I'm in quite the back and forth with an obstinate editor who apparently has adopted their own guidelines for red/white/blue lighting audits. And proud that I have not yet blown an email gasket with them.

Hit the road in the wee hours this morning to get to a remote Famous Highway station for both the bonused darkness visit and a $300 daylight job. Was able to get 2 others @ $45 ea + their related bonused darkness stops, and did an out-and-back before teaching classes today.

The shops in question (I also did the second one's regular job on the return leg) were the first two, so I checked the guidelines for the timing info knowing I would not be there during store hours.

The guidelines simply say fuel must be for sale and it must be dark. They go on to indicate one can verify fueling hours by calling ahead or checking the brand's website. I don't trust gas brand websites after years of doing my routes, so I called ahead to confirm that fuel was available 24/7 at both locations.

The editor is declining both because I didn't show up during "business hours", even though that phrase is not present in the guidelines which they have deemed to be "crystal clear".

Anyone know the project manager contact? TIA

There used to be a "meet the team" page on Shopmetrics. It's still there but completely blank. This could be one of the reasons why they no longer let us know who's in charge.

Editor initials CD?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/2025 12:04PM by sestrahelena.

@sestrahelena wrote:

Editor initials CD?

Nope... TB

OK. So that seems to mean that the editor instructions are different from the shopper instructions. And the MSC will absolutely stand by the editor, since they gave those newer guidelines to the editor. Remember the oil change pricing shops, where we were initially given the editor guidelines which had very little to do with the later-released shopper guidelines?

If the editor guidelines are different, send her a copy of the shopper guidelines. It is hard to argue with them, you really need to go above their head. There has to be a project manager in charge of the shop. Just ask the editor who the PM is, they should give the info.

@Datagirl wrote:

If the editor guidelines are different...

That would not appear to be the case. They posted a screenshot of the guidelines, with relevant text highlighted.

Sometimes I wonder if the MSC pays an incentive to editors to reject shops. Or if they have a quota of rejections that has to be filled. If editors are paid by report, as some have speculated, aren't they costing themselves money by rejecting shops for made up reasons? I don't get it.

The editor is going off the old guidelines from Sassie, at least in their head, which specifically stated the store must be open. In their effort to streamline the shops and lure in new people, they shortened the guidelines. Now they are enforcing things they left out, interpreting things from the perspective of "you should have known that," possibly at the direction of the PM. This happened with the regular audits too.

Yeah. Penny pincher that I am, I don't take kindly to people stealing my money. And that's exactly what they are doing when I perform a job per the contract offered then they change the terms after the fact and decline the shop.

After some b*tching and moaning up the food chain (with thanks for the PM's), one of the two rejected shops is now showing as accepted.

So Presto/YouKnowWho gets some credit.

Looks like Presto is doing right by me on this whole ordeal.

The one that showed as accepted has now been paid. Just heard back from a manager that the other will be addressed by end of day.

Will be interested to see if the guidelines are changed for the next round.

Meanwhile I'm hoping the last available gas brand to me on SASSIE (I'm banned from the Dinosaur) stays there.

The wildly varying completion windows across the different brands on Presto require much more planning time for us route shoppers.

A perfect example: I've got a nice route next Monday/Tuesday when I'll be on Spring Break from teaching. The Conditional Reveal shops were available on SASSIE for over a week ahead of the due date.

I was able to fit all the day parts into a workable route, and all shops are bonused to at least $30+reimbursement, with a couple at $50+reimbursement. That I was able to get my hotel room on Monday for free for only 8000 Best Western points makes this one all the nicer.

The drag is Presto: there are 3 Mollusks @ $25 each + the reimbursement, and I'm happy to do them, but I can't fully book them yet. I can claim the first one as the 96-hour window closed just a few minutes ago. The window for the last one won't close until after 4PM later today. I feel it's necessary to claim them as the window opens up so I don't miss them, but that's a pain to have to check in on the app 3 different times to claim 3 shops for the same day on a route.

And don't forget the famous highway is a 24 hour deadline now. That bites.

@Datagirl wrote:

If the editor guidelines are different, send her a copy of the shopper guidelines. It is hard to argue with them, you really need to go above their head. There has to be a project manager in charge of the shop. Just ask the editor who the PM is, they should give the info.

That editor won't provide that information. They will also lie to try and get your removed from projects.

I have gotten this several times from different I editors.....familiarity breeds contempt (for us!).

@sestrahelena wrote:

And don't forget the famous highway is a 24 hour deadline now. That bites.

The darkness versions are still 24 hours.

My last round of daylights were 96 hours, but I bumped into the program ending March 3, so shops I claimed thinking I had 4 days and I had less than 2. Had to cancel on the spot and wait for the lockout to end to get the $300 location that made the out-and-back worth doing.

And now the Mollusks are 120 hours instead of 96. Was able to snag the 3 I wanted on the upcoming route, but I coulda set things up sooner.

End result: a bunch more busy work to get a route booked.

Hope they fix it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2025 06:47AM by sil2222.