MissyH71 Wrote:
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> God Forbid that I'm like that in 25 years, put me
> out on an ice floe and let me drift out to sea
> with the polar bears if I am.....

I hate to say it but we probably won't have polar bears in 25 years. :-(

Those elderly ladies at Maritz are following policies and work pace set up by the company, and they don't have control over the way things are done. Kudos to them for getting to work every day and holding down a regular job. If younger employees had those jobs, they would be following the exact same policies. The younger ones might talk faster, but the policies and procedures in place would not allow them to execute faster. If those ladies are taking up your time with unwelcome small talk, know they are working in line with what their employer wants. I hope they haven't read this thread, because I think their feelings would be hurt and they are blameless.

It's true that past 70 we move more slowly. That's because we are no longer in a hurry to get where we're going. Also, I suggest anyone planning on the ice floe with the polar bears reconsider options. Try to think of something more pleasant and less painful, and don't dawdle. Day by day, old age is on the way. That last line was poetry.

Although I started this thread focusing on the antics of the green editing department, I still love Maritz. It is (for now) only the green editing department that makes me want to rip my hair out, jump up and down while screaming at the computer screen. The editing department makes me think twice about loading up with routes and the effort. But, yes, I probably will go in and add some more to my month for November.

I know others here can't stand that they use the phone and in my words "Love" their phones, but I like being able to pick up the phone while in route and say "Hey I have a problem." I don't like that they call and pester you about jobs all the time and sometimes the left hand doesn't know what the right already did. But they haven't sold out to foreign call centers either. Other MSCs you can never get ahold of and ask a question in a timely manner. Sure they talk on the phone, but at least you know they are human. When I talk to them, they as me how my kids are and if we are getting ready for Halloween. Or I ask how their kids/grandkids are. Do you know of another MSC that takes a minute to be human? Not many out there. Most delete you with an email or better yet, just wait for you to try and log on to find out you are deactivated.

Now...if I can only get the green editing department to open their eyes and see the pictures, realize that not every station fits into a "traditional" station profile, not every question on the form has a "black and white" answer, and that if you would read the internal box, I probably told you that this was a weird and unusual shop.

**It is sad we probably won't have polar bears in 25 years. **

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2012 02:52PM by SecretAgentMom.

I'm sorry, but they are not ALL "blameless." I called before doing a shop and asked for a clarification. My question was pretty simple. I had printed and read EVERYTHING, and there was one small item that I did not understand. She wasn't willing to help me at ALL. I think she didn't know the answer and didn't want to look it up! She said, "I don't want to give you the answer, I want to encourage you to find it yourself." That was not encouraging. It was frustrating as hell.

MDavisnowell Wrote:
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> Those elderly ladies at Maritz are following
> policies and work pace set up by the company, and
> they don't have control over the way things are
> done. Kudos to them for getting to work every day
> and holding down a regular job. If younger
> employees had those jobs, they would be following
> the exact same policies. The younger ones might
> talk faster, but the policies and procedures in
> place would not allow them to execute faster. If
> those ladies are taking up your time with
> unwelcome small talk, know they are working in
> line with what their employer wants. I hope they
> haven't read this thread, because I think their
> feelings would be hurt and they are blameless.
>
> It's true that past 70 we move more slowly.
> That's because we are no longer in a hurry to get
> where we're going. Also, I suggest anyone
> planning on the ice floe with the polar bears
> reconsider options. Try to think of something
> more pleasant and less painful, and don't dawdle.
> Day by day, old age is on the way. That last line
> was poetry.

Robin - I regret you had a problem with one lady who didn't give you an answer. One of our advantages is there are lots of MSPs to pick from. We can all decide what makes us unhappy and we can fix it or move on. Works great either way. Maybe Maritz is not the company for you.

Nope, nobody has a brain there. I've had holds for no reason either.. been told "Just take the pictures exactly how we ask, and then if you think you have a better way, take another one"

Let's put it this way, anyone who bans a shopper for a first-time rookie mistake has no brains. That doesn't excuse blatant stupidity on the side of the shopper, however.

Robin,

Although I've never had a single problem with Maritz, probably due to not accepting any gas stations, I encountered a situation with Trendsource that was similar to what you've shared. It was an FF, where I was to take a pic of the address, which didn't exist. In that it was only 1 1/2 mls. from my house and at a busy intersection I regularly passed, I decided to attempt to explain the situation; BAD move. After sending 3 letters, but receiving a reply that the pic was necessary, I requested removal. I will accept aggravation, but only if the money is commensurate with the trouble.

I had this problem with 6 out of 9 gas shops in the last 60 days. I am currently waiting on payment, after 4 phone calls and countless emails. One of the stations, they gave the wrong address. I did the only station in the whole town of this brand,and then checked address again- nope, not the same as on instructions. Plugged it into GPS again, and drove around for 45 minutes. Finally pulled over and called. Get this. They ACKNOWLEDGE the address is wrong, but said THEY ARE UNABLE TO CHANGE IT! They asked me to please make a note of it, and "maybe" the company they contract with would get it changed. Huh? I wonder how long they have been handing out the wrong address?

This makes me feel real good as I had just accepted my first gas station from them. I got all my stuff in the mail in the last couple of days, but it is another few days before I can do the shop. Now I am wondering...

SecretAgentMom Wrote:
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> I did a bunch of gas station audits last week and
> 3 (the only 3 edited at this point) have been put
> on hold. The first because ID pic was blurry and
> dark. I just checked my pics against what I
> submitted, no it wasn't. Not one bit of it was
> dark or blurry. So I resubmitted it. Second,
> evaluated and answer store. Well, like I put in
> the "internal" box there was no store, it was a
> service station and I did as I was told by a
> Maritz employee when I called to verify what to do
> in this case. So I went thru and gave them a
> stellar report on the nonexsitent store. Third,
> submit photo of stupid vest, I did, they removed
> it. Now, why would I remember submitting this
> particular photo, because I commented to myself
> how tired I look in the picture compared to the
> others throughout the day. I have had other
> reports put on hold because pic was not from
> across the street. Ummm yes it was, but oops
> pardon me, I thought they wanted to see the
> building/overall site not the lanes of traffic.
> Now I make sure to include lanes of traffic in my
> pics.
>
> Lately their editors seem to put things on hold
> just to do it. This wasn't my first route of
> stations with them, this was like my 100th.
>
> I love this company, but stuff like this really
> ticks me off sometimes and makes me wanna say
> forget it sith them...anyone else???


Yes I would have to agree with you on the MSC. My problem with them is their scheduling company. They give you shops but do not tell you about it. You then get an email stating that you have a past due shop. I emailed the MSC company to advise that most companies email the shopper to advise they have been accepted for the job or something....these schedulers don't tell you. I now refused to work for this company until they get their act together or work out a better system. This is how it is in Canada.

I keep getting emails from them that I qualify for a new program and invite me to request shops. When I do, those shops just sit in my requested shop file and get relisted. This has happened twice in the last week! I think they're going crazy over there...

Sean182 Wrote:
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> I keep getting emails from them that I qualify for
> a new program and invite me to request shops. When
> I do, those shops just sit in my requested shop
> file and get relisted. This has happened twice in
> the last week! I think they're going crazy over
> there...


Sean the Shopper....if you are new with the company and cannot self assign yet, you need to request the shop then call them and tell them you did. They will most likely assign it to you, but for whatever reason they do not pay attention that there are shops sitting in peoples request box. Good luck.

I Like Banks....the best advice I can give you is to take lots of pictures and then lots more. This will keep you from going back.

Also, even though the shops are visible on the boards, the schedulers are unable to assign then until the self-assign shoppers have had a certain amount of time to view the board.

I've done many, many gas stations of all colors for this company. Had a question on a green one about the pic not being from across the street. I wrote back detailing the 8 lanes of traffic. Shop accepted. Had one question about the number of pumps. Answered it. Shop accepted. I've never had one rejected, and haven't had any kind of hold in many months. The schedulers are always very friendly to me. I was able to do some extra work in my area with the company which required meeting several employees in person-- and they were all great.

All I can say is, if you don't want to shop for this company....that leaves more for me!

Ah...good old Maritz! My wife and I both shop for them sometimes. She got thrown out of Chevron for doing what they called "white glove audits" at two stations. Well folks I have stopped at both of these stations over the years. The pumps are broken and falling down, the places are filthy, the fellows working there are a mess and the interiors would never remotely pass any kind of even cursory health inspection. The restrooms were truly deplorable. Right after she got bounced she received a number of Chevron Maritz emails, as I did, telling us that we just weren't catching any number of problems that upon a second inspection existed. Just which way do you folks at Maritz want it? Sugar coated or honest? I gather her editor really, really, really wanted good reports or else. Otherwise Martize is a nice outfit to work for. They always pay, put some shops on hold (in my case for good reason) and are reputable. Not the best payers but they offer steady work.

Why do you people do work for this company? I would not give them the sweat off my backside.

Maritz is one of my top 5 company.

Please let us not decide how old someone is and then make a judjement based on that. If you have a complaint, fine, but not based on age race gender, etc.

Maritz has been one of my top companies for years. They provide steady work and they pay right on schedule. Apparently there are problems I haven't found yet, but I'm hoping to get through them when I do. I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from shopping with this company. However, the more people give up and quit, the more work there will be for me and the other shoppers who want to work with them. Someone will always slide in there and pick up the shops. It's great we can choose which companies we want to work with. I choose Maritz to be on my company list.

I have been working as a shopper since late June but have learned a thing or two since. Maritz is low paying. I dont have a camera so that excludes me from alot of jobs. I performed the bank shops recently and that nearly drove me crazy. I had to call and get info sent to me - then go in person. I had to scan everything and PLACE the job ID # on each document - which included the business card, all paper work, etc. It could not be done once - it had to be on every document which meant I had to go back and add the job ID # - rescanning. It must have taken me 5 hours just to do all the scanning and downloading. I told them the job did not pay enough. It should have paid $50 a shop instead of $12. Someone asked what the gas station jobs pay - the few I did paid around $10 - $12 per shop. The employees of Maritz are pleasant and have good phone skills - just does not pay enough. And I dont think the cllients have any idea as to what happens so far down the food chain.

Don't scan...take pictures. MUCH faster.

This company would have to be rated worst in MSC's. Their are many much better MSC's to work for. You don't need them!

Yeah, I've had more trouble with them this time around too. I just got a "blurry" photo back too. I had one wanting a "closer" picture of a canopy because they saw something. There was nothing to see. I had a second photo so I sent that one and this time it went through. I keep getting back for not evaluating diesel pumps. Certain locations this time that we've never had to evaluate before suddenly need to be evaluated. I've learned to take pictures of the diesel pumps every time since they are so inconsistent. The nice people keep calling me to take stations way out of my area, but now I'm going to tell them no since we keep getting so many visits back that we never used to. Can barely afford one trip to some of these places they want me to go, let alone two on a whim. I'm thinking seriously of cutting back to only very local locations. They used to be my favorite shopping company, not even close anymore!

I did a lot of bank shops for Maritz about a year ago, but they were bonused, and I could do a route. I only had a few questions from editors. Then I decided to try the gas station shops. Holy cow. I did one and that was enough for me! I never heard back from the editor so I guess I did okay. I give kudos to those of you who do them. It wasn't for me!

I didn't do anymore of the bank shops, because the employees were recognizing me. Might be time to see if they have some bonuses on them again!

Have a good weekend!

Karen IL Wrote:
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> Don't scan...take pictures. MUCH faster.


He said he didn't have a camera.

I love my gas shops & Maritz has been very lenient with rescheduling for me. I am really surprised at anyone having problems with them. I have only had 3 shops put on hold out of 34 I did this month alone. I do use the comments box at the bottom of the report for explaining why an overall picture isn't always across 4 lanes of traffic (safety issues and no where to park across the street) or any other problems with a photo, but usually a phone call takes care of it. I have come to a first name basis with all 3 gas teams and they have always been helpful. It took a few times to get their sytem down with the seperate invoicing but once I learn something new they want I just make a note of it in my routine until I get it down. Free gas to run around in and an extra 66 or 77 dollars in a day adds up. Last year I never bought gas out of pocket for 8 months of the year and and I made $1500 in gas shops alone for this one company. I love Maritz.

Wow, I guess I dodged a bullet with mine! I did my first Maritz shop Thursday, report due Friday. I posted it Thursday night. Forgot to write the job number on the photos. Last night (Friday) I noticed it was on hold (while checking to see if a job I requested for next week had been assigned to me, otherwise I never would have known it) due to lack of numbers on the photos. Oops. I wrote the job number on every document (bank shop, not gas), took new pictures, uploaded them. Computer seemed happy. Checking for the requested shop again this morning I see the first job is still on hold, with the same complaints. Sent an email. Few hours later, no reply, I'm starting to worry because it says On Hold AND Overdue (the due date is today).

So . . . I called. Got a very helpful operator who looked at the job and said it appeared nobody had reviewed the new pics to take it off hold. He looked at them said it was fine, and took off the hold.

So either I got lucky or the answer is to just call and talk to them.

But I still haven't been assigned the gas shop I was trying to get for Tuesday. Maybe I should be GLAD I didn't get it -- you guys are scaring me with these stories!

itsasecret Wrote:
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> But I still haven't been assigned the gas shop I
> was trying to get for Tuesday. Maybe I should be
> GLAD I didn't get it -- you guys are scaring me
> with these stories!


Not sure what kind of gas shop you signed up for but for yellow and green ones you have to have materials sent to you in the mail. So if you haven't been assigned yet I wouldn't count on it for Tuesday. BTW if you signed up and still haven't been assigned, call them usually they will assign it after you call. You just don't have self assign privileges yet. Don't let stories freak you out too much. They truly are a good, dependable company. Most other companies would never let you go back to get a pic you need etc...but they do (I'm sure because they are soooo picky). But it's all good!

savak Wrote:
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> Karen IL Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Don't scan...take pictures. MUCH faster.
>
>
> He said he didn't have a camera.


Whoops..missed that. Time to get one before year's end and deduct it as a business expense! You can get a good one for under $50.

So, the report on hold because of a picture of the invisible building......

Last Thursday, I finally got someone to call me back. I explained the issue to her. She looked up what happened with the last time it was shopped, and wouldn't you know it, that person also reported no building!She said she would give it to someone to take off hold. It's still there, AND I get daily "reminders" to fix the problem! It has been over a week since I first submitted the report. I think that it is sad that the company will hold off on giving their client the needed information for an issue that the client knows is there! (or ISN'T there, in this case)

I feel the same way. There is no way to get past the editing without a struggle. I finally gave up and do not shop for them anymore. I wasted so much time resending photos they already had and deleted.