Please advise/give feedback.

I'm hopping mad!

An apartment shop I just completed was just canceled on me!

I've done it, and they've gone and canceled the shop on a technicality (it was done on the 3rd vs. the 4th). I'm flabbergasted! The experience and information collected is surely the same from Thursday to Friday, I would think!

I'm really frustrated! no - I'm furious and fed up.

I spent weeks calling the apartment complex trying to get the right person to answer..
I spent an hour driving back and forth to the site.
I spent an hour with the agent.
I spent 2 hours writing a very detailed report.

All for $45.

And Now they want to cancel on me!!!!

Grrrrr

To do this shop, I'm supposed to talk with a particular target/individual at an apartment community. I was shipped a small recorder for me to record the entire event. It took me weeks to finally get in to see the target, because I'm supposed to get him on the phone, which is tough in an office with several different agents. During this time, I was barraged with emails warning me of late fees for the equipment. SO when I finally got an opportunity to see the target/agent, I rushed in to do the shop.

NOW - They've canceled the shop because the instructions say to do it after the 3rd of the month. Today is the 4th. So, if I'd delayed the shop another day, in the face of all their threats of canceling on me and charging me late fees and filing a police report for my stealing their equipment: They actually accused me of theft, because I'd not returned their equipment yet, because the shop was unfinshed! So when I got the chance to actually see the right agent, I hurried in.

Now they're canceling it.

Any chance I could get them to change their mind, you think??

You needed to call and reschedule for the 4th (if that's when it was expected), some schedulers will change the date for you before shop is done to accomadate meeting with target. Rough to have done all the work, perhaps (I'm guessing) they had another shopper scheduled for the the date you did it on, sometimes we don't know what's going on behind the scenes...still, sorry you had to go through that.

It is worth a call to them. They were specific in the date, so indeed you did not follow instructions. But some companies, if you apologize and are nice about it, will try to work with you and accept it if they possibly can. Of course if the "after the 3rd" is a client requirement there may not be much they can do for you either. I don't know, but I would expect the client doesn't want shoppers tying up their agents the last few days of the month or the first few days of the month as those I suspect are the times when agents are busiest dealing with real tenants. So blow off your steam, have a big slice of crow and give them a call to plead your case.

Plead your case and make nice but don't be surprised if they use your report but don't pay you for it. There are some companies out there like that.

Often, when the client specifies something like "after the 3rd" it is because there is a time-limited contest where the leasing agent with the best shop score during the period gets a nice prize. Other times it may be because the leasing office has a lot of other traffic the first 3 days of the month and they do not want a shop keeping the leasing agent from seeing a real prospective tenant during prime time. (For similar reason weekend shops at tentals and new homes are usually banned.) If the client set the rule, there's little chance that you will be paid. BTW, another good reason to own your own recording equipment, since 2 apartment shops will more than pay for a good DVR, and you can use it for many ofthe work-related tasks. The MSCs are super hyper about equipment being logged out for long periods for very good reason.

When a scheduler says it must be done on or before a certain date, there is usually a reason. You should have called to change the date, mentioning that you are able to meet with the target. The will use your report and probably not pay you. However, if you have any kind of realationship with the scheduler, she might pay you,

Thus is why I do not do targeted shops. Live and learn.

kittybratt Wrote:
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> When a scheduler says it must be done on or before
> a certain date, there is usually a reason. You
> should have called to change the date, mentioning
> that you are able to meet with the target. The
> will use your report and probably not pay you.
> However, if you have any kind of realationship
> with the scheduler, she might pay you,


You took the words out of my mouth. When a client specifies a date, there's a reason. In the apartment shops I've done, they wanted specific leasing agents shopped. If they state a date, that's when it needs to be completed.

I once had a grocery shop not go through because I entered the store at 3:50pm instead of after 4:00pm. I didn't think about it at the time, just slipped my mind. Sure, it was close, but not close enough -- my fault. Later, when I realized the error while entering the shop data, I could have lied and said I entered the store later. That's not how I roll, though. Besides, surveillance video could easily lose me any further work for the MSC.

Live and learn.

When was the report/shop supposed to be done: 3rd or 4th?
When did you do the shop?

At one point, you said that the instructions said to do it after the 3rd, and at the beginning of your post you said that they cancelled it because you did the shop on the third and not the 4th.

If the shop was not to be done until after the third, when they contacted you about overdue equipment, did you respond to them and point out the shop wasn't even allowed to be done yet? It sounds like the company was contradicting itself. On one hand they were telling you to not shop until the 4th, but asking you on the 3rd, why you hadn't returned the equipment. I can see how that would make someone assume that they had to go out and do the shop right away. I would call them and straighten it out. You may have a point.

Usually communicating with the scheduler/staff can avoid these problems. Did you really receive threatening emails and not answer them? Why wouldn't you just mail back the equipment and tell them you can't complete the shop? I find this whole post confusing. I also agree with those that stated the date restrictions are there for a reason. I never perform a shop on a different date or time without explicit permission in writing (instructions or email) from a MSC.
Athena34 Wrote:
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> When was the report/shop supposed to be done: 3rd
> or 4th?
> When did you do the shop?
>
> At one point, you said that the instructions said
> to do it after the 3rd, and at the beginning of
> your post you said that they cancelled it because
> you did the shop on the third and not the 4th.
>
> If the shop was not to be done until after the
> third, when they contacted you about overdue
> equipment, did you respond to them and point out
> the shop wasn't even allowed to be done yet? It
> sounds like the company was contradicting itself.
> On one hand they were telling you to not shop
> until the 4th, but asking you on the 3rd, why you
> hadn't returned the equipment. I can see how that
> would make someone assume that they had to go out
> and do the shop right away. I would call them and
> straighten it out. You may have a point.

The OP seems to have lost interest, or accepted responsibility.

The specific instructions of this apartment shop DID say to NOT do the shop before the 4th of the month. I finally got through and made the appointment with the Target on the 3rd. However - when I did finally get through to the Target and book an appointment (on the 3rd) I immediately called my M.S. scheduler (on the 3rd) and told her I was going in that day (the 3rd). She said that was fine. So - my scheduler at the M.S. company KNEW I was going in on the 3rd and confirmed over the telephone that was fine.

I went in, did the shop, recorded it on the MS company equipment, and did everything (else) according to instructions.

Then the management of the M.S. company said they would not pay for the shop because it was done on the 3rd, which was BEFORE the company's instructions of not doing it before the 4th. The M.S. then told me to return their digital recorder IMMEDIATELY or pay a fine.

I was upset! I'd done everything according to directions, except for going in on the 3rd - which my M.S. scheduler knew. I argued this point with the M.S. manager, saying I had done the shop under the direct supervision and knowledge of the M.S. scheduler. However, I was told the client would not budge on this point: They were NOT going to pay me for the shop. I felt this was unfair.

So, when I returned their digital recorder, I did so after deleting the audio recording of the apartment shop. I felt that if they were not going to pay me for the shop, they were not getting the shop information from me.


Irene_L.A. Wrote:
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> You needed to call and reschedule for the 4th (if
> that's when it was expected), some schedulers will
> change the date for you before shop is done to
> accomadate meeting with target. Rough to have
> done all the work, perhaps (I'm guessing) they had
> another shopper scheduled for the the date you did
> it on, sometimes we don't know what's going on
> behind the scenes...still, sorry you had to go
> through that.

I know who you did the shop for and the person who handles the audio shop. I do a great number of shops for this company and have found them to be above reproach. They never allow you to do a shop on an apartment between the first and the fifth of the month. If you had of called the scheduler and told him that you had finally gotten the target after so much effort I believe he would have told you to see your target on the 6th by appointment. I have been trying to reach a target now for a week and after today will get permission to call the target and ask for them by name. I agree with the above when it says you did not follow the instructions. Doing the paperwork is tough I know. I do at least 5 or 6 shops for this company each month and sometimes as many as 15. After you have done the paperwork several times it gets much easier and some of their clients paperwork is fairly easy. If you call the scheduler and plead your case nicely he may allow the shop. To be honest though I doubt he will. They can not use a shop that was done between the first and the fifth because the client will not accept it and will not pay the MSC. If they tried to use it and the target was not working on the day they place it on it would make the MSC be practicing fraud and I don't think they would chance it and maybe lose a good client.