I'm sorry everyone but I have to vent. Whether it be an oversight, or something that the client did not tell the MSC, or an intentional omission, I am lately encountering entirely too many gigs where the stated job specs are entirely too understated. Yes, I know that I generally should run from any job that says "easy" in the subject line. I've been doing shopping/merchandising/recall/misc jobs for over 25 years, I know the drill. I've just hit a rough patch lately.

The latest was today, where the advertised job specs were to lift off the bottom shelf of a display to reveal the power cords and connections underneath, then unplug an old power unit that I think functions a lot like a ballast in a fluorescent light fixture, and plug in a new unit in place of the old. Easy peasy. Until...

The old power unit is plugged into a normal wall outlet. The wall outlet is behind the display. The wall outlet cannot be reached from the hole in the back of the display where the cords feed through. To unplug the old power unit and plug in the new unit you have to uninstall the entire display which does not just sit against the wall. You have to unhook/unbolt the thing, and it's heavy. Definitely a 2 person job.

I didn't sign up for an uninstall/reinstall. I didn't sign up for lifting/moving/relifting/replacing a heavy display requiring 2 people. The job was advertised as a unplug/replug job requiring 1 person.

Ok, I'm gonna stop now. I can feel my blood pressure spiking! Thanks for reading.

As I do not have any recollection of ever having encountered such a situation, I am unable to definitely comment on how I would handle the problem. Knowing me, though, if it were my opinion I had been mislead, I would require the MSC to ante-up money. Were none to be forthcoming, I would terminate our agreement. That action, of course, might not be possible if the shopper were in need of the relationship. It is no secret that some MSCs exploit needy folks.

Aye. I have a strong suspicion I know who the culprit is because I've been burned by them more times than I can count. You'd think I'd learn! All I can say is contact them and let them know all of the above, along with how long you were onsite. If they don't do the right thing and offer additional compensation, ask for it. If they refuse, take a page from shopperbob's playbook and terminate them.

That's horrible! I would do what the doc suggests. Contact them and hope for the best.

They should also provide all necessary non-human tools...

<Yes, I know that I generally should run from any job that says "easy" in the subject line.>

Good luck finding shops to accept. LMAO

@CoolMusic wrote:

<Yes, I know that I generally should run from any job that says "easy" in the subject line.>

Good luck finding shops to accept. LMAO

I wonder if med schools recruit this way. EASY brain surgery internship!

Yep, although I'm not 100% sure if it's the same culprit, but there are definitely some jobs that should be done by people that are employed by the store and are covered by workman's comp insurance.
If it IS the culprit I'm thinking of, once they understand what you really dealt with, they will hopefully offer additional compensation.

@drdoggie00 wrote:

Aye. I have a strong suspicion I know who the culprit is because I've been burned by them more times than I can count. You'd think I'd learn! All I can say is contact them and let them know all of the above, along with how long you were onsite. If they don't do the right thing and offer additional compensation, ask for it. If they refuse, take a page from shopperbob's playbook and terminate them.

I would have went to the trunk of my car and got my handy power tools out...... and made myself a hole that is big enough.

UPDATE
After I went to 2 of my assigned stores (in the same mall, it was not an extra trip), I returned home after doing nothing in the stores and emailed my contact at the merchandising company to report what I encountered at the stores.

She replied and told me to "do what you can do and complete the report form." I balked at that and reminded her that due to circumstances that I would be able to do NOTHING at the stores and their client would likely not be wanting to pay for store visits where nothing was done. Thirty minutes later a mass email was sent out ordering all reps to suspend all visits while they figured out what to do.

Later they sent out another mass email with a short video explaining how to "easily" uninstall/reinstall the display so reps could move it out of the way. That didn't last long, though, as reps reported issues. Yet another mass email was sent out telling reps to take a hammer and/or large screwdriver along with them in case they had to pound/pry to gently persuade the display out of place when attempting the uninstall.

Luckily I had not returned to any of my assigned stores, as I was sure that the fiasco would last several days with several mass emails containing several updates. I was correct on that.

In the end I told them that due to the many changes to the project that I was no longer intending to visit my assigned stores. I did stop short, however, of telling them that they were fired and to remove me from their database of reps.

I'm curious--what was the fee for all this labor? Hope it wasn't $10.

Just saw this update and I don't blame you for jumping ship on these assignments - I had a similar experience with a project recently and I just don't have the patience for intentionally deceitful job postings and scenarios completely beyond our control.
Even if you didn't spend additional time going back to the stores, the time to try and plan your visits, read and respond to the emails, bring tools, etc all impact our bottom line.

@teacherguy wrote:

UPDATE
After I went to 2 of my assigned stores (in the same mall, it was not an extra trip), I returned home after doing nothing in the stores and emailed my contact at the merchandising company to report what I encountered at the stores.

She replied and told me to "do what you can do and complete the report form." I balked at that and reminded her that due to circumstances that I would be able to do NOTHING at the stores and their client would likely not be wanting to pay for store visits where nothing was done. Thirty minutes later a mass email was sent out ordering all reps to suspend all visits while they figured out what to do.

Later they sent out another mass email with a short video explaining how to "easily" uninstall/reinstall the display so reps could move it out of the way. That didn't last long, though, as reps reported issues. Yet another mass email was sent out telling reps to take a hammer and/or large screwdriver along with them in case they had to pound/pry to gently persuade the display out of place when attempting the uninstall.

Luckily I had not returned to any of my assigned stores, as I was sure that the fiasco would last several days with several mass emails containing several updates. I was correct on that.

In the end I told them that due to the many changes to the project that I was no longer intending to visit my assigned stores. I did stop short, however, of telling them that they were fired and to remove me from their database of reps.