MYSTERY SHOPPING THREAD XI ** New people make sure you read the first 2 Posts **

TractorGirl327

MikeLB wrote: »

Oh I see ABA-i staff are developing an attitude problem about rescheduling jobs. They are sending out very threatening emails if you dare to cancel then reselect a job, basically stating you will be struck off their books for daring to do it regardless of reason.

Can I suggest to anyone who gets an email like this to immediately request a call from a Senior Manager as I have had a blistering email exchange about this all afternoon which has culminated in removal of clients and a very poor attitude from from ABA-i. My partner also suffered the same thing this afternoon.

Why cancel and then reselect? Just email them and ask them to extend the date ... I do this all the time with them and there is no problem ... in fact ABAi are probably the most laid-back company there is about changing dates and extending deadlines

lily_the_pink

MikeLB wrote: »

Oh I see ABA-i staff are developing an attitude problem about rescheduling jobs. They are sending out very threatening emails if you dare to cancel then reselect a job, basically stating you will be struck off their books for daring to do it regardless of reason.

Can I suggest to anyone who gets an email like this to immediately request a call from a Senior Manager as I have had a blistering email exchange about this all afternoon which has culminated in removal of clients and a very poor attitude from from ABA-i. My partner also suffered the same thing this afternoon.

Without wanting to get flamed, I think if you do this you risk getting blacklisted by them - they have large national projects to run so want everything done by certain dates. By unofficial rescheduling it creates uncertainty for them - I wont even get into a "it is not fair on the rest of us" type debate (which I am sure someone else might ). I reschedule sometimes for GFK but the system allows that - and I have also rescheduled with GR but this has to be done by phone. I have not done this with ABAI - if I cant do the job in the timelimit they are requesting I just dont take it on.

lily_the_pink

TractorGirl327 wrote: »

Why cancel and then reselect? Just email them and ask them to extend the date ... I do this all the time with them and there is no problem ... in fact ABAi are probably the most laid-back company there is about changing dates and extending deadlines

Thanks for this info - might do this in the future!

MikeLB

lily_the_pink wrote: »

Without wanting to get flamed, I think if you do this you risk getting blacklisted by them - they have large national projects to run so want everything done by certain dates. By unofficial rescheduling it creates uncertainty for them - I wont even get into a "it is not fair on the rest of us" type debate (which I am sure someone else might ). I reschedule sometimes for GFK but the system allows that - and I have also rescheduled with GR but this has to be done by phone. I have not done this with ABAI - if I cant do the job in the timelimit they are requesting I just dont take it on.

The problem ABA-i seem to be having is that one one hand they state that all jobs need to be completed when released but yet jobs will quite happily sit there for 2-3 weeks and not be picked up, or as in my case, situations arise out of your control so you need to release it and pick it back up.

The staff today started sending very arrogant emails with no request for a reason (even although my actual reason was being stranded in Aberdeen due to flooding at the start of the week) and threats for a strike off. I am awaiting my call back from a Senior Manager at ABA-i because frankly, if this is their new attitude they can kiss bye bye to me completing jobs requiring 240 mile round trips that they like to phone and ask me to do because no one selects them.

vicz123

I have to say I prob agree with abai on this in some cases! (although not an attitude problem obvs!)

I think if you know when you take a job on say monday that you cant do it till sat, its not fair to take it and then release and rebook it to enable you to do this. It should be left for someone who is prepared to do it when they book it, unless of course its still available later in the week for you to accept.

I could have taken great yarmouth, cromer, lowestoft etc.... and hoarded them till the weekend and its not really fair on other shoppers to be able to do that. I certainly would be a bit miffed if someone took all the Norwich jobs on monday and planned to do them at the weekend when I could have done them within the time given.

I think they are quite right to have a problem with people who do this.

Obviously there are times when a job genuinely needs to be rescheduled but if thats the case then I think you should probably call or email them. I wouldn't see a problem with canceling a job and reselecting if you needed to it outside of office hours. I would expect them to check whether you have a history of it before having a go at you though as they will be able to see how often you have done it.

I definately agree you shouldn't be penalised if you do it for genuine reasons

vicz123

lily_the_pink wrote: »

I wont even get into a "it is not fair on the rest of us" type debate (which I am sure someone else might ). .

lol that would be me

lily_the_pink

MikeLB wrote: »

The problem ABA-i seem to be having is that one one hand they state that all jobs need to be completed when released but yet jobs will quite happily sit there for 2-3 weeks and not be picked up, or as in my case, situations arise out of your control so you need to release it and pick it back up.

The staff today started sending very arrogant emails with no request for a reason (even although my actual reason was being stranded in Aberdeen due to flooding at the start of the week) and threats for a strike off. I am awaiting my call back from a Senior Manager at ABA-i because frankly, if this is their new attitude they can kiss bye bye to me completing jobs requiring 240 mile round trips that they like to phone and ask me to do because no one selects them.

that is a different case to hoarding! Good luck

mysterious_girl

TractorGirl327 wrote: »

Why cancel and then reselect? Just email them and ask them to extend the date ... I do this all the time with them and there is no problem ... in fact ABAi are probably the most laid-back company there is about changing dates and extending deadlines

I agree Tractor Girl. I have sometimes rung them up before accepting a job and asked if I could do it on the 4th day and they've said sure, fine, as long as I was committed to do it, they were fine with it.

TractorGirl327

mysterious_girl wrote: »

I agree Tractor Girl. I have sometimes rung them up before accepting a job and asked if I could do it on the 4th day and they've said sure, fine, as long as I was committed to do it, they were fine with it.

The way I look at it is this: the other companies allow you to book several weeks in advance in some cases and I try to plan all jobs in one area on a specific day. eg today I was in Lakeside, tomorrow I've got 9 in Bluewater! If, at the beginning of the week some jobs appeared for those areas, I'd contact ABAi and say I am planning to visit such-and-such a place on that day and could they entend the deadline? I don't think they've ever said no!

Rosy_Violet

Don't you think agencies are now chasing too many unreliable MSers?
Over this past year I seem to be getting more and more last minute calls to complete assignments that have been dropped or are needing a re-shop. Great for me but terribly frustrating for the agencies; must be maddening to see jobs constantly being rescheduled and not being able to achieve their deadlines. We only juggle our weekly quotas, I wouldn't want to be looking at the whole country and wondering if they are all going to be done in time. Totally agree with Tractor and Mysterious Girl in that if you telephone and they know from your past performance that you stick to the deadlines then they will accommodate requests.

Think you're on your own MikeLB in thinking its ok to cancel and reschedule with Aba-i. The best thing would have been to telephone them.