I am so furious this morning, I can barely type.

I've done a small amount of work for GFK, however my shopper rating was a 9 before just now. Last night, at 5:30 pm, I received notification that I had been accepted for a shop. Although it was evening, and I don't usually work at that time, I went on to the website and looked at some of the shop information. Which was pretty much all that I could do at that time, besides take the final test. That would have to be done today.

At wakening this morning, I have a wonderful message from the scheduler saying that if she doesn't hear from me she is going to cancel the shop and assign a rating of 1. Then she says that she will just cancel and assign a 1. I called her about 1 hour after she left the message and I was prompted to leave her a message. I then emailed her as well.

I then went onto the website and my shop has been canceled and a rating of 1 has been assigned. WTF? The email stated that I had 7 days to complete the shop and the shop was just assigned LAST NIGHT.

I'm just confounded. I'd like to leave her name to warn you all but not sure if I should. Even if she works for other companies, I certainly won't be taking any jobs from her.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2015 03:25PM by 89lulalula89.

I would contact the company directly with your complaint if this person is an outside scheduler. It may do you no good, but already you are being done no good and at least they would know if they give a hoot.

That is crazy, I would be furious too! I hope you can do something to get your rating back.

So here's an update. I received an email from the scheduler stating that there was a date discrepancy on the original shop assignment and she apologized. She removed the citation and reassigned me the shop.

I applied for this shop over 3 weeks ago and it was given to another shopper. Then suddenly the shop is assigned to me without me requesting it. I haven't decided if I will conduct this shop or not. I think schedulers should be very careful about giving a shopper a citation of 1. Maybe they do not realize how much it not only affects a shopper's rating, but also affects their moral.

I would email her back with my decision whether to do or not do (conflicts with my schedule now) and mention the demoralizing impact of her error.

All that you just went through, would immediately put the shop, scheduler, and MSC on my 10ft pole list.. smh.

God forbid these schedulers just pick up the phone and call.

In the social media, email world we now live in many people have a fear of talking with people on a one to one basis. You know, having a conversation.

I sent an email canceling this shop. Cannot wait to see if I receive a citation and grade of 1.

I had an experience with them in which I really needed to have contact with a scheduler, she did contact me and asked me to text her with the question that I had. I texted her, she did not respond, I texted again, she still did not respond. That was five months ago I have not heard from her yet, I guess I give up. I don't really work with them anymore. I don't expect schedulers to be at my beck and call but a little courtesy goes a long way.

GFK just seems to get worse and worse. I have not worked with them in over a year as that is when the problems with them for me started. They don't have many clients left and no one seems to like them anymore. Normally I wouldn't say this but please oh please can they fold or someone buy them out.

I have a lot of schedulers and editors who communicate with me by text message. I love it. It is quick and easy especially while I am out in the field. It works great when you have an emergency before, during or after a shop. And you can save text messages for a "written" record.

it really unfortunate that we're not allowed to reveal any names. if we can't discuss everything freely amongst fellow shoppers here, where can we? Good schedulers, bad schedulers... it's important to know whose who.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2015 08:06PM by jay225.

@jay225 wrote:

it really unfortunate that we're not allowed to reveal any names. if we can't talk discuss everything freely amongst fellow shoppers here, where can we? Good schedulers, bad schedulers... it's important to know whose who.

jay225...i think we are ok with mentioning names such as schedulers, etc. but i think the only restriction is iin naming both the msc and the client? not sure, tho.

GFK is annoying with their URGENT emails also. I received one with a BIG bonus,($5 on a $15 shop) I had to laugh when I read the locations - West Virginia, Pa. and Virginia. I live in NJ I replied to the scheduler saying not sure why I am receiving this. She replied that my zip code shows I am close to the border of the states. It was so stupid. I actually looked it up. I am over 300 miles from the border and the town in the other state was another 150 miles into the state,

And did I mention, the shop needed to be done yesterday.

I'm willing to bet that the scheduler is Amber...the same scheduler who has given me citations for shops that I did not request and weren't even in my state

I am having a small issue with getting a response from GFK today. They want an answer to a question that was not on the survey. I reply to the above-mentioned scheduler and no response. I get another email from her requesting the same thing. The resubmit is due today so I put the answer to the missing question in the "Other Notes" section and hope for the best.

Actually it was a different scheduler. I did not receive a citation for canceling, surprise surprise. I did remind her that the shop had been scheduled for someone else and that I should not receive a citation for a shop that I had already been denied.

Wow, that's sad.

Does anyone know how to contact GFK? I have emailed but no response.

I am also unable to contact GfK - I am working with an external scheduler Nicole and she is not listed on the auto listing at GfK. My account for Rover has not been activated but yet the shop is suppose to be started today. It is now 1:45 pm - I can no longer get on any highway to reach the target area. This is Labor Day in NH and you can forget going anywhere.

This is my second attempt of working with Nicole on this shop and it does not look like it is good to go. Nicole also will not give me a straight answer about the the $ 75 bonus "rule". I think I will call it a day with shop and the company. I had some earlier concerns about them and should have trusted my gut.

Please have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Cheers, Peg

I like Nicole. I know the shop you are talking about but chose not to do it because I never have before and didn't think I could do it in time.
Nicole took over for a person who was impossible to get a hold of which may be part of the problem. Check your spam folder for e-mails.

it appears gfk is now outsourcing some of their work to countries overseas. receiving emails from staff in other countries now about shops



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2015 10:11PM by techman01.

It would not surprise me if GFK had people in other countries do some of that work, they are a German company after all.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2015 05:45AM by JerryBrian.

I have trouble with GFK's guidelines and shop questionnaires on almost every shop I do for them. They're so poorly written, with conflicting, ambiguous information, that sometimes it's impossible to figure out what is meant and how one should answer them. Fortunately, almost all the schedulers I've dealt with have been responsive and have tried to be helpful. Unfortunately, sometimes even they can't get the proper answers to my questions. Not their fault, I'm pretty sure, but it must be that even the folks at GFK don't understand what they've written! Or what's been written for them--and poorly.

I too have big issues with GFK shop guidelines. After accepting a very complicated shop with a huge bonus (the biggest I've ever seen) I emailed the scheduler asking for clarification on a couple of points. No answer came. I also had trouble getting Sassie Rover set up, which I let them know, and no help came. I gave GFK a second shot already after earlier problems. This is the last straw.

I so agree with you. I'm new at this and trying to feel my way through. Si names and open communication would be very useful to me right now.

Doogie, I think one's satisfaction, or lack thereof, is directly related to the scheduler. I ended up asking for clarification on a shop I'm doing, and my scheduler understood what I was asking and gave me an answer I could understand. Another time when I asked for clarification on a section of the questionnaire for a different shop, I don't think the scheduler ever quite understood what I was asking (it was a bit complicated, to be sure), and I think she was getting annoyed with me. But she did give me an answer (which turned out to be incorrect).

I'm just amazed that companies that require competent writing don't ensure that their own materials and surveys are well written! It's not just GFK.

All that being said, I'll continue to shop with GFK because they have many shops in my area and usually end up offering bonuses on them. There must not be a plethora of shoppers in my area!

@DoogieZZ wrote:

I too have big issues with GFK shop guidelines. After accepting a very complicated shop with a huge bonus (the biggest I've ever seen) I emailed the scheduler asking for clarification on a couple of points. No answer came. I also had trouble getting Sassie Rover set up, which I let them know, and no help came. I gave GFK a second shot already after earlier problems. This is the last straw.

Hi All! The content of this chain is very troubling to me as a scheduling manager with GfK Mystery Shopping. As many of you know, we are in a state of change and reorganization. It seems there are still many painful points out there including citations, guidelines and issues with our app. If any of you have items you'd like to address, please feel free to email me, and I would be happy to have a conversation and assist you. I want to assure you, we are in the business of feedback and will continue to strive to improve our model and parternship with each of you.
Feel free to reach out to me: carey.medina@gfk.com

Carey, thank you for your post. I was just coming on here to comment about something, so I hope you're still reading this thread!

I've been frustrated by the lack of feedback regarding scoring. I have a shopper rating of "9" with GFK, but, excepting twice (once when I realized after submitting my report that I had overlooked a detail and once when a follow-up was required), I never know or get any comment as to why I was downgraded. I received a grade of 8/10 on the last shop I did, without editorial feedback, and it would be very helpful to know what I missed! If I know what the issue was, I can make sure I don't repeat the mistake. If I don't know, I can't fix it. I'm left wondering things such as: Was my answer not clear? Did I misspell something? Did I not elaborate on a point enough? Did I misread an instruction? Etc.

Sometimes I know that I'm not understanding a question, often because of ambiguous wording. But, with a 12-hour deadline, it's not always possible to get a question out to the scheduler and have it answered, so I have to guess at what's being asked. Should I submit the report and e-mail the scheduler that I was confused about "Question X"? Or, is it OK to put a note in the area that asks about any unusual occurrence during the shop? If an editor understands that in some cases there's an issue with the way a question or instruction is worded, perhaps he or she could clarify with us before deducting points. Or, if we've made an error, we could at least know what it was and could avoid it the next time.

Again, thank you for coming to the forum and addressing us!