It appears that I have probably done my last shop at the bank inside of Walmart. A business card from the banker is required as proof of visit. The banker I shopped did not have a business card to give me so I was given a brochure of the checking account we discussed with the name of the banker written on it. Inputting the shop I gave a full description of the banker and explained why I was unable to obtain a business card. I uploaded a picture of the brochure. The shop sat for 30 days waiting to be reviewed. The project manager sends me an email stating, "I cannot accept this report. I think you went to the wrong location and you don't have valid POV."

I felt that the tone of her comments were rude and unprofessional. I replied to her and stated that I absolutely did shop the correct location and I asked how it would be possible for me to obtain a business card that the banker does not have to give. For the life of me I just can't understand how my shop can be invalidated over something that is completely out of my control.

Lesson learned with this one.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2022 10:40AM by andreame70.

I've always taken a photo of the building when something like this happens. (My photos have location/ time info)

Your irritation/ anger/ frustration might be playing a part in how you're reading the project managers email. I don't read any 'unprofessional' tone to it. Maybe this banker was shopped last week/ month/ quarter and DID have business cards to give out....
Sometimes shops are rejected due to circumstances completely out of our control. It's not cool, but it definitely happens. You have to decide if you want to continue doing business with that company, and if so just know it could happen again. Consider it a business loss, write it off as a bad debt on your taxes and move on.

Oh certainly I will write it off as a bad debt if they ultimately decide not to pay me for it. A scheduler with them that I have a good rapport with is asking her to reconsider due to the unusual circumstance.

I guess I should consider myself fortunate that I've never had a company reject a shop from me until this came up. The closest thing I've had was years ago I did a ton of reveal shops for a company that wanted us to catch the employees "doing it right." They decided not to pay any of their shoppers for some reason and they owed me hundreds of dollars. Finally they sent Walmart gift cards for about 2/3 of what they owed me and that was it.

I think her comments hit me wrong because all of the shops I've done for them were 9's or 10's excluding this one, only because a business card was not obtainable. I've been doing this type of work since my son was a baby (25 years now) and I'm pretty sure that I know how to show up at the right location. I'm certainly prepared to move on. The only shops they ever have in my area are this particular bank anyway.

Are they not able to ascertain who works where. The company should have backup instructions when the banker does not or will not give a card.

The unprofessional part is the mere accusation of fraud/lying when there probably is proof that she was at the right location. If you used Google maps for directions, you can go back to the date and it gives the time you were at a location. Then there is probably a location picture required as you walk out of the bank. The details of the picture give the location, date and time it was taken.

For tax purposes, this is not a bad debt. Just deduct the expenses associated with this job as usual and show 0 income. The reason MSCs do this type of thing is because they can. We have no leverage. The only thing you can do is chalk it up to experience and decide whether you will work for them again. If nothing else, don't do a similar job again at base pay.

Bankers fill in at branch locations for many reasons and may not arrive there with business cards. Especially with staff shortages now, many bank employees are required to "float" to other than their home branches on very short notice. Other bank employees who specialize (e.g. business banker) may cover 6-8 branches, and rarely be in any given branch unless they are meeting a customer referred to them by someone in that branch. (If you ever take a shop where you are to portray someone seeking info about a business loan, you will quickly find out why those offer high fees! They are only for very patient shoppers and schedulers!) The next time that you encounter a banker who says they do not have a business card on them, ask them what branch they normally work at and record that and/or specifically request that they write their name on the business card of another banker that has the correct branch address on it. Unfortunately, this is not taught until the advanced course in bank MSing. Groan.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2022 08:35PM by walesmaven.

What an eye opener this is for me. You have all the proof except the business card. These days banks are extremely short staffed and floaters are the norm. No wonder that banker didn't have his own card, probably works elsewhere.

I think the tone was unprofessional because the project manager gives no reason for thinking the shopper went to the wrong location. That's no way to treat any shopper, and particularly one with whom they have a good history.

Was this an "open an account" job? If so, there may be proof in your account record as to which location you opened it at.

Sorry this happened to you. :-/

This particular shop was just to evaluate what info the banker gives you when you go in and inquire about a checking account. I honestly just don't understand how they can't pull the footage to determine that I was there. I've given them the name of the banker and his full description. Certainly the bank would know which location he was at on that day. I appreciate those of you who understand what I mean about the tone being kind of rude and unprofessional. It's one thing to say, "are you sure you were at the right location?" as opposed to flatly stating, "I think you went to the wrong location."

An alternative would be to get another business card from the branch that you shopped and have the banker that did not have a business card write his/her name on it for you. Good luck

The comments in the email were certainly unprofessional and rudely accusatory. It sounds like something my 8yr old niece would say. LOL!

Pulling security footage to verify you were there is too much extra effort and expense. It's not worth the trouble and beyond their capabilities. They can cast their net back into the sea of shoppers and come up with completed shops that perfectly fit their requirements. Which could be why your report was held for 30 days. Perhaps your report would've been used if absolutely necessary for project completion.

Since the client hasn't been mentioned (Walmart doesn't own/operate the bank branches in their stores) it would be helpful to mention the MSC. It sounds like an Ipsos bank inquiry shop. They've been changing up their required "proofs" for shops on both platforms, Sassie and Shopmetrics. This post prompted me to check the guidelines for the $15 account inquiry which states four proofs must be obtained. Business Card from the banker is one of the required proofs. So no card, no payment, I guess. And what is "a picture of the location locator showing the status of the bank" mean? A screenshot?

OP, please mention the MSC and let us know if they corresponded with you DURING the 30 day peroid. You say "the shop sat for 30 days waiting to be reviewed" which is unusual, in my experience. Not a peep from them for a full 30 days? Did they respond to your inquiries?

No further responses about a final outcome have been received yet. All of this came down on Friday so I wasn't expecting to hear anything back until Monday because of the holiday. I received absolutely no correspondence during the 30 days that it sat waiting to be reviewed. No one reached out for any kind of clarification or otherwise. All I got was the email from the project manager on Friday. The MSC is Pinnacle.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2022 10:52PM by andreame70.

Another possibility, since it went 30 days before editing, is that somehow the editors missed it and by the time it was found the turnaround time frame had expired. If they couldn't submit it late to the client, they wouldn't get paid and needed a reason not to pay you.

So weird, either way. I have never had a problem with this MSC. In fact, editor feedback has always been positive and helpful. There have been plenty of times bankers had no cards over the years, with any MSC, but I just submitted whatever substitute POV required for the job and had no problem.

I too wonder why it sat for 30 days before anyone did anything with it. Unfortunately I assume based on what they're saying that there is no alternative POV. They claim that it has to be a business card in order for the shop to be valid. The whole thing just baffles me because I've never had an issue with them whatsoever until this.

From what you have written here you did not actually submit any evidence beyond your word what location you were at.
You stated that you put a description of the banker & the name they gave you in the report.
Maybe the banker scheduled at that location was named Phil, a 6'2 guy with short blond hair and glasses and your report stated you met with Jack, and he was 5'6 with jet black hair.
The project manager could definitely think you had visited the wrong location but in reality Phil got sick and Jack filled in for him for the day.

The quoted email was professional.

I had the same thing happen. There was no business card. Banker wrote their contact information on a sticky. My report was accepted. The MSC can verify my account through their client. My shop was accepted with no question and I was paid.

I think I would go higher up on this. I suspect someone dropped the ball and blaming the shopper is easy.

Does anyone other than the OP have experience shopping for Pinnacle Financial Strategies? They've been around for a while with a focus on banking. Surely they must have an established process for when banker doesn't have a physical copy of a business card.

OP, I'm sorry you're going through this. I hope you get to the bottom of this.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

The quoted email was professional.

I had the same thing happen. There was no business card. Banker wrote their contact information on a sticky. My report was accepted. The MSC can verify my account through their client. My shop was accepted with no question and I was paid.

Was your shop for an Account Opening or Account Inquiry with Pinnacle?

I used to do platform shops and teller shops for them, but the bank (National Penn) got bought and the shops stopped. I still do phone shops for Pinnacle all around the country.

I have only ever had one problem. Long ago, I was doing a drive-thru shop. The instructions said that if the drive-thru was closed, to go inside. It was the day after a major snowstorm and the drive-thru had not been plowed and was closed. I went inside. I would have had zero problems if I had known to take a photo of the closed drive-thru. Now, I take a photo of anything unusual and I use GPS Verifier (even for non-Sassie MSCs) to demonstrate where I was and when. When in question, I attach a JPG of the GPS Verifier map. Recently, I have begun using the Timestamp Camera app which puts the date, time, GPS coordinates, and street address right on the photograph.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2022 07:44PM by myst4au.

I have completed several assignments for this MSC over the years. A card has never been a problem, so I am unable to comment on the procedure for a shopper being unable to obtain this type of POV.

A big plus for me with Pinnacle is their willingness, as with Maritz, to open their purse when the need arises. Last Dec., I completed three jobs, two inquires and a single account opening and was paid $30, $50 and $145.

It was an account opening.

@MrEd wrote:

Was your shop for an Account Opening or Account Inquiry with Pinnacle?

I have a resolution as of this morning. The account manager emailed and stated that they will pay me for the shop and that the editor should have handled things differently. I am thankful that they reconsidered.

So glad for you, @andreame70! Hopefully that particular editor will get some re-training!