I know, you're thinking "haven't we talked about every possible aspect of Market Force? How can there possibly be more questions about this?!"

But here's one: does anyone know how MF treats reschedules in our super-secret, never-to-be-revealed rating? I usually scoop up the shops I want at the beginning of the month and schedule them in the general time frame I want, scattered through a few weeks. But I've found that about 20% of the time I think "If I could just move that gas station to Thursday instead of Saturday, it would really work much better".

Here are answers to the questions you'll likely want answered before you can weigh in:
-When I reschedule, I almost always reschedule to an earlier date than originally scheduled. So I end up doing the shops earlier than originally scheduled.
-I always complete the shops. Always. I've never not been able to reschedule a shop (it doesn't always allow me to reschedule to the date I prefer, but I always get the new screen that has all the dates it could be done). Even if I don't see a good option to reschedule to, I still do the shop on the date it was scheduled for.
-I do the rescheduling online, I don't call the helpdesk or talk to anyone about it.

Anyone know the answer to this? Or just have an educated guess? As always, thanks for your insight and experience.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2015 03:18PM by CaliGirl925.

I think MF is generally fairly easy going about reschedules. I have talked to schedulers before when they needed a shop done and let them know I could do it but wasn't sure what day it would be. They assigned it for one of the two days and told me it wouldn't be a problem at all if I needed to reschedule it for the other day. I was left with the impression that reschedules had little if any impact.

Cripes. Another MF thread.

Indeed, bestofbothworlds.

As for the question, I try to rarely reschedule. If something comes up I will reschedule either for real need or for the convenience of having a route work. All other things being equal, I try to originally schedule on the front end of the window so that if something comes up at the last minute I still have tomorrow or whatever to get it done.

My sense is that rescheduling within the window is not likely to be a negative if it is not a highly frequent behavior.

I reschedule without hesitation whenever I have the need unless it's a bonused shop. So far so good.

@bestofbothworlds wrote:

Cripes. Another MF thread.

This OP created a new MF on a relevant topic with thought out questions and answers. It was not some psychotic rant like other posters have created. The OP was not complaining about declined reports and not getting paid while admitting to not following the guidelines.

OP, just a recommendation, maybe you could edit your thread title to add something like "Market Force Rescheduling Question." The existing thread title is vague and with so many MF threads floating around, being more specific might help.

Thanks for the suggestion Sybil, I've edited the thread as you suggest. I read @bestofbothworlds' comment as a joke, though. I mean, I put right in the title of the post that this was yet another MF thread and I poked fun at myself for asking another MF question right up top.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2015 03:23PM by CaliGirl925.

Since MF offers the rescheduling option, I am assuming and hoping that they don't judge you for using it. I have used it 10-15% of the time without any repercussions. It's a wonderful option to have and I wish more companies would offer it.

My sense is that any company that wants a commitment for a specific day out of a window of availability should have that reschedule yourself option to help 'prove' that we are indeed independent contractors.

If I'm being honest, I've been shopping for MF since March, and in that timeframe, I've completed 92 shops for them. I am pretty sure I've rescheduled at least half of them, and also canceled a few. I don't know what impact this has had, if any, but so far there hasn't seemed to be one.

I use the reschedule button a lot and have not had any problems. I think they just want to be sure you make it in the time frames.

@thegov2k2 wrote:

If I'm being honest, I've been shopping for MF since March, and in that timeframe, I've completed 92 shops for them. I am pretty sure I've rescheduled at least half of them, and also canceled a few. I don't know what impact this has had, if any, but so far there hasn't seemed to be one.

The cancelling of shops DEFINITELY has an impact on your standing with this MSC and most MSCs. Cancelling "a few" since March is not boding well for you. Other forum members have been deactivated for less.

Yeah, I've always heard that cancelling assignments with MF affects your rating. The website says to avoid cancelling or rescheduling, so I try to limit rescheduling too, but it would be nice to know for sure. Like, say if my rating were displayed to me so that I could look to see what impact different actions I take have on it. Wishful thinking, I know.

Like bgriffin said above, I was contacted by this MSC last week for a last minute, hard-to-fill shop and I told the scheduler that I could help, but wasn't sure what day I could get it done. They said no problem, I'll just schedule it for the first day of the window and you can reschedule it to whatever day works best for you. I then asked her if rescheduling would affect my internal rating in any way and she said not at all, rescheduling a shop one time within the window doesn't count against the shopper in any way.

It felt good hearing that directly from the scheduler and she seemed to be pretty confident in her answer, but, as usual, YMMV...

I try not to reschedule if possible, but agree that there are times when a reschedule really makes your week look a lot nicer overall. Since I've gotten this info, I won't hesitate to reschedule if need be.

I probably reschedule most of my shops at least once. So far so good, but that doesn't mean I won't be cut loose tomorrow. On the other hand, I never, ever cancel a shop (knock on wood,) except once when a scheduler gave me a shop without my permission and then ignored my request for her to cancel it.

I've never had an issue with rescheduling. I like the option and use it when I need to. I've rescheduled regular shops to accommodate bonus shops. And I've even had to cancel more than a few shops over the years. As long as I cancel a few days in advance, I have not had any complaints from MF. I always use the excuse "no alternative shopping dates available". I've been shopping with them for 7 years and continue to be offered bonuses on a regular basis. I don't consider my reports outstanding in any way, that is they cover the guidelines and are honest. I really don't understand how some of the other shoppers are getting "fired" notices. I've never given the rating much thought, maybe I would if I got blackballed. I do my best and let the chips fall where they may.

It is my belief that rescheduling does not affect the rating, otherwise they would not be encouraging it by giving a number of possible dates. But I seldom do it unless very necessary. I think rescheduling is preferable to cancelling that's why they gave that option. I appreciate that because they give the shopper less excuse to flake. And at times we do run out of time so that is a blessing.

Well, if I get deactivated, I'll deal with it. For this time only, I'll brush aside your judgmental tone and let it pass.

@Sybil2 wrote:

@thegov2k2 wrote:

If I'm being honest, I've been shopping for MF since March, and in that timeframe, I've completed 92 shops for them. I am pretty sure I've rescheduled at least half of them, and also canceled a few. I don't know what impact this has had, if any, but so far there hasn't seemed to be one.

The cancelling of shops DEFINITELY has an impact on your standing with this MSC and most MSCs. Cancelling "a few" since March is not boding well for you. Other forum members have been deactivated for less.

Ring, ring, ring. Hello? Sensitivity Police?

The OP asked a question, you made a comment and I responded. That is the purpose of this forum. Nothing judgmental about it. If you do a forum search on MF, you will see a ton of posts about people complaining that they have been suddenly deactivated from this MSC. It is right there in black and white.

@thegov2k2 wrote:

Well, if I get deactivated, I'll deal with it. For this time only, I'll brush aside your judgmental tone and let it pass.

@Sybil2 wrote:

@thegov2k2 wrote:

If I'm being honest, I've been shopping for MF since March, and in that timeframe, I've completed 92 shops for them. I am pretty sure I've rescheduled at least half of them, and also canceled a few. I don't know what impact this has had, if any, but so far there hasn't seemed to be one.

The cancelling of shops DEFINITELY has an impact on your standing with this MSC and most MSCs. Cancelling "a few" since March is not boding well for you. Other forum members have been deactivated for less.

Cancelling of shops is a no no and it applies to all MSC. Rescheduling is another story. Given the fact that MFI provides choices of dates, rescheduling is acceptable. However, it cautions that in most cases, only one reschedule is allowed. But some MSC's frown on rescheduling. The scheduler may allow it but some of those reschedules stay on the record. Heard it from the horse's mouth.

But again, Cancelling is a different animal. It definitely affects one's record, as Sybil stated. And it stays on the record. So, could be the reason for deactivation, especially if it occurred a number of times.