Hi all,

I wanted to summarize my experience with HS Brands. I want to first state that I did not take one of the requested photos, and I noted this in my survey after the shop. I was upfront and explained why that happened. I spent a considerable amount of time and money on this shop, so I was acting in the good faith that being honest and upfront would act in my favor, but it didn't. My experience with other MSCs is that they work with you if you provide context.

They returned the survey and asked for additional information. They did not ask about this photo. I responded promptly and showed where the guidelines covered their questions. It was then returned this morning and the contact I have had with them shows that it will not be paid for the reason of the missing photo. I was surprised that they requested additional information and did not note this issue at all. I have requested clarification as to why they requested additional information if they were going to deny the shop.

This required additional work on my part that was unnecessary and makes me wonder if they will use my information and feedback even though I will not be reimbursed. This is a red flag to me, and I just wanted to share my experience. I understand not being reimbursed because I forgot one photo, but it looks bad on them to ask for additional points if they were just going to deny it.

Hi if you missed a required photo then most likely they can't use it and you should not get paid. This happened to me. I forgot a photo of the bathroom of all things (thought it was odd request) and I was told that since the client requests these we can't use your survey or send it to the client or pay you.

With certain projects, if I forget a photo, I don't even bother submitting it because I know from experience it will be rejected. In this case, they asked for other details. Maybe the editor was trying to get to shop approved without the photo, and wanted everything else to check out, but someone up the chain said no.

I see how this would be frustrating. We all know shops may be rejected when we forget to perform part of it, but having to deal with follow-up questions before having it rejected is silly.

That said, I imagine it is more likely lack of communication, disorganization or incompetence that caused this, rather than a plan to use your visit and pocket your pay.

Perhaps the editor jumped the gun and sent the revision request before noticing a picture was missing, or they intended to ask about it along with the other issue and mistakenly left it out. Who knows.

HS Brands has a couple of issues, mainly the extremely long pay schedule, but I've never had any problems with them.

I am wondering what caused you not to get the requested photo. What did you tell them as to why you didn't get it? That would help me understand their decision or not.

I'm not sure how much information is okay to disclose. It was my own fault for not getting the picture. I simply forgot and I understand that I'm responsible for performing the job and following the guidelines. I did get a picture, but it was too late and did not show what it was supposed to capture. I provided the reasons (got distracted during the shop with the staff). My issue is them following up for more information on other things, which required more time and effort, to then totally reject the shop.

If you did not get the required photo, then you did not complete the assignment, you did not get pay. Simply as that. What's there to complain about.

This is the issue with our education system and that stupid "Participation trophy" where it make people thinks that as long as you put in "some effort" you should be rewarded even if it is a half ass job. The @#$%& reality is you would only get reward when you complete your job 100%.

Welcome to the real world.

I suspect they asked for more information in an attempt to persuade the client to accept the shop with the error. If you are supposed to, for example, take a photo of your food untouched? And then you took the photo after you started eating? That's going to be totally unusable for a client evaluating the visual appeal, portion sizes, etc. for consistency. Sure, they could have rejected it out of hand. But they gave an opportunity to explain in case, IDK, maybe the steak was cut because the server stood watching to be sure the cook was correct? That might be a reason the client would accept for the food not appearing as served? But, whatever happened was not a good enough reason from the client's POV. I would not presume HS is at all to blame, here, it may be they tried very hard to make it work.

If you read the post and comment, I stated I was at fault. What is wrong here is that they asked additional work, did not ask about the issue related to why it was going to be rejected, and then rejected it. If they had just rejected it outright, then sure it would suck, but at least they wouldn't be requiring more of my time to just reject it.

In the 20 yrs. I have been contracted with this company, the only negative comment I recall ever reading on any forum, concerned their payment times. As that was never an issue with me, I have continued our relationship. I agree with the possibility they were attempting to save the job. but I also understand the logical conclusion of the OP.

Posting a red flag warning because the editor asked questions is unfair. They gave it some of their time, there had to be a reason. But, you seem to want people to agree that they stole from you or at least jerked you around which is absurd. Maybe you should have abandoned the shop the moment you realized you had missed an essential element rather than submitting it and wasting the editor's time reviewing that report? They could, after all, make the same complaint about you wasting their time.

I get what you're saying. The missing photo meant you weren't getting paid, so why did they ask you to put more time/effort into the shop.

They could have made it clear if they were attempting to get the shop approved when they asked for more work.

Anyway, I've certainly missed payment due to a missed photo. Life.

Here's the deal:

Ipsos takes too long to edit your shops.
Sentry made you answer all of the questions and you don't like how they pay
HS Brands denied your shop after making you edit it.

Summary: it's you, not them.

@couponanimaniac wrote:

Hi all,

I wanted to summarize my experience with HS Brands. I want to first state that I did not take one of the requested photos, and I noted this in my survey after the shop. I was upfront and explained why that happened. I spent a considerable amount of time and money on this shop, so I was acting in the good faith that being honest and upfront would act in my favor, but it didn't. My experience with other MSCs is that they work with you if you provide context.

They returned the survey and asked for additional information. They did not ask about this photo. I responded promptly and showed where the guidelines covered their questions. It was then returned this morning and the contact I have had with them shows that it will not be paid for the reason of the missing photo. I was surprised that they requested additional information and did not note this issue at all. I have requested clarification as to why they requested additional information if they were going to deny the shop.

This required additional work on my part that was unnecessary and makes me wonder if they will use my information and feedback even though I will not be reimbursed. This is a red flag to me, and I just wanted to share my experience. I understand not being reimbursed because I forgot one photo, but it looks bad on them to ask for additional points if they were just going to deny it.

_________________________________________

The entitlement in this post.

You did not follow instructions, no matter the reasoning you stated. If it is required, it will be rejected.

Ive had this happen, and worse. We have no recourse as shoppers. It's just the way it is. Thats the deal with this work. It's especially frustrating when editors are anonymous. Names are never attached.
to their emails or anything else. We can take it or leave it.
I have been allowed to go back to the shop and take the picture, before. I don't understand how that helps them, if it's verifying the location, but it would help them if they wanted to see the grounds, etc.

I've never performed a shop for HS Brands due to their horrible payment schedule.

@whosear

Their casino shops can be worth it. The dining shops, I am willing to pass on because I can do other dining shops. But the casino shops is something mostly unique to them and I have done some and enjoyed them.

I do agree their non-Nevada payment schedule is one of the worst when compared to other MSC.

Not the type of red flag originally being discussed but ... They have a certain gas brand posted on both Presto and their Sassie site - same locations. The difference? After months on the job board they are now bonused but only on the Sassie site. Presto is still at base pay. Choose carefully.

My suggestion for the future @couponanimaniac and anyone else in this situation would be to contact the scheduler right away (or support email if there is one) and let them know you missed a requirement and ask what can be done, or if it absolutely cannot be accepted without the picture.

As a scheduler I know that some clients request photos as an additional feature but it’s not the primary reason for the evaluation so they might be more lenient whereas other clients require specific photos or they won’t accept it.

Not only would this have saved you from spending the effort on your report for no reason, but would have also saved the editor time, the company money and given the scheduler a chance to rebook the shop more quickly since they would need it to be completed. If you emailed on the same day you might have even been given permission to go back and take the picture (assuming it wasn’t a consumable item that no longer existed).

Good info for all of us, Kate. Thank you for joining the conversation and sharing what you know. Those of us who have ever only been shoppers in this industry often don't know much of what goes on behind the scenes.

Coupon Maniac, I'm sorry for your frustration about the editor asking for additional information. I certainly can't speak to this exact situation but I can tell you that if a shop is submitted to the client we 100% pay shoppers. In many instances a shop can't be submitted to a client and we pay the shopper anyways and eat the cost ourselves when a picture or other key info is missing. We will typically try to work with the shopper and the client to see if we can get the client to accept the shop, but unfortunately there are times where missing information means the client does not want the shop or wants it re-shopped. I appreciate all the feedback on pay, and I absolutely acknowledge that we have struggled in the past with our pay turnaround, but for the past six months, we have been paying all shops in 35 days and under from when they are finalized and we plan to continue with this, and we'll do our best to pay quicker in the Future.

On Tues. 11/25, on the first occasion ever, I flubbed 2 shops, with both being assigned by HS Brands. #1 involved me forgetting a single pic out of 10. Before filling out the report, I contacted the scheduler and was offered a re-shop, I declined due to distance; it would have been a 126 ml. round trip. #2 was a situation where I could not, due to the guidelines restricting from the property, provide what the job required; I had to stand approx. 80 to 100 feet away. For that work, it was 2 pics. A re-shop would have been an 87 ml. round. Both failures were on me.

What I learned from this experience, was that I should avoid shops requiring more than a pic of the receipt/business card and an exterior. My strengths are dependability and no aversion to narrative.

Edited on 12/04--This afternoon I received a letter stating shop #2 had been accepted. I was quite pleasantly surprised, as I had no hope of such a decision. Thank you HS Brands AKA Service Sleuth.

yeah, that sucks TerminatorBob. It's painful when you miss a little thing like that. Those shops I have goofed (while minimal) have been seared into my memory. Now I take EXTRA pictures because too many never hurt. I even will write in the narrative that i have pictures they did not ask for that might be helpful. I like shopmetrics because it seems that you can upload quite a few things. With Sassie, there has to be an upload for each picture and most companies do not put extra uploads in for anything extra.

@Dutch55 wrote:

Coupon Maniac, I'm sorry for your frustration about the editor asking for additional information. I certainly can't speak to this exact situation but I can tell you that if a shop is submitted to the client we 100% pay shoppers. In many instances a shop can't be submitted to a client and we pay the shopper anyways and eat the cost ourselves when a picture or other key info is missing. We will typically try to work with the shopper and the client to see if we can get the client to accept the shop, but unfortunately there are times where missing information means the client does not want the shop or wants it re-shopped. I appreciate all the feedback on pay, and I absolutely acknowledge that we have struggled in the past with our pay turnaround, but for the past six months, we have been paying all shops in 35 days and under from when they are finalized and we plan to continue with this, and we'll do our best to pay quicker in the Future.

I wanted to say that you were full of malarkey, but I checked and ALL of my non-NV shops were paid in under 38 days. I hadn't noticed.

Well done!

I’ve done quite a bit of work for HSB and never had a problem with payment from them.

Who has not missed a picture and had to decide go back, eat it, or beg scheduler to help.

You had to put a pic in to get it to submit that you knew was wrong. You thought they missed it and (tried to) fix whatever else they said you messed up.

Then they found it and you are mad. The only person to be mad at is the photographer.

Sure would be nice to know what picture was missed and what type of picture you put in place of it.

We have all messed up on a shop at some point in time. I've been doing this for 25 yrs and am very experienced and I STILL will occassionally mess something up. Just forget about it and be more vigilant next time.....lesson learned.

Yup... every now and then we have to eat one because of a screw-up that cannot be fixed.

I've certainly had a couple of handfuls of occasions where I have missed getting photos on shops that I've done regularly. Luckily I've been able to fix most of them by manipulating other photos that I have. That's one of the reasons I take duplicates and multiple angles just to CMA.

Most recent one for me is after hundreds of apartment shops over the years, I had a leasing agent refuse to deal with me because they were the only employee on site on Thanksgiving Eve.

I was so non-plussed I forgot to ask for their name even after going back in to ask for a card.

Even though it would have been easy to verify the employee in question, the report requires a name. As I was unable to provide it, my report was rejected. Luckily I did another one correctly on the same route so the trip was not a waste.

Oh yes, sometimes the weirdest things can just turn your brain into mush. A few years ago when Exxon shops required photos of every pump, the employee threw me for a loop when he commented that he thought "old people like me" didn't work. Okay, he was of a different culture, and he said it innocently not meaning an insult, but still. I didn't think I appeared to be OLD..OLD. I was so hung up on it, that I left without taking a picture of any pumps..not even one. I assume I returned to do it over, I truly don't remember, but I do remember his comment.