Is it just me or are the editors getting ultra picky? I just had a shop sent back because the interior was taken at the wrong angle??? I also had one sent back last week and resubmitted the same picture because it met the guidelines and it was accepted....I am starting to re-think doing their gas stations...

I think they have some new folks there now. They don't usually bounce mine back but three in a single week now?

You had three? Yikes!! I have several still pending. I hope they accept them. This is a pain.

They definitely have new editors, especially for one of the station shops that require a lot of inside photos. I stopped doing them for a while until the editors gained a little experience. I tried a few more recently and they went through without bouncing back for frivolous reasons.

you can't pay me enough to perform gas station shops. The hazards alone are bad enough but the requirements and pay ? LOL

@SS4U wrote:

you can't pay me enough to perform gas station shops. The hazards alone are bad enough but the requirements and pay ? LOL

You mean silly little hazards like dead bodies in the shrubbery or hookers under the main ID sign?

@Cettie wrote:

@SS4U wrote:

you can't pay me enough to perform gas station shops. The hazards alone are bad enough but the requirements and pay ? LOL

You mean silly little hazards like dead bodies in the shrubbery or hookers under the main ID sign?

Did this happen to you??? I have not had really any hazards. I did go to one station that looked scary and I left.

So, just had another shop returned because I took a picture of the sandwich case. I needed a more detailed picture. I told them no, and said in the guidelines, it shows up closer pictures as something not to do. The shop was accepted. I am mad and frustrated! I think I will finish the shops I have scheduled and then take a break from them for a minute.

I have done the home improvement shops for them since July with no issues. I have done over 40 of these shops. All of a sudden I have had my last 5 put on hold for more information. In one situation I had to explain what the associate did when I backed out of buying the item. I very eloquently explained how he shrugged his shoulders, turned around and walked away. I was able to create two and a half sentences explaining this. I was told it wasn't descriptive enough and the suggested that I needed another three sentences to adequately explain what the associate did. Really? 6 sentences to explain how he shrugged his shoulders, turned around and walked away?

I guess I'm just not good enough at this mystery shopping gig.

For me, I have found that calling Maritz and eventually having the person who answers transfer you to a team supervisor is the best way to contest the strange shop hold. It hasn't happened to me much, but one time it did, I couldn't believe that a certain picture was being questioned of a violation. The editor questioned the non-complaint photo, and while I admit it wasn't the usual angle of posting such a non-complaint issue, the angle in which I took at it actually was a unique opportunity to where the infraction could be completely indisputable by the client, which is why I chose to take the picture as I did.

When I spoke to the supervisor, she simply told me, "Yeah, I have no idea why they sent that back to you, and I can certainly see why you (took the photo like that). I'll remove it (the hold) and I apologize that you had to call over this."

Holds do seem to happen in bunches.

They are ultra picky with those interior photos. I have a couple more of those scheduled. I won't do them again for quite a while. Almost all of them come back asking for a new photo from a different angle. I think every editor should have to go and do some of these before editing them. There really aren't many angles at many of these stores. The guideline photos show nice wide aisles where it is easy to get a large variety in the photo. Most of the stores I visit are not that spacious and it is hard to get wide angles.

I was talking more along the line of 18 wheel trucks and major interstate interchanges directly in front of the station, and where one will be expected to take some pictures required.

I too, have had numerous shops put on their "hold" status. Most of these have involved the "sea creature" emblem gasoline shops.
Still, I now have had home improvement shops put on hold requiring additional information as well as the other gasoline shop asking for more information.
Not only that, but for the other gasoline shop, I've received email almost every month describing how they had sent out inspectors to those shops and had found "numerous, long standing issues" (or something to that effect) that were not reported.
Truly, I've been most diligent about my inspection. I can only assume that the email was not sent to me personally, but as an "email blast", so to speak, sent to numerous, if not all shoppers.
I am now adding more comments, hoping that it explains why the interior photo looks as it does or why the food or product photo is as such and so on.
They are a fine company and when I have spoken to their workers, I have found them to be personable helpful.

Oh, and yes, I am a new commenter person. I have read the comments here over the months and like my shirt, I've always kept it tucked in, never feeling the need to show its tail.

At first I was annoyed with the new editors, but after giving it some thought and doing more of the shops, I decided I want to do the best job I can. I expect to get paid well so I should be happy to give them whatever they want. Of course, if what they want isn't possible, like an inside shot that shows 50 different items, well that can't be done. But if it is possible, whatever it is, I'll do my damndest.

Some of these stores around here are really small. I have one on hold right now about not showing more of the surrounding area. You can barely walk down the aisle between the sandwich machine and the shelves. I'll call tomorrow. I have done that store many times and never been questioned about the photo of the machine.

I think I've solved the problem of going back to take more photos. It seem I have had problems with the food items or lack thereof. I took overall photos from each corner of the C-store where possible, I use one for the overall interior shot and a second when there is no food selection. That seems to keep the editors satisfied for "no food" I also take a picture of anything that can be conceived as food - roller food, ice cream, prepackaged sandwiches, fresh fruit. pre-pak veggies or fruit, donuts, bagels. Click, click, click. I also take two pictures of the rest room. The other pictures are more straight forward and of course they are shot, usually twice. I think some of the new editors feel they are not doing there job unless they can find something wrong. Sending a second photo, even if it is no better than the first IMO, seems to keep them happy. I also agree with those who said they should spend some time in the field. Nothing like practical, hands on experience.

It sounds like they should spend time working as an IC rather than in the field. Then they might realize how it feels to have someone waste your time unnecessarily.

Basically, that is what I meant, Lisa. Unfortunately, won't happen.

I also have one returned because I didn't get the complete picture of the slushie machine which just happened to be in one of my views. I have had issues last week with small locations and my views being similar which have never been an issue before.

The more pictures I send the less blow back I get.

The problem with that is that the upload only seems to allow one picture. Yet, in th guidelines, they do want the shopper to take at least 2 pix for each category.
I do take more pix as a matter of habit.
Love to hear about this book, Ms Nowell!

French Farmer, with Maritz you can upload more than one picture. I'll try to explain but if you don't understand what I write up, you can call Maritz and one of the schedulers there will walk you through it.

First, you can upload two in each slot on the final screen page that allows you to upload all pics at once. Here's how. Run through your first batch but be sure you leave one slot empty. I always leave the receipt slot(s) empty or the vest slot empty, depending on what brand I'm doing. Hit submit and the page will come up again and tell you that you are missing a picture or some pictures. This is your opportunity to go down through the slots and enter what you left out, plus you can enter one more picture in each of the slots that you entered a picture in on the first run through.

Second, you can upload as many as six (maybe more, I'm not sure) at each of the camera icons inside the report. This will take longer but I had two cesspool stations this week that caused me to enter pictures at the camera icons inside the report as I wanted to make it crystal clear how disgusting the locations were. When I completed the data entry in the report and hit submit, I got the final picture loading screen and it came up with all the photos I entered inside the report already showing. I could then go through the final screen and enter whatever in each slot, including making an addition to the ones already showing.

I don't think there's a limit to how many pictures you can enter if you want to go through the process. I seldom enter more than two of anything but once in a while it takes more pictures to demonstrate the deteriorated condition of a location.

About the book, I'm in the final rewrite of a nonfiction work covering events that happened beginning in the 1890's, how those events affected my life, and some brief final chapters on what I do now and how I make it work for me. I'm not using any of my quoted posts in that book.

I have started preliminaries on another book about my experiences mystery shopping/auditing and that is the book which will use some quotes of my posts. This will not be a "how to" book in the sense of an instructional manual but instead will be about the experience of this work and its value to those who need something flexible.

Thank you! Ms Nowell! Thank you! I shall try to do that!

Wonderful to hear of this book.

Bon chance!

@SS4U wrote:

you can't pay me enough to perform gas station shops. The hazards alone are bad enough but the requirements and pay ? LOL

Really? I did one today for $125. No audit, 2 photos, in and out.

I had them recently request a new photo because they claimed that one of mine was just a zoomed in/edited shot of another photo that was submitted (which it was not). I zoomed in before taking the actual photo since, for this project, you are supposed to park across the street and therefore are far from the station. I added a note saying it was an original photo, not a zoomed-in duplicate, didn't upload a new one, and it went through okay. I really never had problems in the past with their editors.

This is definitely a new Martitz editing issue. They ask what happened when you posed an objection or retreated from the purchase. Of course, their instructions don't ask for that narrative..they just put the report "on hold" and make you respond in order to get paid....dirty pool.

If you are referring to the Big Box home improvement store shops, the need to raise two objections and report on them appeared recently and is explicitly discussed in the shop instructions and potential objections are even listed. There are two narrative boxes in the report for reporting the results of these two objections.

@winemaker wrote:

This is definitely a new Martitz editing issue. They ask what happened when you posed an objection or retreated from the purchase. Of course, their instructions don't ask for that narrative..they just put the report "on hold" and make you respond in order to get paid....dirty pool.

I also saw that the requirement to raise two objections and report on them was added to the guidelines. I noticed no change in the report form, but, since the guidelines not specified wanting the results of the two objections, I included that in my narrative and had no difficulty with editing.

Have you double-checked to see if the requirement was added to your guidelines?

I did a shop last week that I had done at least five times before with no problems but this time it got sent back to me because it was not a convenience shop and just a service bay I had to take a picture of the service bay. I had always taken the same pictures and was fine but not this time. I went back and took a picture of the service bay but told them would not do this shop again. I do not imagine they care but it was very frustrating to me....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2016 06:33PM by ctalbert.

I had a similar experience with a home improvement shop. I noticed that the guidelines now ask which objections I raised and how the employee responded, so that was not a problem except that it increased the amount of narrative.
These shops already require a lot of narrative for the amount of pay. My problem was that an editor asked me to write several sentences about the options and solutions given by the employee. I had already written 3-4 sentences about that. I e-mailed the editor and said I had no idea what was being asked of me. I got no reply, but the shop was accepted. I won't be accepting any more of those shops for a while. It was already too time consuming for the amount of pay, but adding the hassle of having the shop put on hold put it over the top.