I want to start off by saying I am new to the industry..and so far it has been pretty good. I have really learned a lot from the forum and have been able to use some of what I've learned in my shops.
I have run up against a recent problem with AboutFace. Recently I have done a retail shop in the cosmetic field. I was there to do a retail shop on a particular cosmetic sales representative however what ended up happening was the person I met and initially supposed to shop handed me over to a traveling make up artist for a seasonal holiday look. Because it was a mystery shop I continued with the shop. After finishing the shop I immediately texted the company on the emergency info line they provide, to let them know what had happened.

The next day I received a message to send the information that I had collected notating what it happened and I would be paid anyway for the shop because it was not something I had no control of.
I was not able to send the survey due to limited information I was able to give about my shop ( the survey only recognizes when a full statement is made not allowing me to save and send out evaluation) , so again I immediately contacted the company for help on how to send out the report, I called them twice and left a message each time with the number that was provided by my point of contact. However I did not receive a reply for two days. And the reply that I received was that I had not sent the report and I need to send the report immediately .
I was taken aback because I have been trying to contact this company from the moment I had trouble sending the information. Not only did I contact my point of contact, but also was sent to another point of contact and left a message...neither one responded- so I had not received any feedback on how to continue.
By this time I had recieved another email stating that I did not send the report they would cancel the shop and assign this to someone else. So with all my patience I contacted My point of contact via email and phone explaining the problem and for some one to contact me immediately so I may send the report ...again no response

After several days the AboutFace sent an email saying they got the report and its incomplete and someone else would get in touch with me if they had any questions. After another couple days I received an email from my point of contact saying she was sorry that she was the only one that I could talk to and I should have left a message.
Now the company is asking for the report again.

I did this shop for the experience and to establish a relationship with this company but I see that this is more trouble than it is worth and want to send a reply to withdraw my report and find another shopper.
At this point I don't know what to do, please advise.
And thank you for your assistance.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/2016 07:28PM by Msmanning.

No, this shop will not be 'worth your while' to continue with, but nevertheless I would continue cheerfully because 1) this is your first round with them, 2) this is your first round with trying to deal with an exploded shop and 3) you may always find yourself giggling with the scheduler and make a friend. So don't think of this as a financially profitable venture this time but 'learning their system' and perhaps making a scheduler friend.

Great advice! I would have advised the same. This can be turned into an investment in the future.

Definitely, send it again...I try to never give up! Now if you will ever get paid is another story! LOL

I find them most understanding, however, only after you have worked for them and built a good reputation. Talk with the scheduler, this job may be a loss. I will tell you the cosmetic reports are very detailed and specific. Maybe you can redo it and find out when the target is available. I would do that if allowed.
Good luck, they are a standup company with nice schedulers, so again, prove yourself before giving up.

Submitting the report is the problem, right? My two cents: When those kinds of reports require full statements in comment fields, and will not allow you to submit until it is complete, you have to be flexy-bendy. What I have done, just as an example, is to reiterate why the narrative was not applicable in my circumstance. If a minimum number of characters is required, expound on all the details pertaining to why it is not applicable (basically blah, blah, blah your way through), until you hit the required number. They'll edit it appropriately, but you have to get it there first, right? A gal's gotta do whatta gal's gotta do.

And, call your scheduler again, leave a message, then email the exact same message. You can reply to the emails that you get requesting your report, too.

You can also forward the original emails with a new message stating: "Here is the email I sent you last week on such-and-such date at such-and-such time explaining my situation about..."

That way they can see you had contacted them previously about the problem at the time your issue was occurring.

Another thing to consider: It sounds like you performed the shop in the last few days, which would have made it Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the Day After Christmas. In many cases, many businesses were closed started Friday on up until today Monday. Maybe you kept getting those notices because nobody was around. The computer is alerted that you are "late" and spits out a late notice. And any other notices you received. I would CALL them, trying today and tomorrow, explaining what happened.

Yup, and even today is considered a holiday, as banks, post offices, and some other businesses were closed. I had a task to do (not at a regular retail store) for a company with which I do IC work occasionally. I ran into a problem and tried to call them--they were closed. So, MSCs who operate on a 9-5, M-F basis were likely closed as well.

No actually this shop was completed on the 17th and has literally dragged on. I am now instructed to talk about the makeup artist who performed the makeover....this has dragged out for too long

Sometimes, when there is narrative needed, I write my report in a Word doc. Then, I just copy and paste it into the report. For me, the report is clear and concise without any errors grammatically.

works for me and is so much less stressful!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2016 12:59AM by French Farmer.

@Msmanning wrote:

No actually this shop was completed on the 17th and has literally dragged on. I am now instructed to talk about the makeup artist who performed the makeover....this has dragged out for too long

Oh dear. There is much too much dragging on about (face) it indeed! How aggravating for you, so sorry to hear. Hope that all your shops next year go much better.

I haven't done anything for them in a long time. Hope this complication isn't a trend.

@Msmanning wrote:

No actually this shop was completed on the 17th and has literally dragged on. I am now instructed to talk about the makeup artist who performed the makeover....this has dragged out for too long

You admit you're fairly new to shopping.

This is called "paying your dues".

As others have said, it's an investment in the future.

About Face is a top-notch firm; it's best if you quit moaning and just get your report submitted.

Good luck.

Instead of being "unwilling" to submit the report, try thinking: wow, I'm so LUCKY -- they are giving me a chance to complete my report.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2016 02:36AM by ceasesmith.

Stuff happens. I always recommend submitting the report with whatever info was gleaned. In conjunction, if there are issues, I would also communicate them to the MSC (protect the paper trail of communication). Not submitting the report, while waiting around for reply from the MSC, is risky. The assignment can fall back on the board and the shopper can be labelled a flake.

Assignments, from conception to acceptance, take as long as they take, whether a day, a month, or longer. See it through.

I just thought of something. If you're doing this report in iSecretShop, consider that the submission issue could have been through them. If the submission issue was not through them, and they passed it on to AF, then there's that delay factor, too. For future reports, whether or not through iSS (but *especially* through iSS), make sure you're contacting the correct entity for support so there is less delay and more response. This is one reason I don't make iSS shops my first priority. There seems to always be a submission issue. (((hugs))) You'll get through this. Like ceases said, you're paying your dues. We've all got our stories.

@LeslieKay111 wrote:

Definitely, send it again...I try to never give up! Now if you will ever get paid is another story! LOL

I have always been paid and on time by About Face. Are your reports being sent back to you for clarification or something? If yes, that will delay payment.

@Msmanning Hi Msmanning. Please email me at deva.roberts@aboutfacecorp.com so I can look into this. I am the Operations Coordinator with AboutFace and am over the schedulers. I would love to get to the bottom of this. Many thanks!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2016 05:08PM by SchedulerDeva.

@LGRM wrote:

I just thought of something. If you're doing this report in iSecretShop, consider that the submission issue could have been through them. If the submission issue was not through them, and they passed it on to AF, then there's that delay factor, too. For future reports, whether or not through iSS (but *especially* through iSS), make sure you're contacting the correct entity for support so there is less delay and more response. This is one reason I don't make iSS shops my first priority. There seems to always be a submission issue. (((hugs))) You'll get through this. Like ceases said, you're paying your dues. We've all got our stories.

Hi LGRM,

AboutFace has no affiliation with iSecretShop. There are no shops that anyone passes on to us as we use no outside MS company or scheduling company. All of our assignments are submitted via Shopmetrics.

Yes, my bad. It was late. That's right, you went with that other third party system. Gigspot. Mea culpa.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2016 01:33AM by LGRM.

Hi,

I will try to reach you by phone today to discuss your concerns in detail. Thank you for being a shopper with us!

Amber Sisson

I'm seriously wanting an update!