I knew this was going to be a train wreck when I accepted these BUT I get the following message from QC.....the photos in your report are unclear and/or taken from a distance such that some of the necessary details cannot be seen. Please upload clear main station sign and overall station photos (taken after dark) to your report within 24 hours. Please ensure that the brand logo(s) on the fueling area canopy are clearly visible in the photos. Thanks!

The photos are crystal clear and are taken at the exact distance to get the entire station sign and the entire station in the photo but the logo IS partially obscured from the glare of the lights on the canopy. (It IS a night shop, right?) Station is over an hour away. I took the photos at the only safe place to take them as it's on a highway in an area where there is no place to pull over.....and it's in the dark! How do you deal with these people? I'm ready to throw in the towel.

I'd tell them exactly what you said here. I've never had a shop rejected over photos.

The editors for the yellow gas stations have become ridiculously picky but when challenged, so far they have always backed down for me.

I don't do a lot of night time yellow gas stations, but I do a lot of their daytime shops where I've run out of daylight before I could get all the photos taken, usually due to the remoteness of the shop or the station backs up to a mountain range or the dark clouds from an incoming storm. I have submitted plenty of "daytime" shops where the sensors have already caused the lights to go on. Overall photos are rarely as good. They've never said a word to me about it.

I agree with whiterosie - stand your ground. It may take a little back and forth but the nameless editors tend to yield if the shopper is persistent. It could also be helpful to get a scheduler and or supervisor involved.

Sadly, sometimes you can upload the same exact picture and the MSC will accept it. Did you take any duplicates - if so, send them one of those. I was almost killed on my last night gas shop. I too had to cross the street to take the overall picture. I WAS CROSSING ON A GREEN LIGHT. Two Euro Racers came straight at me. All I saw was two headlights and darkness. To this day I don't know if they didn't see me or if they were trying to scare me. I decided at that point, I will never do another night shop without wearing my safety vest. I don't care if the shop is covert. My vest stays in my car now!

That is exactly why I list only 2 of each photos (when asked how many in the report) but, upload at least 10. Snap a few when arriving, park at a pump in view of the major logo sign and snap a few, get out of the car and stretch (just got a canopy shot) and after the inside purchase look for a good place for an overall shot as I am getting a picture of the pumps. If the overall picture is not clear there are enough close up shots to cover an issues.

This sounds like the MF shops recently posted for 7-9 PM. It's a little more difficult to stand your ground with MF than with Maritz. My suggestion would be to upload different photos and see if that takes care of the problem. I'm guessing, like me, you take extra photos just in case of being contacted by QC. If I didn't have extra photos, I would try saving the photos I had under a different name and uploading them.

Check your emails. 3 of mine have been changes to daylight shops.
Now I have to complete 1 shop then drive by 2 night shops, do another day shop. Kill some time and turn around and do the 2 I passed..

@roflwofl wrote:

If I didn't have extra photos, I would try saving the photos I had under a different name and uploading them.

Shame on you...FYI do not forget to crop the photo a little so they are not exactly alike!!

There are other reflective appliance that one can wear while preforming night shops. If the Client, does not suggest you to wear a safety vest. You can still be covert by investing in one of those reflective armbands. Joggers wear them, especially those that run in the later evening.

Make note in your report if the canopy fascia was a illuminated one. If it is not, then that is why your pictures are dark. Not all Canopies are lit one. Maybe investing in an "old school" camera with flash, might be your better choice for taking pictures. I take at least three old school digital cameras with me on a shop. (never know when "too many" pictures will exhaust the battery)

BTW, Maritz will except one good picture instead of 9 pictures trying to indicate the same thing. They do not want to spend all day evaluate your photos. They are not looking for an elaborate photo shoot.


@roflwofl-------->If I didn't have extra photos, I would try saving the photos I had under a different name and uploading them. <-------------------That don't sound right.

@sstazz-------->Shame on you...FYI do not forget to crop the photo a little so they are not exactly alike!! <---------an you wonder why the MSC or Client want us to do more for less. What about the microdisc that is embedded in each digital photo?.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2017 10:01PM by sojo917.

If it makes you feel better, I had the same situation...x3! I've NEVER had any of these rejected. Very frustrating.

I performed one gas station shop that had to start after midnight. Required a full lot shot and a basic observation as to if they were open. It was my first and last. I felt very vulnerable standing on a dark sidewalk across the street, then having to walk back to where I parked safely down a side access road.

I do some shops where you go between midnight and 5am. The times are a bear but the shop was so easy, for me it was just hard to stay up that late.

I recently preform a couple of gas ststion shops that had----->"additional $7 incentive, if done after dusk." I was able to stand in the middle of the road or across the street without automobile inconveniences. The fuel pumps were free of automobiles. I was in and out within 30 minutes, with pictures of 10 pumps being the least amount of pumps. and the weather was in my favor.

gallupgirl, I feel your pain! You are having exactly my experience with these night gas shops.

I had 4 night shops to do on the 22nd or 23rd. They were the "take a photo of each pump" ones. Weather predictions were for 50-60 mile an hour winds and heavy rain for the 23rd, so I went out early evening on the 22nd to get them all done before the storm. Yesterday I heard on the news that a gas attendant was shot and killed at 6PM on the 23rd at a station that I drove right by about that time on the 22nd (not one I was auditing but still it was close by). You never know. And this is why I will not do night shops in not so nice areas any longer, no matter how much extra they want to pay me. I used to feel that if I got there around 5-7 it would be pretty safe. Guess not.

Most of these attendants are just trying to eek out a living and send money to family in foreign countries. They haven't caught the culprit yet either. Another one I shopped many years ago was also shot and killed at a station in a not bad area. I found out when I returned last year and asked where he was. I get to know some of these guys and feel badly for them. Another at that same station was killed when he was hit by a car while riding his bike home at night. That station is now covered with closed circuit cameras all over the place. I still get the heebie geebies when I see it posted. Stay safe out there.

If you are sure that your photos meet the criteria, open the HOLD and resubmit as STUCK and place a comment regarding the photos. It goes to a different person usually someone with authority to waiver the photo if it is questionable. If it is a good photo you will be all set.