Maybe it is a rant, maybe it is not. I did a yellow gas station this month where the attendant asked me why I gave them a disappointing review in the last shop performed. Of course I am not supposed to talk about that topic with anyone at the station. So, I just looked at him quizzically, smiled and shrugged. The attendant wasn't angry, just seemed a bit hurt.
I was puzzled, not remembering any infraction at the particular station. So, after returning home, I pulled my worksheet for the shop and reviewed it. There was no infractions that I found.
Did an editor change my answers on the report? did someone shop the station between my 2 shops? That seems unlikely as it was only a month in between.

I did a blue gas station and all seemed well. However, after the reveal, the attendant asked me for the reward card. He seemed a bit miffed that he wasn't awarded for asking for the card. Wait a minute, I've made my purchase, received my receipt and revealed myself as the mystery shopper. Why would you think you deserved the award?
In reviewing the guidelines, it does not seem clear about when the award should be given. I've always made the assumption that after receiving my receipt and then making the reveal as the mystery shopper, granting the award becomes moot.
Would that be wrong?

OTOH, sorry attendants, I try to follow my guidelines as asked.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2016 12:39PM by French Farmer.

Maritz editors ABSOLUTELY change answers based on what they see in photos. I've seen it happen more often than I can even count.
And you're right about the award. It's only YOU as a customer that needs to be solicited for the rewards program. If you're offered after the reveal it's too late. I've seen them offer it to nobody before my reveal and then offer it to everybody after my reveal. No dice, kiddo.

I even had one instance where the attendant I had won it the last time around (I wasn't the auditor the last time) and still didn't ask me.

After completing about a hundred yellow and a hundred blue gas station shops for Maritz in the past couple of years, I have come to the conclusion that the "rules" change often, depending on the editor. The editors often change the answers (usually incorrectly) and occasionally Martiz admin folks (actually 4.9% of the time) 'misplace' the invoice and don't get payment out to the shopper without a follow up email or call. I am not sure if these 'issues' frequency are within Maritz' own standards/expectations.
The standards for 'bonuses' or 'incentives' (as Maritz describes them). varies between teams at Maritz. Sometimes only an odd amount, like $6.89, sometimes $50.00 or more. That, of course, depends on the desperation level at a particular team!
Lately, the dreaded "final notice!" email is automatically sent if a shop is not debriefed by midnight of the last assigned day (very hard to do if one is completing a night shop at say, 10 PM Pacific time!!!) However, once I enter the shop, all seems to be fine. YMMV.
Long story short -- Busy company, lots of employees at or near minimum wage, stretching and retracting based on the level of business, trying to keep their systems going on all cylinders, making what I would consider 'typical' mistakes. They pay fast (a good thing), but, as noted many times on this site, their communication procedures are in the dark ages (telephone messages for the most part, no responses to emails).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2016 02:20PM by winemaker.

French,

Last week the same thing happened to me. I was asked why I gave a bad report last month at one station. My system is to have a file for each station which I quickly review before I do a shop and I knew that I did give this station a bad review. And when he mentioned "last month" I knew he had his shoppers confused which he realized when he remembered it was a lady that was there last. And I'm no lady, in fact I have been told I'm not a gentleman either. This has happened before and I realize that some attendants/owners are proud of their stations and take criticism personally. I don't mind that and I didn't take his rebuke personally.

I also had an attendant ask me, almost apologetically, if I have a rewards card as I entered the store at the end of the shop to thank him. The manager was there and I think he must have prompted him about the reward. I told the attendant I wished he had asked me that when I first came in and made my purchase, explained the purpose of the program, left the flyer, thanked him and left. No hard feelings from the attendant.

I also agree with Hoju, the editors do change or modify answers but I haven't caught them changing a positive to a negative.

I have seen editors change positives into negatives several times, usually based on what they think they see in a picture, and sometimes despite the picture. Now, if there is an empty bag stuck at the top of an otherwise empty trash can, I will push it down before taking a picture. I don't see anything wrong with it; the guidelines want us to check to see if the trash cans are full, and that is what I'm doing. If there is a recently dropped strand of paper on the floor of an otherwise spotless restroom, I might kick it to the side. The guidelines say recently dropped items are not an infraction, so I see nothing wrong with this either. I suppose I could explain the bag or strand of paper in the comments, but it's easier just to take an extra second to eliminate it from the photo.