I had a scheduled "exam" shop for Bare, but right before I was supposed to leave for it, my husband called and said he had to work late. I tried to find a sitter for my baby, but couldn't. I called the scheduler and left two voice mails and emailed her as well. She gave me a flake citation of "1" before she even bothered to reply. I now have a rating of "3" with the company since I had a "10" before the citation. I called and spoke to her afterwards, and she said she would review it all and make a decision about the citation and either call or text me. It's been over a month; my citation still stands and I've never heard from her again.

But, you did not do it, right? So, that is not good for the scheduler. She will have to find someone else.

I know it doesn't feel good to get a flake citation, but if you think of it objectively, which is hard to do, you might understand. Right before you were supposed to leave to do the shop, your husband called and said he had to work late, and you could not find a babysitter, so you were forced to cancel at the last minute. At the last minute, the scheduler had to find another shopper to do the shop.

I sympathize with you, because you were in a no-win situation, but that's what a citation is used for: when a shopper either doesn't show up or cancels at the last minute. You were unable to complete your commitment. The scheduler documented that your reliability is less than that of other shoppers.

No one ever feels like they deserve a citation for not completing an assignment. A citation is just a notation in a Shop Log to document that a commitment was dropped. A citation shouldn't be automatic if a shopper doesn't do a job. If a shop is canceled in advance, giving the scheduler time to reschedule, there should be no citation. For something catastrophic like family death, shopper hospitalized, or some other documented emergency, there shouldn't be a citation even for a last-minute cancellation.

This shop was cancelled the day it was due, when you were getting ready to go do it, giving the scheduler no opportunity to reschedule to get the shop done on time. You made a commitment which you were unable to honor, leaving the scheduler in a bind. You counted on your husband to come home and provide child care. He did not come through and you had no backup available. I would probably be upset with the husband instead of with Bare.

If you had just not shown up, it would definitely be a flake and need a citation. A no-show should get multiple citations or at least a more-heavily-weighted citation. You called and e-mailed. You only got one citation for the one last-minute cancellation. Sounds fair to me. What else is there to review to make a decision?

I actually wish that citations and scheduler notes did not show up in the Sassie Shop Logs. Shoppers spend a lot of time worrying about what is documented in their shop logs. With a lot of companies, things are documented in scheduler notes about shoppers and are visible to other schedulers but shoppers never know about them because they are not visible to us and we don't worry about what we don't know about.

If this is the shop I've done in the past for Bare, you actually have to call the exam center beforehand and schedule the exam, plus there is an exam fee. This is not the type of shop that can quickly and easily be re-scheduled. I can understand why you received the citation. I know it can be upsetting, try to think of it as a learning experience and move on.

Unfortunately Phoebe70 is right on target. There was a reservation made with the testing center and that means that at the last minute they were probably not able to fill that seat either. In the real world if you had registered for your test that day and time, I believe they would not have given you a refund and likely not rescheduled you either.

I agree with Phoebe70, the exam shops are scheduled in advance and once you are scheduled, they had to pay the fee. There is no rescheduling for that slot. They would have to get another shopper to schedule another day and Bare would have had to pay for that exam fee.

What makes this even worse is the fact that Bare needs to send the shopper information to the customer and have them added to the class by real name as ID is checked. The flake cannot be covered by another shopper without informing the customer as can be done with some shops. This is the worst kind of shop to flake at the last minute.

I'm surprised there was not a multiplier of 10 put on that shop value of 1 to drive the shop rating to a solid 1.

@scanman1 wrote:

I'm surprised there was not a multiplier of 10 put on that shop value of 1 to drive the shop rating to a solid 1.

Exactly! The OP only got a single citation. I think she was massively lucky. It's probably good that it has been a month and the scheduler did not "review it all and make a decision about the citation." If the scheduler reviewed the situation, she might well decide to add a multiplier of 10 instead of a single citation. I think the OP got off easy!

The OP got lucky that she was not deactivated. That was a very serious flake as it really did involve a lot of things which were impossible to be changed, thus the missed shop was the OP's lone responsibility. Because it was not completed, it cost Bare the fee, time, etc.

@MelNel525 wrote:

I had a scheduled "exam" shop for Bare, but right before I was supposed to leave for it, my husband called and said he had to work late. I tried to find a sitter for my baby, but couldn't. I called the scheduler and left two voice mails and emailed her as well. She gave me a flake citation of "1" before she even bothered to reply. I now have a rating of "3" with the company since I had a "10" before the citation. I called and spoke to her afterwards, and she said she would review it all and make a decision about the citation and either call or text me. It's been over a month; my citation still stands and I've never heard from her again.

MelNel, Receiving a flake citation would not sit well with me, at all. However, life happens. When real life gets in the way, we know what our priorities are. Your hands were tied. So, Bare chose to cite you. Yeah, well. I realize they may receive many boy who cried wolf pleas, so maybe that is why they are not equipped to make allowances. There is nothing you could have done. About the only thing a shopper has, is their body of work. A shopper with only a few shops under her/his belt, is kind of at the mercy of the MSC.

If the taste in your mouth is not too bad, continue with Bare, and prove your worth.

I'm sorry that you were put in the situation of having to cancel, and it definitely smarts to receive such a rating, but...
What would have the results been if your husband had refused to work late? Are you not just as contractually bound to get the job done as he? Bare is probably being more lenient toward you than his employer would have been toward him.
Bare goes to great lengths on these test center jobs to convey the 100% commitment they need for the job to get done before the shopper can be assigned the job.
You may want to reconsider taking on jobs that can't be rescheduled until there is a fail-proof system of emergency child care available to you.

I've had two flake citations. The first I completed the call and did not do the report. I emailed the scheduler. The next day I got the citation. I don't do shops for that scheduler any longer. The second I received after I forgot about the shop. It was in a bonus and I offered to perform it minus the bonus. I was told that it could not be removed. So I self-assigned the same shop at a higher bonus and completed it.

So, as Sassie is so good at reminding shoppers of their failures first, I ignore them. I still have not changed my status.

@Mert wrote:

@MelNel525 wrote:

I had a scheduled "exam" shop for Bare, but right before I was supposed to leave for it, my husband called and said he had to work late. I tried to find a sitter for my baby, but couldn't. I called the scheduler and left two voice mails and emailed her as well. She gave me a flake citation of "1" before she even bothered to reply. I now have a rating of "3" with the company since I had a "10" before the citation. I called and spoke to her afterwards, and she said she would review it all and make a decision about the citation and either call or text me. It's been over a month; my citation still stands and I've never heard from her again.

MelNel, Receiving a flake citation would not sit well with me, at all. However, life happens. When real life gets in the way, we know what our priorities are. Your hands were tied. So, Bare chose to cite you. Yeah, well. I realize they may receive many boy who cried wolf pleas, so maybe that is why they are not equipped to make allowances. There is nothing you could have done. About the only thing a shopper has, is their body of work. A shopper with only a few shops under her/his belt, is kind of at the mercy of the MSC.

If the taste in your mouth is not too bad, continue with Bare, and prove your worth.

Thank you for "getting it." What I didn't mention in my original post is that the MSC requires you to be available for any and all times for several days when you accept the job. However, the exam company took three weeks to add my profile so I could schedule the job. That length of time was not part of the bargain (yet, the scheduler apologized for the delay, so I acknowledge that). In the meantime, my husband accepted a second job, and that was his first weekend working for them. It lasted much longer than he expected. It is a merchandising job for a well known soda company, so the hours aren't set, but based on need. I would never flake on a job purposefully. The scheduler cited me before contacting me - despite the several voice mails and emails I sent the moment I realized I was going to miss my exam. The exam was scheduled for a Saturday evening. The grievance I have with the citation is that I tried over and over to contact the scheduler and did not purposefully skip the assignment. I was cited without discussion. To me, this is the equivalent of calling in sick and being laid off. I understand that I'm an independent contractor. But, I notified the company the moment I knew I needed to reschedule. And, I waited three weeks just to get a time from them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2015 04:19AM by MelNel525.

It is totally reasonable that a scheduler would not be checking email on a Saturday evening. Schedulers have lives also.

@Phoebe70 wrote:

If this is the shop I've done in the past for Bare, you actually have to call the exam center beforehand and schedule the exam, plus there is an exam fee. This is not the type of shop that can quickly and easily be re-scheduled. I can understand why you received the citation. I know it can be upsetting, try to think of it as a learning experience and move on.

Yes m'am. I respect your opinion. I didn't have to call and schedule anything. The company itself does hat and they took several weeks once I accepted the job. Our family dynamics changed during that time and my schedule wasn't as open as it once was since my husband took on a second job.

But, I'll learn from this and move on, like you suggested. I'm less than a year old in the MS world and still learning.

@Sybil2 wrote:

It is totally reasonable that a scheduler would not be checking email on a Saturday evening. Schedulers have lives also.

Yeah... I get that. But before she cited me, she could have checked her email and voice mail and seen the multiple contact attempts I had made.

@MelNel525 wrote:

The company itself does hat and they took several weeks once I accepted the job. Our family dynamics changed during that time and my schedule wasn't as open as it once was since my husband took on a second job.

Once your family dynamics changed, you should have contacted the scheduler at that time and let her know that your schedule would not be as flexible as in the past. This would have given the scheduler plenty of time to find another shopper and remove the shop from your shop log without that pesky flake citation.

@MelNel525 wrote:

@Sybil2 wrote:

It is totally reasonable that a scheduler would not be checking email on a Saturday evening. Schedulers have lives also.

Yeah... I get that. But before she cited me, she could have checked her email and voice mail and seen the multiple contact attempts I had made.

I know what you mean. I bet if she had sent you a quick email saying she got your emails and voicemails and thanked you for contacting her, and she was sorry but she was giving you a citation anyway due to the fact that the shop wasn't completed on time and had to be rescheduled, you'd have been bummed, but would feel better about it. As is, it makes it seem like you just flaked on the shop with no care for the commitment you made, when it doesn't sound like that's how it went down at all. Sounds like an acknowledgement that you tried to contact her and were in a bind would have helped. Hang in there!

@Sybil2 wrote:

@MelNel525 wrote:

The company itself does hat and they took several weeks once I accepted the job. Our family dynamics changed during that time and my schedule wasn't as open as it once was since my husband took on a second job.

Once your family dynamics changed, you should have contacted the scheduler at that time and let her know that your schedule would not be as flexible as in the past. This would have given the scheduler plenty of time to find another shopper and remove the shop from your shop log without that pesky flake citation.

Wow! Such a great idea! If only I was as smart and as forwarding thinking as you.

Oh, gosh, I scheduled an exam shop, too. On the morning it was scheduled, we got hit with a blizzard (February, in the Midwest). I successfully rescheduled for the following week; and that morning, we got hit with another not-in-the-forecast blizzard! I drove 45 miles in white-out conditions before I realized no way would I reach the testing center on time; turned around, went home, e-mailed the scheduler what happened. I called the testing center and verified that they were cancelling the day's tests, because other people couldn't get there to take the test. Scheduler gave me a flake, weighted 20! That was my first shop with that MSC. However, I have not had any problem picking up additional shops with the same MSC, and regularly get 10s on my reports. Because of the heavy weight given to the flake citation, I will probably never get a high average. I cannot self-assign, but still regularly pick up shops with excellent bonuses with this MSC. Of course, I will never sign up for the testing center shop again! So, you can't change what happened, but you can forge ahead successfully.

cease

The bottom line is the shop was not executed for the MSC. There may have been a deadline. Other shoppers might have been available. The position you caused might be a failure in the eyes of the Client that is paying for this service. Just because you think your circumstances excuse you does not take into consideration the whole situation. I mean this kindly...."The dog ate my homework." ...still means no homework submitted.

I am sympathetic. I have had my share of citations ( Actually only a few over all the years) and may have deserved a few more. Life is not predictable. I have found schedulers to be mostly generous. Timely communication helps a lot as well as the ability to recover a failure and turn it around for them. One also has to accept responsibility. Don't let a citation or poor experience with a scheduler end a relationship. Patronize a different scheduler if you can't get over it. If one gets a poor grade or evaluation in school or at work do you drop out or quit?

Wishing you perseverance and good experiences.

@MelNel525 wrote:

Wow! Such a great idea! If only I was as smart and as forwarding thinking as you.

Yes, great idea. And then you would not be here whining about receiving a totally warranted flake citation. Go call the Sensitivity Police next time.

Come on, Sybil. Do you mean that shoppers who shop nights and weekends have no life? I respect schedulers and MSCs who assign someone to be on-call after their published hours. Not long ago, I called BestMark's after hours phone number, late on a Saturday night. The phone was answered. I heard children and a TV in the background. I received direction on how to proceed when something unforeseen popped up. During published hours, I expect schedulers and MSCs to reply in a timely fashion. Shoppers should be able to count on support when needed.

When there is no MSC reply to multiple email and phone attempts, and a ding results, shopper members should be encouraged to discuss it here. Particularly, after other avenues have been exhausted. This is what we do.

No one can anticipate and plan a contingency in the event of every unforeseen emergency, sick child, sick babysitter, pile-up on the road, hail storm. . .

I;m lost. I thought op was complaining about a flake citation. Mert makes it sound like another person complained about weekend & night hours. If I didnt do a shop, I wouldn't expect to get paid. If I canceled at last minute, I would be surprised if I didn't get a flake.

Hello,

I am the Project Manager taking care of the Testing center evaluations. Thank you all for empathizing and understanding that each shop involves a lengthy process before the shop can be scheduled. We are overwhelmed and grateful to each of you for taking the time to comment and understand the project from our prospective.

I would request MelNel525 to email me her details and additional details on the assignment so that I can check and revert on this.

Thank you!

Yet another pleasant response from you. Not that I'm shocked.

@Sybil2 wrote:

@MelNel525 wrote:

Wow! Such a great idea! If only I was as smart and as forwarding thinking as you.

Yes, great idea. And then you would not be here whining about receiving a totally warranted flake citation. Go call the Sensitivity Police next time.

I've done the exam shops and they have every right to be strict about it. It cannot be rescheduled as easily as say a coffee shop or something. There is a reason they put people through so much on that particular shop. Now Beyond Hello are much worse but when I get citations from them (Only 2 out of 50 shops so far), it does not lower my rating at all, it just says FLAKE every time I log on, which is terrible for my self-esteem.

I think the testing center one requires them to make IDs and reserve a space which may be filled by someone else. More costly than flaking on a shop to a store or doing a mailing.

@jake103 wrote:

it just says FLAKE every time I log on, which is terrible for my self-esteem.

Wow, do they really say FLAKE? I recently got three e-mails in a row saying that I got a CITATION. I was quite taken back because I had never received one before. And to get three of them in a row! I contacted the editor and she apologized for putting me into panic mode. She actually gave me three positive citations with comments so all schedulers who use the same reporting platform can read her comments. She was so pleased with my reports that without warning, she gave me the three citations. That was a nice surprise.