Everyone will occasionally have something come up that prevents you from completing a shop – a family emergency, an illness, or maybe your car broke down. These things happen to the best of us, and there is little to nothing you can do to prevent them. So what’s a shopper to do when an event like this prevents you from doing a shop you’ve requested?
Is It Really An Emergency? First and foremost, know the possible ramifications of not completing a shop. If you are giving the scheduler little to no advanced warning, know that there is a possibility your shopper rating with that company may be affected. And this of course means it can hurt your ability to get shops with that company in the future. Each company has the option to be lenient. They are more likely to be lenient if your excuse sounds sincere, and also if you can give them more advanced warning. Canceling a shop because you got great tickets to the Knicks game probably isn’t going to fly over too well.
Give Plenty of Notice. As soon as you determine you absolutely cannot make that shop, be courteous and notify the scheduler immediately. Keep in mind that the scheduler needs to find a replacement shopper and that the scheduler has her own deadlines to meet with the retail company. Putting your scheduler in a bind, especially if it’s not a true emergency, is not something you want to do.
A Repeat Performance. Make sure you aren’t forming a pattern of canceling shops. If you have to go to your great-Aunt Sally’s funeral every other month, your scheduler is going to catch on. If your personal commitments are interfering with your ability to perform shops responsibly, you may want to consider another profession. Mystery shopper requires some responsibility to follow through on your assignments.
Oops! Too Late! Well, you’ve done it. That shop you had scheduled for last night completely slipped your mind. Maybe it’s because you ate some bad enchiladas and mystery shopping was the last thing you had on your mind. Or maybe your son fell out of a tree and broke his arm. And while mystery shopping did cross your mind while you were in the emergency room, you didn’t have all of the contact information with you to notify the scheduler.
What’s done is done. Notify the scheduler as soon as you possibly can that you failed to perform the shop. Give the scheduler enough information to let them know this truly could not be helped. Be sincere in your apology and let him know that you understand your failure to complete the shop puts him in a bid.
The thought of doing the shop on another day or time may cross your mind. Don’t think that you can just go do the shop the next day. Discuss the situation with the scheduler first and offer to make up the shop if that’s an option. The shop may have specific time requirements, as the retailer may want to check on certain staff members or management on duty on certain days and times.
A Little Prevention Goes A Long Way. People miss their shops for any number of reasons. While many of them cannot be prevented, such as a death in the family or an illness, many times shops are missed for other reasons such as forgetfulness or conflicts with personal commitments. You absolutely need to write all of your commitments, both personal and mystery shops, on the calendar. Don’t over-commit yourself by accepting assignments when you do not have time to complete them.
Also, most mystery shop providers send out email notification reminders a day or two before a shop is due. Be sure you are regularly checking your email so you see the reminders.
It’s better to notify your scheduler ahead of time if you can’t make a shop, but if you can’t manage that, be sure to notify them and make arrangements as soon as you possibly can.
So True! I just missed one yesterday. There was a really bad wreck and I was stuck in traffic forever and by the time I made it to my shop they were already closed. I feel really bad about it but like I told the schedular there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
Life happens to the best of us.
Gin
I have on at least one occasion forgotten a shop until about 11 pm when I was in bed about to go to sleep. I immediately got up and emailed the scheduler/company and offered to complete it on another day. I also followed up with them the next day as soon as possible. Once they understood it was simple forgetfulness, they were accomodating.
please, with what they pay for their shops, I can forget to do them without feeling any guilt. also, I have accepted jobs with various companies, had to turn down others because of previously accepted jobs, only to get up the day of the shop to see it had been canceled for some reason by the company or the business…so forget the guilt…what goes around, comes around.
I know the feeling. Some days that I have accepted a shop, sonething else comes up that I would rather do, but you’ve got to remember that you accepted this assignment, and try to get it done before, or after, what you would rather do. It’s like a regular job, you cannot simply say I don’t want to do it today. You need to figure out your schedule and do it, regardless.
The one who said no guilt because of what some of the shops pay shouldn’t be mystery shopping. I’ve had many shops in the past 8 yrs that I thought should be more but I did them anyway and tried to tie them in with other shops or other errands I had. I have forgotten a shop and or had an emergency. I relayed the msg through the website but the scheduler said that I should send an email so my shop grade wouldn’t be affected. It’s a good job. Too bad it’s not full time.
I skipped completing the info for a shop because the editor wanted more detail. I gave more detail two more times, and each time the editor deleted what I had revised. I won’t do any more shops for that company, and told them to assign someone else for that particular shop. I hope they do delete my name from their rolls.
To those who feel that certain shops don’t pay enough, perhaps should not accept that shop. I find this to be a strictly voluntary endeavor and to the responsible person once the commitment is made it is a matter of integrity to carry it out. No one forces us to take a shop.
Since being in this business I have established certain rules for myself. I don’t accept shops over 15 mile for less than $10.00, unless I have a series of shops along a certain route farther away. In that case I will take a $5-$8 dollar fast food shop just to get the reimbursed lunch.
Indeed, what goes around comes around like a boomerang. Don’t be surprised when it gets back to you.
There’s this little word called “commit” and if I commit to something I’m going to see it through if I have to “stand on my head to get it done”. I’ve done a couple $8 shops and I was going to be in the area so why not. It’s like nickle and dimeing yourself into $100. Slow and easy but it gets there. Take those $8 shops and do some bigger shops on the same day and Walla you’ve made yourself some bucks for the day.
Surpisingly to me, I’ve found the past few $8 shops have added a bonus I didn’t know about until I finished the paper work and there was a $2 or $3 bonus attached to my pay.
I’ve done two $8 shops today but this evening I have a high paying job. When I finished my paper work and went back to check if it was accepted my $8 pay had jumped to a $10 and $12 pay.
And I have to say the little shops are fun!! I get some good eats and drinks. Get to meet some folks I wouldn’t have met had I not been in the area.
So for very little in the way of actual work (the little shops paper work was only 2 pages at best). And the evening shop isn’t going to be bad at all so it’s turned out to be a Great Day shopping.
Guilty by all accounts!! I seriously overbooked myself last week, actually believing the hype that each shop would take but … 20~minutes (LOLOL) Each shop turned out to be well over an hour, add travel time to the next assignment, and the reporting time(!!), I ended up being AWOL on 4~shops, in one day!! Plus, I was up all night, that evening reporting the ones I completed!!
I can correct my errors on over~booking, but the detail demanded by schedulers, for so little fees, has got to be re~examined!
Nickel & diming to that $100/day target is ideal, but if it cost you 24~hours, plus the expense of gas(!!), after I do the math, this ain’t even minimum wage payback!!
Little pay shops do at times lead to higher pay and keep in mind the bonus’s.
I go wiht the flow, and mostly do shops close to my full time job.
I am new to shopping and am enjoying it. I have only been doing this a month and have made over $1000 part time. I have a full time job, so I do mystery shopping, audits and merchandising on lunch hours and after work and a few weekends. I have learned that you have to group the shops in areas you will be in. Then learn how much time each can take and be committed. I have had to reschedule a couple, but have given the schedulers notice enough that it was not a problem. I also have spent some late nights reporting, but it seems to get easier as I learn what the company is looking for. In a month’s time I have enlisted with 20+ companies and have more than enough work. When I retire from my high paying job, I am defintely going to be doing this as long as there is a need for mystery shoppers, auditors and merchandising. Keep your chin up, but be courteous. I know some jobs don’t pay well and maybe you can pass those by unless your in the area anyway. Take care and Happy Trails!!
I searched for a location and drove back and forth in the same area for over an hour. The traffic was really heavy and a tree was blocking the location’s sign. I must have passed it 5 times in the flow of traffic. I shopped the wrong location and submitted the shop. I know that this is not the same as forgetting or outright not doing a shop, I did felt bad because I want to keep all of my commitments. I was allowed to reshop the location and it was no bit deal. I know that I will probably shop the same location in the future and I might bring a saw to trim the tree. On another location, I used Rand McNally to find a location. The directions that I received had me circling around miles away from the location. No, I’m not old fashioned, but I don’t GPS or use a cell phone. I could have pulled over to call the location and have shopped it on the way home. I called the scheduler when I came home and she could not find the location either. I called the location from home and it was about 7 minutes away from where I live. That one worked out okay also because I made the necessary contact. My grade/rating was not affected. This is a business and I will treat it like a business. I will be a mature adult and not just blow off jobs. If something happens that is out of my control, I will eat humble pie. The companies that I shop for deserve the same respect that I want from them. I consider some of the lower paying jobs to be practice and honing my skills. I did an assignment today that I had steered away from, and now I remember why I didn’t like it. A genuine emergency, forgetting or getting lost is one thing, blowing off an assignment is another. One could probably get black listed if they flake off enough.
I had several shops to do one day and having to run all over the country to get them done! I had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. I did not have access to the net nor to a phone. After a week in the hospital, I found that the company deactivated my account. I sent an email explaining the situation and they didn’t seem to care. I can’t even get a response from them. I have worked for this company for nearly a year, and have done last minute shops for them, when they call and beg me to do them. I don’t think I am appreciated by this company. I also feel used!!
Once I take a shop, I truly feel it is my obligation to finish the shop. Am I going to get rich mystery shopping? No I doubt it, but it has proven to be a great way to supplement my income.
Recently I had an experience where I was supposed to be doing a revealed audit. I went to the website for the company I was doing the audit for and did their store locater and printed a map. It ended up being no where near the store. I got to the area indicated and it was the middle of a farm field. I tried calling the store itself to get directions, but no answer. I end up driving around for an hour missing the store. I pull into a hotel parking lot to try other mapping sites using my laptop to borrow some WIFI. I go to a gas station and they give me directions, but it is a dealer and not the store I need. I finally find the place, but it is too late. I call and e-mail the scheduler to make sure they understand why it isn’t done.
A week later I go to do the shop again. What is listed as a 45 minute shop ends up being 2.5 hours in the store because the customer lines are that long and I need employee contact at both the beginning and end. So my shop which wasn’t bad pay for 45 mins is pretty terrible for the amount of time I put into it, but I get it done.
Here is the bright spot. A week later I get a call from a scheduler from a company I had not signed up with. It was a very well paying job that I would have loved to do with minimal paperwork. She indicated that she needed someone to do this and I had come very highly recommended from the mystery shopping company I had worked with above. Unfortunately I couldn’t do the one that was offered, but have since done a couple of other jobs for the second company and they have been great.
This is the other side of the what goes around, comes around discussion from above. I had only done 2 shops for the first company when I was recommended. I think I would have missed a great opportunity if I hadn’t put in the time on the shop.
I missed two shops last weekend because I had to go to the emnergency room and ended up spending the night in the hospital. I remembered I had to do those jobs, but there was no getting out of this. When I returned home, I found an e-mail that said your shops are overdue. I immediately e-mailed them back and explained the problem, and also offered to Fax them my discharge papers from the hospital as proof. I haven’t heard from them recently, but I’ll give it awhile and see what happens. Things happen that can’t be prevented and they need to understand this.