Well, now that the MSC has almost entirely moved its gas station shops to the Magic App, I am left wondering why they still do not have their locations right.
In other words, almost all of the gas stations shops that I perform (E/M, Shell, BP/Amoco, P66, etc) that are now on the platform still cannot get the location down.
Really, it has become somewhat of a time waster. Often when I checkin, I get the pop up question asking if I'm sure that I am at the correct location. Well yes, especially since the location has not changed in years. I know, the confuser doesn't know that. But, I have reported the location issue each time. Still no correction.
For some, that would not be such a big problem. For me, being out in rural America, it can be time consuming to ensure that the reported location has a problem. I'm beginning to wonder if, after I checkin, I just move on without reporting the location problem. What happens? Who knows.
For me, because of remote locations without or with poor cell service, I finish my reports at home or at a nearby free cell service location (library, PD, etc) via my trusty laptop.

Okay, so it was a rant - on Bastille Day of all days!

I'll go back and sulk that my day took so long because of the silly reportage.

Merde!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2025 01:03AM by French Farmer.

It seems silly but the extra time does add up. I still write my arrival times in my notes, and by the time I check in, re-check in, and report a location problem, usually a couple of minutes have passed.

My suspicion is the first location check goes by Google, and the second goes by wherever the first completed Presto shop was done for that location. And it never gets updated. Because I wouldn't do the trial rounds on Presto for the low fees, all of my usual locations were done by someone else, probably someone who only used Presto and never did the gas audits before. I'm convinced those wrong locations were programmed in by new shoppers who went to the wrong place, lol. I know it sounds silly and and I'm probably taking it too far, but you won't change my mind.

My theory is that Presto's location thing lags. I find that when I check in as soon as I arrive it doesn't know where I am. If I arrive then do something for a minute (check email, send a text) it will acknowledge my correct location when I do check in. If I've been sitting in front of the site, waiting for traffic to pass, it will work when I get there. Or if I reverify it usually works.

I think the "report a location problem" option is just a BS statement to make us think it matters. It goes nowhere. Busywork for us. Exactly like the option to appeal a rejection (when the shop has already been placed back on the job board!). All BS.

Here is what I find interesting on Presto with locations.

Lets say an address is displayed as "123 Main St, Anytown, IN 12345" sometimes the pin on the map (which is probably programmed with Longitude/Latitude codes) is the correct location, but the address is somewhat incorrect. I take that displayed address and copy/paste it into Google Maps to see where it goes.

Sometimes the copy/paste takes me to the right location. Other times, I get the following:
1. The address takes you to the location, but the real address is related to a cross/street as the location sits at an intersection like a gas station at the corner of Main and Mill St is like "456 Mill St, Anytown IN 12345"
2. The address is missing a direction indicator like "N Main" or "W Main" so you end up in the middle of nowhere. Once you search for the name of the place on the map, it pops up with the corrected address that would be "123 N Main St"
3. The city and zip code don't match. Thankfully, Google Maps corrects this so then your address is "123 Main St, Othertown, IN 12345" or "123 Main St, Anytown, IN 12347"
4. Many Northeast addresses where the Zip Code begins with 0 can have the address accidentally show the Zip without it. I encountered this when I did a trip to Boston and the zip was supposed to be "02108" and was instead displayed as "2108."
5. Sometimes the address is a few numbers off so it should be "126 Main St" instead of "123 Main St"
6. The address is on a numbered rural route like Route 9 in Massachusetts. Some address will say "1123 Rt 9, Boston" when it could also be "1123 Boylston St, Boston MA" or "1123 Worcester-Boston Turnpike Boston, MA" and so on. All these dedicated Hwy names, with Hwy #s and local street names can make it confusing.
7. Sometimes the address is a township within the main city. You could have "123 Main St, Washville Township, IN 12345" and then the address corrects to "123 Main St, Anytown IN 12345."

After all these things you need to correct, the pin location on the map is correct so the "check in" button works even though the printed address is slightly off.

Any other common things we notice? My guess is the reason these things happen is the marketer gets a big spreadsheet of task locations and then they upload it in bulk to Presto. Its no fault of the marketer. If you had a sheet with thousands of locations, how could you test all of them easily?

I like it when locations are wrong, as long as I know that I'm going to the right place and I can personally find it. That makes it harder for other shoppers to find it. Other shoppers might not do the job because they can't find it; they might also do the wrong location. This makes it more likely that I personally will get to do the shop. Also, it makes it more likely that I can get more pay because nobody else can figure out where the location is at. For me, if I can figure it out, the more errors the better. The issues make it harder for other shoppers to complete the work, and I like that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2025 06:30PM by thunderdeacon.

@scottsteg wrote:

Any other common things we notice? My guess is the reason these things happen is the marketer gets a big spreadsheet of task locations and then they upload it in bulk to Presto. It's no fault of the marketer. If you had a sheet with thousands of locations, how could you test all of them easily?

For these instant shops, my hunch is the same as yours. Where the addresses provided to Presto comes directly from the client, and the issue is with the client's source data. I don't think the client has adequate checks for formatting and data validation.

Presto grabs yours location based off your cellphone maps location such as google maps. And if you do not close your Presto app or your survey completely before moving on to the next location, the app isn't syning with your GPS services in real time causing the location not updating in real time. So it isn't necessary presto issue, but from time to time the cellphone service that you use, and user behavior issue.

One thing that I learn is if you open Presto and you get the location error issue, close the presto app completely, open your google map, chances are your location dot on your gps is not even updated at that time, just wait a few seconds for your google maps to update(move your circle to your current location, or click the button to force the map to update your location), then re-open your presto app, or learn to just open the GPS and let it read your location before getting out of your car, it will for sure read your location right.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2025 07:56PM by kisekinecro.

That's all a little too much trouble for me. I just hit report location issue or whatever it says and move on.