Well, I had no clue about this, but read on another forum that Certified, which I thought was always a part of Market Force, was apparently bought out by SPAR in 2013??? Here is a link to the article:
[investors.sparinc.com]

Yet when I click on the Certified link, there is NO indication that it belongs to any company other than Market Force, especially if you scroll all the way to the bottom. You will see a copyright date of 2017 with Market Force typed beside the copyright date: [www.certifiedfieldassociate.com]

While I do mystery shops periodically for MF, it has been YEARS since I've done any work for Certified. So I was wondering if anyone who works regularly either for Certified or SPAR can confirm if Certified is no longer a part of MF??? Thanks in advance

SPAR, which is an acronym for sucks primary arse really, bought the merchanding/audit "division of MF purple portal in 2013 which is why MF only has theatre assignments on that portal. I heard there is a plan to sell the theatre division to Advantage since Advantage does theatre pop sets in Walmarts and Targets.

^^^^^ Ahhhh, that explains it, Spicy. Thanks. When I last did some work for Certified....many moons ago....they were doing merchandising work. So now that's why I only see trailer checks....all the merch work went to SPAR (chuckled at your acronym interpretation!). I've never done any work for SPAR. Thanks for the explanation.

SPAR pays you peanuts and wants you to make peanut butter.

Spicy1, terrific summary of the few jobs I did for SPAR years ago!!

It was the only company I worked for that paid less than what is now Snap Audits. I'd never been forced to prove I had workers comp/liability insurance before, as a person. If I didn't get it I would be charged, I don't know, 3% of my check. They gave absolutely zero heads-up about where a 'person' could get that kind of insurance combo. I wasn't a business making enough money to pay insurances, they certainly weren't paying enough to pay insurance. I had to pay almost 8% sales tax plus income taxes already out of the $9 or $10.00 an hour they were paying and they had zero mileage/distance fee..... ever.

Plus, the representative who was calling about assignments was a gripy-manipulative twit. This wasn't a company where you could look on their job board and choose what assignments you wanted to take either. They would call you and basically say you were the person they were assigning the job to. If I wasn't going to be anywhere in the area I wouldn't take it and the Rep would say all sorts of insulting things to me like "that is why you don't get work from other companies" and "don't you want to be able to pay your rent" and "what else do you have to do?". Like she had the power, and the phone numbers, to blackball me in the lower-end, actually lowest-end, merchandising world.

Then, I would take an assignment and I was subject to a Lego-Reps (who's company currently offers jobs at $9.25 an hour-shame on them! for thinking they can) who was an immature, uneducated person who's focus was not on merchandising product to promote sales, but rather on proving they were "someone".

This company is like many others, basically just an employment agency, with not many real contracts of their own, that somehow gets away with hiring people as I.C. as opposed to employees. Another Southern States born shackling company.

And people take their work and their pay, so kudos to them!

Phew!!! Glad I never signed up with them!!!