Customer Impact sent out an email two days ago for a Route of 16 shops for TY offering $12 for each shop. This route is 1 to 1.5 hours from me. I replied and said I was willing to do the entire route for the month of June for $20 each location. I explained that it would be a 3 hour round trip. I received no reply. Today another email came out with the same route but the price went up to $15. I immediately replied and reiterated my last email to them. Still no reply. I don’t understand why they can’t get back to me. Should I email this scheduler again, try emailing the manager of that scheduler, or just take the $15. What would you do?

It means they are not yet willing to pay the $20 per location. Personally I would not accept $15 if I thought worth $20 (and requested it) but only you can decide for you.

It just frustrates me that they can’t at least just acknowledge my email.

@Purplepugs wrote:

It just frustrates me that they can’t at least just acknowledge my email.

Call them.

Purple, I completed my first shop for CI, under a prior name, in 2005. They were a bottom payer then and have maintained that business model to this day. The company is definitely able to respond to you, but they choose to ignore your E-mail.

As to what I would do, move on to MSCs that respected my needs.

A final comment: This business can be frustrating and much more so than 20 yrs. ago.

I personally enjoy getting emails notifying me about a route involving hundreds of miles of travel and 15 stops that pays a whopping $150 (eye roll).

If it weren't for the occasional gem, I would delete my profile there. Most of their offerings don't pay enough to drive there much less deal with whatever unpleasant surprises you find when you arrive.

Yea they do the same to me as well. I asked about accepting more locations and they never responded. More than likely just waiting on someone to accept the assignments for less pay. Last month I asked about taking some assignments for a small bump in pay (extra $5) and not only did they not respond but the locations I was inquiring about just disappeared and then reappeared towards the end of the month. Either they assigned them to someone who didn't do them or they just added the sites back on the board. I don't know what happened but the people working there used to be awesome and understanding. Not so much anymore.

Purplepugs - please email me with the correspondence and who you were working with. I'll work with them. You are owed an answer/explanation. I know the team (especially on this project) is literally dealing with thousands of locations per PM and 200-400 reps per PM, but that doesn't mean they can't give you a quick note explaining why they may hold off. And I still think while budget is very limited on this project, they can always improve on meeting y'all in the middle quicker than having to bonus heavy at the end.

It's always a work in progress on a program this large, but if you give me some specifics, I can coach my team to ensure you and others continue to get a better experience. I just have to know/see the what & who so I can teach and provide expectations.

Daniel Price
Chief Operating Officer
Customer Impact, LLC
dprice@customerimpactinfo.com

I have had similar experiences with emailing to offer and no response. That's normal there. Most of these places, really. I presume they don't have enough staffing and are not going to answer just to be polite.

The client must not want to pay enough to get the locations done. Just yesterday, I saw a round display rack in a c-store that was badly broken and poorly stocked. Most c-stores that I stop at for other projects that have the Ty displays are poorly stocked right now.

A scheduler named Reed was put on a pedestal here so I emailed that person with similiar information on a Thursday. Never heard back and then the shops reappeared with the dreaded $10. getting a response from anyone there from friday to sunday is practically unheard of. Frustrating for us. stick to your guns if you want $20. That is not out of line for some of the locations that have 4 displays usually in a mismatched condition which will take you a long time to finish.

@mjt9598 wrote:

The client must not want to pay enough to get the locations done. Just yesterday, I saw a round display rack in a c-store that was badly broken and poorly stocked. Most c-stores that I stop at for other projects that have the Ty displays are poorly stocked right now.

I did a card refresh a few months ago and the cards on the display had expired in 2023. Nobody had been there in years and I mean that literally. You just never know what is actually involved. The descriptions always make it sound like routine maintenance and simple but it rarely is.

My experience with any type of merchandising is that remote locations are going to end up being a PITA more often than not. Any project where locations are allowed to go unserviced cycle after cycle are going to have locations that are badly neglected by the time someone makes it there. As described in previous posts, whether it be TY, gift cards, or any other type of merchandising, remote and neglected locations could end up taking a long time to get spruced up.

I once did a merchandising job for this company at a Travel center. They had me sign in on a log, and I could see that the last time someone signed in for the job I was doing was several months prior. The staff at the store had done very little to keep up that merchandise, and they had extensive displays. I spent 2 hours, and then I simply decided that I could not stay any longer. I made great improvements to the stock levels, cleanliness, and organization of all of the displays. I could have easily spent another hour if I had the time and motivation. I was paid with no issue, and the location was highly bonused. However, I was not in any way expecting it to take me 2 hours or more.

On the other hand, I've done a location that just had a couple of small displays for that particular project. The staff on site did a great job of keeping it organized and restocked, and I was only there for 20 minutes. So it can be a roll of the dice. Make sure that you are getting paid enough to make the worst case scenario bearable. If you're not, you're going to feel like a total idiot and feel like you've been played when you get paid 15 or $20 for an hour or two of work. We've all been there, and it's a terrible feeling.

As an aside, I think it's important to keep in mind that the individual shopper/merchandiser/private contractor that we are has absolutely zero to do with the budget and contract that the mystery shopping and merchandising companies set with a client. As contractors, we should never accept lower pay than we feel like we deserve for our time and effort because a company doesn't have the budget to pay us. In that case, we need to simply decline the work. I'm certain that both the client and the merchandising company have not been happy with the level of completion for this project and the amount of money it's requiring. However, mystery shopping companies are run by professionals that should have enough experience in the industry to know what it takes to get certain types of jobs done in certain places. When they agree to a contract that does not provide enough capital to pay shoppers a fair amount for the work, that's not our problem. The responsibility for that lies with the client and the mystery shopping company. Asking for $20 for what could end up being an hour or more of work is exceptionally reasonable in today's economy. When a company doesn't have enough budget to pay that, there's a serious issue with the company and their ability to estimate budgets and agree to contracts.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2025 12:51AM by thunderdeacon.

An employee from CI replied on here. I reached out to him and he reached out to the scheduler. The scheduler did get back to me. He said they could not go to $20 (haha) then he said they were no longer available. Oh well!

I dumped these bottom feeders when the retailer I visited was not prepared for what was supposed to a quick re-stock of slippers.

To complete the task would have required retrieving and then assembling the floor display before it could be stocked, adding at least a couple of hours to the job. They refused to up the pay from the oh-so-generous $12.

1000-ft pole for me...

@CoolMusic wrote:

I dumped these bottom feeders when the retailer I visited was not prepared for what was supposed to a quick re-stock of slippers.

To complete the task would have required retrieving and then assembling the floor display before it could be stocked, adding at least a couple of hours to the job. They refused to up the pay from the oh-so-generous $12.

1000-ft pole for me...

They pay extra for am assembly. I've done a few and they take less than 45min. You can also ask for more. They're usually accommodating.

Don't reply to those emails, send an email directly to the scheduler.

@weatherman2111 wrote:

They pay extra for am assembly. I've done a few and they take less than 45min. You can also ask for more. They're usually accommodating.

Obviously, in my case, they were not accommodating as they would not pay more when I asked, so I told them to take a hike.

@CoolMusic wrote:

I dumped these bottom feeders when the retailer I visited was not prepared for what was supposed to a quick re-stock of slippers.

To complete the task would have required retrieving and then assembling the floor display before it could be stocked, adding at least a couple of hours to the job. They refused to up the pay from the oh-so-generous $12.

1000-ft pole for me...

I haven't come across this one yet but I did come across a situation where the merchandise was nowhere to be found but they believed it was locked up in their (absolutely stuffed) security cage and they'd LOST THE KEY. I had two tasks, same location and both for CI. They only paid for one of the two for standing around waiting for the customer service associate to "look everywhere" and "ask everyone" and then tidying the one display of two that was set up. Because I didn't open the second task until the first was finished, they insisted I hadn't been there very long. I'm like... I obviously was since I did the other task first and you can see that! There was no reason to repeat running around looking for that lost key that was probably in someone's pocket who wasn't there.

@mjt9598 wrote:

The client must not want to pay enough to get the locations done. Just yesterday, I saw a round display rack in a c-store that was badly broken and poorly stocked. Most c-stores that I stop at for other projects that have the Ty displays are poorly stocked right now.

That usually indicates that shipments have not been ordered or shipped, not that no one is visiting. Regardless, when stock comes in 95% of the time the store staff puts it out themselves. As for broken equipment, again it probably means replacement pieces were never sent.

@mjt9598 wrote:

The client must not want to pay enough to get the locations done. Just yesterday, I saw a round display rack in a c-store that was badly broken and poorly stocked. Most c-stores that I stop at for other projects that have the Ty displays are poorly stocked right now.

In visiting and talking with many of these stores, I have learned that they have absolutely no idea that they are now supposed to place an order. They are used to having reps come in and place the order for them. I have printed out some of the attachments that have been sent to us as to how to order, the phone number, etc. and have given the info to the stores. I have been in several stores in the past few months where the display was empty. I took the time to explain the process and they have placed orders.

As for the broken displays, well that is a joke. I have asked for replacement pieces or the guards many many times, never received anything. No communication on that part, no responses, nothing. That part is a mystery.

Remember it's not Customer Impact who let go all the Ty field reps who used to do what they are now asking us to do for $15 a visit.

It's not Customer Impacts fault Ty doesn't ship replacement parts for displays or tell the vendor how to order more stock.

Or is it, as part of the contract between Ty and CI?

One of my biggest pet peeves of being on the contractor end of this industry is the sometimes huge disconnect between what the people at the different companies think happens or might happen when a contractor is out on a job and what actually happens or might happen.
For instance...When I do a job for RQA, I keep EXTREMELY good track of my time. On one job many years ago I got an email from the PM scolding me for turning in a high amount of time for the project. I was feeling a bit salty, and the first line of my email reply was, "Have you actually ever done a recall job for RQA from start to finish and kept EXTREMELY good track of the time spent on the job?" On each job since then, I send the PM a screenshot of a spreadsheet that I created that documents my time/miles. I've had no objections since about my submissions.
I just hate it when the person that is supposed to be "in charge" of the project has very little knowledge about what actually happens or might happen when actually doing the project. I think that these people that work for the various companies should actually have to go out and do a route of locations. It might open their eyes!

there's one scheduler there, actually she's moved up the ladder and one of the main project managers...super stingy. just one in particular. tried to pre staff me and hit me with $12 max on big routes. always tells me she's "not allowed" to go higher, and will email me when she can... yea right, she never does lol. just full of it

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2025 03:29PM by jay225.

CI has gone downhill. When our expenses go up, their fees go down. They constantly want you to do more work without increasing the pay. They will usually give the work to the lowest bidder no matter what. Why is CI on here anyway? This is a mystery shopping forum and they are a merchandising / retail service company.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2025 12:47PM by Bob Stone.

@Bob Stone wrote:

CI has gone downhill. When our expenses go up, their fees go down. They constantly want you to do more work without increasing the pay. They will usually give the work to the lowest bidder no matter what. Then the Daniel guy comes on here and gives us all lip service to make it seem like he cares. Why is CI on here anyway? This is a mystery shopping forum and they are a merchandising / retail service company.

Because a lot of us do both. Also, there is a merchandising board here to.

@teacherguy wrote:

One of my biggest pet peeves of being on the contractor end of this industry is the sometimes huge disconnect between what the people at the different companies think happens or might happen when a contractor is out on a job and what actually happens or might happen.
For instance...When I do a job for RQA, I keep EXTREMELY good track of my time. On one job many years ago I got an email from the PM scolding me for turning in a high amount of time for the project. I was feeling a bit salty, and the first line of my email reply was, "Have you actually ever done a recall job for RQA from start to finish and kept EXTREMELY good track of the time spent on the job?" On each job since then, I send the PM a screenshot of a spreadsheet that I created that documents my time/miles. I've had no objections since about my submissions.
I just hate it when the person that is supposed to be "in charge" of the project has very little knowledge about what actually happens or might happen when actually doing the project. I think that these people that work for the various companies should actually have to go out and do a route of locations. It might open their eyes!

Teach-
A thousand percent about those who ask us to provide good service without enough time, and low pay, with no personal experience doing it.

I recently did an assignment for a high volume store that hadn’t been serviced in several months. It was an absolute disaster: filthy, disorganized, with damaged items on the floor, stock thrown out into the sales floor with packing still attached…scattered into different departments and every other competing vendor’s product mixed in.

It took the full allowed time just to find and sort the targeted product and the store was so understaffed they barely had enough people to keep it open and cash out customers. I stayed extra hours on my own time to attempt a reasonable sense of organization before I had to leave (I will ever do that again) and it was still embarrassing. I entered that all into the assignment notes.

I have good stamina and organizational skills and left drained after 50% more than a full day’s stress and physical work for an hour’s drive home, and realized I hadn’t even taken a beverage or meal break.

It looked better than I found it, but would have taken another 3 full visits to make right. I had reached out for guidance by phone, email, and text while onsite with no reply, documented everything, and also asked for feedback in my report. Nada.

Next round the hours for same situation were reduced 20%, as was the fee (which is formulaic, instead of realistic), and doesn’t address the primary concerns.

This isn’t just a CI issue. It’s across the board. Someone from CI commented that the schedulers and project managers are equally overwhelmed. Another IC commented about realistic perspective and contractual realism.

These issues are symptoms of something larger we are not responsible for negotiating.

Like you, I’m also left to wonder if anyone actually reads or values thoughtful seasoned input, extra care and effort invested in a depressing situation not of our creation.

I feel bad for the store staff, because they aren’t given enough hours to get benefits either, and the manager confided they’ve lost good people for the same concerns we’re expressing, but I/we are not to blame for their corporate drama, or whatever contract was agreed upon by the MSC and client…and we are not paid a penny for any additional care or over time to do it right.

We are paid a limited sum for a limited amount of time, period.

Teachers are some of the most under appreciated professionals in existence.

Unfortunately, many of the rest of us are too.

Another lesson in the wisdom of “detachment.”

I still care because it’s how I’m wired, and I hope we can all still maintain that where it matters most, and that’s the key phrase.

We’re “just gig workers.”

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2025 06:17PM by SBP.

@SBP wrote:

Like you, I’m also left to wonder if anyone actually reads or values thoughtful seasoned input, extra care and effort invested in a depressing situation not of our creation.

The CEO oF CI has an account on this forum, in the past he would at least come up and response to any questions related to his company. He has not even been on lately and address anything in regards to this beanie baby fiasco. That would tell you something

Daniel Price contributed to this thread on June 6th.

@wrosie wrote:

Daniel Price contributed to this thread on June 6th.

a LOT has happened since june for CI and it's beanie babies project