The Source Medicare shops cancelled

I was assigned four Medicare Advantage shops to take place before the end of October. One was cancelled without any notification; it just disappeared from my shop log. The other was cancelled today and it was to be done on the 30th. I turned down other evaluations to do these for The Source. I also had to reschedule a doctor appointment and the doctor had nothing until the end of January. Not only did I lose the $68 for the two seminars, I also lost at least that much income from other MSPs. Tomorrow I have two kiosk visits to do for them. Skeptical to say the least.

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More About Cancelling Assignments

And one more note: I received an email around 5:30 PM today saying that I was being offered a Medicare shop for October 17th that was taking place at 10 AM. Uh, isn't today the 17th of October? The request status on their portal said that they sent the email out a little after 2:30 this afternoon...still over 4 hours after the time of the visit. What is going on here?

I was approved for 2 of the Medicare assignments by the Source. I got a notice several days ago that the one scheduled for tomorrow (10/18) had been cancelled. It was supposed to be held at a hospital conference room, so I don't know if the hospital cancelled it and that's why it was cancelled. My other one was scheduled for today, the 17th, at an area casual eatery, and that went off OK. So who knows?? I feel badly for you, that you rearranged other appts for this and they ended up cancelling 2 of them.

My thoughts are that the insurance company needs to have an agent shopped a certain number of times. Once the agent has been evaluated, then further evaluations are no longer necessary. Looks like The Source overbooks and then cancels after the quota has been met. Just saying...

That's very strange for them to cancel anything...could it have something to do with the latest fiasco coming out of DC? Just a thought....

The title alone for this post is a violation. You've named both mystery shopping company and their customer in the same sentence.

Shopping up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountain front range.

Medicare is NOT the client for these. The client is an insurance company or companies offering Medicare Advantage insurance plans who have to ensure they are following Federal guidelines regarding the information they provide, how and when they contact potential customers, etc.

I suspect the changes are because President Trump and the US Congress have made changes just in the last several days which effect the pricing for Medicare Advantage programs, which directly impacts what these companies can offer and their pricing for it:

Changes in Medicare Advantage Rates: [www.aarp.org]
Congress Passes Health Care Subsidies in Response to Trump's Actions: [www.aarp.org]

NOTE: I'm a member of AARP where I saw the above links. I have been thinking about doing these shops myself, especially since I may actually be shopping for myself in a few years. I've started reviewing the documents for them in order to work on the certifications, but I am also trying to understand for myself how everything works.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2017 11:17AM by RiverSong.

Medicare Advantage plans are provided by many different insurance companies. I did not name any specific one so it is not a violation. This would be the same thing if I had said that a bank shop or an automotive shop was cancelled., for example.

This has nothing to do with Washington. None of the other seminars I am doing have been cancelled.

Not a violation. The MSC was named and the client was not named, only the type of shop.

Keep us posted, nslowry, I'm curious to hear what happened. I see these shops in my area, but I do other things for this MSC not these shops.

I did one last night, it was a small group in a formal presentation. I've had calls for informal ones that are during the day when I am at my full time job. Hopefully they don't all cancel.

LOL - that's what I get for posting while still asleep. Sorry, no violation occurred.

Does anyone have any idea which MSC may have taken over STN's medicare shops. I just heard from the scheduler that they lost the account back in June.

Shopping up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountain front range.

I thought a scheduler from STN was on here just a couple of days ago to say the shops would be posted this week. Perhaps I was reading while still asleep

Edited to add this link. Apparently I was awake, LOL.

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2017 03:13PM by LisaSTL.

Well that is interesting LIsa. I sent them a PM to see what they have to say. I'm quite sure they've lost the account I'm looking for as we're in the middle of open enrollment and no shops have appeared.

Shopping up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountain front range.

The Source has tons of these kiosk shops, and are having difficulty assigning them, they are no longer self assign and you have to be approved which is different than last year when I self-assigned. We are getting new locations, out of my zone, not far, but locations I'm not familiar with. These can be hit and miss you will get paid half if the Agent doesn't show up. STN sent me an email with a health seminar, and i lost out due to laziness, took me a minute and it was gone...they do have them available, but all gone now.

Live consciously....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2017 05:51PM by Irene_L.A..

I like the Formal shops. Where you sit down, get a snack and can focus on the speaker (agent) and learn a lot about Advantage Plans.

One time it was held at a buffet type restaurant and the speaker told us we could get something from the dessert bar! Best shop ever!

I saw the same post by the STN scheduler. When I looked on the portal there was one call center shop. Hopefully more kiosk and formal seminars will be posted later this week. Problem is that most shoppers who do tons of the seminars are booked solid for weeks. Seems like all of the insurance companies hold their seminars at the same times; 11:30, 12 noon, and 2 pm. STN pays better than another company I am with, but I can rely on getting the shops with no cancellations...unlike The Source. If I cancelled shops like they do then they would never use me again due to being unreliable. Does this not work both ways?

My two kiosk shops for today were not cancelled. Yay! I applied for some others last week, but I am not holding my breath and if something else comes up then I will not pass it by.

I have four scheduled for later this month and the first of November.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

I hope they don't get cancelled on you, especially if you planned other shops close by or turned down shops so that you could do the Medicare ones.

I just applied for a kiosk in Wal-Mart, not expecting problems, they just arrived on the board and seem easy.

Live consciously....

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

I just applied for a kiosk in Wal-Mart, not expecting problems, they just arrived on the board and seem easy.

I got three of these Walmart ones in my area approved. These look very similar to ones that the other popular MSC who does/did Medicare shops used to have.

My one and only kiosk shop inside a drug store I was basically ignored by the agent because she had someone sitting there and explaining the advantage plan to that customer.

I have looked and cannot find this answer. Where, please does it state that if the agent does not show up we have to remain there for 30 extra minutes? My informal event was at a retail store, supposed to start at 11:00. My "in" time was 11:10. There was no agent, no table. I shopped and by the time I went back outside the store at 11:35, still no agent. My total time was 25 minutes and my shop was rejected for not spending 30 minutes there. The store Mgr. confirmed no one had been there. TIA!

Mine for 10/31 was cancelled, as well. RANT: when we cancel a shop, we are black-marked, but certainly not in the other direction. And yes, I scheduled around that shop. Oh well!

I will call the Trendsource Mon. but why oh why are they sending back completed reports asking if the rep. has followed up when the instructions clearly state: (copied) Do not provide your ID, even if requested. Do not consent to future contact or provide contact information. 

@sun&fun wrote:

I will call the Trendsource Mon. but why oh why are they sending back completed reports asking if the rep. has followed up when the instructions clearly state: (copied) Do not provide your ID, even if requested. Do not consent to future contact or provide contact information. 

I called about this specific thing when I read the guidelines in preparation for the shop. I was told that in some cases, the reps may inadvertently give their full contact info, so for that reason, those guidelines are written in the shop. But for those of us who don't give our contact info, we're left having to abide by those guidelines. So now I'm waiting for the Medicare shop I did to open back up in another couple of weeks, just to say that I have not been contacted. Go figure!

@sun&fun wrote:

I have looked and cannot find this answer. Where, please does it state that if the agent does not show up we have to remain there for 30 extra minutes? My informal event was at a retail store, supposed to start at 11:00. My "in" time was 11:10. There was no agent, no table. I shopped and by the time I went back outside the store at 11:35, still no agent. My total time was 25 minutes and my shop was rejected for not spending 30 minutes there. The store Mgr. confirmed no one had been there. TIA!

I had this happen to me (the part where the agent did not show up). I got there and there were tables arranged but no literature or agent. Another customer arrived and he had the prospectus of the time schedule. We both commented that nobody had shown up. I waited 30 minutes after the time (11:30) confirmed with the hostess that the agent had not arrived, got her name and business card, went outside and took pictures of the restaurant. By this time, a good 40 minutes had passed. I submitted my information and was paid in full. Now I hear that if they don't show up, you get half the fee!

I know we just get half the pay if there's no rep. In my scenario, there was no booth, no person and the store Manager said no one had been there at all. After shopping inside the store, and checking again outside for the rep., my total time was 25 minutes and my shop was declined for not waiting 5 more minutes but I did not see anywhere where the shop had a 30 minute minimum. TIA.

Last week, I applied for one of these for this afternoon (in only a couple hours from now), and it's just sitting there still marked for review. Since I haven't heard anything, I'm making other plans, but I don't see anywhere that I can remove it from consideration. I tried to send a ticket from the website since I don't have an email for the scheduler, but it wants me to pick the assignment number from an empty drop down and won't go through. Should I just assume that I don't have it? I can't go if I get it at the last minute and hate to just leave it hanging there, but it sounds like a lot of these aren't happening anyway.

I uses to do a lot of shops for Trendsource before they changed their name, but haven't shopped for them since. What's their procedure if you have to cancel a requested (NOT assigned) shop?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2017 03:38PM by RiverSong.

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