How often have you found that schedulers and editors don't know what's in their company's own guidelines for a particular job?

I have a case in which the guidelines say one thing, and the report says a similar thing, but the wordings have slightly different meanings. I wrote asking for clarification and received what I perceived to be a somewhat snippy response (just restating the report question). So when I wrote back and quoted the guidelines against the report, I did get clarification.

Why not just make sure the guideline and report wording match?

I have run into this situation. I think - and someone correct me if I am wrong - the report will trump the guidelines. This is why they almost always tell you to review the guidelines AND the report before completing a shop. This way if there is a discrepancy, you can get it ironed out beforehand, or you can ensure you get whatever information or photos needed that are not mentioned in the guidelines.

Your point is well taken. They should be familiar with things. Honestly though, I think the industry is just like any other. There is a shortage of competent workers, and the competent workers companies do have are overworked and likely have to pick up the slack of people that don't do their jobs.

I just did a Red Lobster shop where they accepted it but wrote a comment that next time I need to order an entree off of the required list. I had ordered the Shrimp Your Way as one of the entrees... Obviously that editor didnt even know their own list.

The thing that kind of set me off is that the scheduler told me to review the shop materials carefully before going to do the shop. Um, that's exactly what I did and how I found the discrepancy! I always read both the guidelines and the report and always ask for clarification if something is ambiguous (which this was) or contradictory.

I kind of felt like I was being spoken to as if I were a child. Not a professional who's been doing this for years and who can read!

It's easier to update just the report. Updating the guidelines takes more time because it oftem means editing a pdf or whatever and then uploading it, maybe changing links, etc. Not saying that's how it should be, just that it's the reality. Over time I've learned to use what's on the form.

And many if not most schedulers have just one job - to schedule - and are not too familar with the shop form and guidelines. That falls to an entirely different team. It varies by MSC.

@BirdyC wrote:

I kind of felt like I was being spoken to as if I were a child. Not a professional who's been doing this for years and who can read!

I do totally get that sentiment. I've felt that way a few times from different ones. I try very hard, however, to give them the benefit of doubt. Depending on the number of shops and clients they schedule, they might be dealing with hundreds of shoppers, maybe even into the thousands when you combine everything. In the mix of those shoppers, you have people who can't read or always want their hand to be held at every step. I know that is not at all your situation. I'm trying to bring in the view from the scheduler (not just the one who you are speaking about, but all of them generally). From the scheduler's point of view, with all they have going on, a short answer like citing the question from the report, could be them saying, "Get the information for the question in the report, not what the guidelines say." I do understand how it comes across as a non-answer answer.

This is not me going to bat for the particular scheduler. I don't know him or her. They might a complete you know what. That said, in my earlier career, I worked in a very high demanding job. I averaged over 100 e-mails per day. Responding to e-mails was not the main part of my job (i.e. I wasn't a secretary), but it was one of the duties. Oftentimes my answers were short and to the point. Sometimes someone who did not know me personally would take offense. My intention was never to be rude, I just simply did not have time to go into great detail and explain things. If I did, that's all I would do, and I would not get my main duties done. In the case at hand, the scheduler's main duty is to schedule shops. As the previous poster said, there may more duties depending on the MSC or their client load at the time.

We've all encountered situations where the guidelines and the form contradict each other to varying degrees. I almost always send an email for clarification because if I get it wrong, I have something to back up why I did it that way.

I think the final call between "guidelines vs. shop form" depends entirely on the PERSON you ask because even at the same MSC, you're likely to get different answers.

When the guidelines for Sonic were updated earlier this year, the MSC removed many of the entrees from the guidelines. The All American Dog and the Foot Long Chili Cheese Coney were there, but they took out the Chili Cheese Coney, which was my go-to. It still showed up in the form, though, so I emailed the email address we all know and asked which was correct, the form or the guidelines. I was told that the guidelines listed the approved entrees, and the project manager would be notified (assumingly to have the form corrected.)

The guidelines and form remained that way until fairly recently, when the guidelines were updated, and my beloved Chili Cheese Coney was once again an "approved" entree. (Apparently, it was never unapproved because others have said they submitted shops with it and were approved.)

It's always a case of the left hand not knowing (or caring) what the right is doing. Getting their act together would reduce the number of emails they receive asking the same questions.

It's too bad they don't hire us to proofread their guidelines and forms. Nobody can spot errors and inconsistencies like a mystery shopper.

Edited to add: And then there's this, where the guidelines say one thing, but the form says another. -sighs- So long, little coney that could.
[www.mysteryshopforum.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2023 07:15AM by drdoggie00.

With all that being said, I feel like I've seen guidelines in the past that specifically mention they supersede any other documents, which would seemingly include the shop form. If that's the case, that's what I consider to be the "final answer."

@drdoggie00 wrote:

With all that being said, I feel like I've seen guidelines in the past that specifically mention they supersede any other documents, which would seemingly include the shop form. If that's the case, that's what I consider to be the "final answer."

And the person I contacted yesterday said the report form supersedes the guidelines!

I've had dozens of cases in the past where I've had to ask for clarification when guidelines and report either are completely contradictory or ambiguous at best. Sometimes my question gets answered the first time, and other times I might have to go through numerous rounds of back and forth to get clarification. This was the first time in quite a while that I've had to do that, but what I was most annoyed about was the scheduler's "tone."

@ServiceAward wrote:

Oftentimes my answers were short and to the point. Sometimes someone who did not know me personally would take offense. My intention was never to be rude, I just simply did not have time to go into great detail and explain things.

I'm fine with short and to the point. I'm not fine with a non-answer, especially since I explained why I was asking the question. I get it about high-stress, high-volume jobs. My other profession was constantly deadline-oriented and extremely stressful, which is why I only do it part-time now. But, in the end, it only wastes time to not have taken that few extra seconds to write, "Do not follow the guidelines" at the end of the message. *That* would have been clear, and I would not have needed to write a second time. I would have known that she understood the question and was specifically addressing it, not giving me some canned response (which is what I think some schedulers do when you ask a question).

Sometimes what we think will save time only ends up wasting it. A bit more explanation upfront can save time because there's no need for follow-up on anybody's part.

@dafizisblue wrote:

I just did a Red Lobster shop where they accepted it but wrote a comment that next time I need to order an entree off of the required list. I had ordered the Shrimp Your Way as one of the entrees... Obviously that editor didnt even know their own list.

I know it’s off topic and everything but wanted to let anyone who may be interested know....

Casper Wyoming has a Red Lobster shop with a $200 bonus right now.

One time I received a mass email about a dine in restaurant shop. In the mass email it said to order a drink (Soft drink, tea) and any meal of my choice.

The guidelines, inside the report that you fill out, said that one of the drinks must be alcohol . I can get other drinks (Other than water) if I wanted to.

I e-mail the scheduler and they said that I must order alcohol.

I still receive emails once in a while for this shop and it still says in the mass e-mail " Purchase any drink (No mention of alcohol) and any meal of my choice.

@metro25782 wrote:

@dafizisblue wrote:

I just did a Red Lobster shop where they accepted it but wrote a comment that next time I need to order an entree off of the required list. I had ordered the Shrimp Your Way as one of the entrees... Obviously that editor didnt even know their own list.

I know it’s off topic and everything but wanted to let anyone who may be interested know....

Casper Wyoming has a Red Lobster shop with a $200 bonus right now.

Holy macaroni, I just checked and you are right. I'm in the Carolinas dammit, Star Trek-style transporters MUST be invented ...

To have a bonus like that, the location must not have been shopped since Obama was president.

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

One time I received a mass email about a dine in restaurant shop. In the mass email it said to order a drink (Soft drink, tea) and any meal of my choice.

The guidelines, inside the report that you fill out, said that one of the drinks must be alcohol . I can get other drinks (Other than water) if I wanted to.

I e-mail the scheduler and they said that I must order alcohol.

I still receive emails once in a while for this shop and it still says in the mass e-mail " Purchase any drink (No mention of alcohol) and any meal of my choice.

Mellow Mushroom?

@KokoBWare wrote:

@metro25782 wrote:

@dafizisblue wrote:

I just did a Red Lobster shop where they accepted it but wrote a comment that next time I need to order an entree off of the required list. I had ordered the Shrimp Your Way as one of the entrees... Obviously that editor didnt even know their own list.

I know it’s off topic and everything but wanted to let anyone who may be interested know....

Casper Wyoming has a Red Lobster shop with a $200 bonus right now.

Holy macaroni, I just checked and you are right. I'm in the Carolinas dammit, Star Trek-style transporters MUST be invented ...

To have a bonus like that, the location must not have been shopped since Obama was president.

I smell a road trip!

@mystery2me wrote:

And many if not most schedulers have just one job - to schedule - and are not too familar with the shop form and guidelines. That falls to an entirely different team. It varies by MSC.

I do realize that, but often the scheduler is the only point of contact one has until after the shop is done. Then you get the editor's name (maybe). If the scheduler can't answer the question, we should be referred to the project manager or whoever can answer the question. In my experience, sometimes we are, and sometimes we're not!

I had the same issue - the editor claimed that I hadn't ordered an entree off the list when actually BOTH of the entrees I ordered were from the approved list.

@dafizisblue wrote:

I just did a Red Lobster shop where they accepted it but wrote a comment that next time I need to order an entree off of the required list. I had ordered the Shrimp Your Way as one of the entrees... Obviously that editor didnt even know their own list.

@mjt9598 wrote:

I had the same issue - the editor claimed that I hadn't ordered an entree off the list when actually BOTH of the entrees I ordered were from the approved list.

You'd think editors would know enough to actually read the guidelines and understand them! Being overworked and in a hurry is not an excuse.

Most of the time when I ask for clarification I don't get it, they never answer the SPECIFIC question I ask. So I just do my best and usually it works out.

@nellybean212 wrote:

Most of the time when I ask for clarification I don't get it, they never answer the SPECIFIC question I ask. So I just do my best and usually it works out.

This. It's often like pulling teeth to get a specific answer to your specific question.

Posted in wrong thread!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2023 05:43PM by BirdyC.

Did the shop, and to be on the safe side, I did a CMA and noted even the item that the MSC told me I didn't need to note. Fortunately, I didn't need to use that observation, only the one I was supposed to follow. I had another issue with the shop regarding how they tell you to take the photos. So I took two different ones and sent them both in. Shop was approved with no questions or negative comments. Whew. It was a small fee, big reimbursement shop, so I wasn't eager to be out the money.

@KokoBWare wrote:

@metro25782 wrote:

@dafizisblue wrote:

I just did a Red Lobster shop where they accepted it but wrote a comment that next time I need to order an entree off of the required list. I had ordered the Shrimp Your Way as one of the entrees... Obviously that editor didnt even know their own list.

I know it’s off topic and everything but wanted to let anyone who may be interested know....

Casper Wyoming has a Red Lobster shop with a $200 bonus right now.

Holy macaroni, I just checked and you are right. I'm in the Carolinas dammit, Star Trek-style transporters MUST be invented ...

To have a bonus like that, the location must not have been shopped since Obama was president.

nope it was the carter administration.