Just concluded litigation with another co. - not mystery shop. Their attorneys spent $500k to keep from paying me $10k. The company in question was a tight fisted, ungrateful. greedy thug. It is a pity but that is the nature of the beast.

If I needed any proof of the need to regulate these sites - it is this. I did the job correctly. Why would I not? I am not working shops because I am bored. You want bashing - try spending money you dont need to spend in order to get work. I have been paid for MANY shops and those companies which treat me fairly get my attention and my time. One of my former uplines suggested mystery shopping. She stated you will soon learn which companies are fair and which are not and begin to concentrate on the good ones. So she has proven to be right.

We tend to self-regulate and that is why when someone posts without substantiating their claims, questions result. Right now there is nothing to indicate whether the shop was performed correctly or incorrectly.

I can't remember exactly - but my notes were taken while I was sitting in my car. If CI had answered my phone call with a credible answer - as others do - all this would be mute.

Same person; two different forum names? Plus all this nonsense? I smell troll.

I dont know about the two names? Where are you getting that? A troll - now the internet needs to have some strong restrictions and those who post need to understand there are laws against slander and libel. If you talk to everyone else the same way you do me - God help them.

Usually on a food shop they want the timing of when you get your food. You are making it look like you got your food in ten second and unless they had all the items in a bag before the order, that isn't feasible.

It does not sound like you are here to learn. I am sorry your shops were rejected, but if the same attitude you are posting with here is given when you are asked a question about the shop, I can see where someone may not choose to try and work with you. Sometimes even when you are correct, you need to apologize for any inconvenience your misunderstanding caused. People tend to go to bat for someone more when they are treated pleasantly.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2013 08:18AM by Shelly.

cheryljane Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I dont know about the two names? Where are you
> getting that?

It's a very easy thing to start a new account as cheryljane when you get tired of posting as txmedia. But it's also a very easy thing to check the ip address and know that two accounts are the same person.

I guess I am going to have to ABC this for the last time - My order did NOT arrive in 10 seconds. I had to drive to another window to get that. I placed the order in 10 seconds. That was what CI wanted to know. I do not believe my comments were unpleasant - just not a brown noser. Not a syncopath!!!

I may still have my emails to CI regarding these infamous shops? I was not unpleasant to them. And if I was - they owed me $$. I did the job and should be paid. I have to apologize for someone misunderstanding? That makes sense. I hope this is the last bleeding comment on this.

The word is sycophant and working well with others does not automatically make you one. And as a small business owner there will be times when you have to apologize to your client for a misunderstanding.

There was obviously some confusion. Once you reach a drive up window, how long it takes you to order by itself is not relevant to speed of service timings. What is relevant is how long you waited in line before you could order and how long it took to get your food.

This whole discussion is inane and insane. I can't make sense of the timings Cheryl provided, and I have done hundreds of fast food assignments.

For any newbies out there getting ready to go out on their first fast food projects, standard industry timings usually look like this:
Actual time of arrival...elapsed time to pay window...elapsed time after leaving pickup window with completed order.

The time elapsed between ordering and reaching the pay window will vary depending upon how much customer volume is at the time. The payment process itself usually takes around 7 to 10 seconds. Then the next elapsed time between payment window and receiving food at pickup window can vary again, once again, dependent upon how busy the location is. Time spent at the pickup window is usually less than 10 to 15 seconds if all goes well.

I have yet to have any MSC ask how long it took me to order my food. This seems really odd to me. I've occasionally been asked how long it took to be acknowledged at the order board by an employee, but not the actually time it took me to place an order.

I'm completely confused by what timings were required.

I have done the shops cheryljane is referencing and you are correct, shopgal. What she quoted as being measured is not what the report asks for. In addition, this particular fast food client is considerably less fast than the McDs and others similar. This client prides itself on no pre-prep. The order is prepared AFTER you order - they are going for quality and freshness - so times are generally much slower than times for food service at other client locations.

Lisa,
I think she is right; she IS a "syncopath." A wonderful new word having to do with synchronization!

AustinMom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have done the shops cheryljane is referencing
> and you are correct, shopgal. What she quoted as
> being measured is not what the report asks for.

I am now counting up all the wasted minutes of my life that I will never get back.

Time of arrival on forum board: 7:38:15 PM. Time elapsed before finding first thread in which CherylJane has a dispute with an MSC: 10 seconds. Time elapsed to find another thread in which CJ has a problem with a forum member: 10 seconds. Time elapsed to try to reasonably respond and be helpful: 10 minutes 20 seconds. Time elapsed before coming across yet another thread in which CJ has a report rejected: 10 seconds. Time out after realizing that the cause is hopeless: 8:17:05 PM.

I am so done.

cheryljane Wrote:
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> I am not working
> these shops because I am tired of counting all my
> money. For those of you whose comments are meant
> with good intentions - thanks! The rest - ...

Cheryl,

Can you tell us your shopping experience? Was this an aberration? Do you have a lot of accepted shops and just had problems on this one? I believe I have messed up three shops to date out of the 250 or so I have performed. It happens. CI has accepted all my reports, but I believe I did have to go back and edit a mistake I made.

Again, with good intentions, I want you to know that CI WANTS to accept our shops. When they don't it's because they can't - something went wrong calling the accuracy of the report into question. When that happens, they have to find another shopper with less lead time.

And the posters here want to help you. Please try to take to heart the input you've received here.

cheryljane Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can't remember exactly - but my notes were taken
> while I was sitting in my car. If CI had answered
> my phone call with a credible answer - as others
> do - all this would be mute.

I think that, "moot" might be the word you're looking for.

> Not a syncopath!!!

You might have been looking for "psychopath" on this one.

I hope that helps.

I might suggest just writing this off and moving on. I can see how this is wearing on you.

All the best!

I worked for CI for over a year. They are wonderful. I always got paid when they said I would. The only reason I stopped is because the distances in TX are too great and gas too high to make it profitable.

Cheryl,

I am neither mute nor moot, neither syncopath, sycophant or psychopath. I have, however, been a professional shopper since I was in college in the late 70s. As such I have made many mistakes over the years and have "eaten" the expenses on unusable shops that were my fault. Even in the past year I have had to reshop once when I failed to read the instructions completely on a new program from an MSC. While it is true that some MSCs are a bit difficult to work with and others may pay slowly or try to refuse payment, I can guarantee that CI is NOT one of them.

To be fair, I will be upfront about my relationship and knowledge about Consumer Impressions. I have known founders Jodi & Donnie Paul and their family for well over twenty years. My wife and I moved to Iowa several years ago, so I am no longer shopping for her Jodi always has run a top-flight business---both from the standpoint of providing her clients with accurate, timely, and professional reports and in regards to respecting and working with her shoppers. She and her staff make every effort to edit and use reports if it is possible.

In the case of the information that you have provided in your rants on this thread, I agree 100% with the others here. The scenario you presented from your report notes are not just improbable, they are impossible. If I had been reviewing, proofing, or certifying your report, I would have rejected it, too. Learn from your mistakes, move forward, and stop blaming CI.

John N.
Iowa

Based on these postings, I am going to see what other shops Consumer Impressions has in my area and sign up! Since I have been shopping just over a year and have only had one rejected shop, I feel comfortable I could most likely handle these shops.

shopit Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Based on these postings, I am going to see what
> other shops Consumer Impressions has in my area
> and sign up! Since I have been shopping just over
> a year and have only had one rejected shop, I feel
> comfortable I could most likely handle these
> shops.

Shopit, I'm only aware of one client and they are mostly in Texas. If you're in the South I'm sure you'll enjoy their shops. You won't get rich, but it's a fair price if you need to eat anyway.

cheryljane Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You were NOT there so
> do not pass judgment til you have the facts.
> Maybe you need to consider how you would feel IF
> you were in this situation instead of bashing me?
> Try putting yourself in my shoes.

Meh. You're just a whiner. "Til you have the facts"? You ain't given us the facts. "How you would feel IF you were in this situation"? We can't know, since you ain't told us the situation. "Try putting yourself in my shoes"? You ain't told us your shoe size either.

No sympathy here. Sorry.

Without the original poster acknowledging their timings were in error, there really is nothing to discuss in this matter. It's evident in the first timing listed there is a typo or its just plain erroneous. A mistake was made no doubt. It would have helped if the company had gotten back to the shopper with details of where they erred. It may have avoided their ongoing rantings however. An indignant attitude didn't help which may be why they ignored follow up.

There are some people that do not belong in the world of MSing and it looks like we have one here. She does not understand and obviously never will. Hope she stops making us all look bad and finds a job taking cash at the arches or better yet at the kings place.

It's time to move on. That was then, this is now. For the record, in the interim between now and these previous postings, CherylJane has been asking for and accepting advice and guidance. She also has been working hard on building her business. I have no doubt that she would be appreciative of any encouragement and support sent her way.

Also, she did not try to rewrite history by going back and deleting or editing the previous postings. I give her credit for that.

What happened, happened. Let's not write someone off hastily, please.

Does anyone know a way to check for available shops with the new system instead of going city by city?

I have shopped for CI for over a year. The schedulers are extremely easy to work with, and the pay is good for what the shop is. I find their pay schedule to be reliable and acceptable. I wish more companies were as "shopper-friendly."

Alas, I had to cut way back on the amount of shopping I do for them when the client changed the timeframes for each meal period. Instead of allowing a 3+ hour window, now it is usually one or one and a half hours. When I'm trying to do five or six shops (or more) in one day, it's hard to manage my time that precisely. This is especially true since their locations in my city are somewhat spread out. This issue has to do with logistics and the unpredictable amount of time some shops take. I was disappointed with this, but I do understand the reasoning behind it. It's hard to judge lunch service at 3:00pm! It would be helpful if the timeframes could be just a wee bit longer, though.