Worst Schedulers/Editors to work with, which ones are yours?

I’ve been mystery shopping for 12+ years. I’ve even discussed with my other fellow mystery shopper colleagues who I personally know, that there are some schedulers who are nice, while others are just a pain in the neck to work with and make you feel like they’re doing you a favor. They get on your case when you try to clarify a misunderstanding, they just delete you, or dismiss you. As I’ve been told by a handful of fellow colleagues. The worst ones are:
1) Victoria Estabrooks
2) Theresa Wilson
3) Ivan Ognjanovich
4) Joe Sidders
5) Ashley Cantrell
6) Regina Byalkina
The ones who are a joy to work with:
1) Dawn Hunt
2) Collyn Duval
3) Matt Liasse
4) Breanna Rivera
5) Jen Slyther (no longer works)
6) Kendra Kane
7) Jeff Hintz
8) Kevin Bell
9) Kelly Fosdick
10) Carlos de Jesus

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2025 05:22AM by mintaj33.

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I only recognized 3 names,

1-Dawn Hunt--I completely agree. At least 20 yrs. and counting.
2-Matt Liasse--Never a problem.
3-Joe Sidders--No problems on my end.
I concur re:Ellis and its current owner GH. Any excuse to decline and escalate.

Also appreciate your faves, plus Collyn Duvall.

I have other faves at Ellis’ competitor MSCs that actually appreciate clarifying questions, good communication and 10/10 quality work.

Could inspire concerns about the mental health of those who sabotage good IC’s…or a covert agenda of giving work to thier friends instead for the referral bonus.
mintaj33, it sounds like you don't have very many MSC or projects you can work on anymore. Sounds like you are blocked from most of them. I hate that for you! I work with a lot of these people mentioned, and I've never had a problem with any of them.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.
Surprise everyone's favorite hasn't been mentioned yet. There are threads only about her

I don't really have any "issues" with any particular schedulers even the ones quite a few people rail on. I do have my favorites like Marie Spinello from RBG. Briana Baca at Curinos is the best though. I am happy with Karen Holland and Billy C from Ipsos.
I concur. I don't have any "issues" with any particular schedulers either. But I love the moaning over schedulers and editors when instructions are not followed, understood or misconstrued. "It's them, not me complex."
If this is an indication of how you communicate ...
@ArkLaMissshopping You’d be surprised, I have quite plenty, here in California there’s a great MS market. I’m blessed. I don’t have to shop across multiple states. Unless it’s a phone shop, but I conduct them because I desire to, not due to a lack of shops. I’ve been lucky to evaluate my favorite places, new places I always wanted to try, even amusement parks. I was evaluating Disneyland with an MSC whose schedulers are kind.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2025 11:16PM by mintaj33.
@maverick1 I have to say you’re right in the latter. Because it’s truly “them,”-at least in my case. I’ve been an IC since 2013 and have held numerous contracts with several companies. One time, a scheduler, Ryan Pinter, emailed me saying my two ihop shops were going to be rejected because “I didn’t follow the guidelines .” When in reality, he didn’t understand the guidelines and I had to explain them to him myself!! He ended up apologizing and I was reimbursed/paid. I didn’t mention him in my post because I don’t have nothing against him despite that mistake. Another time when I evaluated a movie theatre, the guidelines stated “purchase AT LEAST a small popcorn” as I clearly understood the guidelines, I knew not to order something less than a small popcorn , and ordered nachos instead. The editor emailed me asking me why I did not order the small popcorn. I responded that the guidelines didn’t not state “must buy small popcorn” but instead “buy at least.” Guess what? The editor couldn’t argue with that and I was reimbursed. They ended up changing the guidelines to “Must order a small popcorn!” Because they were giving the wrong message!!! Hahaha!

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2025 11:11PM by mintaj33.
@mystery2me Nope! In my MS reports and communications I make sure I communicate in a professional and formal tone.
@mintaj33 wrote:

@maverick1 I have to say you’re right in the latter. Because it’s truly “them”, at least in my case. I’ve been an IC since 2013 and have held numerous contracts with several companies. One time, a scheduler, Ryan Pinter, emailed me saying my two ihop shops were going to be rejected because “I didn’t follow the guidelines .” When in reality, he didn’t understand the guidelines and I had to explain them to him myself!! He ended up apologizing and I was reimbursed/paid. I didn’t mention him in my post because I don’t have nothing against him despite that mistake. Another time when I evaluated a movie theatre, the guidelines stated “purchase AT LEAST a small popcorn” as I clearly understood the guidelines, I knew not to order something less than a small popcorn , and ordered nachos instead. The editor emailed me asking me why I did not order the small popcorn. I responded that the guidelines didn’t not state “must buy small popcorn” but instead “buy at least.” Guess what? The editor couldn’t argue with that and I was reimbursed. They ended up changing the guidelines to “Must order a small popcorn!” Because they were giving the wrong message!!! Hahaha!

I'm always right. smiling smiley

"Well, I thought I was wrong once, but I found out I was mistaken." ROFL
@maverick1 Yeah you’re right but not in the way you wanted to. Hahaha Because it was truly them and not me!!! You’re actually supporting my argument, because it’s true and I was RIGHT!

And about that quote,
I gotta say that you’re right: YOU WERE WRONG!!! Hahaha

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2025 11:26PM by mintaj33.
I have also stumbled into situations of nepotism. I understand people like to work with those they’ve minded with but why advertise an assignment if you aren’t really offering it ?
Ashley Cantrell? She's easy to work with and flexible. How have six schedulers already banned you from their projects or platforms?
No, I am not banned by these 6 schedulers. Only by one. I have friends in the MS field and these 6 are the ones they most complain about. Just because you find her easy to work with, doesn’t mean she’ll be nice to everyone. #nepostism #playsfavorites. Besides, sometimes they ban you simply because they don’t want you getting all the “self-assign” shops and let others have them because you’ve been snatching them all.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2025 03:09AM by mintaj33.
Nepotism? I don't know the woman. Most of the shops are self-assign. Play favorites? If I were a scheduler and shoppers had to apply for my shops, I would prioritize their rating, reliability, and past interactions, if there wasn't a rotation restriction already set in place.

What exactly is taking place between these exchanges between you and the scheduler on a repeated basis, where the scheduler drops your shop after?
@PBS Look, as aforesaid, I’m not only talking about myself, but for other MS’s and their experiences as well. I’ll say it again, just because you don’t know the woman and because if you were a scheduler, doesn’t mean all other schedulers work the same way you do. It’s a real nasty world out there no matter how bad you want to believe it’s all flowers and rainbows. Don’t believe me? Just ask SBP who shared their two cents. Other mystery shoppers can tell you the same. I even once asked a scheduler who called me to ask me to do a shop, why do shoppers get removed from projects if they’re doing good and there were no complaints. She told me that she was not sure, that each scheduler works differently, so go figure! It’s like Cirrus Marketing, you do a good job and they still won’t pay you! Even MSPA kicked them out of the association for being such crooks!
Alright, I ask because I've only worked with three of the six you listed and haven't had any issues. On that same note, I haven't needed to ask them for clarification on the shops, so maybe that's where things start to differ.
@PBS You see? You’ve only worked with 3! You’re new here, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re still green to mystery shopping. Yet here you are blabbing. Until you finally admit that you haven’t worked with all of them. So you can’t really say much really! There is nothing wrong in asking for clarifications. Many other schedulers such as Jennifer Barrick state to not to hesitate if any questions raise or clarification is needed. As you being new here, stick around and you’ll run into a lot of other IC’s who share the same issues about them reaching out to schedulers to just end up being dissed off, dismissed and then the schedulers just wash their hands and deactivate them.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2025 03:42AM by mintaj33.
I can get a hunch from your replies as to why the scheduler wouldn't want to further assign you shops. If a scheduler dropped you for asking questions, which isn't the most professional behavior, I'd like to know what types of questions you are asking. If it's something already clearly stated or understood by the greenest shopper, I'd have to question your ability to perform the shop. That's between you and the scheduler. I've lost interest now.
@PBS First of all, you haven’t even worked with half of the schedulers. Second, I’m glad you’ve lost interest and don’t give a “fig” if you were ever interested. Third, I’m am just replying to your silly and narrow-minded responses. Fourth, when it comes to reports and communication with the schedulers, I always use a professional and formal tone. Fifth, it is important to ask questions, that is why many shoppers get their shops rejected for being hesitant to ask questions. There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking questions. Sixth, the questions I would ask were based on unexpected situations that would occur with the employees, during the shop performance related to the scenarios given to me in the assignments. Or when there was a specific someone to be shopped. Sometimes the scheduler would say “why didn’t you ask me before?” When in reality I did and they either did not see the email. Seventh, you’re just turning tables, and by turning the table, doesn’t make you right and it doesn’t make me wrong. From YOUR responses I can see you like to judge, and assume. I mean come on! You even admitted that you’ve only worked with half of the schedulers. Now carry on.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2025 04:53AM by mintaj33.
Haha, I'm glad it took the moderator to intervene by asking you to revise your original post, to remove the personal insults. Not that hard to conduct yourself professionaly now, is it?
Haha I’m still professional regardless of what you say. You’re still green to mystery shopping, you’re still narrow-minded, and you still haven’t worked with the same amount of schedulers I’ve worked with.
Yes, you're entitled to back-track and express your opinion of yourself to me. I don't have the need to clarify and revise my comments.
and that’s why all your comments are narrow-minded, senseless and are just plain assumptions.
@PBS just how you are expressing your wrongful opinion about me. You were assuming that I was asking questions about guidelines “that even the greenest shopper wound know.” When it wasn’t even that. Not to mention you haven’t even worked with half of the schedulers. I just love how you’re complaining about me expressing my so-called “opinions of you” when you upright expressed your opinions about me in the beginning. I just gave you some of your own medicine and you didn’t like it hahaha otherwise you wouldn’t be responding the way you are. Hehehe
Your double-post further proves my point. Just let it go. I'm entitled to my opinion of your interactions with the schedulers, when no furher details were provided in the original post, that has now been edited.

Yes, you can state you'e a professional. My experiences differ from yours. At this point, I'm not sure what more you want. To agree that you're a professional? I'm entitled to my opinion of you. You're entitled to your opinion of me.
Hahaha I just love how hard you are trying to “prove” your wrongful point by turning the tables and you just can’t, it’s funny and cute how hard you try. You respond to my post, then you admit you’ve only worked with half of the schedulers. You’re new to this forum, at least I’ve been here in for two years. You post your wrongful opinion about me, I correct you and tell you you’re wrong. You say you’re no longer interested, yet here you are responding saying “to let it go.” It’s hilarious.
For some reason, you equate length of tenure to greenness and experience. Out of curiousity, I read some of your posts.

You posted about your shop being rejected by Jennifer Barrick two years ago. Then, you returned two days ago about being deactivated. So you all of that makes you a whole lot more experienced than a new forum member. Yeah, I don't have the need to express how I highly I think of myself.
Aha! So now you’re going through my stuff, yeah I can see why you’re doing that: because you’re running out of excuses to reply lmao!!! As for that shop, it was reinstated and I ended up getting paid for it. I contacted the MSC and Jennifer Barrick had to reinstate it. Once again, you are wrong. The deactivated account was another MSC, Ellis. Which many others do complain about as well. There you go again, assuming things. Now that you came across my 2-year post about Barrick, read what other shoppers expressed about her and their experiences, and quit assuming things. You’re just as green since you’ve haven’t worked with half of the number of scheduler I’ve worked with (many which I enjoy working with). So you don’t really know what it’s like, and you know it well, you’ve even admitted it in the previous posts. I am proud to say I am a veteran, many schedulers call me because they see I’ve worked on previous projects and they aske me if I can conduct them again due to my expertise. Oh! and despite the fact that I had that issue with Ms. Barrick, I still enjoy working with her, she’s not in the bad list of names.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2025 06:31AM by mintaj33.
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