I was assigned a $200 van negotiation shop of a dealership on Friday evening. The process would be to call the dealer, verify they had the van (with certain approved specs) in stock, then visit the dealership and get a window sticker and written quotes for both purchasing and leasing, then follow up a couple of days later to get another set of written quotes.

The due date was set for Sunday. The dealerships are closed on Sunday.

The dealership was closed by the time I received the assignment, so I called on Saturday. The van was not in stock--but they were able to find 2 in Texas. I'm in Louisiana. I collected the quotes and had them send me a window sticker. I emailed the scheduler (Christina), sent her what I had, wrote a detailed report of what took place during the ~20 minute phone call, and explained the situation.

She said she wanted me to contact the Texas dealerships to get the quotes and window stickers from them. OK, cool. I told her they would be closed Sunday, so could she extend the date to Monday? She said yes. I have her email saying that she would do this.

--
Hi,

Both vehicles are acceptable since they are in stock vehicle.

We would need a bit clearer image of the window sticker and of course offers for the vehicle.

Did she tell you where she found them? What dealership? You might actually be able to get the offers and window sticker online from the dealership website.

Please just make sure you get written offers with the correct terms: 15% down, 36 mo financing and 36 mo/15000 miles leasing or another finance for 48 months.

Thanks,

Christina
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Me: "Both are in Houston. She didn’t specify which dealership. Is there a particular dealership you’d like me to try?"

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C: "No it doesn't matter to us."
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Me: "The only Houston dealers I can find today who have 2023 eTransit 350HR in stock are closed today (Sunday).

Can the shop due date be extended until tomorrow?

Thanks,
/V"
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C: "Yes"

---

Ok, cool. Come Monday, I track down and call the Houston dealership that has the van (with the correct specs, it's a long list) in stock. I spend time on the phone with the sales person getting every detail. I have the sales person compile the quotes for me, and the window sticker, and send everything to me.

However, the date in the shop log has not been updated. The shop has been closed, so I can no longer see the guidelines, add any notes, or contact the scheduler via the log.

I email her and ask her to reopen it as she agreed to.

She says:

--

"Unfortunately, our manager excluded all overdue shops without uploads. If you can send them to me via email right now, I could potentially use them and reopen the shop but I have to see them first. Otherwise, I have no authority to reopen it."

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Me: "Sure, please see attached [I forward the email from the dealership that has everything, along with the window sticker as agreed"

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Christina: "Since you did not get the necessary offers when the shop was open, I can't reopen it in the hopes you can get full and printed offers with what need. Sorry!"
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Unbelievable. Not even half payment, not anything? She has the quotes now, and can use them. I did all of that work for nothing, just a "Sorry"?

How should I have handled this, if not the way I handled it above? At this point, if I see this scheduler's name attached to a project, I'm just going to boycott it.

I don't think I would have sent her the info so that she could use it to get paid. Especially if she is one of the group of schedulers who are in that group on Faciebutts that Nikki and Elise are in.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2024 07:50PM by Morledzep.

akumaninja, thanks for sharing. I had a similar experience. I called the dealership and confirmed that they had the assigned model with all of the required specs. I visited the dealership, but they said they could not provide me with a written offer with the terms I was assigned. I went back and forth with the guy, but he was the manager and a firm stance on this.

When I got back home, I asked the scheduler if not getting the required terms would lead to a rejected shop. If so, I wanted to cut my time and losses right then, and not proceed any further to waste anyone else's time. The scheduler never got back to me, but Christina reached out and asked me the status on the shop. I explained to her what happened, and she told me to proceed with the shop and note what happened, but told me to get the updated terms in writing.

I followed-up over the phone with the manager. Some terms I requested were followed, but he said that they do not offer the other terms I was requesting. I proceed with submitting the report. Later, I was informed my shop could only be accepted with the requested terms. Also, she noted that the MSRP on the sticker needed to match the offer. I knew that the manager was not going to do this. At this point, I really did not care and just wanted out of this shop. This was the only time, with exception a price audit shop done through a smartphone, that I just wanted out. She obliged and kindly rejected my shop with a "1".

I had a bad feeling about this shop from the get-go, as this instructions were 38 slides. I should bailed right then. I have a feeling that if you start the shop, but if anything deviates from the instructions, they just string you along for a complete report, and then wait for client's approval. Also, the fact that there is a strong likelihood you have to hunt for dealerships that will carry your assigned model on your own, you've pretty much now taken on scheduling and MSC duties.

I can count on one hand the number of schedulers/owners/MSCs that I would trust enough to submit more work on the promise of POTENTIAL payment. Christina and RBG are not on that list.

IMO, Christina was lame in blaming her manager.

Aku, it is my opinion, you handled the situation as well as any other shopper. In addition, I agree with your statement that, in the future, you will avoid that scheduler. It is my experience that second chances in both love and business, have a very poor success ratio.

Edited to add--I am relatively, but not absolutely, sure Intouch traces their lineage back to a Canadian MSC named Service Intelligence. I completed 21 shops at two different QSRs in the period of 2008/2009. All paid as agreed and I do not recall any problems. Last Nov., I completed a job for Intouch that was quickly paid, 17 days, and my hourly rate was $60. Aku, consider your situation may have been a scheduler problem.

I acknowledge my past relationships with Newfies and Scotians were so wonderful, I am prejudiced toward Canadian MSCs.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2024 11:48PM by shopperbob.

Just to clarify, in my case, Christina Kinnett was the editor. My scheduler was Aleisha Chellis. I don't think the scheduler had much input. It was Christina driving the ship.

@Okie wrote:

Just to clarify, in my case, Christina Kinnett was the editor. My scheduler was Aleisha Chellis. I don't think the scheduler had much input. It was Christina driving the ship.

Sounds like the ship was the Exxon Vadez.

I was just relieved the shop came to an end. All of my previous shops with the MSC were good experiences, so this one was disappointing.

I had good experiences with Leah Green. Follows-up and responds quickly, and gives updates. Assigned me shops when my ISS reputation was low and couldn't self-assign. Helped get me out of the hole.

Thanks for the clarification. I wrongly thought Christina from RBG was scheduling for II, too, due to Morledzep's post.

I wonder. Was the OP referring to Christina Kinnett, too? Is she both a scheduler and an editor?

I don't have any negative experience with Christina Kinnett or Aleisha Chellis but I also don't have the type of relationship with either of them or with II where I am comfortable doing what you did. I don't think you did anything wrong. I just think this is a 10-foot pole type of shop and even worse than targeted apartment shops. Too many things can go wrong.

@Okie wrote:

Just to clarify, in my case, Christina Kinnett was the editor. My scheduler was Aleisha Chellis. I don't think the scheduler had much input. It was Christina driving the ship.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2024 05:17AM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

I had applied for this shop but it had gotten assigned to someone else. Glad that it's now someone else's problem after reading this thread! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/2024 05:36AM by Mellifluy.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

Thanks for the clarification. I wrongly thought Christina from RBG was scheduling for II, too, due to Morledzep's post.

I wonder. Was the OP referring to Christina Kinnett, too? Is she both a scheduler and an editor?

Not sure, I'll leave that to akumaninja to answer. In my case though, this was the first time I worked with Christina Kinnett and Aleisha Chellis. I'm not sure if Christina is usually a scheduler or an editor, but in this case she was the editor and main point of contact for shop questions. Someone had also done a tutorial video, I want to say it was her. The schedulers for this project were Florence Mitchell or Aleisha Chellis. The instructions also listed a customer manager. I can only recall working with Leah Green, Jen Gunter, and Jennifer LaClair as schedulers in the past.

@Mellifluy wrote:

I had applied for this shop but it had gotten assigned to someone else. Glad that it's now someone else's problem after reading this thread! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I think the shop pays well given the work involved. The issue though like OP mentioned is that there is no wiggle room for the three payment options and terms. Looking back in hindsight, the problem in my case was my assigned dealership was a dealership specialized in consumer luxury. But these are commercial vans you have to inquire about. There was an assigned manager for the business division that I worked with.

It was good that he cut to the chase, but as a dealership, they just don't offer the lease terms that the MSC/client wanted. If you're in this situation, then as a shopper there's nothing you can really do. If you change your mind later and do this shop, I would recommend to confirm all of the payment options and terms on the initial call before proceeding with the shop to ensure it gets accepted. (However, I believe this goes against the guidelines and is not recommended.)

I recognize a few of those scheduler names, but not the names of the scheduler or editor that you dealt with. And I'll look at the Faciebutts group and see if they are in league with Nikki and Elise.

But I said NOTHING about RBG or any other MSC. I recognize a lot of the schedulers in that group on Faciebutts, and all of them, have gone out of their way to make my life less pleasant since Nikki and Elise pulled that stunt with my money a couple years ago and got caught.

I simply said that I would not have sent my work product to the scheduler. Because the scheduler now has everything they need to get paid for the work that the OP did. And I have been burned, more than once, by dishonest schedulers.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2024 02:06AM by Morledzep.

Haven't had too much history with N&E. But yes, I've been burned by them on a few instances. However, to their credit, they also assisted me on multiple occasions. It's a little twisted, but I've been indirectly programmed to prioritize their shops given their tactics, even though there are other schedulers I would personally want to help out a lot more.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2024 02:50AM by Okie.

Trying to get multiple, exact, written quotes from an industry that is notorious for trickery, vagueness and outright lies would put this on my ten foot pole list. No amount of "potential" pay could lure me into wasting time on a frustrating mission that, personally, I would be sure is a fail from the start.

@Okie wrote:

I was just relieved the shop came to an end. All of my previous shops with the MSC were good experiences, so this one was disappointing.

I had good experiences with Leah Green. Follows-up and responds quickly, and gives updates. Assigned me shops when my ISS reputation was low and couldn't self-assign. Helped get me out of the hole.

Speaking of Leah Green...I remember I was doing quite some amount of $10-$12 orange Gas station audit via ISS in the past...but those shops seems to disappeared for few months already.

Anyone know what happen to those jobs?

Helena, a great post that shared your experiences, while being concise and remaining on point.