@isaiah58 wrote:

You are very condescending, one could say this demonstrates a lack of maturity.

Your emotional responses are not factual. You can repeat things as much as you want, that does not make them true. Please support "historical attempts to belittle shoppers" on Dave's part.

You can call it condescending, I call it my opinion and respond accordingly.

Simple search showing Sentry's unprofessional responses to posters with questions and concerns.

[www.glassdoor.com]

[www.mysteryshopforum.com] <--- this is where you asserted little comes up with regard to a 'hate' for Sentry. The thread is quite long.

[www.mysteryshopforum.com] <--- another thread where the bully word comes out as a weapon. " ....It's ironic to have our integrity question by someone who became unhinged at the joking "

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

But you've seen and participated in all of these threads. This is not a complete list, only partial.

While my issue with Sentry was different, your experience adds to my suspicions that they look for reasons to reject even though they have gotten valuable information for their client. How can the client not get what they paid for simply bc a different word was used? A rose by any other name ..

The average Associate that works at these locations would ask for clarification of what I mean by "Outdoor Heater" because of the experience of the average team member, the availability or really lack of products in the 'category', so the ambiguity of the term. Maybe that is one of the points of the assignment; that it doesn't matter what I think it 'means' and how interchangeable the term is with other terms and it's acronyms, that it matters to the shop, about the process and the willingness of the Associate to 'get' what it means or to clarify with the customer.

@RobinMarie

Your obsession with smearing our company is very unfortunate. It's very clear that you have significant hostility toward Sentry and toward me to such a degree that you feel the need to refute any positive comments left by other forum members.

Perhaps the issue is that we are using different definitions of 'bullying". Here is the Google definition of Bullying and Cyberbullying:

[en.wikipedia.org]
[en.wikipedia.org]

I admit that I have been sarcastic on occasion, however, I don't believe that the content of any of my posts has been demeaning, insulting or pejorative. If this is not the case, I would be happy to review the content of anything I've posted in the last few years.

On the other hand, you seem to take pleasure in dissuading others from accepting our assignments. Digging up anonymous reviews on Glassdoor is a perfect example. Also, you claim that my responses to people who post are unprofessional. I have not responded to any review left on Glassdoor.

In the first mysteryshopforum example your state that I "asserted little comes up with regard to a 'hate' for Sentry.". This is not what I posted. For precision, this is exactly what I posted:

BEGIN TEXT:
There is plenty of feedback on this forum from members who had an issue with Sentry that was resolved in a timely and pleasant manner. There is also plenty of feedback on this forum from members who had an unpleasant experience with Sentry. If we are so difficult to deal with, why do some forum members report such different experiences than others? I can guarantee you it's all in the approach.
END TEXT

If one reads that entire thread, they will find that @MikiNV posted that she had an issue with how we handled a situation involving a few of her shops. As a result, we ended up paying for her shops. The entire thread contains some positive things about sentry and some negative things.

The second mysteryshopforum example is very similar. There are some good things written about us and there are some bad things written about us.

The third example is a thread from 2012. Again, there is a balance of feedback in the thread.

I'm sorry that you don't like my company and that you think I am a jerk and a bully. I'm glad that not everyone shares that opinion. Both Sentry and I are not perfect and we are working toward improving our shortcomings every day. The mystery shopping industry is very challenging and the more we work together, the better it will be for everyone.

Sentry, you are completely missing the points. A suggestion that none of my points were based on anything reasonable was easily disputed with a simple search reveals the same issues. Really, do not ask for 'proof' then call it digging up. I did not post much really, there is much much more!

I don't like how Sentry treats posters. I offered the advice your responses do you and your company more harm than good. You continue to prove that point.

You said you were going to limit participation on this forum. That's a very good idea. You have not done it. You keep asserting I am trying to dissuade others from accepting jobs, and I am telling you that you are doing that all on your own.

My last response was not directed to you re: 'hate for Sentry' so it was not based on anything you said.

You repeatedly accuse those with negative responses to you as being bullies. It's unprofessional.

@RobinMarie

I respect your opinion that you don't care for my participation in mysteryshopforum.

I feel that you are missing the point. In my opinion, there is no content in any of the examples that you provided that supports your claim that I bully (or try to intimidate) forum members. I believe when forum members post information about an issue with Sentry that is presented in a reasonable and professional manner, we respond in kind. I can point to my interactions with @isaiah58 and @MikiNV as two examples.

When forum members post information that I believe to be biased or inaccurate, I post our company's side of the issue. You seem to find this unreasonable. I respect your views even though I don't agree with them.

One thing I think we can agree on is that mystery shoppers need support and sources of reliable information. At it's best, this forum servers that purpose. At it's worst, the forum is a place where rumors and innuendo are spread, favorites are played, and people entering the industry are given inconsistent information by industry vets.

I believe that any person who reads the threads about our company with an unbiased eye will see that there is balanced feedback. We don't always get it right, but we do try to do the right thing and in most cases, we are flexible as the situation allows us to be.

Robin, face facts, Dave will never get the point. He is too focused on his own paranoia and unfounded accusations of some mob trying to prevent shoppers from working for Sentry. Dave wants censorship in the forum. He does not want any opinion that differs from his or does not provide a glowing review of him and his company. It is obvious from the many shoppers who do enjoy the work Sentry has to offer the company must be generally good to work for or have some good assignments. It is a shame any time some anonymous person on the internet shares their displeasure it becomes a six page sh-t show.

@LisaSTL

I don't want censorship in the forum. Not in any way, shape or forum. I don't believe I have ever posted a comment that could be interpreted in this way except by someone who choses to do so based on animus toward our company. I think this forum would be best served if all members followed Jacob's posting guidelines:

- Be honest
- Add a positive contribution to the community
- No personal insults

I think everyone should be welcome to post on this site without fear of attack. Sadly, that's not the case. In fact, I think it is you, @RobinMarie and others who want censorship in the forum. My guess is that if the owner of the forum banned me, you would cheer. I think the forum would be better if some of the veterans here were more consistent. Not too long ago, you attacked me for offering to help a forum member by asking them to contact me directly. I've seen at least one other company rep do the same thing without the same feedback from you.

I do thank you for acknowledging that members of this forum like shopping for us and have had positive experiences with our company.

@Sentry Marketing wrote:

Not too long ago, you attacked me for offering to help a forum member by asking them to contact me directly.

And that is because you have admitted here on these forums that you use this information to deactivate shoppers.

@BlueMoose

We have not offered to help a forum member and then deactivated their account after they contacted us. I have deactivated accounts based on comments made on this forum when it is clear from the content of the post who the shopper is AND when the forum member displays animus toward Sentry to such a degree that it brings into question their ability to provide unbiased feedback.

I can't imagine you would continue to shop for a company if their schedulers posted derogatory information about you on a public website using your name.

Wouldn't you expect that though? Under no circumstances would I allow someone to work for me who was publicly bashing me and my company so how is this somehow a bad thing ? Do you mean to tell me that you would run a company, allow your paid help to trash you, and then open then back with wide arms to do more work?

Probably not.

It's glaringly obvious that the biggest problem many people in this thread have is being held accountable for their actions and words. It's also mind blowing how many of you twist what someone says into something they didn't say.


It's not you being bullied when a company owner comes and defends their company. It just us getting the other half of the story that wasn't shared in the first place.

@LisaSTL wrote:

I can't comment from experience because I have never read the guidelines. That said, if it is required the shopper use the term "outdoor heater" when asking a sales associate it should be made clear no other verbiage is acceptable. I have read guidelines of other shops requiring things be asked about in a very specific way. It is always clear there are not other options and failing to do so can result in the shop being rejected.

It is bold and underlined so its pretty darn obvious.

Also, if the shop says to ask for XXX And you ask for something other than XXX, you didn't do the job right.

A quick look on Amazon and Home Depot shows that patio heaters are a sub-set of outdoor heaters. Not all outdoor heaters are patio heaters but all patio heaters are outdoor heaters. Ditto on Amazon. Outdoor heaters is a huge category of anything heating outside, and patio heaters is a subset of that.

[www.homedepot.com]
[www.amazon.com]

Under outdoor heaters you have fire pits, fire globes, fireplaces, patio heaters, and fire pots. Asking for a patio heater when the bold and underlined instructions say to ask for an outdoor heater is not doing the assignment correctly, unfortunately.


Many of you are trying to argue that patio heaters and outdoor heaters are the same thing, when in fact they are not. Patio heating refers to a very specific subset of outdoor heaters.

It sucks, but I do not think Sentry did anything wrong here. The shopper didn't follow the directions accurately.

@Ladyt606 wrote:

While my issue with Sentry was different, your experience adds to my suspicions that they look for reasons to reject even though they have gotten valuable information for their client. How can the client not get what they paid for simply bc a different word was used? A rose by any other name ..

The client didn't get what they wanted though. They wanted to be shopped for outdoor heaters. All patio heaters are outdoor heaters, but not all outdoor heaters are patio heaters. SInce the goal was to gauge the sales persons efforts on outdoor heaters as a whole, by using the term patio heater it completely eliminated the abilityi of the salesperson to find out what kind of outdoor heater was needed since the shopper narrowed it down already.

These are not interchangeable terms. Go to Amazon, Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart or Target. THey all have a category of Outdoor heaters.

Then look underneath them and you can see there are several things that fall under outdoor heaters such as fire places, fire pots, fire pits, PATIO HEATERS, and more. Patio heaters would not include the other outdoor heaters such as fire pots, fire pits, fireplaces and more even though those are all outdoor heaters.

Shopper messed up. That's it. They should simply take this as a learning lesson and move on. This just isn't that big of a deal.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

So today I did a merchandising reset where I put up shelves of soda, pop, and soda pop...

I dont see how jokes like this are accurate much less help anything.

Patio heaters and outdoor heaters aren't like pop and soda. All pops and all sodas describe the same thing. The shopper asked for a specific type of outdoor heater which was not what the job was for. You can't call all outdoor heaters patio heaters but you can call all patio heaters an outdoor heater.




Outdoor heaters include things like fireplaces, fire pits, fire pots, and of course patio heaters. How can an agent be evaluated on their knowledge of outdoor heaters if the shopper already narrowed and pinned it down to one specific type of heater?

For crying out loud, you say it's not a big deal and then go on and on about it like you either own Sentry or work for them (last four posts are all from you). Redundant much? Every post of yours says the same thing.

This is a public forum. I can tell jokes about anything I want. Unless you think that you now own or moderate the forum as well, get a sense of humor and/or get over it (especially since it's not a big deal).

@jenamars wrote:

No other problems about my reports were in the email.

The sample form did not use quotation marks or state to use the exact phrase.

The training you took had "outdoor heater" in bold and underlined...

@JASFLALMT wrote:

For crying out loud, you say it's not a big deal and then go on and on about it like you either own Sentry or work for them (last four posts are all from you). Redundant much? Every post of yours says the same thing.

This is a public forum. I can tell jokes about anything I want. Unless you think that you now own or moderate the forum as well, get a sense of humor and/or get over it (especially since it's not a big deal).

All I did was say it wasn't helpful, especially since it wasn't even an accurate comparison. I don't care whether you tell bad jokes or terrible analogies =)

I've got better things to do than worry about what you think about my jokes and analogies.

I am now going out to do some shops for some fabulous MSCs that have shops that pay well and have clearcut guidelines--and have reps/owners who are too dignified to ever engage in forum squabbles. Have a great day everyone!

I think it is time for this thread to end. All the points have been gotten across multiple times and it is degenerating into a mud slinging contest.

He'll throw out your work for any ole reason. I'm sure he keeps the client $ though.

@jrossetti Your link to Home Depot is a search for outdoor heating. The term is outdoor heater.

Uncle

This has outlived it's life...we all know to ask for OUTDOOR HEATER.....say Goodnight Gracie.

They just don't want to pay you, and this is their excuse.If it was me, and I know this is a no no,I would email the client and try to make sure when they get the bill from Sentry, it goes unpaid as well.

@SS4U, @Irene_L.A., et al.:

Why are you clicking on this thread if you think it's dead? You are clogging up this thread by trying to control it.

You are not contributing anything to this thread; please follow the rules.​

Are you the official hallway monitor ? I have posted on this thread and a similar thread, and I am entitled to post, whether you approve or not, providing I am not attacking anyone here, which I am not.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2018 08:40PM by SS4U.

Patio heaters and outdoor heaters are absolutely NOT the same thing.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I too Googled it and found that patio heaters and outdoor heaters are pretty much synonymous.

When I was growing up many many many years ago the only outdoor heater was a smudge pot that the citrus growers in Florida used when it got too cold for the citrus crops.

Yeah, no Google back then, either. I grew up in Destin (no citrus there, too cold). Our outdoor heater was a charcoal grill my dad used to grill steaks, LOL. That or a bonfire.

@Sentry Marketing wrote:

@jenamars

You are misquoting what I've stated on this site and the other site. I didn't say that I would make a payment if you sent an email. I said that if you HAD contacted me about the issue I would have very likely worked out something based on your history. As I stated three days ago on this site, we consider the matter closed.

Regardless of what you believe, if you had contacted me in a professional and pleasant way, it is very likely that I would have offered some payment based on your history with us. Once you posted about the issue in the manner you did, any chance of a goodwill offer ended.

I am not sure what you are looking for in an email reply. I responded to your email/request publicly on this forum. I'll be happy to the same via email.

I have seen this exact reply from Sentry on this forum before at least twice before... he is the one that decides to reject the shop without the pay, but then here he writes that “if you contacted my privately before posting about your issue on the forum, I would have issued some kind of payment...”. It’s obvious he wasn’t going to pay you in the first place, it’s simply a line used to make you think you did something wrong by coming on this forum and asking question about the rejected shop by Sentry.