I received a call this morning from MF telling me they are offering a "huge" bonus for a merchandising shop almost two hours from my house. They normal pay is $8 but they are willing to pay $12. Whoopee.

I politely say no. She asks what it would take for me to accept the job. I told her it was quite a distance but I could do it for $40. She said "Oh, no. My supervisor just turned someone down who wanted $30."

I am serious when I ask this question: How stupid is this company? Paying an extra $4 is not a "huge" bonus and $40 is not a lot to ask for almost 4 hours of traveling time. They are one of the stingiest companies I've dealt with. Normally when I see their number on my cell phone I just let it go to voice mail.

Not specific to Certified, but it is astonishing to me when I am called with an absurdly uneconomical job to do. What happened to their shoppers who live within 5 miles of the location? Did they royally piss them off or terminate them so they can't/won't take the job?

I know... I was recently offered a bonus of $3 to make a 200 mile round trip. The initial free was so low, I would have had to be right next door to even consider it, so no way I was making that trip.

I often wonder how long it will take a company to realize they need to seriously increase their fees for jobs they continuously need to beg people to do. People keep talking about how great free market economics is, however, it seems to be completely broken with some of these companies. If they're having a problem filling the same assignments over and over again, free market economics should dictate a serious increase in fees.

I have been getting tons of emails from some company called "Dot 2 Dot." Apparently I am the closest to some places that are about an hour away. Flat rate to set some candy in a WalMart? Um, no.

I think many of us are re thinking our skills lately. We all could use the money but working for free is not practical. Gas itself is not free although they think so. Where once we might have considered a job now we think through it first. And then to wait 60-120 days for payment.....

OK, now I'm really really really ticked off....

The job is now going for $50!!!!! Just a few hours ago they declined someone's $30 request and now they are offering $50. I don't even want to do it now, even for $50.

I'm so fed up with that company. They are unorganized (they send an email offering a bonus of $25 and then a few minutes later offer a bonue of $15 for the same job) and deceitful (telling me they have a "nearby" job that is more than two hours away.

I'm ready to throw in the towel with these guys.

I'm getting those for Wal Mart too and I'm passing; I've done merchandising there in the past and its a nightmare. All I did was restock some phone cards and knew what I was supposed to do but I had to go into "the back room" to sign the vendor log and it was the most mismanaged disaster I've ever seen. No one could find a manager, department supervisor, employee, etc. All for the glorious amount of 10.00 for 2 hours of Walley World Hell. And I've heard horror stories about that balloon job they have too.

Clearly, you haven't worked for CORI. They offer a huge $1.00 bonus on a $3.00 gass shop. Boy you're missing out.

BTW j/k of course.

Phoebe70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I received a call this morning from MF telling me
> they are offering a "huge" bonus for a
> merchandising shop almost two hours from my house.
> They normal pay is $8 but they are willing to pay
> $12. Whoopee.
>
> I politely say no. She asks what it would take
> for me to accept the job. I told her it was quite
> a distance but I could do it for $40. She said
> "Oh, no. My supervisor just turned someone down
> who wanted $30."
>
> I am serious when I ask this question: How stupid
> is this company? Paying an extra $4 is not a
> "huge" bonus and $40 is not a lot to ask for
> almost 4 hours of traveling time. They are one of
> the stingiest companies I've dealt with. Normally
> when I see their number on my cell phone I just
> let it go to voice mail.

I had one call this morning (not Market Force) begging me to do an "easy" "local" job with a bonus. Easy - NO, you have to try on 3 different outfits, local - 17 miles from here so it would be 34 miles round trip; bonus - one dollar. And the woman seemed to be offended when I didn't jump on it. And on top of it you have to make a purchase which you can return later. No thanks.

Sounds like the Frock Barn. Passing.

BINGO heartland, thats exactly what it is. Not even a fun place to shop on top of it.

I don't shop the Barn. Do they have anything for petites? No. Nursing/Maternity? No, but if you get a plus-size v-neck you can stretch it over like so.... No. I get emails and calls 'cause I am the closest shopper to a store 50 miles away. Just in case I am headed that way.

The last time I did it, after trying on some pretty "older" styles and looking like an idiot with them (can we say FRUMP?) I bought four pairs of socks. The sales associate said "after all that you are just going to buy socks?". Either I was discovered or she was a *itch for asking a customer that. I felt like saying "well lady since you are so overwhelmed with customers in here I can see your point" - I had been there for 50 minutes and no one else entered while I was there. Never again.

Did this one Friday and I am expecting. Noone said anything about me trying on regular clothing with a big stomach. Maybe I just looked fat. Ha Ha. I bought two pair of socks after standing in for about 18 minutes.

suzieboz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The last time I did it, after trying on some
> pretty "older" styles and looking like an idiot
> with them (can we say FRUMP?) I bought four pairs
> of socks. The sales associate said "after all that
> you are just going to buy socks?". Either I was
> discovered or she was a *itch for asking a
> customer that. I felt like saying "well lady
> since you are so overwhelmed with customers in
> here I can see your point" - I had been there for
> 50 minutes and no one else entered while I was
> there. Never again.

The one time I did this shop I bought a clearance necklace for $10. The fee was $15...

This definitely sounds like one I'll put on my ten-foot-pole list.

I think this company is really abusive. I have gone through the same thing with their low pay but I kept doing their fast food jobs (I take a bite only and then discard the food) because they were convenient. I am retired and actually found it a little fun to do them. However, one Sunday I worked a "fast casual" assignment and was doing the report and could not finish - the system asked me to enter the cashier's name twice and I did so - then it said the two did not agree! Well, I looked and looked and I had typed the exact same thing. Did not know what to do so I tried their Help Desk for the first time. Got a message"they were helping others." Well, sure - all day on a Sunday. I just don't believe it. I think no one was there. I kept returning to the computer but it was stuck there and would not accept the correct answer. Finally, cancelled two shops for the next week and blew it off. They kept contacting me with form messages telling me to read the instructions. They never read my e-mail. Finally, I told them to remove me from their approved shoppers. Then they apologized but it was too late. I had wasted too much time. I don't need to do these type of demeaning jobs. I could be enjoying myself. So that is the end of Market Force.

I have found sometimes that there may be a spacing or similar error that keeps the two from matching. In those situations I make sure one is correct and simply copy and paste it into the duplicate request. That seems to work around the problem. But I can understand your frustration that they don't get back to you on weekends yet they want shops done on weekends. Night and weekend report problems (or shop questions) are the bane of mystery shoppers.

I had that same name input problem on a hardware store shop and e-mailed the help desk. It was caused by an extra space I had entered the first time but not the second.

My question is: Has anyone ever been able to do a pre-paid phone/card job with this company that included defective phone returns and actually get it all done in the time limit??

Either I am the slowest merchandiser (and I am sweating up a storm as I work) or the company has NO idea what they are asking.

I did a job this week that required phone returns, set up a new corrugated display, inventory/stock prepaid cards, sticker handsets AND service the battery display in 2 hours. The store manager was swamped and didn't want to do returns, nor would she look for the new display, but I still needed an extra 37 minutes. The Help Desk asked why I couldn't get it done in time, but backed down pretty quick I told them I had just counted over 1300 cards!

suzieboz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm getting those for Wal Mart too and I'm
> passing; I've done merchandising there in the past
> and its a nightmare. All I did was restock some
> phone cards and knew what I was supposed to do but
> I had to go into "the back room" to sign the
> vendor log and it was the most mismanaged disaster
> I've ever seen. No one could find a manager,
> department supervisor, employee, etc. All for the
> glorious amount of 10.00 for 2 hours of Walley
> World Hell. And I've heard horror stories about
> that balloon job they have too.

I have done one of these as well, had to collect some old stock and take it to the back to be processed for return. Well, all Managers were on "lunch break" and I had to wait forever.

I had an assignment yesterday where I had to drive 18 miles from my house. No big deal because I had a Dr's appointment and just did it all in the same trip. Also did the covert fast food chain where you have to record prices of food items. Anyways, when I got to Wally World to do the phone sticker assignment for Verizon, the lady at Wal-world told me that a rep had already been there this morning and put stickers on all the phones. Yes, someone from Verizon did it. But I was asked by MF to do this. I called MF once I got home and told them the situation and he said just fill out the report as if I had done it myself and I will get paid for it. We shall see what happens next.

Just wanted to put in my input. I have done a lot of work for market force over the years. well both market force and certified, since they are sister company's. This past year they have gone downhill, because they decided to condense the company or something. So, they changed the people, became cheap and lost a lot of their better customers. I have done work for them for almost six years on and off and I officially stopped doing work as of this year, as I think my dad did. He did a lot of the stocking job, that he had on a regular basis. He had the same problem with not being able to complete the job on time. They, also gave him trouble with paying him the right amount of money and he had to fight them for it. Actually, I did as well.
At one time I would have highly recommended this company, especially since it was the first company I started with. I loved doing the moving jobs, because I got paid a lot of money for them, and got a lot of bonus money, much more then they offer now, and they were not this cheap or difficult. Now I would not recommend them to anyone, and have not done work for them in a long time. Hopefully, this helps someone, or even makes market force shape up and show them that they are losing some great shoppers.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not specific to Certified, but it is astonishing
> to me when I am called with an absurdly
> uneconomical job to do. What happened to their
> shoppers who live within 5 miles of the location?
> Did they royally piss them off or terminate them
> so they can't/won't take the job?


Sometimes the pay is so low that no one will take it. At this point market forces come to play.

See, what many shoppers do not know or want to know is that the businesses that give you 5-8 dollars are sometimes pay 50 and 60 to handle it.

There are unscrupulous companies out there that will get you to do a shop and then find a problem with it and not pay, but they repair it and send it in anyhow. They get paid, you do not.

Many many shopping ompanies Do run people off with slow to nonfunctinal sites, not responding to emails properly, etc... Work with known companies and do the job right the first time.

Don, in Las Vegas

Sometimes the pay is so low that no one will take it. At this point market forces come to play.

See, what many shoppers do not know or want to know is that the businesses that give you 5-8 dollars are sometimes pay 50 and 60 to handle it.

There are unscrupulous companies out there that will get you to do a shop and then find a problem with it and not pay, but they repair it and send it in anyhow. They get paid, you do not.

Many many shopping ompanies Do run people off with slow to nonfunctinal sites, not responding to emails properly, etc... Work with known companies and do the job right the first time.

Don, in Las Vegas

Hi,
I am new to this forum - although not a complete newbie (I have been doing this for about 5 years and have done about 1 or 2 hundred shops).

I have a related question about bonuses. In the past couple months, I have had two different people at the same company call me on separate occasions and offer a fairly substantial bonus over the phone; in both cases, they were past deadline and it was an "urgent" assignment. In both cases I accepted, but I later discovered that the bonus was less than what I had been told. I have generally had very good experience with this company. Has anyone else experienced this type of "bait and switch?" Any suggestions on how to respond to it?

Thanks.
-Matthew-

This is a common practice with some of the cheesier companies. Always ask them to send you the info in email. Tell them to not call you and YOU go into your profile and remove your number. If it is not in writing, it does not exist.

Don in Vegas


Matthew_tx Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi,
> I am new to this forum - although not a complete
> newbie (I have been doing this for about 5 years
> and have done about 1 or 2 hundred shops).
>
> I have a related question about bonuses. In the
> past couple months, I have had two different
> people at the same company call me on separate
> occasions and offer a fairly substantial bonus
> over the phone; in both cases, they were past
> deadline and it was an "urgent" assignment. In
> both cases I accepted, but I later discovered that
> the bonus was less than what I had been told. I
> have generally had very good experience with this
> company. Has anyone else experienced this type of
> "bait and switch?" Any suggestions on how to
> respond to it?
>
> Thanks.
> -Matthew-

Matthew_tx Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi,
> I am new to this forum - although not a complete
> newbie (I have been doing this for about 5 years
> and have done about 1 or 2 hundred shops).
>
> I have a related question about bonuses. In the
> past couple months, I have had two different
> people at the same company call me on separate
> occasions and offer a fairly substantial bonus
> over the phone; in both cases, they were past
> deadline and it was an "urgent" assignment. In
> both cases I accepted, but I later discovered that
> the bonus was less than what I had been told. I
> have generally had very good experience with this
> company. Has anyone else experienced this type of
> "bait and switch?" Any suggestions on how to
> respond to it?
>
> Thanks.
> -Matthew-

I would begin by communicating with them, in a tone that indicates you're giving them the benefit of the doubt. Oops, the bonus we agreed upon was not the amount paid. This shop was urgent, past deadline. Perhaps the payment terms were overlooked in the rush. The agreed upon fee and bonus was $$. Please make the adjustment, or contact me if there's another avenue I need to follow to get this corrected.

my dad had this same problem. They would tell him that he didn't accept the job on time, or make up some other excuse. He got really pissed and kept fighting them. Honestly, when they paid me half of my payment early, then took forever to pay me the second half, and gave me a hard time paying me the rest of my money and wouldn't give me the extra I was offered, I wrote to Better Business Bureau. I got paid immediately after that. Since, the money was a lot and I had laid out a lot, I was not in the mood to play games. Now they have at least my information on record. Just a thought.
Matthew_tx Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi,
> I am new to this forum - although not a complete
> newbie (I have been doing this for about 5 years
> and have done about 1 or 2 hundred shops).
>
> I have a related question about bonuses. In the
> past couple months, I have had two different
> people at the same company call me on separate
> occasions and offer a fairly substantial bonus
> over the phone; in both cases, they were past
> deadline and it was an "urgent" assignment. In
> both cases I accepted, but I later discovered that
> the bonus was less than what I had been told. I
> have generally had very good experience with this
> company. Has anyone else experienced this type of
> "bait and switch?" Any suggestions on how to
> respond to it?
>
> Thanks.
> -Matthew-