my ego when I get the score.

I could understand nit picking but ----A significant amount more detail is needed in all of your narratives---ALL of my narratives. Then I resubmit the report without any changes and the only markdown I receive is for them having to contact me. This, of course, after trying to contact them for nine hours with no response. Hmm. I was just frustrated after seven years.

I was disheartened a few times with point deductions from Intelli and agree the communication is lacking. There grading system I think has had the opposite effect on me. Instead of encouraging me to "do better" I have given up and just do the report and hit the submit button. The grading system seems unreliable and archaic so I move on to the next assignment and let it go. Letting it go is always hard for an over achiever but I made it my New Years resolution 2 years ago and its one I have been able to keep.
I have taken the advice from fellow forum members about Intelli and their performance reports and it has served me well.
Relax and let it go.

They always deduct 2 points for contacting you. Even if they are asking a question to confirm what you wrote, and you say, yes, that is what I wrote. I figured that that is their fall-back position when they can't find any other reason to deduct points. When it comes to Intellishop, I just accept that an 8 is a perfect score and I move on from there.

Rcbarning, you really expect them to answer on a Saturday? That's my biggest pet peeve with MSCs...most don't have anyone you can contact on a weekend if you need to. There are a few exceptions but, for the most part, you're on your own if a problem comes up on a weekend.

Also, to put things in perspective, you might want to read this article in Mystery Shopper Magazine...and I don't mean to blow my own horn:

[www.mysteryshoppermagazine.com]

One other thing...I always take those kinds of messages as a "form letter." I occasionally receive a customized reply, but I find most of the comments to be identical. It's simply the time factor again. Editors don't have the time to personalize replies to every shopper. If they did, there wouldn't be enough hours in a day for them to edit their reports.

James Bond 007.5

Yes. I do expect them to answer. The editor contacted me. I responded immediately with a question but did not receive an answer back. They also edited the survey as soon as I resubmitted. I have been contacted several times by schedulers on Saturdays. If you have a problem with a shop, you are told to contact the scheduler immediately. How is that supposed to work if you can't contact them on Saturday. I stated before that I have only received a response when a scheduler wanted something from me. This experience has only been with this company. I rarely have to make contact but I do expect someone to respond. I read the article. It did not tell me anything I didn't already understand and it did not change my opinion of my experience. I do not get all 10s. I do not always agree with the markdowns. I just was frustrated, last night, by the overall treatment. Especially after being in panic for nine hours. If I hadn't just decided to resubmit, I would not have gotten paid. If you read the original post. They rejected the report and I did not know how to fix it. The final comments and score where just the straws-so to speak.

A question. If you take it as a form letter and it states-- A significant amount more detail is needed in all of your narratives--, how do you know what to fix? There were six narratives.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2015 04:10PM by rcbarning.

For your peace of mind, don't mind it too much. I've learned to do myself a favour about it too while dealing with some editors. I am confused whether to use Canadian spelling or US spelling. I've learned the difference when I moved here from Chicago. I have always thought that if the shop location is in Canada, I should write the Canadian way but with Intellishop, there is no specific way. Some editor may not even know it. And that is when I get a deduction. It really depends a lot on the editors. They could deduct points because they contacted you on something already on the report.

Picture this, I did three shops for them and I was afraid they would deduct points because there were no interior photos. I had accepted the shops but discovered the addition of that new requirement only when my applications were accepted and I told them I could not take photos inside of a small store. I would be a nervous wreck as the proprietor is almost always present.

The editor commented on a lot on one report. But I got a 10! On the other two, I got point deductions and exactly the same comment. But on a store which moved (and the photo of the store with the new address note was so dark because of the bad weather), I got a 10.

I read a number of comments from helpful posters like James 007.5 and Lisa and now I am stress-free. As long as my average does not dip lower than 9, I am good.

You need to have a tough skin as a shopper. There are good editors and bad editors. The bad ones take their problems to work with them. Sometimes that can mean a lower score for little or no reason when it is a shop you have performed several times before with good consistent results. As long as you get paid, just shake it off.

You know what RC? I'd be ticked off too. It's just ridiculous that they tell you that you wrote every narrative incorrectly then accept them all as-is the second time. Clearly it's their problem - not yours and you're getting dinged in the feelbads because of it. Luckily, you still get paid.

You know what else? It's gonna happen again and again in this business. So go ahead and get ticked. Give yourself ONE day to be ticked. Then, do what my dogs do after they poo - kick some dirt over that "mess" and leave it. Don't give yourself ulcers over something you can't control - the other guy.

Good luck.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2015 05:45PM by LJ.

delete

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2022 06:11PM by purpleicee.

Oh intellishop:
You have received a 9 because we did not have to contact you.
Yes this was a real grade and comment

You have received a 8 as we deduct two points for contacting you.
This is standard

Look at it this way the editors are just doing this as job security. If they consistently gave 10's there would be no reason to have them. Just a thought.

Yes intellishop is hard on grades and seemingly unfair. 7,8,9, or 10 are all the same with them you get paid and does not keep you from work with them. Take any grade from them with a grain of salt.

I have been with them for many years and yes, they tend to regard a shopper as a cat regards a litter box. I keep them at arm's distance and then some.

rc did you say you spent 9 hrs on this.

Shops requiring a credit check can negatively impact your credit score. Careful.

bigdog1234, I spent 9 hours in a panic and trying to contact someone, from the time the editor rejected my shop until I just resubmitted without any addition.

Hey, keep in mind that some of the Intelli-shop editors are college students majoring in English. That doesn' t necessarily mean that they have an excellent grasp of it yet and might not ever understand it completely. I have a 10 average with Intelli-shop, but I have received a few 7s over the years, as well as some 8s and 9s from time to time (I have completed 169 shops for them). Any report done with this company may be seen as perfect or less-than-perfect depending on the editor. I did two pizza shop reports for them for the same location on the same date that had two separate report forms to fill out (one for a regular 1-2 topping pizza shop and one for the cheese pizza shop). It was cleared with the scheduler that it was acceptable to do them on the same visit. Since the customer service experience for both reports was the same interaction, I copied and pasted the narrative from the first report into the narrative box for the second report. There were two different editors--one gave me an 8, the other gave me a 10. So don't beat yourself up over it. Keep in mind that you may very well know a great deal more about the English language than someone who gave you an 8--and you will get paid the same regardless.