Nikki Atkins will not pay me for a shop that I drove 110 miles to do. I did it one day late. and perhaps I am wrong but all of my other msc will allow that as it was snowing on the day scheduled. She cancelled the shop and said that it was done late and I should have called her. I am a responsible shopper and I did not feel that since the target was the same as the day before, I should not have had her cancel. I could wax on forever about the injustice of this but I am sure that shoppers out there have had the same thing happen to them.
I will her and Ridgeway the best in the future but they will not have me to beat up. Bruce Lloyd

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2016 03:20PM by Bruce Lloyd.

I agree that you should have called her as soon as possible BEFORE deciding on your own that it would be alright to delay a day.

I've never had this happen. But then again, if I my shop was scheduled for a specific day, I would call or email the scheduler if weather delayed the visit. In fact, I tend to be proactive and contact them several days prior to the shop when bad weather is forecast.

I have never done a shop on a different day than scheduled, without contacting the scheduler. I do about 80 shops a month. More communication is always better than none. It's not HER job to keep track of YOUR weather.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2016 07:55PM by OCyou2.

Bruce
First off I am not in Accounts Payable. Secondly you had a February 8th shop-DATE SPECIFIC to which you did not go on February 8th. You decided all on YOUR OWN to go on Feb 9th without asking if that day would be ok. It was a black out date and NOT OK. Shall I share with this group the emails you sent me? You can't do a shop any day you feel like it when they are date specific!

Updated-Synopsis

Bruce was scheduled for Feb 8th-it was a date specific shop for a target
Did the shop on Feb 9th without asking permission
I informed him he would not be paid....
He then said there had been snow and he couldn't go on the 8th
I then said but you never emailed me for a new date you just assumed the 9th would be ok
He then got mad at me for me not agreeing to pay him when I don't make that call and said what I did was not "acceptable behavior" because he chose to drive 180 miles to do this shop and that me telling him he was wrong "doesn't for for him"
He then said I abused him.
End of story

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2016 11:08PM by nikki4JMR.

@Bruce Lloyd wrote:

I could wax on forever about the injustice of this but I am sure that shoppers out there have had the same thing happen to them.
Bruce Lloyd

And I think we all appreciate that you are not going to wax on forever about the "injustice." I'm surprised you came on the internet to complain. If the shop date was the 8th and you did not do it and you did not call, it looks to me like the company was 100% right to cancel the shop. You are wrong. You don't just decide not to do a shop on its due date and arbitrarily do it the next day without confirming with the company. You planned to drive 180 miles and you couldn't make a phone call to confirm that it was okay? Give me a break. The e-mail Nikki has posted exhibits shockingly poor customer service, especially when you did the wrong thing. I'm thinking surely you were deactivated so you won't be working for Ridgway in the future.

You might want to edit your name out of your post. If other companies see that you do shops wrong and then are outraged when you are not paid, causing you to complain on the internet, it may limit the number of mystery shopping companies who are willing to work with you. And a lot of companies have staff who read here.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2016 08:52PM by Jay C.

After eight years in the business I actually shopped a black out date about six months ago for a different MSC. My date was within the original group and I totally missed the restriction. The most significant difference between my situation and the OP's was my emails went something like this, "I was totally boneheaded so feel free to berate me." The response was, "Sorry. I have to exclude the shop, but you won't get any penalty." She was true to her word because I have been able to get every well bonused shop I have applied for since then. Something tells me the same wouldn't have happened if I had accused HER of cheating me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2016 09:12PM by LisaSTL.

The OP was absolutely in the wrong to just decide to do the shop the next day without calling or e-mailing the scheduler. If he had done so, perhaps a reschedule date NOT on a blackout date could have been arranged. It's on the OP that he's not going to be paid.

However, it's really not very professional, imo, for the scheduler to get on here and share verbatim the content of the e-mails. What was the purpose? Really, a summary of what transpired would have been sufficient. We get it. We really do, and we'd have believed Nikki (at least I would have) if she'd posted an overview of the situation. She didn't need to justify her position, as she was clearly in the right to cancel the shop.

I think everybody could pretty much figure out what transpired here.

The only reason why I shared his emails was to point out how he never apologized, took the blame or tried to rectify it with me. All he did was play the victim and say "It is just not acceptable behavior." So I wanted others to see in my defense what he had to say

I think by posting the actual e-mails from the OP, Nikki posted a "fact" rather than her perception of the situation. By posting Bruce's e-mails, she avoided the question that would have been in my mind: how did Nikki's perception of Bruce's communication affect the overview she presented? Instead, since Nikki posted the actual e-mails Bruce sent, we are not left to wonder if she was oversensitive or if her interpretation was accurate. We can read for ourselves and interpret it. I prefer that. I think posting his e-mails was far more professional than posting her overview of the situation, colored by her perceptions.

IANAL, but I think there is an expectation of privacy in email. The OP was wrong to unilaterally decide to change the date and it's clear from the responses that others agree with the scheduler. Especially in that light, posting partial email was unnecessary and should be removed.

The reality is (as politicians and others have found out) that once an email is sent, you have no control over where it goes. For years while I worked in Corporate America, I was advised to never put anything in an email that would be embarrassing to me or the company if it ended up on the front page of the local newspaper. And that was true even of emails which had a disclaimer at the bottom which said that the content was the property of Corporate America. I agree with Jay C that Nikki was correct in posting the actual email that she received.

I do not feel at this point anything about Privacy. The OP used my name and what I had done to him (won't pay him). I am not accounts payable. I don't make those decisions. JMR decided to not pay him. Privacy is out the window when he blames me for his wrong doing. Nothing I copied and pasted reflects anything but what he sent me so shoppers and other schedulers could see what he said verbatim. Not me saying what I thought he said.

Bruce, you were out of line in doing the date-specific shop any other day without first getting your scheduler's permission.

This is one more example of why forum posts bashing companies and/or schedulers should often be taken with a grain of salt. People disregard guidelines and act as lone wolves then attempt to publicly defame companies when their shops are excluded.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2016 10:36PM by TechSavvy.

@PasswordNotFound wrote:

IANAL, but I think there is an expectation of privacy in email. The OP was wrong to unilaterally decide to change the date and it's clear from the responses that others agree with the scheduler.

I agree. Even though e-mails often become public, there's a reasonable expectation of privacy in e-mail communications. Because it happens doesn't make it right.

It was clear, as you say, that everyone understood the situation and that the scheduler was not in the wrong. She had every right to defend herself (although it wasn't necessary) and/or further explain the situation. But, I think that "right" stops with sharing private e-mails. A synopsis would have been fine. And it's certainly possible to write an objective synopsis. We shoppers do it all the time, and we don't expect to be accused of coloring our summaries by our own opinions.

No matter what the party who was in the wrong did or said, if any employee under my supervision posted the content of e-mails verbatim, I'd reprimand or fire him or her. It's not the way a professional conducts himself or herself. At least not in the corporate world with which I'm familiar.

This has happened on here before; I don't mean to call out the scheduler as being unique in this. But it's always TMI, and, imo, embarrassing.

Just because people today feel compelled to share every minute detail of their lives and the lives of others, that doesn't make it acceptable in the business/professional world. Social media's one thing, business is another. JMO, of course.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2016 11:05PM by BirdyC.

Privacy went out the window when the OP posted the scheduler's first and last name and the company she schedules for. She had every right to come on here and defend herself and provide proof she was not at fault. And she did so calmly and professionally.

@PasswordNotFound wrote:

IANAL, but I think there is an expectation of privacy in email. The OP was wrong to unilaterally decide to change the date and it's clear from the responses that others agree with the scheduler. Especially in that light, posting partial email was unnecessary and should be removed.

@nikki4JMR I agree with the reasons Nikki had to cancel the shop and disagree completely with the OP's complaint. That said, and setting aside talks about e-mail privacy or who called who by name and feeling the need to reply, I would suggest to Nikki to still think twice before replying to a complaint in a public forum. Rather to err on the safe side rather than hearing someone from JMR tell you whether you have or not the right to speak for the company.

I know the company I have my daytime job with wouldn't be happy if I posted in a public forum about something related to how we operate. In fact we have policies for (or I should say against) that. So all I'm saying is be careful - But I totally agree with your actions.

I am quite certain my bosses at JMR are not upset with me for coming here to defend myself. The OP used my first and last name and the company name and as their lead scheduler I have neither bashed the OP-I simply stated facts. Plus my bosses can see all the notes on this shopper and why he was deactivated.

what you said. he did not follow instructions. end of story. live and learn.

One MSC temporarily suspended my account due to an unaccounted for receipt. I had pending shops that I could not access and had emailed them the receipt in question. I performed the shop that day, only to find out it was scheduled for the next day. I communicated with them about accepting the shop, but it was a black out day. When they told me that I agreed with them, that there is no sense in paying me if they're not getting paid. I received the nicest emails from their HelpDesk. I performed the shop the next day. I've had a good relationship ever since.

I could have gotten on my high horse. Their initial email stated the problem could have been on their end. However I wanted to continue to work for them. Same with another shop where the information was good, but I screwed up and used a card. It was a matter of whether or not this was the hill I was going to die on.

I guess Bruce picked this one to die on.

I do not blame Nikki for defending her professional reputation. Murdering someone's reputation is akin to physical murder. However I accept that the unique job we do, mystery shoppers, means that we ought not discuss confidential matters to friends and family. It is easier to vent or rant here within the framework and rules of the forum.

Uhhh did we really just go there with the murder analogy? Seriously?

@whosear wrote:

I do not blame Nikki for defending her professional reputation. Murdering someone's reputation is akin to physical murder. However I accept that the unique job we do, mystery shoppers, means that we ought not discuss confidential matters to friends and family. It is easier to vent or rant here within the framework and rules of the forum.