A very mini rant, but important IMO

A couple weeks ago, I did a shop that was a first ever for me, first time with an MSC new to me.

There were lots and lots of instructions and details. I read them, I took them with me...thought I understood them, but there seemed to be so many terms that could be tricky that I remained realistic. They wanted me to meet a deadline for them.
It helps when the location shopped is walking distance from home.
It was rejected and she gave me the reasons in a rather rude and terse email...but one of the reasons I did not understand, so I asked her to clarify, in the event I do the shop again.
Silence.
Not even a simple explanation.
Guess that's my answer lol.

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So sorry. I often see shops with unclear or contradictory instructions. Companies hold shoppers to a high standard which they fail to meet themselves. Recently did a shop with different start times on the same form. Asked for clarification received an answer of Yes! as the only reply. I completed the shop which is yet to be approved. As it was a short phone shop I did not have to leave home and it took only a few minute no gas or major time to lose if rejected nevertheless it was frustrating.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2024 12:19PM by OldmanJames.

You don't have to share, but curious which MSC.

@OldmanJames wrote:

So sorry. I often see shops with unclear or contradictory instructions. Companies hold shoppers to a high standard which they fail to meet themselves. Recently did a shop with different start times on the same form. Asked for clarification received an answer of Yes! as the only reply. I completed the shop which is yet to be approved. As it was a short phone shop I did not have to leave home and it took only a few minute no gas or major time to lose if rejected nevertheless it was frustrating.

I had a similar situation I also ranted here about where there were three different sets of instructions in the guidelines for what to order at a restaurant and my inquiry about it was answered with "follow the guidelines." I could kind of make sense of what they wanted but it was a gamble and I did it anyway.

I agree that it's so frustrating that we must follow everything to a T and then can't even get clarification so that we can. They ought to be thankful that we point out inconsistencies but it never seems like they are.

I was thinking about doing a heavily bonused gas station audit at a hard-to-fill spot today. Luckily this was an MSC that lets you see the guidelines first. The instructions were confusing, convoluted and loaded with obscure terminology that only someone who designs gas stations would know -- with no explanation of what the terms mean. And oh yeah, some of the photos overlapped/obscured the guideline text.

I tossed it back.

this was very similar - they expect a shopper to know as much about their industry as they do....ok lol - but the terminology for us can be completely new....
some MSCs give one of those training modules which you need to first complete - I actually appreciate having those to refer to..

I know way too much about the parts of a gas pump lol

I have done some of those gas station shops that has that 63 page set of guidelines and a "mini" set of guidelines.
They're known to be very picky and advise that the shopper cannot use the same photo twice.
What to do?
For me, previously, I did shops that were near enough that, if necessary, I could return to get that particular photo as requested by the editor.
Now, being a bit more seasoned, for this particular gas station, I take at least 2 photos of each pump and all the other required photos.
For those questionable areas, I take 2 photos and, if the pump is missing its Pop or credit cards, 2 photos of those.
Yes, it fills up my file for each site, but I now refuse to return to any site.

I agree with French Farmer. Depending on the platform, the biggest thing for me was when there was an issue, making sure you took the correct and appropriate picture with everything needed. I would make/toggle the selection to see if it prompted a picture requirement after.

In some instances, I've taken an original photo,(if it showed what was needed) downloaded it again and cropped it to show the needed infraction. I've never had a problem doing this. Of course, I rename it. With that being said, I don't do the green two-letter stations any longer. Too much of a PITA.

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

BB: No good deed goes unpunished. They will eventually look for help on another deadline. Tell them how poorly you were treated, and to pound sand.

It seems that some schedulers/editors view shoppers as less than human....we're not regular people, we're just a means to their end.
Here's another story I keep forgetting to tell here.
A few years ago, when I was living in another state, we had an afternoon of tornado warnings...schools closed, businesses let out early, everybody got off the road....after the first one hit, a state of emergency was declared.

I cancelled the only shop I had that day.
The next day, in a Facebook group for shoppers and schedulers, a well known scheduler in the MS world bitterly complained that every shopper had cancelled on her the day before. She said terrible things about all of us. It turns out she lived in a different state, not close to the state with the tornados. It never occurred to her to check the news. To wonder why so many in a certain area had cancelled. People jumped all over her, even other schedulers - responding to her meanness.
She's been on my bad girl list ever since.

I'm glad you were able to cancel, Barefoot. I can imagine being so distracted by the warnings and sirens that I'd forget to cancel. You did that scheduler a favor and they didn't even realize it!

That's why when I cancel a shop due to weather, I quote the weather reports, remind them of the unique features of shopping in NYC (walking in the elements vs driving inside a protective car), and explain why it's dangerous (walking around outside, including up and down subway stairs in 98 degree heat can lead to heat exhaustion, for starters), and give my best estimate on when the weather emergency will be over.

On a shop I did a few weeks ago -- it was accepted but the editor dinged it telling me "be sure to follow all the shop guidelines." I guess her way of telling me I missed something but was getting a pass? How about telling me what guideline I did not follow? Lol.

Yes, I recall giving the emergency weather alerts as the reason, but appeared she saw the cancellation and looked no further, based on her Facebook rant.

Anyway, onto something funny...I always crack up whenever the editors don't even know the shop guidelines and ding you on something based on their own misinformation. As long as it's accepted, I let it go...who cares really in the end lol.

I’m always glad that there are schedulers who are based in my area. They tend to be more in tune and knowledgeable about the area and shops, and can approve requests quickly. While this can cut both ways, it ends up being far more beneficial in my case. The communication ends up being more effective and productive.

@Susan L. wrote:

I'm glad you were able to cancel, Barefoot. I can imagine being so distracted by the warnings and sirens that I'd forget to cancel. You did that scheduler a favor and they didn't even realize it!

I did a route of gas stations this weekend in far western New Mexico. One station had no address just the North Hwy 491. I even looked on the station's site and it also gave no address just the highway. I drove from the top to the bottom of this highway and it was nowhere on that road. When I got to the next station after it (same company) I asked them about it. Apparently, it is not on that highway you have to turn off the and go a few miles down another road to get to it. Since it was 50 miles back I just cancelled it. I get that the actual company may not put a address on the store but if you are really wanting us to find it maybe add some directions to the notes. GPS can't find an address if you just put Hwy 491.

I've seen some of these come up in my area in the past and I think what blew me away was that they wanted you to name the pics with a specific naming convention. Not sure about you guys, but I find that to be difficult on my phone so I would have to move everything to the laptop and then rename them, before even starting the report.

I remember, somewhere in the way back machine that a gas station wanted the pictures all resized and renamed. but I suspect that was with the previous, now defunct, MSC. If there are any instructions for renaming photos for gas station shops now I'm not aware of them, and I probably do them anyway without renaming them.

I MIGHT get flamed but in case you decided *not* to use the MSC again ---and therefore are ok burning a bridge - yes, as someone said they will have another deadline. TAKE the shop.... pick the latest date possible. Then - let them figure out at the last second - their shop isn't done.

Back to the original post - <You don't have to share, but curious which MSC>
It was Customer Impact.
I assumed the editor would want to clarify a simple question to avoid a future possible rejection,
but WTFDIK lol.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/2024 12:04PM by BarefootBliss.

Ah, thanks! Customer Impact is one I haven't signed up with.

If you want resolution to your email, I would suggest emailing Daniel Price (dprice@customerimpactinfo.com) as he is very responsive and cleared up an issue for me once.

@BarefootBliss wrote:

Back to the original post - <You don't have to share, but curious which MSC>
It was Customer Impact.
I assumed the editor would want to clarify a simple question to avoid a future possible rejection,
but WTFDIK lol.

“I” bet “I” can guess

I recently did a restaurant shop at a restaurant, and received the following reply: shoppers (should) only include comments about what they saw and observed and no assumptions or opinions about what they thought or felt unless directly asked

I have no idea what that was about, but, the review went on to say that my report was well-written and provided great detail, so....I don't care too much, but I have been racking my brain about what would have been an assumption or opinion that wasn't directly asked (like, they directly asked about the appearance, taste, and quality of the food, which was pretty much the only subjective commentary I provided).

From the dining shops I've done, some MSCs stress objectivity and factual observations more than others. Small words like "well" and "good" might be considered personal judgment and preference. Instead, the report might ask about temperature and portion size. Further comments on color, texture, freshness, ripeness, flavor, sauces, smell, arrangement, level of doneness/tenderness, and defects would support observations. At least, that was one of my experiences with a MSC. It wasn't until a few reports in, that I realized I was often being dinged for this, and then changed how I reported on the food items and drinks.

@OldmanJames wrote:

So sorry. I often see shops with unclear or contradictory instructions. Companies hold shoppers to a high standard which they fail to meet themselves. Recently did a shop with different start times on the same form. Asked for clarification received an answer of Yes! as the only reply. I completed the shop which is yet to be approved. As it was a short phone shop I did not have to leave home and it took only a few minute no gas or major time to lose if rejected nevertheless it was frustrating.

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A very mini rant, but important IMO

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