On Friday I did a cell phone shop for GFK. The location was open. I opened the conversation with the sales associate using my given scenario and she told me that it was a prepaid phone store only, so she couldn't help me with contract renewal. I attempted to save the shop by asking a couple questions in order to get her to give me specific recommendations on phones anyway, as this was a requirement of this shop. She again told me that they have a very limited number of models and couldn't really help me. I spent about 10 minutes in the store and obtained the required proofs of visit before I left.

I called and emailed my scheduler to ask if she still wanted me to write up the report as it hadn't gone according to the guidelines. She told me to go ahead and write it up anyway, which I did.

This morning I get an email saying they are only going to pay me the closed shop fee instead of the full fee for the shop. Am I out of line in that I'm upset by this??? I'm going to email the editor and ask for the full fee. I did my best to perform the shop per the guidelines.

I'm not sure of the correct answer here. I do know from experience that GFK's cell phone shops suck.

I take it back....if the assigned shop is open at the listed location and operating under name / ownership listed for the business, that ain't no closed shop.

My scheduler emailed me back and said she wasn't sure why I was only being paid the "closed location" fee. She is forwarding my email to her boss for clarification. I'll post again once I hear back.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2015 02:08PM by KimRod.

I would not necessarily be upset.

You were in a quandary. You realized you needed to do your best to perform the required shop. Let's say this was a dine-in only food shop. You arrive and because of an issue they are only offering take-out. Though the location is technically open, you are not able to perform the prescribed scenario. Unless the instructions otherwise covered this in some way, you'd expect to at least be paid a closed shop fee.

In your situation, the location did not provide the services being evaluated. Maybe they used to?

I would expect for the difference to be split, depending on what pays more.

Was the location "open": Yes
Was it open to what the assigned shop was: No

@isaiah58 wrote:

I would not necessarily be upset.

You were in a quandary. You realized you needed to do your best to perform the required shop. Let's say this was a dine-in only food shop. You arrive and because of an issue they are only offering take-out. Though the location is technically open, you are not able to perform the prescribed scenario. Unless the instructions otherwise covered this in some way, you'd expect to at least be paid a closed shop fee.

In your situation, the location did not provide the services being evaluated. Maybe they used to?

You're comparing apples and oranges.

The shop may not have been able to support contracts, but I still attempted to get the recommendations I needed as part of the guidelines. This was obviously a competitor shop and not a brand specific shop. I've had something similar happen with another MSC and was paid the full fee for the shop. I was also asked by the scheduler to complete the report. So my thought is that I put the work into this shop, with my very best effort to glean as much information for the MSC as possible under the circumstances and reported it. Therefore, I completed the shop and should be paid.

@The1Sandman wrote:

I would expect for the difference to be split, depending on what pays more.

Was the location "open": Yes
Was it open to what the assigned shop was: No

When you look at things black and white like that, your are technically right. However, you are not taking into consideration all the other facts of the case. As I replied to Isaiah58, I did my very best to glean as much info for the MSC possible, as this was a competitor shop. I reported my difficulties to my scheduler and was told to report the shop as it happened. I completed the report correctly and on time. Therefore, I completed this shop and I would like to get paid for it.

****UPDATE****
Well, I got my answer:

Apparently, they pay a closed location fee on these shops for three reasons: closed shop (duh), kiosk location or prepaid location. I knew about the first two, but the last one (and my particular situation) wasn't in the guidelines that I can remember. I will double check just to make sure I didn't goof. But they are quite adamant that they are only paying me the $3 closed location fee. Lesson learned on my part.

Ugh, that sucks. Are you allowed to call beforehand and find out if they offer only prepaid services?

@KimRod wrote:

As I replied to Isaiah58, I did my very best to glean as much info for the MSC possible, as this was a competitor shop. I reported my difficulties to my scheduler and was told to report the shop as it happened. I completed the report correctly and on time. Therefore, I completed this shop and I would like to get paid for it.

You can glean all you want but if that is not the information the client is looking for, it is just a waste of your time. As far as the scheduler telling you to submit the report anyway, they almost always say that. In reality, many schedulers are not fully versed in the various guidelines and payment policies. The editors are much more knowledgeable what it comes to that stuff. But we as shoppers do not have easy access to most editors.

@KimRod wrote:

But they are quite adamant that they are only paying me the $3 closed location fee. Lesson learned on my part.

On a positive note, at least you are being paid something for your gleaning.

I don't understand this. The client or the MSC made an error in scheduling a location to be shopped that didn't meet the requirements of the shop. Is that correct? Shouldn't somebody on that end be responsible for making sure that a location they are asking to be shopped fits the scenario? Why would they schedule a shop that requires the shopper to get contract-renewal information when the location doesn't handle contracts? Or doesn't the end client know what the location offers? Is that because it's a competitor shop? (I've never done one, so am not familiar with them.)

On top of that, the scheduler told the shopper to complete the report and submit. If the scheduler had said, "No, don't do the report, and you'll be paid the closed-location fee," that's one thing. The shopper was told to complete the shop in full, did so, and now is told she will only be paid the closed-location fee? That doesn't seem right.

If the guidelines clearly stated that the shopper should abort the shop if he or she discovers that it's a prepaid-only location, that's another story. But, still.... I can see a case for some sort of "split-the-difference" payment because the scheduler specifically told the shopper to go ahead with the questionnaire.

If they told you to write up the report then I think you should have been paid your full fee. A closed location shouldn't require any narrative.

I would probably keep on it, politely, and see if you can get it reviewed since the scheduler told you to go ahead. The scheduler is the MSC representative so their input is vital. Guidelines tend to say if there are problems, go to the scheduler. I would, however, also go back and read the guidelines and see if prepaid is a mention. I know that I focus on shops going as planned and may not make a strong note of the things that can go wrong. I've been lucky to not have that be much of an issue, but from time to time, I've found myself trying to remember what I was supposed to do when one of those 'wrong' things looked like it might just happen.

I think this is a big crock of BS. The location was open. Had you called the location as most guidelines require in order to be paid a full fee you would have learned that they were open. I personally would not have called or emailed the scheduler. I would have reported what happened, submitted the report, and then firmly stood my ground until I got paid the full fee.

A year ago, I was assigned to visit a kiosk. I determined in advance that it was a kiosk, but was required to travel there (at a loss) and take a photograph of the kiosk. This was not a competitor shop, so the client presumably knew what I would find. I was paid the closed shop fee. If I had declined to go, it would have been a flake citation. Another time, I was told to go to a location in a mall where the entire mall was closed and I could provide links to the newspaper and TV stores since the closing of the mall was big local news (but kept getting postpone month-to-month). I was paid the measly closed shop fee. And how about the company store which was still under construction.? Closed shop fee again. In each case, the phone was answered - even the one in the closed mall. Not that it mattered - a photo is required in order to collect the paltry $3 fee and avoid a flake citation. Now I avoid the problem by not doing any cell phone shops for this MSC.

Just curious -- did you know the mall was closed before you accepted the shop?

@retrodaddy, I called to make sure the store was open which is a requirement of the shop. However, I didn't even think to ask if it was a prepaid store only. The guidelines only said to call and make sure it's open and to get the hours. I'm still incredibly new to MSing, so every time I run into a wonky shop I learn something new - and if I ever take another shop like this again I'll probably ask the question so as not to waste my time.

@BirdyC, yes, it was a competitor shop so I don't think they had all the details. And while my scheduler was responsive and very nice, she also didn't seem to have all the details. She actually seemed quite confused as to why I was being paid the closed location shop.

@Orrymain, I still need to review the guidelines to see if I missed that part about prepaid stores. But if it is not mentioned in the guidelines I will professionally and politely push to get paid more than $3 for my time and effort.

And honestly, I'm not sure how much more work I'll do for GFK. It's not necessarily because of this issue. It's more that I seem to be cursed with them. Every shop (and I'm not kidding. EVERY shop) that I have done for them has gone a little sideways. Whether the shop didn't go according to plan, the editor's popped me for things that didn't make sense, or I made a dumb mistake. I may take a break from them for a little bit and see if I can shake off the bad ju-ju. :-)

No. I knew that there had been plans to close it for almost two years. Stores kept closing, but the final date kept getting pushed off. Every time I went (for different clients, usually cell phone shops), I assumed it would be the last time, and then some of the stores stayed open. So, I accepted the shop two weeks in advance. Then saw the news story on TV the day before the shop.

@Orrymain wrote:

Just curious -- did you know the mall was closed before you accepted the shop?

Yes it is appropriate to be upset, I would appeal based on the MSC telling you to take the time to do the report, but not push it as it isn't worth getting the MSC mad at you.

If you don't want to waste money printing all guidelines, you can try saving them or at least take screen shot if possible and save them digitally.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2015 06:19PM by jmitw.

Unfortunately, as I have experienced again recently, there are companies out there who stoop to anything to weasle out of paying the shopper fairly. It's up to you to determine if you want to continue with them in the future.

Definitely frustrating. I would be upset with the result, too.

@myst4au wrote:

No. I knew that there had been plans to close it for almost two years. Stores kept closing, but the final date kept getting pushed off. Every time I went (for different clients, usually cell phone shops), I assumed it would be the last time, and then some of the stores stayed open. So, I accepted the shop two weeks in advance. Then saw the news story on TV the day before the shop.

@Orrymain wrote:

Just curious -- did you know the mall was closed before you accepted the shop?

I feel for you Kim and you definitely have every right to be upset. Maybe some good can come of this since you've been willing to share here which should give the rest of us pause when accepting this type of shop from this MSC, or from accepting anything with the subtle warning flag disclaimers that the MSC doesn't actually know whether all locations are "open". So thanks for sharing at least and I hope you continue to pursue fair payment on this. Wishing you a favorable outcome.

Sorry, but if you knew the mall was closed before your visit even if it was after you accepted the shop, no way does it qualify as a flake. If the company is so petty as to issue a flake citation, they aren't worth the time of day.

To the OP, you called as per the instructions, visited, had an interaction and wrote a report. The shop does not warrant a paltry closed shop fee. Actual closed shops would take a minute or two on site and if a report was required would take about the same since most just want a photo of the location. The MSCs who pay drastically reduced closed location fees like to say it is common in the industry, it is not. If you have agreed to a bonus, GFK will also drastically reduce the bonus claiming it is also common. I've had one and only one MSC take money from a bonus for a closed location. Guess which one?

I agree with you. But I was told that I had to go to the closed mall and take a photo of the sign on the door. Links to multiple newspaper articles and TV stories was not sufficient. Their rule was "go and take a photograph or get a flake citation". That is one reason I no longer do audits for them, or any kind of cell phone shop.

@LisaSTL wrote:

Sorry, but if you knew the mall was closed before your visit even if it was after you accepted the shop, no way does it qualify as a flake. If the company is so petty as to issue a flake citation, they aren't worth the time of day.

I've never been told a flake citation would be issued if I didn't go take a photo of a location knowing in advance it was closed. The more common responses have been, "We need a picture and you will receive full pay if you can go," or "Thanks so much for letting us know. We will pass the information along to the client." Anything else is bullcrap, IMHO.

You should be paid full fee--politely stand your ground and be persistent on this one.

I had a similar experience with GFK. Mine was a kiosk. This was before they added the line in the guidelines stating a kiosk would be a closed location fee. I also wrote an entire report. Well GFK updated the guidelines and sent the updated guidelines after the shop was done and I nicely tried to get my fair pay. Then to top it off since I stated an issue and gave them the guidelines I had saved which didn't have the magically added line I was ignored and barred from preforming shops for them anymore despite doing tons of reports and a great rating. I was told upon inquiry as I was unable to self assign and all my apps were deleted that they did not wish to continue working together not tell me why as it was company policy.

OP swallow the closed fee and don't fight them anymore if you still wish to work for them. That's if they haven't already banned you. They won't deactivate you so you wont know, till you can't self assign and your apps get deleted. Also don't be surprised if they send you guidelines with a new line about prepaid only stores counting as a closed fee as they will add it now. I do feel bad but you will only get the closed fee no matter how much you are right and fight. This and other behavior is why I and many other experienced shoppers don't work for them.

Did you get those responses from GfK from one of the more rational MSCs? If you got those responses from GfK, then you were very lucky time after time. No one else has reported such exemplary behavior, but, everything is possible.

@LisaSTL wrote:

I've never been told a flake citation would be issued if I didn't go take a photo of a location knowing in advance it was closed. The more common responses have been, "We need a picture and you will receive full pay if you can go," or "Thanks so much for letting us know. We will pass the information along to the client." Anything else is bullcrap, IMHO.

Of course it wasn't from GFK, hahahaha. GFK stiffed me on fee and a portion of the bonus after begging me to take a shop on Easter. The scheduler was aware I called to be sure the store was actually open and to verify the hours. Despite showing up when I had been told the store would be open they categorized it a closed location. When I complained the scheduler gave me the song and dance about having to send in another shopper. The problem could easily be solved by charging the client for both visits and paying both shoppers. IMO, the client needed to know the franchisee decided to close early despite having spoken to a customer who said they were coming in the same day.

More "rational" MSCs have told me the client is charged in full for closed locations. Either GFK does a crappy job negotiating or they pocket the difference.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/2016 05:08PM by LisaSTL.