Has anyone else noticed that they are changing the gasoline reimbursement down to one gallon, instead of the $5 promised? And they didn't even say anything, just changed the amount that we had entered.

The shop description clearly states, "Gas up to $5.00 (or cost of 1 gallon, if cost exceeds $5)."

I would not be happy right now if I were you. Hopefully it is just an error on the form, and doesn't require hoops to correct.

That would explain my weird reimbursement amounts showing up in SASSIE.

Looks like the MSC has found a way to cheapen our work with a change of wording.

This really sucks. With the timing requirement it's impossible to pump only a gallon, so we are forced to exceed the reimbursable amount.

Does any thing over the reimbursed amount qualify as unreimbursed expenses on our taxes?

Not "anything", just "required. Supposed gas is $4.00 per gallon. The requirements of the shop result in you having to buy 1.25 gallons for a total of $5.00, but only $4.00 is reimbursed. The other $1.00 is an unreimbursed expense on your tax return. However, if you decided to buy 5 gallons of gas, but the shop requirements still only mean that you reasonably have to buy 1.25 gallons, you can still only claim $1.00 as an unreimbursed expense on your tax return, not $20 - $4 = $16. Could you buy 1.5 gallons and deduct $2.00? Probably. It comes down to your ability to explain the deduction on the off chance that you get audited. IMHO, the operative procedure is to avoid being greedy.

@CoolMusic wrote:

Does any thing over the reimbursed amount qualify as unreimbursed expenses on our taxes?

I wish it only cost $5/gallon here in California.

According to the posting, if your gas reimbursement is less than $5 but you bought at least that, you're getting ripped off. Don't let them get away with it. Direct quote from posting, "Product Purchase: Gas up to $5.00 (or cost of 1 gallon, if cost exceeds $5)" simple enough.

The shop contract clearly state "gas up to $5." They have not lowered the reimbursement. If you are getting less, they made a mistake and owe you money.

It is likely whoever reprogrammed the report form to allow gas reimbursement above $5 in certain cases also messed up a line of code. I would send a polite message to the help desk.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/2022 10:28PM by mystery2me.

@mystery2me wrote:

The shop contract clearly state "gas up to $5." They have not lowered the reimbursement. If you are getting less, they made a mistake and owe you money.

Not accurate... your quoted passage is taken out of context.

This, from the online report form: "...you will still be reimbursed the cost for 1 gallon based upon your receipt."

FWIW, I've been in contact with the project manager to confirm this.

And I let her know that the change makes the customer behavior far from typical, possible resulting in shoppers being outed.

While a $5 gas purchase might occasionally get the stink eye, it's far more common than someone buying a little bit more than a gallon of gas for some oddball amount.

@CoolMusic wrote:

@mystery2me wrote:

The shop contract clearly state "gas up to $5." They have not lowered the reimbursement. If you are getting less, they made a mistake and owe you money.

Not accurate... your quoted passage is taken out of context.

This, from the online report form: "...you will still be reimbursed the cost for 1 gallon based upon your receipt."

So, another case of the preliminary description saying one thing and, after you accept the job, they tell you a lesser reimbursement? Nice. I hope I'm still alive to see this company "cheap" itself right out of business. Or, maybe that's the goal, with all the executives' profits well hidden.

Did two last week.

For the first, I was reimbursed the full $4.71 for a $4.71 gas purchase. For the second, I was only reimbursed $4.90 for a $5.00 gas purchase.

In both cases, I purchased ~1.25 gallons. People are (happily?) going out of pocket $15 to $20 on the Olive Garden shops, so maybe they thought we wouldn't care about a dollar on Customer First...

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2022 10:52AM by boridi.

On the last email I received on these, it clearly said "one gallon" of gas.

I'm an image shopper, though, so I can't do these. I don't know why they send me all of the emails about it.

@CoolMusic wrote:

@mystery2me wrote:

The shop contract clearly state "gas up to $5." They have not lowered the reimbursement. If you are getting less, they made a mistake and owe you money.

Not accurate... your quoted passage is taken out of context.

This, from the online report form: "...you will still be reimbursed the cost for 1 gallon based upon your receipt."

I finally accepted a shop and can see what the form actually says, in context.

Inside the report, it says:
"SHOPPERS: The total Approved Expenses increased to a maximum of $7.50 only to accommodate current gas prices that exceed $6/gallon. Please note, your "Total Reimbursable Amount" is still ONLY the cost of 1 gallon of gas (whatever that may be), plus up to $1 for your in-store purchase. Reimbursements are approved after costs are confirmed via your receipts."

It seems obvious the second passage is referring to the context of "gas prices that exceed $6/gallon" when noting "you will still be reimbursed the cost for 1 gallon." This is supported by the report summary, which clearly states "Gas up to $5.00 (or cost of 1 gallon, if cost exceeds $5)" Note the "if cost exceeds $5."

Here is the full text of the summary:
"• Product Purchase: Gas up to $5.00 (or cost of 1 gallon, if cost exceeds $5), In store up to $1.00 br> IMPORTANT: You must purchase 1 full gallon of gas (try to be exact, as you must time the dispense rate of just 1 gallon of gas). If the cost of gas exceeds $5 per gallon, you will still be reimbursed the cost for 1 gallon based upon your receipt."

I think certain editors are lowering the reimbursements on their own based on a misinterpretion of the first passage. Other posters have noted some shops get the full $5 reimbursement. I would still contact the help desk about this. If I complete these shops and don't get my full $5, I certainly will.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2022 04:31AM by mystery2me.

What do these shops entail? Are they the koala ones shoppers have mentioned? Does each pump need to be photographed?

No koalas but it's the same MSC. Different gas brand. Try one to see.

The ones I did last month had an $11.50 and $21.50 bonus. I can't do them if they're not bonused.

I did several of these at the end of March when the pay was raised to $30 per location. I stopped my timer and the gas dispenser at 1 gallon, per the requirement, then finished rounding the gas up to $5. I was reimbursed for the entire $5 on each shop I completed. It sounds like this was definitely an editors’ pick and choose. The way I read the posting, a minimum of $5 in gasoline should be reimbursed - period. If gas is $5.50 per gallon, $5.50 should be reimbursed. The guidelines should match the job posting.

This is the most informative thread i have ever read. I have been 100% avoiding customer first shops. i assumed the company was NOT going to adjust reimbursement at all. Thanks for the info

Looks like they've removed all mentions of $5 from the shop comments and guidelines.