If you think the bonus is degrading I think the MSC would be more than happy to accomodate if you emailed them and asked for the straight fee only and that the bonus be added to another shop because accepting extra money makes you feel unprofessional.....

The problem is the way they are "offering" the bonus, not the bonus itself...

Well unless a shop is within walking distance of me, or in a place I'm already going for another highly bonused shop, the bonus is a huge part of the consideration for me taking it. So I don't think they mean it to be insulting but it kind of is. Some well meaning but clueless person thought that bright idea up.

I agree it was meant well... someone just didn't think it through all the way looking for 'unintentional consequences'.

However, I just remembered the other reason I don't particularly like working for ACE, other than the god-awful style of reports and low-ish pay for the amount of narrative required.

PayQuicker. I had signed up for this stupid piece of @#$%&*payment service a long time ago, whenever ACE switched to it, instead of using Paypal like pretty much everyone else on the planet. It was annoying, in fact, really annoying, since my money wasn't immediately accessible. With Paypal, I can use it instantly, if I want, with the Paypal debit card. With PayQuicker, I have to wait three to four days for it to get moved into my bank account. I put up with it, because I didn't do so much work for ACE that it was a ton of money I was waiting on.

I've mentioned ACE doesn't have a lot of work in my area... and that after a while, I avoided most of their jobs unless/until they got bonused (and then still think twice) because I hate the report style so much with the excessive and redundant narrative. SO... I hadn't worked for them until that recent bonus job I mentioned in my last post.

I get the email notification today that I've been paid via PayQuicker. The good part is, that's really quick payment. The bad part is... I'd actually kinda forgotten about the PayQuicker part of the equation. So I go to log into my PayQuicker account. It tells me wrong password. I only use one of three variations of a password (yeah, I know I shouldn't, but I haven't come up with anything else) so I tried all of them, and it kept telling me invalid. So I did the 'forgot password' thing, and it says there's no such email address in their system. WTF?!

Really?! REALLY?! I've gotten email updates from PayQuicker up to a couple of months ago ~ service and privacy updates and all that. Then, suddenly, when I get a payment... my account no longer exists? Yep. I had to click on the link to sign up with a brand new account, starting from complete zero. Including finding the stupid @#$%&* bank routing information, just to complete the transfer. A complete @#$%&* waste of my time, that I wasn't planning on wasting time on today, just to get the money that is mine. I wasn't nearly as happy about the whole process as the PayQuicker's cheerful greetings seemed to be.


*thank you, word scrambler.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2014 10:25PM by StormCloud.

First of all, I also would like to thank Word Scrambler. Secondly, Storm, you sound a little frustrated.

(heart)

Storm needs a Snickers. Or a new I-phone.

I saw that too.... HAHAHAHHAAAAA. I'm staying home.....

On the other hand....

Tell me you will give me $50 extra bucks to do it and I'll get right out of my chair... infact. I will take 4 of them....

And that is how I roll....

The implication is they do not consider us professionals, not the bonus or lack thereof. IMO, it is no way for any business to treat someone they do business with and shows a lack of respect.

dspeakes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nobody should be driving any further for these
> than they would for the regular fee. The
> analogies about driving hundreds of miles for a
> questionable bonus are just silly.
>
> Here's a shop for $10, here are the instructions.
> Interested? If it has a turkey next to it, you'll
> get a bonus of from $1 to $50 as our way of saying
> "happy holidays!"
>
>
> Don't try to turn it into some kind of scammy
> proposition.
>
> I suppose you all would sneer at anything less
> than a new Iphone in your Christmas stocking.
> Personally, if someone gives me a Snickers bar I
> tell them thank you.
This is not a gift, it's a job. A bonus is not a gift either. I want to know what I'm being paid before hand. If its a dollar bonus just tell me.
its not even the idea of whether i'm gambling on it being 50 dollars.
its the stupid and insulting idea that it might be fun for anyone

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The implication is they do not consider us
> professionals, not the bonus or lack thereof. IMO,
> it is no way for any business to treat someone
> they do business with and shows a lack of respect.

Correctomundo

They are still offering the same pay for the same shops. I do a few of them due to the fact I am inside the shop location weekly for my own real shopping. I have never had a problem with the PayQuicker.

I signed up and when I get an email every month with the payment, I just move the funds to my checking just like I'd do with Paypal. I'm not so stressed that I worry if the funds hit my checking account in 2-3 days or whatever the pay cycle is for the shops. There is no cash upfront for the jobs I do for them.

I think they are just trying to keep it fresh and people are taking it the wrong way. The shops I do will be taken at the base pay every month if I don't get to them quick enough, or are out of rotation time.

I don't think they meant it as an insult.

Take the job based on the pay with or without the turkey. If you get $1 extra or are the grand turkey $50 bonus winner, does it really matter if you'd do the shop regardless?

Yeah, I'm the same shopper that wrote a snarky comment about Maritz the other day because I was frustrated with a $12 shop that didn't make it a good return. I could do the same shop next time and it will go smoothly and be worth it.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2014 11:55PM by scanman1.

I would just look at it as a job paying (fee + $1) and take it or not based on that. I would also know, that there could be a little surprise included when I get paid, but I wouldn't count on it. I do like surprises, though.

It reminds me when I used to work in property management and we'd have specials for new renters. When you fill our your application and leave your deposit, you pop a balloon to see how much money you get off your second month's rent.

They're trying to be creative, build excitement and promote their business. I can't fault them for it. Look at all the attention it's gotten them so far.

I'm not too big of a fan of this kind of a surprise. It's a bonus of $1 until more hits my bank/PayPal/PayQuicker account or shows up on my check.

Personally, I'd like to see the actual odds of getting, say, bonuses of $10+, $20+, or $50. For all I know, 90% of shoppers get $1, 10% get $10+, with 2% getting $20+ and 1% getting $50 or similar. Or maybe there's one $50 bonus nationally and one $20 bonus per state with the rest of the suckers getting $5 tops. Either of these are technically "a bonus from $1 up to $50" but it would be more honest to run a MS business like an MS business and not a damn carnival game.

The actual offering of the "bonus" doesn't insult me at all - lots of companies do what is essentially a drawing or sweepstakes for taking a certain shop... I am not at all offended by that (though it doesn't make a lick of difference in me actually accepting the shop, it certainly doesn't hurt either).

What is insulting and condescending is the fact that they said, "The fun part is!" - what they SHOULD have done is just stated that for the month of November, if you accepted a completed certain shops, you would be entered into a drawing for a bonus and that all people entered were guaranteed to WIN at least $1 and some might WIN an additional $50. They could have even called it a fun sweepstakes! But simply using the words "bonus" and "earn" is what insulted me and made me feel like they were trying to get one over.

As someone else said, someone just wasn't thinking here..

OK, I'm going to let Erika answer you on the bonus idea. Spoiler Alert: DSpeakes had it correct, as to our thinking.

Stormcloud -- I wanted to answer you about your PayQuicker issue. When your PayQuicker account sits empty for a certain amount of time, PayQuicker will close it. Believe it or not, it is not cost-effective for PayQuicker to keep thousands...maybe hundreds of thousands of empty accounts open.

So the short version is, if you don't do shops for us for a super-long time (several months, I believe), they will require you to set up a new account. You will still receive your funds.

If you have any further disbursement questions, please PLEASE email me. I answer questions like this often, and would be happy to help you.

MaryACE
ACE Mystery Shopping
mary@acemysteryshopping.com
accounting@acemysteryshopping.com

Good morning! I would like to address the Turkey Bonus shops, since it has caused some controversy, which was certainly not my intent when I implemented this idea last week. Typically, bonuses are not added to shops until closer to the end of the month. With the holidays around the corner, I asked if we could offer bonuses sooner as a "gift" to the shoppers out there that support and help ACE each month. Without them, I could not do my job. I came up with an idea to make the bonus "hidden" until the shop was complete just for "fun", which, based on many comments on here, I have determined may not be considered that much "fun". I thought the "fun" came into play, because normally shoppers would not be receiving a bonus for shops at all this early in the month. I had hoped that this would be more about being thankful for an unexpected "surprise". (Please keep in mind that these bonuses are not meant to replace the end-of-month bonuses).

So far, I have had many of the "Turkey Bonus" shops picked up and completed by shoppers and have not heard anything negative on this end until it was brought to my attention. Again, it was never my intent to upset shoppers by offering early bonuses on shops this month. It was actually my intention to offer an opportunity for shoppers to earn some extra income just before the holidays-unexpectedly. While not all of the bonuses are going to be in the double digits (that is not something most MSC's can do for a large number of shops), we do intend to add quite a few double digit bonuses for completed shops this month. Many of the shop bonuses may only be a small amount, but the idea was to be able to "spread the wealth" as a way of saying that we do care and we are thankful for all of the help we receive each month. This is the time of the year to be thankful, after all. I guess it comes down to this-the "Turkey Bonus" was meant as "gift" to shoppers.

I take full responsibility for the silly looking turkey with the Groucho Marx disguise next to the bonus shops. I thought it was cute and wanted to add an element of "fun" to the program, but I noticed that many on here were offended by this choice. For those of you who I have offended with the use of this icon next to the shops in Open Opportunities, I sincerely apologize. I also would just like to say that if I have offended anyone with any part of the Turkey Bonus Program this month, I truly apologize. This was my idea last week and I was honestly thinking of offering it each month, but I will need to reconsider based on some of the feedback received here to see if it is going to be something I want to do going forward.

I wanted to take the time to address this, because I was honestly excited about being able to do something fun and give back, but I do not want new "bonus" programs to cause controversy-especially this close to the holidays. There is already enough stress in the world without doing something to contribute to it. I did not think it was about how "big" the dollar amount was when I created the "Turkey Bonus Secret Shops". I had hoped it would be something to make shoppers thankful for an unexpected bonus and possibly help them through the holidays. It's not the size of the gift, but the thought that counts. If anyone would like to discuss the "Turkey Bonus" or any other program ideas with me, please do not hesitate to email me at Erika@acemysteryshopping.com. I am always looking for new ideas. Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Thank you for letting us know this. This is yet another reason, I have no desire to have a PayQuicker account.

MaryACE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> Stormcloud -- I wanted to answer you about your
> PayQuicker issue. When your PayQuicker account
> sits empty for a certain amount of time,
> PayQuicker will close it. Believe it or not, it
> is not cost-effective for PayQuicker to keep
> thousands...maybe hundreds of thousands of empty
> accounts open.
>
> So the short version is, if you don't do shops for
> us for a super-long time (several months, I
> believe), they will require you to set up a new
> account. You will still receive your funds.
>
>

That's fine, Spaztck. The great thing about being an Independent Contractor is getting to choose what companies you want to do business with and what projects are worth your time and effort to complete. We encourage everyone to take special care when looking at their options. It's much easier for us too, when you do.

MaryACE
ACE Mystery Shopping

Erika -
Thanks for the explanation. Your intent was quite sweet.
Going forward, you may want to not use the word "bonus" to describe the fun surprise gifts. I think most shoppers view a bonus as part of the compensation they agree to and earn, not so much as a graciously and freely given little something extra.
Also, should you continue the practice, you'll probably want to choose a new name for the gifts. Turkey has too much potential for unintended double entendre, e.g. "That bonus was a real turkey," or "Shoppers who are offended by surprise gifts are complete turkeys."

DrSquash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm not too big of a fan of this kind of a
> surprise. It's a bonus of $1 until more hits my
> bank/PayPal/PayQuicker account or shows up on my
> check.
>
> Personally, I'd like to see the actual odds of
> getting, say, bonuses of $10+, $20+, or $50. For
> all I know, 90% of shoppers get $1, 10% get $10+,
> with 2% getting $20+ and 1% getting $50 or
> similar. Or maybe there's one $50 bonus nationally
> and one $20 bonus per state with the rest of the
> suckers getting $5 tops. Either of these are
> technically "a bonus from $1 up to $50" but it
> would be more honest to run a MS business like an
> MS business and not a damn carnival game.

My guess is the odds of getting a $50 surprise bonus are exactly ZERO. The email was worded such that there was no promise that anything higher than $1 WOULD be added, just that it COULD be anything between 1-50. Based on the wording, I have to assume nobody is getting $50 as a surprise. I get the thought that this might be a fun game-type idea, I just hope nobody has expectations of lucking into a $50 bonus and is just taking these because they're satisfied with the base pay-rate.

ErikaAce Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's not the size of the gift, but
> the thought that counts.

Hello again:0)
I am quite excited about the fact that ACE WILL be offering more than one $50 bonus for these shops (the exact number has not yet been determined), as well as many, many others in the double digits as I mentioned in my comment earlier. Each year ACE tries to give back to our local community, to include Toys for Tots. We even offered random Facebook drawings last year for various amounts of money, so shoppers had the chance to receive a little something extra, too. This year I thought it would be nice to do this, so that everyone (including those who do not have a Facebook account) could participate. I apologize if it has been turned into something it was not meant to be. I can promise everyone that there was not any hidden "agenda" with the Turkey Bonuses, nor did I mean to imply anything derogatory about shoppers by using the word "Turkey" or the image of the turkey. It is almost Thanksgiving and this is a mystery shopping company, so I thought the Turkey in Disguise would fit-my apologies if it offended anyone.

It seems this has blown up into a big mess of everyone thinking I am out to ridicule, belittle, offend, and trick shoppers and I am so sorry it has. Please read this last line as I hope it sums up the purpose for the Turkey Bonus shops....The idea came from my heart...no more, no less. Maybe I get too excited this time of the year, but there is something about it that makes me want to do special things for the people I care about. Starting the end of October, I started trying to think of something to do to say Thank You to all of the shoppers out there to show I do care. This was not just thrown together and although I may not have thought of all of the ways the program would offend someone, I guess it is because I was not looking at it in a negative light when I came up with the idea. Am I perfect? Absolutely not! Do I generally have kindness in my heart? I would hope so. I was literally giddy when I was approved to go ahead with it! Life is too short to spend it looking for the negative all of the time. This is why I try my best to stay positive. I hope after reading these 2 posts from me today (I am sorry for the novellas-I have so much to say:0), people I have unintentionally offended/angered with the program will possibly take another look in a more positive light and realize that I only had good intentions. Think of it as a gift...nothing more. Thank you~

Much ado about nothing. SMH

Erika, as I stated above, I have a bias towards you because I recognize and appreciate your enthusiasm and thoroughly enjoy your fun spirit. Even though I don't do a lot of Ace shops, I do read all of your emails because you're/they're so refreshing.

I would like to apologize for anything I said denigrating the whole "turkey bonus" promotion because I can clearly see why you were so excited and have felt that same excitement myself and experienced the same dismay when I found not everyone shared my enthusiasm.

You are a gift. Thank you.

(heart)

I can't agree it was much ado about nothing. Obviously there was a disconnect between Erika's intention and shopper's perceptions. We now know she meant no disrespect and she understands the other perspective. Let's consider it all's well that ends well.

You know what's more disgusting than Techman starting this thread and stirring up all the controversy in the first place? the number of people who "liked" his hateful post:

DanteScheduler, Bayberry, cpburt, holliscary, CANADAMOMMY, Shoptilyoudrop, Suzeeeeeeee, mistry, KathyG, BeachBumess, SunnyDays2, Mcreader9, kimmiemae, KateH, scanman1, Cettie, Phoebe70, Chix, gypsymonkey, Izzy, LisaSTL, vlade5394, RedRose22, harleymutt, BuffaloNY101, Bearclaw14, cjbstar, fraudbusters, Hazel Eyes, ColoKate63


A proud moment for the forum, to be sure.

SMH.....

Anyone just want to jump ahead three thread pages into the future where we start posting recipes?

Enchiladas: Corn tortillas, ground beef, lots of cheese, enchilada sauce, black olives.

instead of rolling them up and getting enchilada sauce all over the place, I do it in layers in a casserole dish, then bake at 350 for about a half hour until the cheese on the top bubbles.

Been eating on it for three days now, one more day to go.

I do chicken enchiladas, but I use the flour tortillas and mix up sour cream, cream soup, cheese, and shredded chicken for the filling.

And then you put the red enchilada sauce over the top, along with whatever filling and bake it.

Go easy on me if you don't like my recipe, though. I'm a truly awful cook.

MaryACE
ACE Mystery Shopping

dspeakes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You know what's more disgusting than Techman
> starting this thread and stirring up all the
> controversy in the first place? the number of
> people who "liked" his hateful post:
>
> DanteScheduler, Bayberry, cpburt, holliscary,
> CANADAMOMMY, Shoptilyoudrop, Suzeeeeeeee, mistry,
> KathyG, BeachBumess, SunnyDays2, Mcreader9,
> kimmiemae, KateH, scanman1, Cettie, Phoebe70,
> Chix, gypsymonkey, Izzy, LisaSTL, vlade5394,
> RedRose22, harleymutt, BuffaloNY101, Bearclaw14,
> cjbstar, fraudbusters, Hazel Eyes, ColoKate63
>
>
> A proud moment for the forum, to be sure.
>
> SMH.....

But the most disgusting of all is to call a post "hateful" because it expresses an opinion different from yours. And even worse is to ridicule those who liked or agreed with the post. Sometimes you just have to let people feel how they feel. A shameful moment for the forum.......I hope you are proud of your post. I find your post the hateful one and I'm disgusted by it. And shame on ACE for jumping in to follow your lead with recipes.

It was a proud moment for the forum, emphasis on was. How we are viewed or how we think we are viewed is important to many of us. Opinions were expressed from all sides and in the end everyone was the better for it. What is disgusting was how it had the chance to end on a positive note. Unfortunately two people made the decision the opinions of over 30 other members were irrelevant.