What "dark" really means to IPSOS

Instructions say , "...You will evaluate the location during open business hours and when it is dark outside. The sun must be below the horizon during your audit."

The shopper must ignore the second sentence in the instructions. The sun sets, and it is still light in the sky for about an hour, at least in my area. Shops completed AFTER the sun is below the horizon (sunset) but while there is still light in the sky, are REJECTED. No amount of discussion will change the minds of the intractable, illogical fools who edit shops at IPSOS....despite their own instructions.

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More Discussions About Ipsos Mystery Shopping (All Companies)

Yes, been a victim of that rejection once or twice. You have to wait until it is truly dark, no light anywhere.

I'm not sure if this applies to all Ipsos clients. I know for sure it applies to red white and blue. I think I have done another client and they were not as strict.

I was really surprised when one of my sunset-but-still-light shops got accepted. Since then, I've learned there is a difference between time of sunset and time of "last light." Now I check those, or sunrise/first light for the town I'll be shopping. It's about 1/2 hour difference. "Below the horizon" is not really what Ipsos means, of course, because, well...Ipsos. This is a site that I use to check those times:

[sunrisesunset.willyweather.com]

As for our not so beloved MSC, I'm pretty sure that Ipsos is a word in an otherwise unknown secret language that translates to "Screw the shopper."

The "dark" thing got my son not too long ago. The sun was down, it was obviously dim outside and the station lights were on and easily seen. But that wasn't good enough, and his shop was rejected. I grabbed it and did the shop for $40 more than what my son had taken the shop for a couple days later.

They got me too. In the past, I would take the photos as soon as all the lights were on with no outages. No infractions, no issues. If a light didn't come on, I was careful to give the station the benefit of the doubt, and wait sometimes 20 or 30 minutes, just to be extra sure the light was really out. If the employee confirmed the light was broken, I didn;t have to wait so long. Sort of seemed common sense. Now, apparently, enough shoppers are jumping the gun with infractions that they have to penalize everyone, even when there are no infractions.

I have also had the opposite, where they claimed it was still dark when it wasn't. I've learned to make sure it is completely without a doubt light and completely dark.

I’d have to say it depends on the client. I completed several shops for a client with the cross shaped screwdriver head (i’m not sure what code name y’all are calling it.) It wasn’t completely dark yet, but the sun was definitely below the horizon. The sunset, however, was mostly covered by the approaching clouds. I could get two of the required photos facing east, away from the sunset and away from the clouds and everything looked dark, but I could not get a photo of the main ID price sign or a photo of the canopy & the MID looking towards the east, that photo was looking towards the west because it was across the street on the opposite corner of the business and there was a building right behind it. I explained in the report that a hail storm was approaching the town and I wanted to get ahead of it so I went ahead and took the photos before it was completely dark outside, then I headed east, away from the storm. The shop was accepted and I ended up with zero hail damage.

This reminds me of people who say something like this. "Oh, I'll come over in the morning" ro "I'll pick it up this afternoon".
Notice no specifics, no time of expected arrival.
For a professional company, could it not be easier?
Just write it into the guidelines that the shopper cannot perform the shop until (insert the minutes or hours) after the local published time for sunset.
Hence, if the local published time for sunset on the particular day is 5:59 PM and the guidelines state the shopper must not perform the shop until one hour after published sunset, the shopper cannot perform the shop until after 6:59 PM.
Seems simple to me.

As documented elsewhere, I had quite the back-and-forth (I won) about the complete lack of clarity in the guidelines and reports for the Famous Highway version of the dark programs.

At some point they admitted there was some fudge room, and I did have a borderline shop accepted without question, and thankfully so.

It was the biggest bonus of an out-and-back where I did both the dark and regular visits. I mis-timed my arrival for the dark portion and wound up running around grabbing the required pictures before the horizon was too bright. A clerk pulled into the parking lot to open while I was doing it (sans vest), but didn't seem to notice.

On another one I made sure to capture the moon in one of my MID pictures...

Have synthesizers, will travel...

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What "dark" really means to IPSOS

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