How do you take a break and still maintain a good status with MS companies?

Hi everyone!
Every time I have posted a question or issue, you all are so awesome with your responses, suggestions, and tips. I know this will be true again, so I could use a little guidance.
My husband and I have decided that I need to back off of my mystery shopping for a couple of weeks so that I can focus on helping ailing family members and other things that have been neglected since my obsession with mystery shopping began. I think he can tell that burning the candle on both ends is wearing me completely out.
I know that if you don't accept assignments, you can get dropped off the radar for MS companies. I love, love, love working in the industry and don't want to lose relationships with the companies that I particularly favor. Here is the question: How can I still remain in good standing with MS companies and have shop requests accepted if I need to take a 2-3 week hiatus?

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For two or three weeks I would not bother notifying anyone. It is rather when you are inactive for months at a time that you may have issues. I am planning on taking the month of May off to deal with medical issues here and should I get calls from schedulers am not planning on going into detail as to why I can't help them this round but rather, "I'd love to help, but my schedule is too full at the moment." This will be a true statement because a schedule can be full of many things aside from shops.

Great advice, Flash. I have noticed with 2 of my favorites, that when I continually apply for shops, I usually am assigned the shop. For no particular reason, my schedule would not allow me to accept shops from either company for a couple of weeks. Once I could work their shops into my travel route or schedule, it seemed like forever before an application was accepted. Do you think this was coincidence or a slam for having not worked with them for a little while?

I think you are reading too much into it.

First, there are mandatory rotations. Most of the time these are noted in the job posting, but not always.

Second, there are non-mandatory rotations. To best serve the client's interests, it only makes sense to send in different shoppers if you can just as easily do so.

Third, there is keeping your shopper base active, involved and growing. With the relatively short 'lifespan' of most shoppers, there is a need to frequently try out new shoppers if at all humanly possible. You can certainly fall back and give the shop to one of your 'regulars' if the new shopper fails to perform for whatever reason as long as you keep your deadlines tight on the front end of your own scheduling 'window'.

So not getting a job that I did last month and the month before is not something that would get me concerned and taking a breather is not necessarily going to cause my devoted scheduler to love me any less.

I agree completely with what Flash has said. I often take breaks for family reasons or for a vacation or even to devote 6-8 weeks to shops from just one MSC. I have no problem,, resuming.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Glad to know that I am just paranoid about it! I have done over 250 shops since October, so while I am not a total rookie, there is still so many aspects about shopping that are vague to me and I just cannot understand. Some of those would be how ratings are given, shop availablity (hot one month, zilch the next), and working with schedulers. I feel like I have finally hit a good stride and want to make sure I don't get kicked off the ride!!

This is the beauty of being an independent contractor and working for many different companies. Sometimes I go at it full force; other times life or the types of shops keep me from working as much. I have never noticed any problems or consequences as a result of my choosing to work on my schedule.

Liz

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How do you take a break and still maintain a good status with MS companies?

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