Kathleen at ShoppersAdvisoryGroup

I am a new shopper. I have completed four shops. I did an apartment shop for Kathleen at ShoppersAdvisoryGroup. I have not been paid. This shop was completed in June. It was an emergency shop and 15 miles from where I live. I turned in all my paperwork on time. Can somebody tell me what I can do about my payment. Thanks.

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Check out your paperwork. I do not know the pay schedule for ShoppersAdvisoryGroup, but it is not unusual or out-of-line not to have been paid for a June shop yet. Most companies either pay the last day of the month AFTER the month the shop is done or on a set schedule 30,60, or even 90 days after the shop.

Once you get into doing shops on a regular schedule, you will get to know when to expect payment from the different companies, and you will see the money come in at different times.

I am so sorry. I did the shop the earlier part of May.

I have some concerns about this. I have checked various resources and find no such company. Do you have a website for them?

The email address that I used to correspond with her was shoppers.advisorygroup@verizon.net. I just can't understand why they haven't paid. There's no way to go online to check the status either.

I think you may have been taken.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton

That is my concern as well. I hope you are not out any significant amount of money. Time wasted is bad enough. Stick with companies that have a legitimate website for you to sign up on, are offering reasonable fees for work done and are contacting from a corporate email address. When you see @hotmail.com, @gmail.com, or any non corporate provider, run.

Thanks so much for you advice. I guess I did learn a lesson from this. The shop offered $25.

If that is all you are out (the fee), then I would guess there is a vague chance it may be legitimate and that you will eventually get paid. $25 is not out of line for an apartment shop. It would make sense to email your contact and inquire about payment. But as a general rule, shops from companies without a website are very suspect for scam. Good luck with it!

It doesn't really sound like a scam if there was no cash expenditure on your part. How did you get onto them, sms? Did you actually sign up with them or did they just contact you? How did they promise payment: check, Paypal, etc.? Did you provide SS#, address, etc., to them? Were you ever in contact with a website or do you know where they are located? Here is a mystery shopping company Advisory Group:

Advisory Group, Inc.
8605 Cameron Street
Suite 306
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(301) 588-6800 p (301) 588-6802 f
[www.advisorygroupclients.com]
Edward A. Kassoff
shoppers@advisorygroupinc.net

could it be this one?

On the other hand, that company has been inactive, it seems, for several years. Their domain name has expired. Cached pages are findable. I think they used the job as a way to get confidential info such as SSN. I could be wrong. But that is what it reads like to me.

Could be. I hope none of that was provided.

sms, there is a very good list of MSCs on this forum. The MSPA also has a list of its member companies with links to their websites. I NEVER respond with my personal data to an e-mail. I only sign up for a company through their website, and, if the company is not listed here or on MSPA, I am suspicious. I guess I'm suspicious anyway. Once I've signed up, I usually won't accept the first job with a new company if it requires me to risk any of my money or a lot of my time before checking out the company with friends here.

Be careful. ... there are a lot of crooks and users out there.

Hey AM, why are you sending her to read the list here? Don't you know that she will "have to read" four year old posts if she looks at that list? I wouldn't bother. LOL.

Just kidding. I agree with AM...the list here is a good one.

....but, dee, not all of us mind reading, even 4 year old info .....and then some not only mind looking at 4 year old posts, they also make duplicate and/or irrelevant posts because they "can't read everything here....." ;-)

:-)

Well, I am happy to report that I finally got paid. They were real slow about paying, but I did get it. Thanks for all your responses.

I'm glad you got paid and sorry that it took so long and was a hassle.

ok...here is the deal with these people...they are slow to pay, but always will eventually..they are a small outfit...the lady who schedules, Kathleen, does so out of her house in Delaware. The owner, Ed Kassov, runs it from his condo in Maryland. They pay through paypal...I have waited as long as 3 months for payment, but they are honest and have always come through. They are also willing to negotiate fees, after you have proven yourself. They do video shops as well as audio and written reports. They actually pay quite well for the video shops, usually around $90 a pop. The story on these people is to be patient. They are a small outfit, almost mom and pop, but they are as honest as the day is long. Also, they do not give out 1099 forms at the end of the year, no matter how much you make, so take or leave that fact when considering working for them. They are still in business, and have been so for the past several years. No, I am not one of the owners of this company(I have worked for them and done several shops), but I read the forum entries and thought I would straighten out some of the questions and replies with the real deal....your welcome....

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Kathleen at ShoppersAdvisoryGroup

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