For those just getting into the sHell reports, here are some tips that may help when you come to the conclusion of the report and discover you don't have an upload slot for a picture of an infraction you intended to report but didn't.

Here's the way the report works on my computer with Explorer. After you enter all the data into the report form and hit "Submit", you get the screen to upload the pictures and receipt(s). Once you reach that point, all the previously entered data on the report form is saved.

When entering pictures, IF YOU HAVE AN EMPTY SLOT and hit submit all the pictures previously entered will be saved. The form will tell you that you have a picture missing and it will give you the picture screen again and

(1) you can enter more pictures in your empty slots.

OR, and this is very good to know, you can enter another picture in a slot already entered, so now you have two pictures in that slot.

It has been my experience that the second time I hit submit on the pictures screen the entire report goes whether I am ready or not. In other words, I have not been able to hit submit a second time and get the screen back for
"overs". I would appreciate comments if anyone can enlighten me further on this.

Also good to know: Once you hit submit with an empty picture slot and you get the picture screen again, you can go back into the report and makes whatever changes you need to make. When you hit submit after entering more data it will take you back to the picture screen. Then you can make any adjustments you need to make on the pictures.

To sum it up: the first time you hit "Submit" with an empty picture slot you will get the picture screen back. You can then go back into the report and make changes, or you can enter pictures in the empty slots, or you can enter additional pictures in slots already filled. The second time you hit "Submit" on the picture screen, the report goes. Usually.

None of this is guaranteed to work. It usually works for me. When all else fails, call [MSC deleted].

Mod note: MSC name deleted for ICA violation and it is against forum rules to link client with MSC

That might be handy. I could see using that sometime. I wish their entry form were a little more user friendly.

Also, I think you inadvertently linked a company with a client there.

I know I probably include more pictures than most of you, but if I take them, I like to submit them. It only takes a few extra minutes and I'd rather they make the choice of which ones they want to include. If there is an infraction, I enter one photo through the link in the report. I then continue to enter any additional ones I want to include by doing it again. The form returns to the report screen with each photo upload, so it does take a bit of time. I have entered 6 or more photos of things like the restroom or drug stuff. You can also do that with the overall photos by using the link at the top of the form over and over again. Then at the end when it takes you to the final photo upload screen, you can enter even more, if you so desire. Overkill, I know. With that being said, I have passed on the seashore shops this time around. I get too stressed over the difference between food and products and there were way too many photos for the fee, IMHO. However, if they talk to me nicely regarding the fees, I will do them.

The first thing I do is click the little camera at the top and upload the overall photos. Then I hit submit and it takes me back to the report. If I wanted to submit a second set of photos I could click the camera again and it would then have empty slots for me to submit them? It looks like it would work but sometimes their forms delete extras for me without me knowing. At any rate, I then enter photos for infractions via the little camera icon next to the question I'm submitting a photo for.

While we are on the subject of sHell reports, the food offering vs the product offering seems to be something entirely subjective. The last report I did, the editor put it on hold and wanted a photo of as many of the food offering things as I could get into one photo. Well since they had two QSR's, a deli sandwich case, a milkshake machine and various other things that qualify as food offerings, I thought that was impossible. I submitted a picture I had taken of the dining area with the two QSR branded signs.

As far as the difference between food and products, I generally divide them up into pre-packaged (products) and fresh or made on site (food offerings.) The difference between fresh and made on site is kind of important because a salad could be fresh but not made on site. However, I do think it's a food offering.

The bathrooms make me crazy, having to look for purse hooks and baby changing tables and deciding if the tile is upscale or not.

Oops. Yes, I did link a client with a company. Sorry.

@MDavisnowell wrote:

Oops. Yes, I did link a client with a company. Sorry.

Happens to even the most seasoned of veterans.

I do these shops when they are bonused. With a $25 fee and reimbursement for 2 gallons of gas and a convenience store purchase I'm okay with the requirements. I have had problems with the shop being submitted prematurely when I added photos to the summary page. If you use the overall photos link and the camera icons by individual questions instead you can add as many photos as you like. I also had an editor ask for more food offerings to be shown, so I uploaded 6 photos for that question. There was no way to get it in one shot- - or actually, the editor said that shot was too similar to the store interior picture. Recently I've had the impression editors didn't feel they had earned their keep without putting a shop on hold for something....

I printed this out and put it in my permanent records for "gas station shops". Thanks so much for this helpful info!

These hints are also reliable when the grocery shops are done. I have done this on several photos for grocery. GS photos are not alone

I do quite a lot of these shops. Generally, they are quick and easy-ish. For the most part, food offer and product are pretty simple as someone stated above. The food offers are mostly fresh and product offers are prepackaged. There are a couple of exceptions. Prepackaged bakery items are now food offer. And differentiating between whether a sandwich is food or product can be difficult.

This MSC asks for one photo for each item and for each infraction. That is all that I upload. Between a shop time of 18-35 minutes and report of 15 minutes, I'm not uploading extra pics unless they ask. All infraction photos can be added at the same time, which I find saves some time. As far as food photos, if I can get more than one food product in a picture, then that's what I upload. Sometimes it isn't possible and they will get a picture of just one food offer.

I'm sorry to hear that so many have been harassed by editors. I think only two audits came back for additional info for me during this last round. I wonder how they choose who to be picky with?

I got my first HOLD on a shop for stating no food items because the editor saw packages of Pop Tarts. I do not consider that food but it was referred to as packaged pastries which is now listed under food.

There are quite a few on the board here but I'm leery of doing them now. I generally do any in convenient locations for base fee. If they are going to be a PITA I'll have to wait for bonuses.

@89lulalula89 wrote:

I'm sorry to hear that so many have been harassed by editors. I think only two audits came back for additional info for me during this last round. I wonder how they choose who to be picky with?

I don't think the problem is choosing individuals to be picky with as some experienced shoppers are getting harassed. I think it is new editors who are a bit too enthusiastic with their new position. That and some illogical changes as to what is food and what is product by the client.

Coffee, these are no more PITA than usual. The big thing is they're put prepackaged bakery in the "food offers" category so some stores you think may not have a food offer really do, according to the client. A pop tart or a twinkie or a Lil Debbie cake is a now a food offer. I think they changed it because prior to this change so many of the stores had no food offer at all. Yes, there are some new editors and we may not like it but we'll get through it. Think of the problems they have to deal with when they get new shoppers. Turn about. Fair play.

Since when is a pop tart considered food?

Since sHell said so. Sorry.

I have two weird holds from shops done two weekends ago… For one, they want the building closer, and for another they want another picture of the mens' john because I did not get enough elements in it. Standard versions and angles I have been taking for years without a problem, but fine. I had extras of the building, blocked by a post, which is why I backed up and took the shot from farther away, and individual pictures of stalls, urinals, and a hand dryer since I could not get them all into one frame. Maybe a collage would have been in order? Some little stickers like people use for scrap books?

Yep, I get it. Me2.

If it goes into your mouth, down your gullet, into your stomach, and gets digested, it is food. Some food has low caloric content (think of lettuce). Some has high caloric content (candy and, yes, Pop Tarts). I personally draw the line when it comes to swallowing something like a pit or a rock, but some foodists claim that both of those count - they must be confusing us with birds which must ingest small pebbles as part of their digestive process. Other than personal preference, I can see no rational reason to exclude Pop Tarts from the category of being food. If the MSC and the client told me to count a cactus plant or a pet rock as food, I would shake my head and count them.

I picked one up this week with a bonus just for the sHell of it. I submitted photos differently than I normally do. I used the overall tab first and used it twice for items that require two photos. I filled out the report next and added any required photos there as well - on top of the no and caution responses. I'm curious to see if it will be kicked back out to me for something.

@myst4au wrote:

If the MSC and the client told me to count a cactus plant or a pet rock as food, I would shake my head and count them.

That's exactly what I did! But they still disqualified my report, because they said taking just one bite of each was not sufficient to evaluate the total quality of each food item.

I've got 3 today and 2 next week. I was going to say we'll see how they go, but when they sit on the board for 3 weeks it's kind of hard to tell.

*sigh* They must have a new group of editors. I took a restroom photo last weekend (for a different brand) that included the sink, mirror, paper towel and soap dispensers, and a reflection of part of the toilet in the mirror. The shop is on hold because they need a photo that "shows more of the restroom." How? That shop only started wanted a restroom photo a couple years ago, and a complete sink/mirror was always good. I thought I had achieved a masterpiece with this one.

@heartlandcanuck wrote:

*sigh* They must have a new group of editors. I took a restroom photo last weekend (for a different brand) that included the sink, mirror, paper towel and soap dispensers, and a reflection of part of the toilet in the mirror. The shop is on hold because they need a photo that "shows more of the restroom." How? That shop only started wanted a restroom photo a couple years ago, and a complete sink/mirror was always good. I thought I had achieved a masterpiece with this one.

I always take pics of both the toilet and sink/mirror. That way if they ask for more I can give them the other half LOL. I really wish these editors had to do a few. And yes, that was a masterpiece! They haven't learned to properly appreciate it.

If they had to do a few in a busy truck stop when there were people coming in and out. I don't know about you, but if I've pulled off the road during a long trip and have to go, that last thing I want to do is to wait for some chick with a camera to take photos! Many times I skip the toilet because someone is in the stall.

IKR? I generally try to go back if the stall is occupied. I thought it was illegal to take a picture in a bathroom that was occupied anyway. Something about a reasonable expectation of privacy.

I stop taking pictures when someone walks in. Generally, I start with the mirror/sink shot, (and if it's a shell get my selfie) and continue to the stall if there is an opportunity. In busy places that opportunity does not always present itself. I have been doing gas audits for over ten years now, and rarely wait around a busy loo for a second opportunity. I will give a ten-minute wait for the first opportunity, get as much as I can, and don't backtrack.

Afyer I hit submit once I go back out to the my current shop screen and submit twice to get to the photo section. I upload ehatever else I want. The other option is to upload photos on each question. Anywhere you see the camera icon on the report you can click on it and upload as many pics as you want one at a time.

@tgihvaa wrote:

Afyer I hit submit once I go back out to the my current shop screen and submit twice to get to the photo section. I upload ehatever else I want. The other option is to upload photos on each question. Anywhere you see the camera icon on the report you can click on it and upload as many pics as you want one at a time.

I've done that too, but the system deleted the photos I uploaded for the "yes" questions and only kept the overall photos and the "No" photos.

CaliGirl - My experience in general with this MSC is that they only want photographs for "no" questions, so save yourself some work. If you want to keep "yes" photos for your records, that is another thing.