Just wanted to put my two-cents out there about dealing with some nasty, incompetent people with Maritz.

1) I think this is the second time I've spoken to this women, and aside from the fact I can't help but think she probably lipstick on her teeth, she's nasty. No name given, but she's brash and abrupt. I called about some past due payments on shops, and the second she called me back she went on a tirade about my responsibilities as an IC and blah, blah, blah. CALM DOWN! I'm not at my computer and don't have all the dates/visit ID numbers memorized. She just went off assuming I was irresponsible and didn't save anything or do anything right. She also sounds like she types one finger at a time (no offense to anyone, but you need to be somewhat tech savvy to be in this field let alone just about any, anymore.).

2) They call me incessantly about doing shops I'm not even eligible to do. "We really need your help", Really? I already applied through KSS and was told I don't meet rotation? "Oh yes, I'm sorry you can't do it.". Couple other times with some banks too, every location they called me about I wasn't eligible for.

3) When they leave voicemails, they sound like little mice and I have no clue who called me and what extension to call back at. Anymore, I just ignore them.

Maritz is old school, and it's obvious that many of their employees aren't computer savvy. I cut them some slack, though, because their shops are easy and generally pay a fair fee, and they pay quickly. I'm certain I've dealt with the payroll woman you mentioned, and she was short-tempered with me, too. I didn't take it personally. The mistake was on her end, and we sorted it out. Her feelings about her job weren't my problem.

I don't take issue with receiving calls about shops, either. It's easy enough to ignore them if I'm not interested.

Perhaps you should consider taking a break from Maritz, and see how you feel in a few months. I wouldn't write them off completely, though, because they contract with several major clients, and they're capable of landing more.

I've had issues where I have called and called and called and nobody returns my calls when I leave a message. I had to cancel a shop because I no longer met the requirements. I gave them advance notice. They didn't take it off my shopper page and it became late and overdue. When I called to correct the matter, they didn't answer. I left messages and never received a call back. I then emailed them. Never received an email back. Now my account is in some delinquent status and won't allow me to sign up for shops. Very frustrating. I hold myself to a high standard and feel I am very responsible. Their lack of communication was and continues to be very unprofessional. I do agree, though, in regards to easy shops with decent pay. I'd like to continue working with them if they would just respond to me!

Fortunately for me, my experiences with this MSC have been 180 degrees out of phase with the above comments; ALL of my contacts with these folks have been absolutely professional. I have zero interest in their regular paid assignments, but when they need a shop completed they "roll out the cash."

I agree with Shopper Bob! Maritz has been decent to me...

I haven't had negative experiences with Maritz. I've found them eager to help, they have returned telephone calls quickly, and I've never come across a Maritz employee who was not pleasant and friendly. When I first started with Maritz, I was very new to MS'ing and had difficulty with submitting my receipts via their website, and I found several of their employees bent over backward to help me. I would prefer that they were more computer literate, because I prefer to deal with MSPs by e-mail rather than telephone, and they do tend to be a little pushy about taking un-bonused dog shops, but I just ignore the phone calls I don't want.

My previous experiences were all pleasant and helpful. Before I had reached my mimimum requirement of shops in order to self-assign, I received calls to help me through the process. It was only when I needed to cancel one that I encountered issues. As a result, I seem to be a "black sheep" regarding shops. It is a bummer, for sure!

I would love to do more shops for Maritz - but no matter how many I apply for, they are always getting assigned to another shopper!

I've done 4 total, and I went in and selected 8 for this month, but every single one of them was assigned to someone else!

There wasn't anything wrong with the reports, I didn't get a phone call or email telling me I missed something on a report or shop - no feedback. Each time I spoke with someone from Maritz, they were very helpful and friendly/professional on the phone - but...

I just cannot get more jobs with them, and I'd love to know why!

Shoppers on self assign status are able to select the job before it can get assigned to you. I suggest you call Maritz directly and ask to be assigned to those you are interested in doing.

dkk5685 Wrote:
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> 3) When they leave voicemails, they sound like
> little mice and I have no clue who called me and
> what extension to call back at.

i laughed at this one. little mice? lolol.

honestly though, i haven't had any appreciable difficulties with maritz. they've been giving me a substantial amount of work recently, and i hope to get even more in the future. i'm glad when they call me with bonused shops at the end of each month. they've always been more than reasonable with me.

Well, they have now since called me back once everyday since I left the initial voicemail about the late payment. Thank goodness for google voice (jus switched all my MSC accounts over to that number) and can now just read a transcript. They've gotten nasty and inpatient in every call since, even when I try to stop them ahead of time and say I've already received all the nasty information they're trying to give me again.

Again - CALM DOWN MARITZ! I'm almost home and will send you what you want.

dkk5685 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, they have now since called me back once
> everyday since I left the initial voicemail about
> the late payment. Thank goodness for google voice
> (jus switched all my MSC accounts over to that
> number) and can now just read a transcript.
> They've gotten nasty and inpatient in every call
> since, even when I try to stop them ahead of time
> and say I've already received all the nasty
> information they're trying to give me again.
>
> Again - CALM DOWN MARITZ! I'm almost home and will
> send you what you want.

what exactly are they requesting of you that they are so excited about? i seldom run into any problems with them, unless they are really small ones. and they have always been extremenly polite with me.

I didn't receive payment on some shops that require business cards, and I need to send a new invoice in the mail with the business cars. I happen to have them happily organized and filed at home, which I just got back to after being away for 10 days.

When the women first called me back, I wouldn't say she caught me off guard, but the second she began talking it was one accusation after another about 'needing to keep records', 'it's your responsibility to keep your reports', 'youre supposed to save all your business cards'. This was before we even had a chance to discuss anything, she just went into accusation mode when I quite frankly just inquired about my payment that I thought was a little late. I didn't accuse them of anything, but now that I'm thinking of it - why so defensive Maritz?

As soon as she asked me for the visit ID and I did not have it readily accessible, because we all just walk around with this stuff memorized, it was one accusation after another and I couldn't get a word in. I basically hung up on her after I got the info I needed to send the invoice, because she just wasn't going to stop her accusations and belittling.

Overall, I've had next to no problems with them and have enjoyed their relatively easy shops and reports. However, I will at least be taking a break from them.

dkk5685 Wrote:
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> I didn't receive payment on some shops that
> require business cards, and I need to send a new
> invoice in the mail with the business cars. I
> happen to have them happily organized and filed at
> home, which I just got back to after being away
> for 10 days.
>

why were they asking for business cards? had you sent copies of the business cards originally?

I don't see why I wouldn't have but now they're claiming they never got them. 5 shops from November, but the previous 20 shops were ok, so I'm not sure what happened.

dkk5685 Wrote:
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> I don't see why I wouldn't have but now they're
> claiming they never got them. 5 shops from
> November, but the previous 20 shops were ok, so
> I'm not sure what happened.

the shops that i do for maritz have a verification check for uploads, to ensure that no uploads are accidentally omitted. a report can't even be completed if all files don't upload properly.

did you receive verification that the files had uploaded properly prior to completing the reports?

I do agee on:

"When they leave voicemails, they sound like little mice and I have no clue who called me and what extension to call back at."

The extensions are five numbers I believe. I've played and replayed the answering machine to try and get the number but I can never hear all five numbers. I have pretty good hearing! Then when I've called back the operator we have a hard time figuring out who called.

Just too much work and too many similar situations!

I dont recall receiving or not receiving a verification they were submitted for any of my shops period. Ive done too many in the past two months to specifically remember submitting these. Nothing stood out of the ordinary about those shops so I have no reason to have suspected a problem.

It's fine, I'll submit my cards. I just don't appreciate their communication or attitudes.

vince Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dkk5685 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I don't see why I wouldn't have but now they're
> > claiming they never got them. 5 shops from
> > November, but the previous 20 shops were ok, so
> > I'm not sure what happened.
>
> the shops that i do for maritz have a verification
> check for uploads, to ensure that no uploads are
> accidentally omitted. a report can't even be
> completed if all files don't upload properly.
>
> did you receive verification that the files had
> uploaded properly prior to completing the reports?

I have always enjoyed working with Maritz. I make some great money from them but only a couple of times a year. I am not near any regular shopped locations. But like others have said, they are always willing to pay well when they need distance jobs done. Their "Invoice" system is stupid. I entered the information, it should be automatic or have a button when I submit that I can "Submit to invoice" or something like that. I've forgotten before and waited past the 14 days and have to then write everything in an email and send it in. My wife won't work for them because they didn't pay her for her first job because she didn't invoice them and then it went too long. It seems dishonest since they got paid for the shop report from the client and kept the funds. For me though, it's been a multi year fantastic relationshop.

Maritz calls me more than any other company. They have a series of age restricted shops in my region, and I guess there aren't many shoppers in my age bracket around here. Today I managed to snag (via their recruiting phone calls) two routes of about 8 shops each. These are great because the shop itself is literally 2 minutes, and is easy to repeat all day long.

I have never done the bank shops with Maritz, or other gas station shops. I don't think they have other contracts around me. I'm happy with what I have!

My only "beef" is with the calls in December. They were trying to wrap up shops before the holidays, and I was getting 3-4 calls a DAY for shops I had already declined due to distance. The schedulers weren't communicating with one another, and didn't know I had already been called that day (and yesterday, and the day before...) But I learned to just let that area code go to voicemail for a week. No biggie!

I've gotten a few shops with decent bonuses from them and they don't call me very often. I've only talked to two people and they've both been extremely polite. Sounds like you got someone having a bad day...


Sean
[www.surveymoneyguide.com]

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