Has anyone else had trouble with a 'certain company' refusing shopper payment because of faulty guidelines? I am so frustrated. So many times we are left to decipher what the writer/editor/scheduler really means, rather than being able to trust clear guidelines. I'm sure many of you have seen the onslaught of home improvement shops where one of the scenarios require the shopper to ask about a military/veteran discount? There are several parts to this shop, so the shopper is left to wonder who they are to direct this question to because it is NOT clearly stated. I used the inquiry to both salesmen in two different departments where it made sense as it would be for a potentially large purchase. Lastly, the guidelines suggest you make a small purchase for the interaction at the register. This did not make sense to ask for the discount as it would have been equal to about 50 cents, which seems a bit ridiculous. Here's the kicker... the survey portion that indicated it's the cashier who was supposed to be asked, was HIDDEN before performing the shop, so there was no way to review the survey before doing the visit. The shopper had to check a box that said the visit was successful before the questionnaire opened. Does that make sense..? Not getting my $30 isn't going to break me this month, but I am seriously bothered that this shop took nearly 1.5 hours of my life including the long ass report and now they won't pay me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2019 11:17PM by Diana98632.

I hate it when things are hidden like that. It does happen, sometimes even if you print out the available survey before you go. Then, after you answer some questions, more stuff opens up. Irritating!

PS -- thanks for the heads up. This really should have been addressed in the guidelines.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2019 11:34PM by ceasesmith.

I get annoyed when I cannot see the survey first or when it is not available until the day of the shop. I personally open the survey the day of before leaving my house and pretend I already did the shop by inputting a fake time if necessary then when I get home from the shop I change the time to the correct time. That way I can see the questions. I never rely on the sample surveys since I find often they are out of date. Some sights though will not allow going from section to section before the one before is saved.
Why they do not allow access to see the questions and format is a mystery to me.

k. Think it is time for a new thread. It is a variation on this important thread. You have seen the recent thread about what we would like schedulers to do differently. What about a thread where we discuss ideas such as this one? We would collate ideas about how clients might do things differently. Of course we do not expect individual attention or entitlements. No. We would like to address issues where clients have creative and other control. For example, we could explain this idea regarding the discount and the ramifications of that; the inability or lack of opportunity to view surveys and other information which would help us match ourselves to jobs and do our chosen jobs as well as possible; and other situations we have encountered. Yes? No? Please explain all yes and no answers in as much detail as possible....

To what extent do tptb in client world influence the quality of information that schedulers, editors, and shoppers receive?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2019 11:58PM by Shop-et-al.

@Shop-et-al None of these threads are going to do anything but make people air their grievances without any resolution. It's not a discussion unless there's someone(s) to listen and I don't think schedulers are coming hear to discuss or even read about "shopper wants."

ETA: By saying "these threads" I meant the specific ones mentioned, not these posts in general.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2019 01:15AM by Jenny Cassada.

I totally agree with this but have no idea what to do about it. There are SO many mistakes in just about every set of guidelines I see from virtually every company. Normally I just suck it up and use my head, which works most of the time. However, in this recent instance the Scheduler sent me the dreaded message: Your report is being excluded... you will not be paid for this assignment. I asked her at least five times over the course of an hour to please cut and paste the part that specifies to whom the military/veteran discount is supposed to be addressed and she would NOT answer the question. This is what I find infuriating. The Schedulers know someone has *messed* up on the guidelines but are just too proud to admit it and will do anything but admit fault or apologize under any circumstance. Why? Because (some of) the schedulers think they are SUPERIOR.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2019 06:21AM by Diana98632.

Jenny Cassada: Yes I agree with you as well. I meant to post this simply as a warning for others doing the same assignment, and I did go off on a rant... I feel much better now.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2019 01:14AM by Diana98632.

@Diana98632 I edited my post to make it clearer what I was talking about. I meant posts where there are specific things like "What would you like to see MSC/Schedulers/etc do better" might give a false sense that some that it might actually go anywhere/get a resolution. They're one sided discussions and don't do most any good. I did not mean this post and any other general posts here.

Yes. And, the clients may or may not be responsive to shopper concerns and experiences. In client world, the more important wee wonderment is: are the clients listening to their actual customers? Are the established systems which include absent or misleading information for mystery shoppers (who are supposed to work within clear boundaries and perameters) reflective of the systems which exist for actual customers or employees?

@Jenny Cassada wrote:

@Shop-et-al None of these threads are going to do anything but make people air their grievances without any resolution. It's not a discussion unless there's someone(s) to listen and I don't think schedulers are coming hear to discuss or even read about "shopper wants."

ETA: By saying "these threads" I meant the specific ones mentioned, not these posts in general.

Yep....a stinky tactic. I think it also hurts the MSC when they pull that trick. We'd all like to be fully prepared before heading out and not surprised when we go to do the report.

@Diana98632 wrote:

Lastly, the guidelines suggest you make a small purchase for the interaction at the register. This did not make sense to ask for the discount as it would have been equal to about 50 cents, which seems a bit ridiculous.

I'm totally with you on the frustration on the guidelines not being clear.

Buuuuuut, to specifically address your concern about asking for a 5-10% discount on a small purchase, I guarantee you that it makes sense to some people... like me. I'm a very, very frequent shopper at home improvement stores (not related to mystery shopping), but I do a lot of my own home improvement projects. Sometimes I have as little as $0.50 worth of nuts and bolts I'm purchasing, but I always emphasize any veteran discounts I have under my account (and make sure it's not overlooked) and I ensure I utilize the credit card that best gives me the best return (typically 5% cash back)...... But that's just me.

I got a military discount once on a shop. For some reason, the cashier thought my husband was ex-military. I think it was because of his haircut. The editor asked me about it and I told her exactly that- I hadn't asked for a discount or said anything about the military. Shop ended up going through just fine.

Thanks for sharing OP. It should be easy to avoid the shop based on the title of the thread. At least other shoppers know what to look for before they shop.

The guidelines for this shop are completely inadequate. They want timings down to the second. The guidelines say NOTHING about that. I just did my first one and I'm kind of disgusted.

Actually, if you read your scenario; it's listed there. I made the mistake thinking all I had to do is ask how to get the discount, but actually you had to be a Veteran. I talked to my scheduler and they said it was okay as long as someone in the family is a Veteran and yo asked for the discount.

@FrugalCat wrote:

I got a military discount once on a shop. For some reason, the cashier thought my husband was ex-military. I think it was because of his haircut. The editor asked me about it and I told her exactly that- I hadn't asked for a discount or said anything about the military. Shop ended up going through just fine.

Maybe the cashier was a really big fan of Death Grips?

Did 10 of these this month with BIG bonuses, but I'm not a Vet.

"Not getting my $30 isn't going to break me this month, but I am seriously bothered that this shop took nearly 1.5 hours of my life including the long ass report and now they won't pay me."

"Did 10 of these this month with BIG bonuses,"

Do tell---scheduler contacted me via e-mail offering $20.00. Seemed low for all the parts involved in this shop.

@sandyf wrote:

Why they do not allow access to see the questions and format is a mystery to me.

Finally it is revealed why it is called mystery shopping.

I was outside the shop when I noticed this issue with the Veterans discount. I did not do the shop until I contacted the scheduler. They told me to just do the shop. The guidelines are confusing. I did he shop the next day.

The subject line is misleading. The post seems to indicate that you knew to ask, you were just confused whom to ask.

Personally, being a Veteran, I always ask the cashier when that's the person taking care of my payment. I can ask 20 associates all around the store, but the cashier is technically the only one that matters. Plug in waiter, or sales person where they act as the cashier.

Hopefully the guidelines only require that you ask. That is, they do not require someone that is not a Veteran to lie.

On the other hand, many shops will be rejected if you USE a military discount during the shop. It is because the MSC compares the discount to using a coupon which is often not allowed. So be careful of this hitch also. I always ask the scheduler if it is okay to use a military or AARP or coupon on a shop if it seems possible.

@Rho* wrote:

Do tell---scheduler contacted me via e-mail offering $20.00. Seemed low for all the parts involved in this shop.

The scheduler offered the standard $20 fee or the $20 plus a $20 bonus? There's a location less than two miles from me, and I won't do it for $20. Way too much work for that, IMO. I haven't seen any bonuses on these, so apparently people are doing them for $20. I'm not going to bother asking for a bonus to do one. The old ones were too much work for base pay, too, but you could get very good bonuses on them.