IPSOS GRADING SYSTEM - WHAT A JOKE!

@sestrahelena wrote:

I've noticed they've eased up on the low grades in the past week. Specifically on gas shops. Maybe they got the message?

Never mind. I take it back!

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Two shops that I did I received a 10 for each. For the next two shops, a 6 for each. For the shops with a 6 rating, the comments were the same:
-Make sure POP/OSA is marked correctly. -Make sure all fields start with a capital letter followed by mixed case.

BTW, I put the period at the end of each sentence, the editor did not use any punctuation.

With regard to the POP, I believe I did mark it correctly since there was outdated POP. As for using a Capital letter, the only area where I write anything would be the name of the attendant and what I purchased. I always use capital letter for the person's name, but not for the purchased item.
I find it interesting that the first 2 shops were tens and the last 2 were sixes. It makes me wonder if the editor for the first 2 was not the same as the last 2. I did not use a Capital letter for the purchased item for the first 2 shops.
It makes me wonder if I have a truly nit picking editor.

If so, I would like to point out to that fussypants editor that this is not a "White Glove" audit!

All of my reports are consistently good quality. I have been providing the same quality for 10 years. Some of my reports come back as a 10, some as an eight, some as a six, and they all have vague reasons for being marked off. I've decided to just not care anymore. I will provide good reports, get paid, and continue to work. That's all I care about.

I've gotten mostly tens with some 8's after doing these for years. The comments on the 8's don't usually make sense to me so I just shrug and let it go. The most recent one was to be sure to mark off for bollards not up to standards. The bollards had a few scratches..that's it. Geesh, I will continue to do them as I always have and check the grades for giggles.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

Same here

my first report came back a 10, all that was missing was the excellent! sticker to make me feel even prouder of myself. seriously though, it’s interesting that it shows the reviewers email address.

I got a grade of 2! In an 18 pumps gas station truckstop, because I did not take a full photo of the front entrance showing doors and windows. Apparently I should had asked all cars parked in front of the store to move so I can take the photo and most of the building. for another location, when I took a photo of the door and windows but not the entire building, a grader marked me down for doing that. They can not even be consistent.

I think the grader should add his/her initial on every shop. I did a route, the locations were nearly identical on everything because they are owned by a regional company. Yet, others were graded 10 and others 8 because of minor errors. For example, ACL that give their names, you can see the pattern in grading.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2021 07:56PM by KateH.

Sounds to me like the editors are trying to justify their jobs. Have to find something to prove that you are actually needed.

Yep. There's one editor who will give me something between a 2 and 6. The others give me 10s. I agree with the person who said, "The only score I care about is 'ok to pay!'"

I have a "1" due to no fault of my own, but it wasn't worth the argument. I have a whole pile (more than 75%) of ungraded shops, and the rest are 10's. One 9 in there. Plus, a comment about all of the scores being even numbers. Trying to figure out when 9 became an even number???

So, my average is up to an 8. I'm hoping that they grade the gas stations that they just moved over, since I don't know how I could get less than an 8 on them. Probably all 10's, I'd assume.

Oh yeah. They're grading the gas stations. I got a 10, which pays the same as an 8 BTW. Whoo hoo!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2021 09:51PM by SoCalMama.

SCM-I hear you...'just pay me' is my motto! I love the gas station editors who drop a photo and then give the shopper a lower grade for not including the photo.....used to bug me, but I just don't care anymore!

Recently, I was ignominiously awarded a 2. No biggie really - my error.
But...........just how are these grades determined?

A shop I did a few weeks ago for the same error as the shop that graded out as a 2 was graded an 8. Was it because I had to point out to the editor his error?

So, all I can say is, "IPSOS, get your act together and be consistent as you expect your shoppers to be. If your grading system is meant to be a training tool or an aspiration for your shoppers, uniformity of logic matters".

@JasperJohnson wrote:

On the topic of current POP, I believe early should be marked as not current.

The POP materials generally have a put up date and a take down date. A manager actually showed me where it was on the sign when I told them their POP wasn't current. The correct image was on the other side of the sign.

@LuvsTraveling wrote:

Why are you discussing the audit findings with the manager? This is a revealed audit meaning that you give them your LOA, put on your safety vest and do your job. You are not supposed to discuss the results of your visit with any of the employees.[/quote]

Sometimes its difficult not to discuss issues. For me, I never say anything about the obvious problems (lack of uniform, nametag, current pop or anything else).
Typically, I get the question, "Everything look good?". I just say, "I'm not supposed to discuss findings," or something to that effect.
Although I have said things in the past like, "well my report and photos go through at least 2 more sets of eyes."

Recently, a store manager said she got dinged for the oil facings. For that I just told her that we count the facing of the brand specific oil and report them along with a picture. "Well," she said, "Our planogram states we must have 3 facings of the synthetic brand."
I just hunched my shoulders and moved on.
It seems the site's company has one set of rules and the oil company another.
What else is new?

@LuvsTraveling wrote:

@JasperJohnson wrote:

On the topic of current POP, I believe early should be marked as not current.

The POP materials generally have a put up date and a take down date. A manager actually showed me where it was on the sign when I told them their POP wasn't current. The correct image was on the other side of the sign.
Why are you discussing the audit findings with the manager? This is a revealed audit meaning that you give them your LOA, put on your safety vest and do your job. You are not supposed to discuss the results of your visit with any of the employees.

Talking with a manager about POP expirations is not on the same level as discussing audit findings, IMO. Many have basic questions on how to do better next time, and conversations can't always be avoided without being rude. I don't get paid enough to be rude in those instances.

My response to any questions.... "I just take the pictures and send them in."

There is no need to be rude but I am there to do my job. The photos in my report speak for themselves. All of these gas stations have a regional/district rep AND they get a copy of the report and photos. It is NOT our place to tell the how to run their business better. That is why they participate in the audit program.

Its like school; some teachers were really tough graders while others were fair and/or easy. No consistency in whatever guidelines they are all suppose to be following. And it is beyond the grading. Some auditors send a grade notification while others only post to the assignment on your job board. Sometimes you get an email from notifications@ipsos-mysteryshopping.com (and maybe the auditors name within the email) while other times the notification comes across under the auditors name.

The craziest feedback I got was (1) Make sure inspections are not white glove and then (2) Make sure excessive infractions are marked. Now I could of had an off day, but those are two completely different comments for a shop. Feedback like that deserves examples. One of the worst feedback comments is "make sure photos are present, clear and for the correct location." Sometimes I can surmise the auditor thought 1 or more pictures were blurry since I wasn't tagged to send or correct a picture.

But I am like others who have commented -- if its not effecting getting paid then grade as you like. That said, consistency in the overall communication is desperately needed. With the lack of, they create their own confusion.

How many days does it take usually for the shop to be reviewed by the editor? I did the first group of shops with them on sassie.

@Zek wrote:

Its like school; some teachers were really tough graders while others were fair and/or easy. No consistency in whatever guidelines they are all suppose to be following. And it is beyond the grading. Some auditors send a grade notification while others only post to the assignment on your job board. Sometimes you get an email from notifications@ipsos-mysteryshopping.com (and maybe the auditors name within the email) while other times the notification comes across under the auditors name.

The craziest feedback I got was (1) Make sure inspections are not white glove and then (2) Make sure excessive infractions are marked. Now I could of had an off day, but those are two completely different comments for a shop. Feedback like that deserves examples. One of the worst feedback comments is "make sure photos are present, clear and for the correct location." Sometimes I can surmise the auditor thought 1 or more pictures were blurry since I wasn't tagged to send or correct a picture.

But I am like others who have commented -- if its not effecting getting paid then grade as you like. That said, consistency in the overall communication is desperately needed. With the lack of, they create their own confusion.

Quite true. But I have noticed in the past few weeks the feedback has changed to be more specific - not 100 percent - but it is a marked improvement from the way is used to be.

For the shopper who says the editor drops the photo and marks him down for it, this isn't true. The system keeps track of all photos submitted even the deleted ones. If an editor asks for the correct photo, it's because the shopper submitted the incorrect photo.

i usually get 10’s, but received my first 2 yesterday lol. i did miss a pump photo so i expected a lower score but maybe not that low. she also dinged me for things that made no sense, such as saying i used the counter photo for another report when i didn’t. reviewer name starts with a T.

@sweetp6373 wrote:

For the shopper who says the editor drops the photo and marks him down for it, this isn't true. The system keeps track of all photos submitted even the deleted ones. If an editor asks for the correct photo, it's because the shopper submitted the incorrect photo.

And you know this how?

@French Farmer wrote:

@sweetp6373 wrote:

For the shopper who says the editor drops the photo and marks him down for it, this isn't true. The system keeps track of all photos submitted even the deleted ones. If an editor asks for the correct photo, it's because the shopper submitted the incorrect photo.

And you know this how?

reads like a post typed by a know it all editor. 95% he/she is an editor.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2021 03:08AM by jay225.

nevermind .

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2021 04:03AM by jay225.

The system also flags any duplicate photos used in other reports. I am not saying I agree with the editor as I have not looked at the actual report. However, some shoppers in this forum seem to think they do everything right and the editors/schedulers are always in the wrong. The editors/schedulers are also not the ones who created and set up the grading system. They just follow the rules. If you want a better grade, maybe you should follow the rules too.

@sweetp6373 wrote:

The system also flags any duplicate photos used in other reports. I am not saying I agree with the editor as I have not looked at the actual report. However, some shoppers in this forum seem to think they do everything right and the editors/schedulers are always in the wrong. The editors/schedulers are also not the ones who created and set up the grading system. They just follow the rules. If you want a better grade, maybe you should follow the rules too.

The system isn’t always right though. An editor flagged me the other day for uploading a duplicate photo when it wasn’t a duplicate. I stated this on the comments and resubmitted but was dropped down to a 2 rating. Yesterday I received another 2 when an editor wanted me to change my answer to sanitizer not being available at every island when it was actually available at every island. Us shoppers clearly aren’t perfect but neither are the editors, and it doesn’t seem fair to automatically score us as 2’s when a hold isn’t fixed to their liking, when they may not have it right to begin with.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2021 01:49PM by jay225.

The duplicate photos are pretty accurate. When it flags for duplicate photos, the report links all the other reports that the photo was used in for the company/editor to see. It's possible accidentally used that photo in another report that was already finalized. In those cases if I were you, I would contact my contact person at the company and ask for further help/clarification.

@jay225 wrote:

... Yesterday I received another 2 when an editor wanted me to change my answer to sanitizer not being available at every island when it was actually available at every island. Us shoppers clearly aren’t perfect but neither are the editors, and it doesn’t seem fair to automatically score us as 2’s when a hold isn’t fixed to their liking, when they may not have it right to begin with.

If you do this for any amount of time you will notice a lot of editor errors when a shop is returned to you, even in areas not part of the reason for the shop being returned. (And you will also notice they catch a lot more of our errors.) This battle is not worth fighting. A score of 2 stings, of course, especially when it is not your fault, but a string of 10s and even 8s will quickly erase any effect of an occasional low score.

@mystery2me wrote:

@jay225 wrote:

... Yesterday I received another 2 when an editor wanted me to change my answer to sanitizer not being available at every island when it was actually available at every island. Us shoppers clearly aren’t perfect but neither are the editors, and it doesn’t seem fair to automatically score us as 2’s when a hold isn’t fixed to their liking, when they may not have it right to begin with.

If you do this for any amount of time you will notice a lot of editor errors when a shop is returned to you, even in areas not part of the reason for the shop being returned. (And you will also notice they catch a lot more of our errors.) This battle is not worth fighting. A score of 2 stings, of course, especially when it is not your fault, but a string of 10s and even 8s will quickly erase any effect of an occasional low score.

you’re right. i guess i was just fortunate enough to avoid the 2’s until getting hit with multiple ones in one week. some editors almost seem to be taking a white glove approach. i’m still used to maritz when we didn’t have to deal with any of that.

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IPSOS GRADING SYSTEM - WHAT A JOKE!

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