No bonus pay if accepted over the phone?

Hi everyone,
the following has happened to me a few times recently by two companies.

Company B - I self assigned one shop with a bonus. The following day I saw another shop with a bonus but hadn't scheduled myself to be that far away from home. A desperate scheduler calls me while I was on the road and I didn't verify pay. Later went to print paperwork. Self-assigned shop: bonus. Phone-assigned shop: 0 bonus.

Lesson learned: ALWAYS verify pay over the phone.

Company C - Easy, cheap jobs. I get emails offering bonuses frequently and usually don't take the jobs until they are bonused. I get a call from a scheduler who sounds like they'd rather be elsewhere. I do ask about the pay this time and ask about the bonus. Due today, no bonus. No thanks.

Anyway, I've been ms'ing for over four years but hadn't encountered this until now. Just curious if it was just a fluke or if some companies have a "no bonus pay if accepted over the phone" policy.

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The first question I have on any job is "What's the pay?" If I'm getting a call, the scheduler is in need, so there should be a bonus. But it makes sense for MSCs to avoid paying bonuses; the companies exist to earn a profit, after all. As for me, even a verbal agreement over the phone is inadequate. I ask the scheduler to email the agreement, so there is no confusion. No email = no shop for Mantis.

You assumed the phoned shop offer would have the same bonus as the one on the board, right? It may have been had you asked for it. It's appreciated when a scheduler offers a bonus without being asked. If they don't, and we don't ask, the fee listed prevails.

Yes, I had assumed. Other shops I've done have tacked on the bonus without me asking. So I learned a good lesson!

When I'm on the road, and I get phone calls from Company C, I have asked if they could email me, "Because I'm on the road and I want to review it before making a commitment." The scheduler has literally begged (I think it could almost count as whining a couple times) and even said, "I'll just assign it to you and if you can't do it then just cancel it." They have always said that they will keep looking and will contact me if they still need my help in a couple days.

Mantis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The first question I have on any job is "What's
> the pay?" If I'm getting a call, the scheduler is
> in need, so there should be a bonus. But it makes
> sense for MSCs to avoid paying bonuses; the
> companies exist to earn a profit, after all. As
> for me, even a verbal agreement over the phone is
> inadequate. I ask the scheduler to email the
> agreement, so there is no confusion. No email =
> no shop for Mantis.

I wouldn't state that you need to review it...it sounds indefinite. I would just say that you you will be happy to do the shop today, but you do need an email that confirms the conversation, and as soon as you get that, you will be off and running.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton

If I'm phoned to do a shop when on the road, I have to trust the scheduler will tack on the bonus. I ask for an emailed confirmation, but can't readily check. I don't have internet on my cell and almost never take along my laptop.

We live in different universes

My cell phone is for ME to use in emergencies and I do not give out the number except to family and very close friends. I may miss some bonus opportunities, but I also miss the hassle. There is someone at home most of the time or there is an answering machine. I am not ABOUT to deal with a scheduler or editor in traffic and in fact if the calling number is not already in my contacts on my cell so pops up a name, I won't answer. Since they MUST call me at home, I am at leisure to request the bonus if it is not automatically offered and require the email confirmation and/or the bonus to appear on my shop log if they assign it to me prior to my lifting a finger to help. I laugh because I have had schedulers whine, "But I see you did this last year with a bonus of only $5." It gives me some pleasure to say, "Yes, and last year the pay was $10, so the $5 bonus got the job to $15. This year the pay is $8, so I need $7 to make it a $15 job." I am not forever grateful that they call me.

Our only phones are our cell phones. I pick and choose whom and when I answer.

I work for a mystery shop company that offers bonus for shops when they call me over the phone. When I get the paperwork, many times, the bonus is not listed. I immediately call and ask for the paperwork to be corrected. I do give out my cell phone. I have an answering machine at home, but if there are rush jobs out there, they almost always come in on my cell.

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