Last month, I applied for some shops. Working out routes. I didn't get any notification that my applications were accepted until AFTER I had completed every route! Not possible to reschedule (I won't drive 120 mile round trip for a $12-$27 shop!). Actually, I won't drive 120 miles round trip for even a $50 shop. Because of distances, I MUST develop routes. I ended up e-mailing everybody I could think of, and the shops eventually disappeared from my shop log without any notification or any contact.
Now, I can do one of these shops tomorrow. I find I don't want to apply, because I KNOW I won't get an answer until after tomorrow. All the shops have been bonused now, but none of the e-mails have "reply to" e-mail addresses or phone numbers.
These shops are for small towns in rural western Nebraska, where there are no other shoppers available.
Now that the roads are clear again (I was snowed in for a full three weeks!), I would be happy to schedule some routes and get these shops done!
But I feel helpless and frustrated, because I have no direct contact information. Maybe I'm spoiled, working with all the great schedulers at so many MSCs; schedulers who call me, or e-mail me, and answer the phone when I call them back, and immediately assign me shops on the spot, so I can do a route right NOW.
What's a shopper to do?