I have done a few hundred gas shops for Ipsos/Maritz. Lately, I have been getting shops placed on hold for stupid stuff.
Exhibit A...... blue..... "All answers must begin with capital letters."
Exhibit B.......red ...... "All answers must begin with capital letters."
What? The questions were,
"What color was the shirt?" answer blue.... Correct answer Blue.
"What was the hair color?" answer red ..... Correct answer Red.
After hundreds of shops answering red, blue, black, etc...... Now it's Red, Blue, Black, Etc. What the what?

Exhibit C.. answer 6ft 3in Oh no! Not anymore. Correct answer 6'3" When did that change?
(Question ... What was the height.."
Shops on hold for that????!!!!! Whatever....

edited..... How do you remove that darn smiley face? Sheesh

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2021 05:01PM by 1forum1.

Hit "edit", backspace to your "quote" mark, space forward once, close quote.

The easy answers ended with the demise of Maritz Editors. They had no problem fixing the forms to the way they wanted them. Even photos. I had a Maritz person once tell me that if the photos upload sideways, "Don't worry at all. We'll fix it." Now Ipsos is even demanding uppercae letters without incentives!

@1forum1 wrote:

I have done a few hundred gas shops for Ipsos/Maritz. Lately, I have been getting shops placed on hold for stupid stuff.
Exhibit A...... blue..... "All answers must begin with capital letters."
Exhibit B.......red ...... "All answers must begin with capital letters."
What? The questions were,
"What color was the shirt?" answer blue.... Correct answer Blue.
"What was the hair color?" answer red ..... Correct answer Red.
After hundreds of shops answering red, blue, black, etc...... Now it's Red, Blue, Black, Etc. What the what?

Exhibit C.. answer 6ft 3in Oh no! Not anymore. Correct answer 6'3" When did that change?
(Question ... What was the height.."
Shops on hold for that????!!!!! Whatever....

edited..... How do you remove that darn smiley face? Sheesh

OMFG
I wanted to post this exact thing, but I was afraid that it would "out" me.

I have been doing these for 15 years and never, I mean never, have I capitalized the color of the hair and shirt.

I've always written 6'3" though.

I don't remember the editor, but the initials began with a C.

Cheers!!!!

I don't see a problem with these new requirements. Maritz is no more. Ipsos, or at least this editor, has new rules, and the rules do not appear to be unreasonable. They are different, but the editor is at least letting shoppers know what the new rules are. I will take that over Ipsos giving out low grades and not telling shoppers why.

If I chose to do these shops, I would just follow the rules from now on.

Are shoppers given the opportunity to correct the reports and does the editor then promptly remove the hold? That, to me, is the key question.

@SoCalMama.... LOL... I was hesitant to post for the same reason. Then I thought, it just can't be me.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz..... These "rules" are not posted. I don't have a problem with them, but they are stupid. And, and..... it is inconsistent. I have shops the same week/month done the same way that are not placed on hold. Furthermore, sometimes this editor flags an item on one evaluation, but doesn't flag the same item on the other...... some done the same day. I am convinced there are no new rules regarding the aforementioned. Instead, someone has a personal preference. As for "the editor is at least letting shoppers know what the new rules are," Well damn. How about letting someone know what the new "rules" are before you complete the evaluation??? Anyway, since when do editors make rules? We have guidelines. The rules are there. Nevertheless, since you never know who is going to be the editor, I will try to remember to adjust accordingly.

Deleted because it was a duplicate post.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2021 11:04PM by 1forum1.

Oy...I just can't wait to do more of these shops....not. I'm waiting for the response to the two I've completed. I usually do a ton each month, but with bonuses low and all the new requirements, I'm holding off to see the feedback and hope bonuses go up a bit more.

Also different now is that Maritz always wanted a couple of sentences in that comment box, even if it was redundant. New rules are to mark N/A unless the comment pertains to something that was not covered in the questions. Or so I have been instructed. Maybe it's an individual editor's policy. Who knows anymore!

If you have not watched the video [www.youtube.com] and read [www.ishopforipsos.com]
I would suggest it, Remember "The Shoppers Guide" is the bible that we all have to answer to it.
I am glad that you are getting routes and shops. I am getting the answer "We are not doing bonuses on these shops. There are no bids." or "no incentives at this time"
I guess that Ipsos has subcontracted all possible labor out as to keep the payroll low and the profits high.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

I don't see a problem with these new requirements. Maritz is no more. Ipsos, or at least this editor, has new rules, and the rules do not appear to be unreasonable. They are different, but the editor is at least letting shoppers know what the new rules are. I will take that over Ipsos giving out low grades and not telling shoppers why.

If I chose to do these shops, I would just follow the rules from now on.

Are shoppers given the opportunity to correct the reports and does the editor then promptly remove the hold? That, to me, is the key question.

They were "on hold" for a few days before I noticed them. I did not get an email.

I am now capitalizing Brown for hair and Blue for shirts. I had 2 on hold and probably 250 that went through not on hold.

I used to edit. If she or he is getting paid by the job, it's faster for her/him/they to change it than to send an email in most cases. I suppose it depends on the volume of shops coming through from the same shopper the require the change from Brown to brown?

I can't get any more gas into my three cars. I'll be looking for "needy" people today. And no, I am not filling up gas cans.

ETA: Best one ever - Last year, I put $5 into a guy's new fancy Range Rover, which he was using to tow his boat. He was the only customer around.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2021 09:13PM by SoCalMama.

@SoCalMama wrote:

They were "on hold" for a few days before I noticed them. I did not get an email.

I am now capitalizing Brown for hair and Blue for shirts. I had 2 on hold and probably 250 that went through not on hold.

I used to edit. If she or he is getting paid by the job, it's faster for her/him/they to change it than to send an email in most cases. I suppose it depends on the volume of shops coming through from the same shopper the require the change from Brown to brown?

I can't get any more gas into my three cars. I'll be looking for "needy" people today. And no, I am not filling up gas cans.

ETA: Best one ever - Last year, I put $5 into a guy's new fancy Range Rover, which he was using to tow his boat. He was the only customer around.

Not sending out an email to let a shopper know a shop is on hold is just wrong. Ipsos should set things up so that an email is automatically sent out to the shopper when a shop is on hold.

Which platform were these shops on? (I don't know because I have not done any gas shop for Ipsos since they gobbled up Maritz's MS operations.)

If the shops were on SASSIE, I am not surprised. IPSOS never bothered to learn how to use SASSIE correctly.

If they are still on Maritz's legacy site, I remember not getting an automatic email sometimes. It was annoying.

Yeah, it looks like that editor was trying to make a point with high volume shoppers like you.

It is very nice/kind of you to look for needy people. Hope they appreciate it.

One report that asks for shirt color is on the (Maritz) legacy site.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

It is very nice/kind of you to look for needy people. Hope they appreciate it.

I try to catch non-English speakers. They are usually so shocked to hear me talk that they don't question that I am pumping gas into their cars.

Maritz Legacy site, as mentioned by sestrahelena.

Okay, I don't do the Maritz ones any more. Shirt color and hair are not asked on the ones I do on Sassie.

The big question for these shops being put on hold is do you eventually get paid for them. Once you have been in the mystery shopping business long enough you learn that there is a ton of stupidness you have to ignore unless it affects your bottom line. Grading or waiting for pay and holds is a good chunk of it. Every MSC has there own style. One for example does not want gender pronouns in their narratives. One does not want names in the narratives. One requires a specific number of minimum sentences. One deducts points from grades because we did not have to contact you no joke.

@BuffaloNY101 wrote:

One deducts points from grades because we did not have to contact you no joke.

What?! Who???

And let's not forget the one that used to take points off if you happen to double space after a period ????

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

@BuffaloNY101 wrote:

One deducts points from grades because we did not have to contact you no joke.

What?! Who???

Intelishop

I did around 1,200 of the "Pegasus" company a year for the previous company. Yes, they were much easier to work with. When there was a question about something in a report, from either the shopper or the company, you could get an answer. But, they are no longer. We now have to accept the way this company works or not do the shops.

I believe the two biggest issues are there is no consistency with editing and shoppers are not being informed as to what they did wrong, just given a generic drop box explanation. Most of us want to present our work correctly. All companies have their own expectations of us, but if they do not let us know their expectations it becomes frustrating. A lot of us now know to capitalize anything, it shouldn't be an issue moving forward. It is better to go ahead and do that, than to constantly have some editors return your report because you didn't and be marked down for it. If you are a route shopper and have locations that are always up to date on their OSA and other requirements (you know, the locations that make us happy inside), your reports have been consistent and in November you received a 10 and now in January you receive a 6, that's when we have the WTF reaction. I have gone back and compared photos to see if there was something I missed and there was not. This is where an editors interpretation of the guidelines may come into play.

I believe they are using an outside editing company instead of editing in house. More than likely, these editors are new at doing this type of shop. These are pretty cut and dry. The photo requirements answer the question and should not need a verbal explanation or confirmation in the comments box. I am having shops returned for that reason. So, now if something is different than other locations we are supposed to add a comment? This is not in the guidelines. Usually, if there needs to be an explanation, the report asks for it. A lot of what seems to be returned would pertain to a different type of shop, ones that are either subjective or objective and need to paint a picture with words.

Most editors do send an email after each location, saying the rating and if it is low, the drop down box. You have to open those emails that you get that say something about your shop has been edited, I don't remember what the say because I deleted them all. If a shop is on hold, it does say a shop has been returned to you. When you go to your shop log, the shop will show as unfinished or something like that.

Keep a record of why a shop has been returned. Hopefully, at some point we may be able to get our questions about these things answered.

Atlantic: re: OSA shops, and comments after each section. I had a bunch returned for comment, as well...frustrating. I have become the master of the brief, complete sentence, VERY generic comment to indicate all was well...like "This bay/area was clean and organized." :-)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2021 02:53PM by salisburync.

Hello salisburyny - Most responses are drop box and do not have a section for comments after each one. If you were to add a comment for each answer in the comment box at the end, you would be doubling the amount of work for the same amount of pay. (I too learned the brief comment when doing hotel and restaurant shops

The editors should check this comment box before sending the report back for clarification, but it has been my experience over the years that they do not. I have had shops with more than one issue that I realized after submitting I had messed up on. After the first issue, the report is sent back. I think they just stop when there is an issue. Maybe the report does not get back to the same editor so when it is submitted as complete, that is the editor who gets paid for it?

Prior to their taking over Maritz I did not have problems getting a response from them. I agree, they are probably understaffed and emails they do not deem as necessary are just deleted without a response. Eventually they will realize there has to be communication with their shoppers. This will probably occur when they are not able to meet deadlines because they have lost so many good, responsible shoppers that do care about submitting in a timely manner. The company they contract with will look elsewhere. It has been a long time, but I think they are the fourth company I have worked with for these shops. Working with an outside editing company that will not communicate with shoppers is not good for anyone.

The grading system does affect shop assignment. Shoppers who only care about being paid more than likely are not route shoppers who do this every month. You don't get paid if you don't get the shops.

Take Care and Safe Shopping