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JaniceBrown
Member
Edmond, OK
USA
15 Posts |
 Posted - 07/21/2003 : 05:27:44 AM
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I am a brand new shopper and would like some feed back on this. This was only my second shop and although I don't know all the ropes I felt I did was I could to complete this shop. Little did I know you almost have to force a sales person to do their job in order for me to get paid for mine.
I was assigned to a shoe store where a "shoe sale presentation" was required for the shop to be valid. I did the usual browsing waiting to be approached and after 10 minutes I finally asked for help. I told the clerk I needed help finding fall, close toed shoes and she repsonded by pointing at an aisle and walked away quickly. I then browsed around for a few minutes and again asked for help being up a question on pricing ( there was a conflict on the same type displayed in 2 different places at different pricing). she basically threw up her hands and said "I DONT KNOW" and again, quickly walked away.
I went ahead and made a purchase in order to complete that part of the shop that was also required.
Because of the fact that the useless clerk didn't do her job I am told I wont be paid for mine.
How do you force these guys to do what you need?
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Janice M. Brown |
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CabrusoBros
Star Contributor
NC
USA
744 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2003 : 06:25:50 AM
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I think in this instance I would have IMMEDIATELY contacted your scheduler and review what happened during the shop. (Always a good reason to take a phone number with you on a shop.) From your side, it appears you gave a good effort to engage the employee in converation, twice. Of course from the other side, if they indicate that a presentation is required, it is difficult to say how they can submit the report to the client with no presentation, even that bad half-baked one the employee gave.
You did not say if there was another employee present that you could approach or if it was possible that you could have left and returned later to give the associate another chance to make a presentation. Sometimes it is allowed for you to observe the employee making a presentation to another customer for which you can use as an example. Ultimately, I would try to make an "argument" for the situation that took place. This may have to be chalked up as a learning experience. The instructions and guidelines are set up with the client's input so typically they insist the requirement be met before any payment can be made.
As far as "forcing" a presentation, it is kind of like a dance. You have to ask an open ended question which prompts the employee to get involved. Giving too much information may cause the employee to point and walk away as this one did. I might suggest you use the suggestion technique. Ask the employee to suggest a shoe they like, but do not offer specifics so that they are "forced" into using descriptive words and end up giving you a presentation in the process about why they like the shoe. |
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DM Griffin
Valued Contributor
Hayward, CA
USA
112 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2003 : 09:16:51 AM
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Recently I had a similar situation happen to me. The associate seemed adament to not help me. I did all I could by asking open ended questions, and trying to engage her in conversation. None of it worked. I finished the shop by making a purchase, and I immediately contacted my scheduler. I was told to report exactly what happened in detail. I was paid, and thanked for the concise details.
Diane
Shopping the East Bay in Northern California
MSPA Gold Certification: crcaxm |
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MarteeC
Star Contributor
Tampa, FL
USA
1352 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2003 : 09:25:08 AM
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| I'm afraid I disagree. You cannot force a presentation from an unwilling participant. You should have written up and submitted the report EXACTLY as it occurred. You made yourself available multiple times and the sales associate chose to ignore you. That in and of itself IS her sales presentation. The company learns EXACTLY what they are trying to learn when the facts are presented to them in a clear, objective manner. This is the very reason you are there, so that the company can counsel a poor sales person, or hire additional staff if it was a staffing issue etc. You were treated poorly and they should know that. You should not be expected to make an additional visit. What would that accomplish? We are not expected to shop a store until they get it right. You should submit the report explaining the presentation (which in this case is a lack of a presentation), and the rest of the observation you made and expect full payment. |
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Julie_WA_Writer
Star Contributor
Western, Washington
USA
1708 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2003 : 11:53:19 AM
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| I agree with Martee. You did exactly what you were supposed to. You can't force her to be a good employee. If you wrote a comprehensive report and listed exactly what happened, you should expect to be paid. If the MS company refuses to do so, would you please let us know which company it is? The vast majority of MS companies work with the shopper as a team. There is at least one, however, who seems to duck payment. |
Julie |
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Leisa
Star Contributor
USA
530 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2003 : 1:20:41 PM
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I agree that you cannot force a sales person into the presentation. I personally would have hunted up another sales person and tried to get them to help me. I would have also included both in my report.
One thing I want to mention - you state you are not getting paid for this shop. I have no idea how you wrote up the report/narrative, but I do know that if a report/narrative is wrote up in detail, that should be more than enough to tell the shopping company that you went above and beyond to get the sales person to help you.
The report/narrative needs to be wrote like a story so that whoever is reading it can basically picture themselves standing there with you. So they get the feel for what took place.
Perhaps the shopping company didn't get a true feel for what happened based on your narrative? That is just a thought that I had. I would call up the shopping company/scheduler and explain and see what you can do to justify this. If it is just a case of not enough narrative, then perhaps you can submit more detail right away. Then hopefully you can get paid for this shop. But I would definitely get in touch with the company/scheduler and see what needs to be done so you can get paid.
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JaniceBrown
Member
Edmond, OK
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2003 : 2:07:18 PM
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Thanks everyone for your support on my side. I did in fact make it very clear what had happened when entered my report. I finally made contact with the scheduler this morning and he admitted that when I marked there was no prsentation given he simply deleted the report instead of reading my narrative. I find that very strange but that's the case. Now it's back in my court to file the report again. He is allowing that to happen so I guess he realizes that from my report he should not have shut me out of being paid. I will NOT do another shop for this company until this is cleared.
I do not know if I am allowed to give the company name. I have read so many independent contractor agreements. Is this allowed? If so, I will be glad to give that information.
Thanks again for all your suggestions. |
Janice M. Brown |
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MarteeC
Star Contributor
Tampa, FL
USA
1352 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2003 : 2:24:59 PM
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| Janice-IMO-It would not be prudent to name the company or the scheduler. While it may not violate your ICA's, it may embarrass a potential scheduler for your future jobs, and make you look bad to other schedulers that read here. They DO read here. It sounds as if they are trying to do the right thing and it was an error on their part to delete the report before reading it, so they are attempting to rectify the situation. If you made a hard copy of the report maybe you can just fax it in? |
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Billie
Member
Tampa, FL
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2003 : 08:33:25 AM
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Sorry you had a bad shop.
I have never been a scheduler. I understand client guidlines must be followed. As a former retail department manager and small business owner I would pay for that report, if it identified employee with a great description and/or a name. I would want to take corrective action so she did not run customers out the door.
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Billie
Gold certified. Able to shop Ellenton, Ruskin, Sun City Center, Riverview, Brandon, Orlando, Plant City |
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JaniceBrown
Member
Edmond, OK
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2003 : 09:44:20 AM
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| Just a follow up....As I stated in my last post, the scheduler was to re-post the audit for me to fill out again. As of this date the audit is still not online for me but the shop does show as complete in my history. I am assuming this means all is well. Thank goodness for a bad situation turning nice. Again, thanks for all your input. |
Janice M. Brown |
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