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Mystery Shopping Thread 20 **PLEASE DO NOT MENTION CLIENT NAMES OR FEES ON HERE**

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Comments

  • meandthree wrote: »
    Think I have just managed to do my first alert ever - been trying for ages but you all beat me to it usually!
    Hope I haven't messed up!!

    All looks good to me - well done!
  • meandthree wrote: »
    Think I have just managed to do my first alert ever - been trying for ages but you all beat me to it usually!
    Hope I haven't messed up!!
    And an excellent one it was too (being teacherly and encouraging :T) Oh, Well done!!
  • Izi21 wrote: »
    I had a similar experience with IMS myself a couple of years back. I was too ill to do the visit and tried getting through to them that I wasn't feeling well and had to change the dates. The lady then got back to me and basically said that I wouldn't be working for them again! My account was then cancelled.

    Whilst I'm glad not to be the only one, I'm sorry you also had to experience this :(
    whitelabel wrote: »
    That is not a great review for them, but on the flip side to balance that ive had a dealing with Andy (presuming it is the same) with a newspaper assignment and found him approachable and pleasant.

    The thing with them and other companies but less strictly enforced is that when you accept the job, you sign stating that you have formed a contract to complete the visit and that they reserve the right to recover fees for losses if incurred as a result of not doing job right or at all.
    The thing is, this works both ways, and when due to no error of mine, but the client, i was unable to complete a high number of visits that ran in to fees of significant triple figures, they were contractually obligated to pay me for them without having to complete the work, and then as they still wanted the work doing they wanted to pay me to do the visits again the following weekend which I was happy to oblige.

    Its a common business contract policy with subcontractors but not usually enforced within the ms/field work market but one of the terms and conditions that we all agree to.

    That doesnt excuse rudeness however, and had you proposed you found an alternative person to cover the work(friend or from even here), there would be nothing he could do about it. Not being party to your history with them or the conversations I cant comment accurately but professionalism should have been the minimum by both parties.

    I think there are two Andys there - I spoke to one last week (maybe the week before) and he was lovely and helpful. In fact, I've generally had a very positive experience when dealing with the company, which is probably why this experience upset me so much. After all, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch.

    I accept that sometimes fees may have to be recovered, but it could have been put far nicer. I don't think it would have been that difficult to put it sympathetically rather than as a threat. I was going to mention the cancelled jobs on here, but they had all gone by the time I eventually got home. I'm told this means I won't be charged anything - let's see if they stick to that.

    I did my best to retain professionalism, given that I was crouched in a corner, as I probably would have fainted staying fully upright - even Andy commented in the end that I didn't sound too good, after initially accusing me of lying :eyeroll: It would be bad enough if I spoke badly on the phone, but from a manager representing such a company, it was simply shocking and appalling.

    I am sharing this experience because I'm downright outraged by the way I was treated and spoken to, and more importantly, as a warning to anyone else working for them (or considering it) who might have the audacity to be human and suffer illness from time to time.
  • HappyMJ
    HappyMJ Posts: 21,115 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    meandthree wrote: »
    Think I have just managed to do my first alert ever - been trying for ages but you all beat me to it usually!
    Hope I haven't messed up!!
    Nope looks good. Just reading it you have to do 8 of them in one day. That's a lot. Think I'll take someone to eat the food with.
    :footie:
    :p Regular savers earn 6% interest (HSBC, First Direct, M&S) :p Loans cost 2.9% per year (Nationwide) = FREE money. :p
  • I think the jury is out on me at the mo, I sent a 700 word rant to them this morning at the bottom of the proofing query and have refused to answer 5 of the questions as what they are wanting was not specifically asked to start with. I have however offered an olive branch to them and advised that I will be more than happy to answer any additional questions, however as they were not posed to start with when I agreed to complete the visit there would be an additional charge which will be at my consultancy rate of £26.75 plus VAT per question to cover the time that will need to be allocated to this ADDITIONAL request.

    ...And you are now officially the hero of everyone on this thread! :T

    I thought I was being a badass when I said I would register a complaint if any points were deducted, as the question on the questionnaire did not specify that a comment was required :o
  • And now my RE proofreading woes...

    Did an underground sandwich shop yesterday, and one of the questions asks what were the two most prominent marketing messages. I named one and said that there wasn't a second one that stood out to me. I've been asked to name a second one. I've replied saying "there wasn't one". The questionnaire asked for my opinion and I am now basically being told that it is wrong! What am I supposed to do, pick another at random? That's not what this job is about, it's about honesty and reflecting our viewpoints as customers - i.e. how we actually saw things - not making stuff up to fit pre-defined checkboxes :(
  • whitelabel
    whitelabel Posts: 2,217 Forumite
    cece29th wrote: »
    you'll nedd a calandar too wont you? I found this:

    Girls4Trees/Miss Earth 2011 Fundraising Calendar 2012 These Calendars are all made with recyled paper recycled ink recyled plastic and are in aid of Miss Earth. These are exceptionally green calendars and are a BARGIN! £2.00 each and all the proceeds are split between two charities, one enviromental and the other clinical. Here are the details on getting the calendar.

    If you buy the £2 Girls4Trees Calendar you can get a FREE water saving widget (subject to availability) so get it fast :-)

    Im a new user so you'll have to reply to my post or something to get the links to the sites their on.

    Sorry! :-S

    wrong forum / spam ?
  • whitelabel wrote: »
    wrong forum / spam ?

    I reported it as spam. I shall feel most mean if it just turned out to be the wrong forum! :(
  • whitelabel
    whitelabel Posts: 2,217 Forumite
    I think the jury is out on me at the mo, I sent a 700 word rant to them this morning at the bottom of the proofing query and have refused to answer 5 of the questions as what they are wanting was not specifically asked to start with. I have however offered an olive branch to them and advised that I will be more than happy to answer any additional questions, however as they were not posed to start with when I agreed to complete the visit there would be an additional charge which will be at my consultancy rate of £26.75 plus VAT per question to cover the time that will need to be allocated to this ADDITIONAL request.

    I have a feeling that they might be on the phone to Gapbuster right now asking if they can send over a proforma of the 'this decision is final and is non negotiable' email.

    Besides if they do get shot of me it might be a good thing as I only use them as fillers normally and it has got to the point that their reports take longer than ones that I do for 10 times the fee! For example it took longer to write the pub report than it did to wirte about the visit I done before it which involved two enquiries in the lingerie department, a visit to the fitting room (no, not to try on the lingerie - minds out the gutter please!), two enquiries in the food department, a till visit at both the knickers and food then a visit to a cafe!

    :T:T:T:T:T

    I hope you are actually VAT registered though, or you could only charge them the £26.75 if they take you up on your offer:rotfl:
  • proshopper
    proshopper Posts: 624 Forumite
    edited 6 September 2011 at 7:50PM
    I think the jury is out on me at the mo, I sent a 700 word rant to them this morning at the bottom of the proofing query and have refused to answer 5 of the questions as what they are wanting was not specifically asked to start with. I have however offered an olive branch to them and advised that I will be more than happy to answer any additional questions, however as they were not posed to start with when I agreed to complete the visit there would be an additional charge which will be at my consultancy rate of £26.75 plus VAT per question to cover the time that will need to be allocated to this ADDITIONAL request.

    You have my backing!

    I am quite happy to earn a reputation with any agency that I work for. I am not happy to be treated as incompetent without being told the reasons: if I have missed something in a brief or questionnaire, then I will admit to it. If it wasn't communicated to me in the first place, then it's not my fault.

    RE, like all the other fff agencies, have a lot to answer for. They give jobs to many assessors who basically have no idea what they are doing. We all then get tarred with the same brush, especially by proofreaders who may never have done a single MS job in their lives, let alone had experience of equating a report with a brief. I know we all had to start somewhere, but none of these fff agencies give any constructive feedback to assessors.

    New MSers need more than RE, Gyp and the likes can offer. How demoralising it must be to be a new MSer working for Gyp and have a completed job "cancelled/rejected" without being told why. I don't think RE contribute to the learning curve either (reasons as stated above).

    Fees are low because of the need for re-shops (account managers, support staff and proof readers still need to be paid for all this faffing about). Field work periods are short because of the potential need for re-shops. I pick up very few fff jobs - mostly, if I want one as a filler, I ring and get it allocated for a date that suits me, often with an enhanced fee (or I wait for it to become urgent and they ring me). This usually happens because I am "reliable."

    It shouldn't be like this. Agencies should "know" their assessors, probation systems should work properly and assessors should get constructive feedback. Rewind ten years!
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