In a perfect world, the shopper would receive full pay because they earmarked time, energy, and whatever resources were necessary to get to the location, perform the task, and be able to perform more or less work-- depending on the exact circumstances. in the pre-covid era, someone determined that a few dollars were sufficient to compensate a shopper in this situation, even though clients and/or MSC's were presumed to be able to account for this and pay shoppers the full amount of money. In the covid era, many client locations are not earning much money due to closures and other factors. They might not be able to pay now. But it's the principle of the thing. The shopper risks time, money, and opportunity cost for something that might be or go beyond their control. Their best and reasonable efforts to plan and foresee events might be for naught (or those measly few bucks).. Can the shopper pick up more work on the fly to offset this lost income? What if the situation does not permit any offset?
Fairness might not happen. But the experienced tax preparers here might say something about reduced fees and expenses that might offer some solace. ?
My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)