I put a bid on a bundle of four gas stations. They were originally $12.50 plus $8 incentive. They were all night time eligible at $7 each. So, if done at night, they would be $27.50 + $6 reimbursement.

I bid $100, assuming $25 each plus $7 for night time +$6 reimbursement, not much more than they offered but, to me, the shops are worth $25 plus night incentive.

They accepted my bid but removed the night time incentive and made them all "anytime shops." So, assuming I do them at night, which I will, they are paying me $2.50 less per shop than they offered.

I normally don't bid on shops so I'm not that familiar. Is this typical? Do I need to add in the night time incentive in my bid in the future?

Why not call them tomorrow and discuss it with the team?

I, too, have had bids misunderstood. Sometimes, I admit, the error was mine.

If nothing else, you can clarify what bids should and should not include.

If you do the shops at night, are they still "night eligible", so you'd get the night incentive?

PS -- you'd never catch me at any gas station after dark. EVER

Calling never helped me. I emailed as well. I had bonuses they wouldn't pay. I had to leave message after message and never received a call back. I finally just told them to delete my account. After it happened twice to me, I had enough.

I have never run across this, at least not that I noticed. I wouldn't call it unethical - whoever removed the incentive probably had nothing to do with awarding the shops - but you would be within your rights to call them on it.

Adding the incentive to your bid would not really change anything; you would just be bidding higher for the day pay and could still get paid the extra incentive regardless. A better approach might be to double check if the shops are still nighttime eligible when they call to accept your bid.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2019 11:47AM by mystery2me.

Forget email. They never respond to them. I'm surprised that you couldn't get them to discuss on the phone, though.

But they are quick to leave you a lengthy voicemail.

I did one that had a 15.00 incentive. But when I submitted the invoice the incentive was not added and there was no way to add it. I submitted the invoice and sent an email they responded the next day. Now let's see if it's paid.

IMHO, if you bid $25 for each, that is an inclusive price. IMHO, you should not expect a bonus of any type on top of your bid. You bid $25 for each, perhaps without fully understanding what that meant, and they accepted your bid of $25. They might wonder why you bid less than they were offering, but you did.

And I'm okay with that. When they call and I say I need an incentive, they always give me the incentive and leave the night time bonus intact. I never gave it a thought. Like I said I usually don't bid on shops. I let them call me when they are desperate. Now I know and will figure a night time incentive into any future bids.

I guess my question about "unethical" relates to the fact they know I have several autoimmune diseases and cannot be out in the sun. Therefore, any gas stations I do for them, they know I'm going to do at night. So if they wanted the shop to be done at night, which they did, they're getting it without paying for it. That bugs me a bit but lesson learned.

Whiterosie, I am sorry to hear you have health issues, but I would not expect that all of the reps are aware or remember that you have these health issues. That sucks, though.

I think they have it in my shopper notes. Several MSCs do. It stops some of the constant calls, such as wanting me to do sizing audits (someone would have to call 9-1-1 after 10 minutes of me trying to count or scan), outdoors assignments in the sun or summer, or gym shops.

As I said the other day in the post about Lowe's for the new compny, I almost started to cry having to stand there on that cement for 15 minutes waiting for help. I have no internal thermostat so I get heated up and then in extreme pain, including chest pains.

I do 200 shops a month. I just have to be selective as to not trigger a reaction. That's why I love Jack in the Box shops once they hit the $15 mark. I can stay seated and cool in my car.

And it's also why they all call me for rainy and snowy shops in cold places. I've done gas station shops with 15 feet of snow on the ground where it was over the canopy and the main station sign was completely buried. The pics don't make the editors happy but for me it's a joy to feel so comfortable outside. (Nope, no jacket and had to change from flip flops to shoes to do the shop.)

I did one station once where we went from no rain to trying to stand in a two-foot-deep river in less than 45 minutes. I was determined to get it done even though it took me past 7 p.m., the cutoff for the yellow stations. I had to take crap from the editors but ultimately I was paid for the shop as it was extremely rural.

I take my dogs with me in the winter. We had a blast playing in the water and snow afterwards. I don't think there's a way to post a pic here, but soon I'm going to publish a photo journal of our adventures on the road in between shops.

Okay, so that's more than anyone wanted to know!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2019 03:43AM by whiterosie.

Actually, I am glad you shared. I,too, have health issues which require my to be selective.

Oh, and as far as the unethical part, I think it is just business. I bid occasionally, and have not had a problem yet. If I did, I would get my scheduler on the phone - always easy for me to reach - and have them help me out or send me to someone who could discuss it with me.

I also wanted to point out that Maritz does not (or did not, I think they may have recently changed this practice) include the nighttime incentive on the invoices we submit, but they DO pay the incentive if there is one. I know because I have checked to be sure because it made absolutely no sense to me, and complaining to them about did nothing, except to receive assurances that the incentives would be paid. They will put a regular bonus on the invoice though. Doesn't make sense, but par for the course, just roll with it and make sure you got paid.

Yes. In the nighttime instructions or description it says something to the effect of the evening incentive being applied AFTER it is verified by editing that you were there during darkness.

Eta: but OP's issue is that the shops were changed to "Anytime" so the evening pay would not be applied either way. That seems wrong to me.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2019 06:37PM by sestrahelena.

They will NOT budge.

Does anyone know if the night bonus has been removed from the yellow shops? I know I got them last spring, but do not see them on the shop description now. It's a bummer if they don't have the bonus anymore.

I personally, have not had any issues with Maritz not paying me. If you bid $100 and they accepted it, you should get $100 if you complete all of them according to guidelines. However, when they removed the incentive, was it a counter offer before you accepted? Or, did they remove the incentive after you accepted but before (or after) you did the shop? If they changed it after you accepted it, they broke the contract. BUT, I doubt that you will be successful either way. Unfortunately, as Independent Field Agents, we are at the mercy of the shop providers. Our best action is to post any abuse so other shoppers will be aware that the provider is not trustworthy.

Canadamommy states--They will NOT budge.

Bob's reply--As I have only completed a single assignment for Maritz in the past three years, it was 07/ 2019, CM may be correct, BUT, on 12/31/2012, I earned $917 for visiting 17 bank branches, with the reports due 01/01/2013. MSC's seem far more fee flexible on the final day of the year.

Not being called back is not isolated to MSC's. It appears that as a whole Corporate America has lost the proper "Corporate Etiquette" in returning calls. As a former Customer Service trainer, I can tell you that is the number one reason why they lose business.

you should get $100 plus the night fee. they’re not going to include that in the fee yet because they don’t know if you’re going to do it night.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2019 11:29PM by jay225.

“anytime” should still be eligible to get the night bonus.

Nah, there's "Anytime," (no evening incentive), "Evening eligible," (can be done anytime but pays extra incentive if you shop during dark) and "Evening" (must be done in darkness and still gets added incentive for it.) That's how they classify them.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/2019 01:14AM by sestrahelena.

maybe, all i know is i’ve done a lot of blues over the years, and i’ve always gotten an extra $7-$10 for doing them at night. i would at least call them up and ask. if they just pulled the switch on you, than that’s wrong on their part.

Fyi, I heard from someone at Maritz due to this post. They said the type of shop should not be changed and would look into it. It's been a couple of weeks and I haven't heard anything. Payroll posted today and I was not given night incentives.

I am sorry you didn't receive my original response, I just responded to your PM. Thanks, Stacy

Thank you for your help Stacy. In the end, I only did one in the evening for the reasons I stated in my private response to you. I could not believe how much could go wrong!!

Anyway, the app issues I mentioned are of greater concern to many of us. I, for one, do not take assignments that cannot be done easily on my phone. I complete around 200+ shops per month. Maritz is getting very close to my 10-foot-pole list due to its ridiculously bad apps. Someone with shopping experience needs to be consulted!

Rosie shares-- I, for one, do not take assignments that cannot be done easily on my phone.

Bob's comment--I thank Rosie and look forward to more shoppers adopting her method of entering results. That action permits me, a computer reporter, to more greatly increase the fees I charge for work requiring extensive narrative.

I encourage everyone to stop shopping for Maritz. That leaves more for me. I, will continue to get fair pay for my work while y'all run around for IPSOS when you can't even get them on the phone. I can always get someone on the phone at Maritz. Their app works fine for me (although a shopper needs to consult with them), and the website works great 99% of the time for me as well.

What CQ said. More for me!!