Wow, I got a text this am from a Scheduler offering 4 cell phone shops in Santa Rosa , CA at 24.00 per shop. This is where the Kincade fire is!! You can't get into that area, it has been evacuated. I thought MSCs are updated on situations like this. The AIR QUALITY here in the Bay area is horrible. I can't leave the house. I wonder if this Scheduler is aware of this disaster and thought this bonus was going to send me shopping. ( NO AMOUNT OF CASH TO RISK MY SAFETY AND WELL-BEING)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2019 05:40PM by AMORASMOM.

I very much doubt that most schedulers care about safety. I believe that a large portion of Santa Rosa businesses are still without power.

I have family up North, and I', in L.A., my town is burning with the Canyon Country fire, more started in the city.
Very scary, I wish you safety, seems all of CA is burning......we also had a job in my fire area, wake up schedulers, this is not a joke.

Irene ,
Sorry to hear this about your city. I wish you safety as well. My daughter is a student at UCLA , about 2 mi from the Sepulveda fire , no evacuation for them. She was able to head north on the 405 to an Internship in the San Fran Valley.

@AMORASMOM wrote:

Irene ,
Sorry to hear this about your city. I wish you safety as well. My daughter is a student at UCLA , about 2 mi from the Sepulveda fire , no evacuation for them. She was able to head north on the 405 to an Internship in the San Fran Valley.

They now closed UCLA for the day, everyone's gone, your daughters lucky she got out early. So many fires,
unreal. Have been tying to get into Studio City last week, now this week, will just wait it out. I am now glad my daughter choose to go to Northwestern in Chicago upon graduation from Calabasas high...when people give her a hard time about the cold weather, she now says, at least we don't have fires and earthquakes...I'll take cold anyday.

When Santa Rosa burned down last year or the year before, while the fire was still active, I sent several schedulers photos of the devastation. Only one finally stopped trying to get someone go there.

I have to say I appreciated IPSOS cancelling some of their shops during the fires a couple weeks ago.

I'm rearranging my schedule this week to take care of shops in fire prone areas first. It's supposed to get worse tomorrow.

I can't believe the fires! I am so sorry for all of the Californians. Wish I could help! Irene are you safe!
I have a friend in Ventura county near the water, it appears fires are near there also.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2019 07:05PM by shopper8.

I don't think the schedulers know what is going on, I'm sure they wouldn't send you into any of those zones. I am in Massachusetts and still don't know all of the locations from watching the weather channel, which I do all day.

@shopper8 wrote:

I can't believe the fires! I am so sorry for all of the Californians. Wish I could help! Irene are you safe!
I have a friend in Ventura county near the water, it appears fires are near there also.

We're fine, I'm fine, the air quality is the pits and you never know when they're shutting down a freeway or two...the worst, are spreading everywhere, and high winds coming in.

@VickyT916 wrote:

I very much doubt that most schedulers care about safety. I believe that a large portion of Santa Rosa businesses are still without power.

Schedulers are HUMAN beings. We very much do care about the safety of other human beings!!!!!

Please know that schedulers live across the entire country. I am in Chicago but schedule MN. I couldn't tell you what the weather was there if my life depended on it. I work full time and have 5 kids. I know that there are horrible fires in CA but if I looked at an address of a shop I needed to schedule I would have NO clue if it was in a danger area.

There are many maps showing the exact fire area's which everyone that wants to find out can.....it does take time, but if they say UCLA is closed due to fire, not to difficult to find out where that is, not looking for an address, but a location. Worst than getting emails for jobs in states one doesn't go to for 15.00...having google tells you everything, doesn't have too do with how many kids one has...just saying.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2019 09:24PM by Irene_L.A..

Some schedulers care. Some schedulers don't.

I got this today. Before I read the body of the email, I thought this was a scheduler reaching out to shoppers to say she cared, or to tell us to put our safety first because the subject of the email was "Wild Fires in CA." No such luck.

"Hey Everyone
can you tell me if any of these shops on this list are being affected by the fires


Antioch CA 94531
Capitola CA 95010
Colma CA 94014
Daly City CA 94015
Gilroy CA 95020
Milpitas CA 95035
Morgan Hill CA 95037
Mountain View CA 94040
Napa CA 94558
Napa CA 94559
Novato CA 94945
Redwood City CA 94063
Salinas CA 93901
San Carlos CA 94070
San Jose CA 95123
San Jose CA 95110
San Jose CA 95123
San Jose CA 95125
San Jose CA 95117
San Rafael CA 94901
Santa Rosa CA 95407
Santa Rosa CA 95403
Santa Rosa CA 95407
South San Francisco CA 94080
Vacaville CA 95688
Vallejo CA 94591


Thank You,"

The thing is that many areas in the Bay Area are de-energized as a preventative measure. Santa Rosa is partially evacuated, most businesses are closed, only 10% of the city has power! I have also gotten offers for jobs in Santa Rosa. I don’t think they know.

I suspect many schedulers know about the fires but have no idea how bad things are. What bugs me is when a scheduler clearly knows there are fires but (1) doesn't bother to say anything comforting to shoppers in the area AND (2) doesn't bother to find out ON THEIR OWN which areas are affected.

It's not that hard to search online to find out what areas may have their power shut off or if they are unsafe. At least, it is not hard if you have electricity and internet access and are not running for your life or temporarily homeless because you lost your home or you have been evacuated.

Freeways in L.A. are open and closed, due to evacuations,they have to be open at times...too dangerous to work unless job is in your town and you know your safe..... just watch the news. L.A. expecting 90 mile an hour winds tonight, so really can't plan for work for the next couple days.....I'm seeing most areas in email in No. CA, and yes, Santa Rosa is having a huge fire with power off and as far as getting a kind word from "some" schedulers, not happening, that's a given, though many are in tune and human.

A while back I kept getting Please Help emails from a scheduler for a shop in a small town in California that was on fire. It was a town that you had to be going to, not on the way to anything, so access was closed. After about her fifth email, I let her know why no one was taking the shop. She had no idea! It was huge news in my area, but she was four states away and it wasn't news in that area.

I have T.V. on and every channel has the news and updates, how can you not know if your planning jobs in towns burning, it's up to you to check it out. I'm getting Facebook notes wishing me well from as far away as Mexico City.

Some schedulers have thousands of jobs to assign and no time to keep up with the news, though. As long as you get an appropriate response when you explain the situation, I would not take any issue with them trying to just do their jobs.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz at least the scheduler was trying to get a assessment of what could be done.

This is a way that a disaster like this affects people outside of the region. It's not just those being evacuated that suffer. I also have an evacuee on my living room couch right now, and though it's not really a punishment to have a friend stay over for a few days, it affects my ability to go bout my business.

When i was scheduling, the MSC's motto was definitely 'safety first' and we would proactively cancel shops in areas where hurricanes and other storms were forecast, but it's much easier to keep track of a dozen hotels in peril than thousands of retail shops.

Just got an email from TrendSource to do two grocery stores for $1 pad. The stores are right in the Easy Fire area of Simi Valley and Moorpark (near Reagan Library). I’m about 10 miles west of the fire and safe so far.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2019 04:53PM by kenasch.

Yikes. I don't think 10 miles is very safe when the wind is blowing so hard!

People outside the fire areas are also affected -- PG&E has planned outages all over the state, including areas that are not subject to fires. You can't schedule shops if you don't know whether, when you get there, the business will be closed because PG&E has a scheduled outage. Yes, PG&E notifies the people in the area -- but according to my sister, the notices are somewhat less than reliable.

My sister in northern California told me yesterday the local TV stations are not broadcasting; she attributed it to the power outages.

@kenasch wrote:

Just got an email from TrendSource to do two grocery stores for $1 pad. The stores are right in the Easy Fire area of Simi Valley and Moorpark (near Reagan Library). I’m about 10 miles west of the fire and safe so far.

I also got one for same job, different location and I bit my lip and asked for pad...waiting to see, won't do these shops for the normal four$ fee, traffic is crazy plus air quality. Stay safe, watching the news with the Reagan Library in Simi Valley....afterthought: how can anyone NOT know CA is burning, those that do routes, beware!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2019 06:57PM by Irene_L.A..

I just got an email for jobs in Pacific Palisades, Century City and in the city where freeways could be closed if their not already...guess the schedulers just don't know, but even if you don't know, sending this anywhere in
No. CA or So. CA seems like lazy scheduling. I wrote back stating cities on fire, hope they take that into consideration, especially for route shoppers. Power is off, business closed, why not cool it until next week....come on now!

@SteveSoCal wrote:

Some schedulers have thousands of jobs to assign and no time to keep up with the news, though. As long as you get an appropriate response when you explain the situation, I would not take any issue with them trying to just do their jobs.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz at least the scheduler was trying to get a assessment of what could be done.

This is a way that a disaster like this affects people outside of the region. It's not just those being evacuated that suffer. I also have an evacuee on my living room couch right now, and though it's not really a punishment to have a friend stay over for a few days, it affects my ability to go bout my business.

When i was scheduling, the MSC's motto was definitely 'safety first' and we would proactively cancel shops in areas where hurricanes and other storms were forecast, but it's much easier to keep track of a dozen hotels in peril than thousands of retail shops.

@SteveSolCal We'll just have to agree to disagree on the first part of your post. In my opinion, the scheduler I quoted was tone deaf. Yes, she was trying to get an assessment of what could be done, but she was asking shoppers who might be in harm's way to help her do her job. Who has less time to make sure she keeps up with the news, even if she had thousands of jobs to assign? Her, or people who are in or near the fire zones?

You talk about people outside of the region getting affected. Of course they do. However, people inside the region have much more urgent concerns to deal with. We have people being temporarily homeless. Some already lost their homes from the wild fires last two years and now are homeless again due to the new fires. (I know someone who lost almost everything in one of the previous fires and nearly suffered more property loss last week from one of the new fires.) We also have people who have no electricity or cell phone service, parents who have to scramble for childcare because the schools are closed, people who have to figure out what to do because they or their loved ones have health issues and their medical equipment at home aren't working because there is no power or they have problem breathing because of the poor air quality.

If it is not too much to expect a scheduler to be considerate of what shoppers in the region may be going through, is it too much to expect at least a kind word or two in that email to show that the scheduler actually cares and wishes the shoppers well?

I hope, you, me, Irene, AMORASMOM, and other fellow Californians get through this relatively unscathed.

I have to agree although I have mucho respect for Steve, we are the ones in danger, jobs have till the end of the month to get done, and don't tell me you can't do a bit of homework and google fire area's...I was just asked by the Source to do one their newer four dollar jobs near me, however, winds are 65 miles an hour, not sure if freeway is open for all or just for the evacuations. Not even an email saying stay safe. Now I wouldn't do it for a fifty dollar pad.......sometimes, you just have to take care of yourself.

@VickyT916 wrote:

I very much doubt that most schedulers care about safety. I believe that a large portion of Santa Rosa businesses are still without power.

I very highly doubt that they don't care about safety. The thing is, CA is a huge state that not everyone outside of CA is familiar with. I have been scheduling in CA for a few years, and I still don't know where every town and city is located. The fires are also not on the news anywhere near as much here in my state as I'm sure it is over there. Now, even if we were told that an area is on fire, it is our job to still try to fill it.

We do realize it's very unlikely, but we aren't doing our job if we don't try. I happen to have put a bonus on two shops yesterday that was high enough for two shoppers to take those shops in Petaluma and Santa Rosa. I would hope neither would put themselves in danger to complete a shop, and they won't be cited or blacklisted if they do not complete the shop, but I did my job to the best of my ability.

Edited to add that I hope everyone stays safe!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2019 08:44PM by KSSPete.

Irene, none of the freeways here are closed and there is no fire and has been no wind. Los Angeles city is not on fire. The winds may affect the people up in the canyons or who have to cross the fire areas to get somewhere else but for us in the city which includes Cent City,, Pac Palis we are okay. Parts of the county, also called Los Angeles for those of you who do not know have winds and fire issues but I cannot even smell any smoke and have not gotten any ash on my car so the winds must be blowing north rather than south.
I just want to say that for someone not familiar with every city and town and where it is and using national news (not the local area channels) they are not necessarily getting the kind of detail the schedulers might need. They must have thousands of jobs that may or may not be affected by fire. Yes, it would be nice if they could preface their lists with i hope you are okay and if you cannot do these I understand but for them to know exactly what street or little town is affected or what highways a particular shopper has to travel to get somewhere would be very hard to do. So Irene I know the air quality and travel around where you live must be horrible and feel for all those people but it is calm and quiet here with a blue sky. They also have end of the month deadlines. If I lived in a fire zone but my part of the city was not affected right then I might take a job and so may many others. My brother in Ohio mentioned the other day that only tens of thousands had electricity turned off. He pays close attention to the news.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

I just got an email for jobs in Pacific Palisades, Century City and in the city where freeways could be closed if their not already...guess the schedulers just don't know, but even if you don't know, sending this anywhere in
No. CA or So. CA seems like lazy scheduling. I wrote back stating cities on fire, hope they take that into consideration, especially for route shoppers. Power is off, business closed, why not cool it until next week....come on now!

I would just add that the end of month is tomorrow, and while it's great when schedulers are considerate, and caring...that's not really their job. Someone asks me to do a job in the Palisades, how much work is it to reply that the area has been evacuated?

This is no different than a closed location for them. They inform the client, skip or postpone the shop, and move on. It's business...and the show must go on!

And of course I wish that everyone is safe. We all want everyone to be safe. As Sandy points out, L.A. is a big area and for most of us, it's business as usual. We all probably know someone affected by fires, but I still have a full day of work to do as well.

Simi Valley has no power and is burning wildly with these winds, could easily blow into my area, but, don't worry, not your problem, and it's not, so no more complaints. Will have a dirty Martini to calm nerves.

Getting an email to do shops in the fire zone with a PAD (bonus) of $1 hit me the wrong way. The MSC is located in California too. The scheduler responded to my email and said she would make note of it.