Observa *sigh*

Observa sigh

I hope I am putting this is the right forum.

Anyone else been having issues with Observa's reviewers recently? They've DQed several of my shops becuase "the photos are not straight-on". Duh they aren't straight on. I noted in the report that the aisles are too bloody narrow in the store for that to be possible. I actually had one review tell me "just back up". How? Am I supposed to become non-corporeal? My back was already hard against the other shelves.

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You have options..... you can remove product and lie on the opposing shelves. Or, you can climb on top of the opposing shelf, balance well, and get your shot. What.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

Did you take an aisle view so they could see the dimensions?

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Cellphone cameras are rapidly evolving, and with the newest ones it’s possible to stand three feet away, facing a 12x12 foot bay - say, a Home Depot display of power drills - and manipulate the three lenses so you can capture the entire bay, edge to edge.

To do research, I took a bunch of Electronics shops and test-drove cellphone camera capabilities before selecting an iPhone 12 Pro Max, which takes stunningly good photos. If you aren’t an Apple fan, try out the latest Samsung cellphone, the S22 Ultra. Either are excellent products and deliver fantastic photos for reports, at both a near and a far distance.

This is fundamentally a communication issue.

Was it ever mentioned that the shopper would need a phone with that much capability? Was this need ever expressed in words or images of required standards? Was the shopper required to state, before being assigned the gig, that their phone (and its camera) met specific minimum standards?

I, for one, am not going to update my phone just to take pics for gigs. If gigs are driving my purchases, I need to re-think my life! *thinks* Yup. Not replacing a phone just to satisfy gig clients.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

Shop emphatically states--I, for one, am not going to update my phone just to take pics for gigs.

Bob agrees--I am aware I have shared the following on several occasions.

16 years ago, I encountered my first shop that mentioned a pic. I was paid $15 + a $5 reimbursement at a Quiznos. In addition, I could earn at extra $5 by snapping an optional location pic. That is singular and optional, not required and 25. If you folks will stop working for nothing, you just might discover you will be paid more.

I tried Observa a couple of times, but I found that no matter how closely you follow the instructions, or how well you do the pictures, they will find something to disqualify you so that they don't have to pay you. I kind of wonder why the app is still on my phone other than I look at it now and then to see if it's gotten better.

Purchasing a high-end phone just for gigs = poor return on investment for most shoppers.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Did you take an aisle view so they could see the dimensions?

There's really no place for a photo like that. They also have a thing about extraneous photos.

Glad I'm not the only one who finds these folks kinda ridiculous at times.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

Cellphone cameras are rapidly evolving, and with the newest ones it’s possible to stand three feet away, facing a 12x12 foot bay - say, a Home Depot display of power drills - and manipulate the three lenses so you can capture the entire bay, edge to edge.

To do research, I took a bunch of Electronics shops and test-drove cellphone camera capabilities before selecting an iPhone 12 Pro Max, which takes stunningly good photos. If you aren’t an Apple fan, try out the latest Samsung cellphone, the S22 Ultra. Either are excellent products and deliver fantastic photos for reports, at both a near and a far distance.

Not to be a smart ass, but are you saying I should spend over $1000 to buy a phone so I can get paid for a $10 shop?

I'm being sarcastic here as I'm sure the second poster on this thread was also.

Does anyone know how to change your address in Observa? I've asked their support but they just tell me the app will find shops near my location. In the meantime, I get e-mails telling me about all the wonderful opportunities near my old address 125 miles away.

@wrosie wrote:

@ColoKate63 wrote:

Cellphone cameras are rapidly evolving, and with the newest ones it’s possible to stand three feet away, facing a 12x12 foot bay - say, a Home Depot display of power drills - and manipulate the three lenses so you can capture the entire bay, edge to edge.

To do research, I took a bunch of Electronics shops and test-drove cellphone camera capabilities before selecting an iPhone 12 Pro Max, which takes stunningly good photos. If you aren’t an Apple fan, try out the latest Samsung cellphone, the S22 Ultra. Either are excellent products and deliver fantastic photos for reports, at both a near and a far distance.

Not to be a smart ass, but are you saying I should spend over $1000 to buy a phone so I can get paid for a $10 shop?

I'm being sarcastic here as I'm sure the second poster on this thread was also.

Actually, I'm in the market for a new IPhone. If all I did was gig work, absolutely not! But, I probably submit about 90% of my shops on my phone now. To me, this makes an upgrade worth it. I currently have an IPhone 8 Plus and it's slowing down. I can write off a part of the initial cost of the phone and the monthly costs too. To me, worth it, to you maybe not.

I upgraded to a more recent iPhone, not the latest, by buying my friend's old phone when she bought the latest one.

$145 for iPhone 11 or 12 (not sure which one). It paid for itself the first week. I am on a pay-by-the-month unlimited data plan (a necessity out in these rural areas) with Verizon for $50 a month.

Being able to enter jobs right on the apps was a real game-changer for me. I can do more shops in a day and not be facing hours of reporting when I get home.

Now if the price of gas would just drop 50%.....

It would take years for me to catch up with myself and then complete enough gigs to make another phone pay for itself. This is just me. Some shoppers already have time, energy, and opportunity to work their phones for fun and/or profit. I have no voice, a recurring foot issue, and am not going to any sort of job for awhile. On the lighter side: Bill Engvall's humor tells me, "Here's your sign!"

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

FWIW...the app apparently does have a "half-zoom" function in the picture taking software. It's not the most obvious thing ever, and their "help" never mentioned it. I tried it today and it worked, more or less. The pictures look really weird.

I've only recently started using Field Agent, and I wondered a few times if my photos would satifsy them, but they haven't rejected a single gig.

I'm going to avoid Observa based on the comments here.

I had the Observa app not like after they first came out, and paid better for their gigs. But, I mistakenly input my email wrong (they pay through PayPal) putting .xom instead of .com at the end. We resolved the issue, but they still never paid me, almost $40. Then stopped acknowledging my emails. I deleted the app. Again, like my earlier Panda Express post, good manners would’ve worked here too.

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