Deleted by mod - personal attack on another forum member

@Savana23 wrote:

Deleted by mod - personal attack on another forum member.

OK, Savana23/KimCarvante, when a poster starts to follow another poster around the forum to bash their posts for some sort of revenge, it's called bullying. I have reported you to the moderator, and I hope your posts will be edited.

You have been a forum member as Savana23 for 3-1/2 years. You recently created a second identity for yourself so you could bash North Fork after having some difficulty with them. Many forum members have not had a bad experience with them. You got comments to KimCarvante that were not what you wanted, so you are now bashing others as Savana23. Knock it off. If you can't play nice, get the heck out and don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

Hi BirdyC,

That's great feedback, and a common issue we have with our shoppers. The short answer is...We are working on a series of basic responses and feedback for our editing department to use when providing a rank. I will tell you, that at the current time, if an editor has to contact you for any reason, it's an automatic 8. In addition, the only way you can get a 10 is if all the editor does is read the shop. Meaning, they didn't have to touch it.

Lastly, many shoppers don't realize that there are other ways to lower their rank. Schedulers can issue citations based on cancelling or not responding etc. And on the flip side, you can receive a HERO citation for assistance Both of these come with a ranking that will impact your overall shopper ranking.

Hope this helps!
Carey Medina

@Carey4GfKMysteryShops wrote:

Hi BirdyC,

That's great feedback, and a common issue we have with our shoppers. The short answer is...We are working on a series of basic responses and feedback for our editing department to use when providing a rank. I will tell you, that at the current time, if an editor has to contact you for any reason, it's an automatic 8. In addition, the only way you can get a 10 is if all the editor does is read the shop. Meaning, they didn't have to touch it.

Lastly, many shoppers don't realize that there are other ways to lower their rank. Schedulers can issue citations based on cancelling or not responding etc. And on the flip side, you can receive a HERO citation for assistance Both of these come with a ranking that will impact your overall shopper ranking.

Hope this helps!
Carey Medina

While I appreciate your positive spin on the continuing problems with GFK I must call your attention to your statement "...that at the current time, if an editor has to contact you for any reason, it's an automatic 8" as that is not the case. I just completed a lot of cellphone shops and they were all graded "8" without me having to be to contacted by any editor for clarification or any other reason. And, par for the course, there was no comment as to why it was given an "8". As long as I get paid, I really don't have an issue, but factual responses would be appreciated.

Again - I am providing facts, however, you're right. It is not the ONLY reason for receiving an 8; however, it is one of the most common reasons. Grammar / inconsistencies / scoring could also be a factor based on your personal situation.

This is why I also mentioned creating structured feedback when providing ranks

@parkcitybrian wrote:

While I appreciate your positive spin on the continuing problems with GFK I must call your attention to your statement "...that at the current time, if an editor has to contact you for any reason, it's an automatic 8" as that is not the case. I just completed a lot of cellphone shops and they were all graded "8" without me having to be to contacted by any editor for clarification or any other reason. And, par for the course, there was no comment as to why it was given an "8". As long as I get paid, I really don't have an issue, but factual responses would be appreciated.

Brian, I, too, received the 8/10 without any request for clarification, but I didn't read Carey's post as meaning that's the ONLY reason to receive an 8, just that you get an automatic 8 if an editor has to contact you.

In the future, though, if new procedures are being implemented, I would hope that if the shopper had a legitimate reason for needing editor follow-up--such as a poorly worded question and the shopper being unable to divine the meaning and being unable to get clarification--that would not be reason for an automatic 8. If we can't understand the question because it's ambiguous and/or poorly worded, I hope we'd be cut some slack!

I think mystery-shopping companies should hold their own writing staff (or outside writers, or whoever writes the surveys) to the same standards to which they hold their shoppers! I'm not, by any means, singling out GFK. The problem of poorly worded, ambiguous, or conflicting guidelines and questions seems to be common, regardless of the MSC.

Birdy - I am so glad you said that. I am a new shopper and have been signing up with various companies over the last few days, done a bunch of tests here and there with some really weird questions that could have been interpreted differently than the answers the company was looking for, and also a few first shops.

As a newbie this is already intimidating enough to learn the various requirements for a shop, keep up with the various systems and shops on different platforms, without getting more confused about what your agenda is on the shop you are doing. Especially difficult if the guidelines or training manual is very different from the actual log sheet - I've been getting anal about writing my own to make sure I know what to ask for or look out for.

Carey - I am not with your company yet - but could it be that the scenarios and guidelines are written in Europe for use here? English taught in Germany and the UK is very different from what we speak here in the USA, I would know - I am German, LOL and what we learned in school back then, is very different from the reality here in the states...

I tried to cancel a wing shop ,a year ago, it was my first shop. My car was recalled for a mechanical problem and was in the shop. I called, I emailed, I tried to speak to the scheduler. I did speak to foreigners who had no idea what I was saying. Finally, with no response, I sent in the report. And stated again, I had no vehicle. I was given a 1. I have spoken to other schedulers since that shop and no one has made any correction.

I presently do mystery shopping for a few different companies. I have a good rating with most of them but I will admit there is one company scheduler who will no longer give me the good jobs. My ratings at the company before this was very high even to excellent. I still to this day do not know what has made her angry with me but I feel in my mind that maybe she is feeling a bit more powerful then she should. I have moved on and do not apply with her company anymore . I continue to see the ads for her company requesting new Mystery Shoppers . Hopefully someone in her company will do a follow up on her to figure out what problems she is having before they loose anymore Mystery Shoppers. So Good Luck to you

Hi there!

That's a great question regarding our guidelines. Although GfK is a global organization, the US Mystery Shopping group works as their own department - guidelines included. We are currently working to revamp these across all projects based on Shopper feedback! Our first project to feature the new guidelines will be our smartphone program. You should check them out! And if you have feedback, I'd love to hear it.

Carey Medina
Scheduling Manager, GfK

@GGS wrote:

Birdy - I am so glad you said that. I am a new shopper and have been signing up with various companies over the last few days, done a bunch of tests here and there with some really weird questions that could have been interpreted differently than the answers the company was looking for, and also a few first shops.

As a newbie this is already intimidating enough to learn the various requirements for a shop, keep up with the various systems and shops on different platforms, without getting more confused about what your agenda is on the shop you are doing. Especially difficult if the guidelines or training manual is very different from the actual log sheet - I've been getting anal about writing my own to make sure I know what to ask for or look out for.

Carey - I am not with your company yet - but could it be that the scenarios and guidelines are written in Europe for use here? English taught in Germany and the UK is very different from what we speak here in the USA, I would know - I am German, LOL and what we learned in school back then, is very different from the reality here in the states...

I have been a GFK shopper until today. I completed their Insurance shop. I spent hours doing the work, writing detailed responses, etc. I received a denial for all my hard work. I'm told the hours were incorrect. However, I know my work is correct. They conveniently removed the guidelines so I cannot prove this inconsistency to them. Aside from this, they simply will not respond to my inquiries. I probably spent 3 hours working and disclosed my personal information to insurance companies on their behalf. As a result, they have benefited from my work and paid me nothing for it. Where else can a company get away with asking you to work and then refuse to pay you for your services? No where. All other companies would be out of business in a minute.

I've learned this type of behavior is the norm for GKF. They lure shoppers to do mystery shop work then look for any small, infraction perceived or contrived and then go on to disqualify the shop. They accrue your data for absolutely nothing! This is intentional.

I will never do another shop for GFK. I'd also like others to know they employ these types of tactics in order to deny you payment for your hard work. This is highly unethical and unprofessional. I hope others will be saved from having GFK take your work and deny your payment.

GFK also gave me an 8 for shops. There is NEVER an explanation. I'm done with GFK. I'd say, shoppers beware of this company. They have routinely been unresponsive and difficult.

Manya88
I'm certainly sorry you feel that way, and I'm not sure who you're reaching out to, but I'd love some feedback if you'd care to share.

Regarding your shop, I can send you the guidelines. I do have to say, there are very specific restrictions as to when you call based on the scenario you are given as we are attempting to reach specific people during different hours of the day. It could be the reason you cannot see the guidelines anymore is that the project ended yesterday, so shops are not available. We would not remove guidelines just to keep them from you.

Keep in mind, GfK, as well as ALL MS companies really do want to pay you. If we have to exclude your report, we have to find someone else to do it and could potentially miss a critical deadline. So exclusion is never our goal.

Regarding your score of 8 on another shop, our theory behind not providing too much feedback is that it can be perceived as 'training', which is something that is not allowed when working with independent contractors. We are working on some common tips and tricks to share as feedback based on scores in the future.

Again - I empathize with your situation, but I assure you. I would much rather have accepted your visit if we could.

If you have other questions, or would like to chat about something else, please feel free to reach out.

Carey Medina
Scheduling Manager, GfK

@Manya88 wrote:

I have been a GFK shopper until today. I completed their Insurance shop. I spent hours doing the work, writing detailed responses, etc. I received a denial for all my hard work. I'm told the hours were incorrect. However, I know my work is correct. They conveniently removed the guidelines so I cannot prove this inconsistency to them. Aside from this, they simply will not respond to my inquiries. I probably spent 3 hours working and disclosed my personal information to insurance companies on their behalf. As a result, they have benefited from my work and paid me nothing for it. Where else can a company get away with asking you to work and then refuse to pay you for your services? No where. All other companies would be out of business in a minute.

I've learned this type of behavior is the norm for GKF. They lure shoppers to do mystery shop work then look for any small, infraction perceived or contrived and then go on to disqualify the shop. They accrue your data for absolutely nothing! This is intentional.

I will never do another shop for GFK. I'd also like others to know they employ these types of tactics in order to deny you payment for your hard work. This is highly unethical and unprofessional. I hope others will be saved from having GFK take your work and deny your payment.

@Carey4GfKMysteryShops wrote:

Hi there!

That's a great question regarding our guidelines. Although GfK is a global organization, the US Mystery Shopping group works as their own department - guidelines included. We are currently working to revamp these across all projects based on Shopper feedback! Our first project to feature the new guidelines will be our smartphone program. You should check them out! And if you have feedback, I'd love to hear it.

Carey Medina
Scheduling Manager, GfK

when will the smartphone program be back?

i have also told schedulers that a downside with submitting those shops is that there is always a "freeze" when answering a question that opens up more questions. This prevents us from submitting those reports in a quick manner. I should be able to quickly click through the answers and move on to the next. It's a major downside if I have to wait 10 seconds to be able to click on the next response (i.e. when clicking on all of the features that were talked about in a positive manner, i click on 'available colors' and the webpage does not allow me to move on for about 10 seconds). I have tried every internet browser out there and it seems to be scripts coming from your end.

The Smartphone program will be back online next week with new program specifications. There have been some updates to the form and the requirements.

Regarding your issue with the questionnaire, I've not heard that before, but I'll do a little research on it. Thanks for letting me know!

Carey Medina
Scheduling Manager, GfK

This whole situation sounds toxic, and I avoid toxicity. Even with all the spin and attempts at damage control I would not trust this outfit. I have been watching this for almost a year, now and the complaints seem to be increasing.
They must be getting desperate. I notice that their job postings seem to be a bit frantic.
Too bad.
I hate to see a business flounder because of incompetence.

Thank you for the feedback.

Incompetence? GfK??? Carey Medina is very competent and professional. Unfortunately, the incompetence goes much higher up than Carey; like Jane Edwards-Hall for example. As long as they keep preying on new shoppers to take their drastically underpaid $14 smartphone shops, the eyeglass shops and the ridiculously underpaid retail store audits, they will continue to thrive.

Carey is not the problem at GfK and I truly believe she is trying to make it better.

(edited for clarity)

@oilerpro wrote:

This whole situation sounds toxic, and I avoid toxicity. Even with all the spin and attempts at damage control I would not trust this outfit. I have been watching this for almost a year, now and the complaints seem to be increasing.
They must be getting desperate. I notice that their job postings seem to be a bit frantic.
Too bad.
I hate to see a business flounder because of incompetence.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2015 03:57AM by DanteScheduler.

I'm new to mystery shopping but reading this thread made me feel much better. I did a shop for them that went pretty well but had quite a go-around about segment timing not matching total time of phone call. When I got the complaint that the number of min. didn't match I tried to explain to the handler that each segment was rounded to the nearest min. as well as the total time of the call (as required) and all that rounding caused the discrepancy. After 3 emails back and forth with me trying to explain rounding I finally gave up and changed the total min. to what they wanted. I got an 8/10 but don't think I want to work with them again.

I've only done one shop for GFK because it had a $30 bonus. It was a lengthy report but I received a 10.