LMK if I'm crazy here. I scheduled a mall pizza place on Wednesday for completion today. I was going to be in the area of the mall, and it seemed like an OK free lunch. I did the shop, then came home to enter the details, and noticed I can't save it. I look and now it says it must be completed 9/1-9/6. It cannot be entered until 9/1. I could SWEAR I scheduled it for completion for today. Is it possible the date changed after I scheduled it? Or is it more likely I goofed on the original date? Now my options are to drive an hour each way to the mall, and be out $15 to redo the shop on Sunday or Monday (and I need to contact the scheduler to confirm Labor day is OK), or complain to the scheduler that I did the shop on the day I agreed to and to see what they say. Has this happened to anyone else this week? What would you do? Cancel the shop? Go eat some more pizza and be out time and money? TIA!

Initially, I don't see the harm in confirming with the scheduler. If you do reach out, it's better to do it sooner than later. I'm not sure which MSC and the platform, but did you get a confirmation email with the shop date? You can use that to support your understanding.

@Tiffany0921 wrote:

I was going to be in the area of the mall, and it seemed like an OK free lunch.

On another note, don't use the word FREE around shopperbob. He's going to have a cow.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2024 10:57PM by Okie.

The email confirmation also says 9/1-9/6, that's why I feel like I'm crazy. I have nothing but my memory and my calendar notes saying 8/30.

If the scheduler is a person with contact information (and doesn't have a bad reputation that you know of), you could contact them, letting them know. But I'm guessing the email confirmation is pretty concrete.

Did the shop description maybe reference a different date? From my experience, some schedulers overlook details, and don't update everything needed. If you can't find anything to point to, it might be difficult to plead your case.

If nothing else, enjoy and savor the pizza! It'll have to be a lesson to learn from for future shops. In terms of re-shopping, I don't know what I would do. - Well, if the shop pay is equal to what the pizza costs, you could justify it as breaking even. Not factoring in the re-shop travel, time, headache.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2024 11:28PM by Okie.

If it's the mall and airport pizza place, it seems like they are hard to find shoppers. Contact the scheduler, they might like that you completed the shop this month versus next.

If it's the shop I'm thinking it is the scheduler is reasonable.

Thanks, all, I don't have anything to help plead my case. I also don't have a scheduler name, but I sent an email to the general mailbox, and when I got an out of office reply I sent one from the job board. I'll update. And if I have to, I'll get pizza on Sunday. I do dozens of shops with no issue, but always seem to have some sort of hiccup with this brand. I was also interested if you all had this happen; if it's a rarity, but happens.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2024 11:53PM by Tiffany0921.

Just submit the the shop if the website will allow you to and see if it's accepted.

You have nothing to loose and it's a holiday weekend

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2024 12:00AM by wrosie.

The OP noted that the report can not be saved (and therefore it can not be submitted) until September 1st. My experience with Sassie (this sounds like Sassie to me) is that if you wait until September 1st, you will not be able to select an August date.

@wrosie wrote:

Just submit the the shop if the website will allow you to and see if it's accepted.

When I overbooked shops earlier in the summer, I got some dates, locations, ordering methods mixed up, and even completely forgot about one shop. It was a result of moving too fast and overlooking/skimming through the details. This was the most mistakes I ever made in a short period of time. But by that same token, it was the most shops and money I ever made in a short period of time from MS, with heavy time utilization, efficiency, and ROI.

Not entirely the same, but I had one rare instance where a shop got cancelled on my way to it. I saw the email on my phone. But the email had the wrong location. I was scratching my head on this one, because I was trying to reconcile what went wrong.

Well it turned out, I had two shops scheduled. On the surface, both locations had the same location name. But I didn't notice this at the time of assignment, because if you drill down, each location has a different and correct street address. On the email notification, I'm only seeing the "on-the-surface" location name. I didn't think to dig into it while driving.

Long story short, it took a lot of pleading, back-and-forth, and compromise to get it resolved. But being able to point to screenshots of emails and shop descriptions supported my case. CYA!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2024 12:07AM by Okie.

I have found myself in a similar situation a time or two. I schedule a shop for the 4th of the month. I follow that with scheduling 5 shops for the 8th of the month. By then, in my mind, all I am thinking about is the 8th. The 4th comes and goes, and naturally the shop drops without me realizing it. I know some platforms send an e-mail. Even if they do, chances are I won't see it. I head out on the 8th and complete 6 shops. When I log in to report the shop that I had schedule for the 4th, I see the shop is gone. I panic, check the confirmation e-mail, then realize my mistake. Oops.

I hope they will take the work you did. Before you drive all the way back to redo it, I would probably enter it on September 1st, then note somewhere in the report what happened. Maybe they go ahead and accept it!

Just to update, they did get back to me yesterday. They just said it can't be completed until 9/1, and to let them know if I was going to be able to complete by the due date. I still want to know if they changed the dates for the shop after I scheduled, they didn't address that in the email. There were still shops of the same client that were able to be scheduled 8/31, so I'm leaning towards that's probably what happened. I said I'll do it to keep my reputation and I know they need it done, but asked if they could at least pay for the food. No response. Maybe to be continued, maybe the lack of response IS the response. Occasionally I get burned doing MS, but overall I do OK.

Not sure if there's a monthly shop fulfillment obligation to the client. If a shop had to be completed by 8/31, I think the MSC would have been relieved and ready to assign it to you, especially if there was no bonus.

It's hard to say if the shop was initially scheduled in Aug and then adjusted to Sep, without being able to recall for certain what the initial date was when accepting the shop.

But since you have a strong feeling that it was an Aug shop, I thought about it some more. I did have one experience last year, where my assigned shop had a range of dates. It got pushed back two or three more times, where the date range got updated. ... Backstory - The scheduler initially posted a shop for a new client. Shoppers were given a range of dates, and did not have to commit to a specific date. I tend to wait until the last minute, which benefited me in this case. The scheduler informed us that the client had to push back the shops to a later date range. I think this happened two or three more times, and the scheduler profusely apologized. As a result of the delays, I went on the last date possible. I believe the scheduler said if you already did a shop, to let him/her know, and he/she would make sure you get paid.

I think the lack of response is the response. If the person who replied to you is still a general email address, I believe that's even more true. However, if there is a specific person who replied to you, you can try asking that specific person again or ask to get in touch with the client manager. You can phrase your questions in a direct manner, that would elicit a yes/no response. Once you get a person's contact information, it's nice to have in the future if you work on this client a lot. If you're in contact with the scheduler / client manager, they can make concessions with you quickly.

In the future, I would maybe recommend making note of the initial shop date when accepting, and comparing the shop date in the confirmation email to what you see in the system. It could very well be that the initial shop was in Aug, and then got updated to Sep. I don't know if you would get a notification email of that though.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2024 05:48AM by Okie.

@Okie wrote:

Not sure if there's a monthly shop fulfillment obligation to the client. If a shop had to be completed by 8/31, I think the MSC would have been relieved and ready to assign it to you, especially if there was no bonus.

It's hard to say if the shop was initially scheduled in Aug and then adjusted to Sep, without being able to recall for certain what the initial date was when accepting the shop.

But since you have a strong feeling that it was an Aug shop, I thought about it some more. I did have one experience last year, where my assigned shop had a range of dates. It got pushed back two or three more times, where the date range got updated. ... Backstory - The scheduler initially posted a shop for a new client. Shoppers were given a range of dates, and did not have to commit to a specific date. I tend to wait until the last minute, which benefited me in this case. The scheduler informed us that the client had to push back the shops to a later date range. I think this happened two or three more times, and the scheduler profusely apologized. As a result of the delays, I went on the last date possible. I believe the scheduler said if you already did a shop, to let him/her know, and he/she would make sure you get paid.

I think the lack of response is the response. If the person who replied to you is still a general email address, I believe that's even more true. However, if there is a specific person who replied to you, you can try asking that specific person again or ask to get in touch with the client manager. You can phrase your questions in a direct manner, that would elicit a yes/no response. Once you get a person's contact information, it's nice to have in the future if you work on this client a lot. If you're in contact with the scheduler / client manager, they can make concessions with you quickly.

In the future, I would maybe recommend making note of the initial shop date when accepting, and comparing the shop date in the confirmation email to what you see in the system. It could very well be that the initial shop was in Aug, and then got updated to Sep. I don't know if you would get a notification email of that though.

Good idea, I should have confirmed the shop date when I got the confirmation email. The email had the September date on it, so there's no way for me to prove I scheduled it for 8/30. It's one of a handful of lessons learned in the past 5 months I've been MS. I am a conscientious person who tries to do things right and read all the rules but still can screw up. I can't imagine how hard MS must be for flaky people.

I’ll admit that I never go to that length to confirm myself. It’s unfortunate how everything turned out.