I just wonder if they react to what is being said about them on this web site.
Do they offer better service to their shoppers after we evaluate them on this site?

One I noticed has gotten a little friendlier in promoting that we should do work for them.

Some companies have employees who read here, react, reply, try to help shoppers. Others don't have a clue these sites exist. I try to inform those companies in the hopes they will pay attention and get at least a bit more shopper friendly!

They all would like for us to perform their shops so yes, they are present on this and other shopper forums whether they actively participate or not. I suspect that in some cases they take problems mentioned to heart and in other cases 'it is what it is--take it or leave it'.

CSE took seriously forum and other source's comments about their report rating system and made major changes in the past few months. Other MSCs are often seen replying to forum comments on the forums.

Not all companies pay attention to the forums but some do. If I were to see a thread about the company I edit for, I would bring it to their attention since I'm a shopper also and on here occassionally. If there's an issue, they'd want to resolve it, if at all possible. Sometimes it's not possible to please everyone, so it is what it is.

One thing to remember is although this forum is for shoppers, it's still a business forum and you should conduct yourself professionally when complaining about a company. You might not care about working for Company A ever again but Company B owner might not believe you handled yourself appropriately because they risk their credibility with the clients if something happens. If your reaction is over the top, company owners might not want to risk dealing with someone who behaves inappropriately. You could end up losing your ability to work for a company you do love by throwing a "tantrum" online.

The same holds true for private correspondence. Just as shoppers discuss companies, companies discuss terrible shoppers. Schedulers help one another out when they're looking for shoppers in areas they don't have any. So if a shopper acts in a nasty manner or repeatedly flakes on shops, they may find themselves out of opportunties from companies they want to work with. Likewise, if there's a shopper who's been great to work with, that shopper can find themselves getting more work than before with companies they're signed up with or invites to join a company they're not with.

You have some companies who don't bother with us and others who either hover here ready to pounce or have their shills squealing back/ blasting us on their behalf. It's a mixed bag.

There are two sides to this coin...first, can we really speak frankly and thruthfully when annoyed with a company or scheduler knowing they read this.
Secondly, yes, they should take to heart and change stuff when brought to their
attention, this helps us all. I'm not sure if I want this to be a forum for
both staff and shoppers, it becomes inhibiting, and maybe gets us in trouble
after all is said and done. Fairness and not being petty has to come into play. I can see how some don't want us to "spill the beans", and keep talking about repetitive reports, but really this forum is for and to help shoppers, so
we shouldn't worry, they have to expect negative as well as positive.

This tends to be a very unfair situation for the shoppers since schedulers have their private forums we cannot access. Some people say the companies should be able to see what is written so they can address inaccuracies and lies. Apparently we should not be afforded the same privilege.

I've also found that the shoppers on this forum do a helluva good job in correcting inaccuracies and outright lies without benefit of the company reps. How many times have you seen a member register to post once or twice just bashing a company without providing any details only to have that post followed by a long list of posts from real shoppers offering their positive experiences.

I almost forgot to add this. I still feel this is a great place to vent. As long as I'm being truthful about a company and a situation I will not live in fear of reprisals.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2012 12:46AM by LisaSTL.

I personally have never talked badly about a shopping company, but my friend Eddie Linquirst has often taken the opportunity to talk badly about them. Once when I went to his house, I saw him typing bad things about them. He was saying that they payed little and were unreasonable at times. Well, I took this opportunity to grab him by the shoulders and shaked him! I took him to the local hospital, where they did much electro shock and mind control on him. He now does 7 dollar shops and lengthy reports and smiles alot. He still has trouble remebering his name, but he is so happy.

Just do your reports properly, get paid, get more assignments. Never cancel. Smile. That's your formula whether anyone is watching you or not.

When you've got open forums, it's next to impossible to keep someone off. Even if it was a private forum where you had to prove you're a shopper, many schedulers and editors are and company owners started off as shoppers. It hasn't stopped one scheduling company owner from making up fake IDs on another forum a few years back.

I don't think most companies care about shoppers complaining about repetitive reports, a missing payment, or whatever, especially if it's done in a professional manner. It's the slanted rants that leave off crucial facts that gets some on the MSP side worked up. It happens more than I realized before I was on both sides of the fence. Sometimes the shopper's dead on and has every reason to be ticked. Other times, the shopper's goofed but is taking it out on the MSP. We all know that happens. Sometimes it's blatant but other times, not.

Of course it's not always fair but no one is immune to it, no matter the connections. One New Year's Day, Lorri Kern secretly deactivated with al the companies she scheduled for over what started out as a lack of a response to an email I sent. Being on the MSP side of things didn't make me immune--it certainly didn't help with the MSPA--but it has helped when others on the MSP side have forwarded me evidence of her libel. My track record as a shopper has helped more to reverse the damage she tried to inflict.

Bottom line is we ALL have a choice in who we'll work with. The MSPs have just as much of a right to refuse to use our services for their own reasons just as shoppers can refuse their jobs. That's just the nature of the beast. It's also the nature of life 'cause Momma never said life was fair.

There is fair and then there is ethical.

This is like the whole having a job and having a Facebook account. Is your employer watching? Do your coworkers friend you and then show off things you post?

My last job I had a horrible week when I quit. I said I didn't have child care and left it at that. It was in truth a number of things, car trouble, water damaged cell phone, domestic violence, and of course the child care issues. All in 5 days time. After a point I felt too humiliated to return to work. My only contact to anyone at the time was Facebook since I didn't have a phone. I don't remember what was said, I know I didn't dish all the details, but when I applied for unemployment that contact with my so called friend was mentioned in the employer's statement.

I've always felt that what you do in your personal life should not affect your job. Regardless of what you say or do. If you're not on the clock then you should be free to express yourself in your own way. But if you're going to complain about a company you work with, don't make it sound like a smear campaign. If you do, should you really be working with them?

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There is fair and then there is ethical.


Amen to that! Sometimes they're one and the same. Others, complete opposites.

The Facebook thing irritates me, too. I've never had an issue with it but if I wanna hang out, get drunk, and show my butt in my free time or even complain about a bad work day to friends, exactly what does that have to do with my job as long as I'm doing what's required to an acceptable standard? It's one reason I keep my FB status private and monitor what my friends upload of me and my family. Not that I'm doing any of that but just in case I wanna.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2012 07:54AM by AlwaysAngie.

I have seen responses from MS company owners on forums before... usually when they feel like they have been misrepresented.

For a quick answer, Yes, some do. Consider the responses to the thread "Re: Earliest call from a scheduler ever: 4:49 am CT-BestMark????" There's one, at least, that does.

Note too that any who regularly post jobs in the "Mystery Shopping Job Board" obviously have at least one staffer enrolled here, who may or may not kill a few random minutes using the Search function to read about themselves.

I couldn't have said it better myself, and completely agree with what you said!

AlwaysAngie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not all companies pay attention to the forums but
> some do. If I were to see a thread about the
> company I edit for, I would bring it to their
> attention since I'm a shopper also and on here
> occassionally. If there's an issue, they'd want to
> resolve it, if at all possible. Sometimes it's not
> possible to please everyone, so it is what it is.
>
> One thing to remember is although this forum is
> for shoppers, it's still a business forum and you
> should conduct yourself professionally when
> complaining about a company. You might not care
> about working for Company A ever again but Company
> B owner might not believe you handled yourself
> appropriately because they risk their credibility
> with the clients if something happens. If your
> reaction is over the top, company owners might not
> want to risk dealing with someone who behaves
> inappropriately. You could end up losing your
> ability to work for a company you do love by
> throwing a "tantrum" online.
>
> The same holds true for private correspondence.
> Just as shoppers discuss companies, companies
> discuss terrible shoppers. Schedulers help one
> another out when they're looking for shoppers in
> areas they don't have any. So if a shopper acts in
> a nasty manner or repeatedly flakes on shops, they
> may find themselves out of opportunties from
> companies they want to work with. Likewise, if
> there's a shopper who's been great to work with,
> that shopper can find themselves getting more work
> than before with companies they're signed up with
> or invites to join a company they're not with.

Oh boy, what a mixed bag this is. I would like to first and foremost say that I am a shopper but that I also belong to one of those companies that do read these forums and take to heart (but with hopefully a level head) what is said about companies on this site. I have to say that I prefer to sit back and take notes so that I can take legitimate concerns back to my editors, schedulers, and more importantly the boss. I don't interfere because as one person replied, you guys rock (@LisaSTL) when 'correcting inaccuracies and outright lies without benefit of the company reps'. I eavesdrop so that we can better understand the shopper's needs and learn from the mistakes other companies make. For instance, one topic was when schedulers call you. We now watch the clock to make sure we are not calling a shopper too early or too late to schedule a shop. I also saw a post about a shop another company we work with held and how it paid too little, etc. I did bring it to the attention of their supervisor and he replied that since the particular shop was consistently completed by the middle of the month they would keep it as is. But he appreciated the feedback. If there is someone going off about a company I will not try to track them down and figure out if they are a shopper with us. Nor will I post messages about poor shoppers here either. We do however talk to each other when there is a shopper (or 'ring of shoppers') that is trying to buck the system and get paid for turning in fraudulent reports. I don’t know if this puts anyone at ease as it is just one companies response, but I hope it helps.
Emma A. Valdivieso
Payables/Receivables Manager
Phone: 888-300-8292 extension 209
Email: emma@mysteryshopperservices.com
Website: www.mysteryshopperservices.com
MY Hours: 8:00am – 5:00pm (PST)

Mailing Address:
Business Evaluation Services
PO Box 507
Arroyo Grande, CA. 93421

LIKE us on FACEBOOK
[www.facebook.com]

<3 <3 Amen to that!

AlwaysAngie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not all companies pay attention to the forums but
> some do. If I were to see a thread about the
> company I edit for, I would bring it to their
> attention since I'm a shopper also and on here
> occassionally. If there's an issue, they'd want to
> resolve it, if at all possible. Sometimes it's not
> possible to please everyone, so it is what it is.
>
> One thing to remember is although this forum is
> for shoppers, it's still a business forum and you
> should conduct yourself professionally when
> complaining about a company. You might not care
> about working for Company A ever again but Company
> B owner might not believe you handled yourself
> appropriately because they risk their credibility
> with the clients if something happens. If your
> reaction is over the top, company owners might not
> want to risk dealing with someone who behaves
> inappropriately. You could end up losing your
> ability to work for a company you do love by
> throwing a "tantrum" online.
>
> The same holds true for private correspondence.
> Just as shoppers discuss companies, companies
> discuss terrible shoppers. Schedulers help one
> another out when they're looking for shoppers in
> areas they don't have any. So if a shopper acts in
> a nasty manner or repeatedly flakes on shops, they
> may find themselves out of opportunties from
> companies they want to work with. Likewise, if
> there's a shopper who's been great to work with,
> that shopper can find themselves getting more work
> than before with companies they're signed up with
> or invites to join a company they're not with.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2012 07:22PM by amym.

Im wondering how may mystery shopping companies, advise a shopper that the shop that we worked hard to make $12.00 on is not complete enough to submit to their client. Then the company submits the shop anyway, cutting out the shopper. I have submitted some really great reports and had them rejected for some non mattering, had to understand detail.

Here is what we do: If we submit a shop you get paid. If we decline a shop you do not get paid and we do not bill the client. If we decline a shop it is because we know the client will not accept it. We have sent shops that were borderline to a client while sending an email to the shopper that if the client does not accept it we will not pay the shopper because again we will not be paid. And of course we will have to send a new shopper out to complete properly. We have also paid a shopper who we sent out twice to complete a shop properly. Even though we still could not use the report after the second time we paid the shopper, reimbursed them for their $40 meal, but could no longer use them to do shops. And to go one step further, if a shopper goes out to do a shop but the store is out of business we will still compensate them a partial fee for their time if they followed the shop notes properly.

Have a magical day,
Emma A. Valdivieso
Payables/Receivables Manager
Phone: 888-300-8292 extension 209
Email: emma@mysteryshopperservices.com
Website: www.isecretshop.com
www.mysteryshopperservies.com
MY Hours: 8:00am – 5:00pm (PST)

Mailing Address:
Business Evaluation Services
PO Box 507
Arroyo Grande, CA. 93421

LIKE us on FACEBOOK
[www.facebook.com]

Irene_L.A. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are two sides to this coin...first, can we
> really speak frankly and thruthfully when annoyed
> with a company or scheduler knowing they read
> this.
> Secondly, yes, they should take to heart and
> change stuff when brought to their
> attention, this helps us all. I'm not sure if I
> want this to be a forum for
> both staff and shoppers, it becomes inhibiting,
> and maybe gets us in trouble
> after all is said and done. Fairness and not
> being petty has to come into play. I can see how
> some don't want us to "spill the beans", and keep
> talking about repetitive reports, but really this
> forum is for and to help shoppers, so
> we shouldn't worry, they have to expect negative
> as well as positive.

You can if you are Piled Hip Deep, PHD, I could use my real name Allen E Uss, you can call me Al. OOPS did I just send this, now they know who I am.

I use my real name, and have never used an alias, these are my thoughts and interactions, and I'm not afraid to say that, only lies come back and catch you.
I do agree with Emma, take this for what it's worth and learn to better the company. I also agree that 99% of msing companies pay for turned in reports.

I hope the MSC's I shop for are reading this board. It sometimes gives them a heads up when things go wrong. Most of the people we shop, are in cyberspace and I truly appreciated having a peaceful, loving relationship with them. Majority of these people and companies we are trusting with our personal information.

When I question a report I submit, then I expect the MSC to question me. I do try to do the best report I can. I like feedback. Feedback helps me improve my next shop. I have had a few shop rejected but for things I goofed on. Like checking coffee when I bought soda or using my hypothetical $250,000 for a down payment instead of an investment.

Keep in mind, most of the posts, I read, are compliments and helpful ideas about a MSC. very few are about complaints. Those complaints have to do with pay. I have complain about pay so if that MSC got off on negatively, then they should have a better pay cycle or accountability.

I still won't do social media shopping but I wish "those jobs" would show up on our MS account site.

i only know one company that seems to "hover"...

as i found out the hard way that yes people do go on this forum and do connect the dots... specially when your sn is similiar to your email... but that was my bad... and i dont work for said company anymore so... and well...

the rest... if you want to complain/vent... go ahead... if you want to slander/name call that is not welcome and only speaks to a persons maturity level... and JJ is really good at keeping things tame and if necessary deleting threads... once a poster starts to do this i tune them out... no point in responding... i already have high blood pressure and dont need more thanks very much...

They absolutely do know. In fact, I was cautioned by About Face because they did not like my thread regarding one of their shops. I told a shopper to be careful what she wished for because the shops are not what they seem. This was in regards to a cosmetic shop.

With respect to having shops not paid but then sent to the client... I had an interesting experience recently. I had a problem on a shop. The report was provided to the client at a discounted price, but I got paid! Since that was a $90 shop a long way from home, I was mighty relieved!

And, yes MSCs that care at all about their reputations follow the threads about them. I have also been told that some shoppers will email an MSC to point out that they need to pay attention to a thread because it indicates that one of their ccompany team, or a serious misunderstanding, is giving them a poor reputation with shoppers. In such cases, the MSC has actually thanked the shopper for the "heads up."

Hats off to that MSC!

I appreciate an MSC paying attention to people with legitimate concerns, but threats are out of line.

I was PMed over on Volition by a company owner who was PO'd that I'd asked a question about a shop and told me I should have asked the scheduler. I told her I had e-mailed the scheduler and since there had been no response I posted the question in hopes of getting an answer sooner rather than later. She then told me that since the scheduler only worked part-time and at night I should not expect a quick answer. Okay, if my crystal ball had not been in the shop that week I would have known that already.

BTW, the question did not violate my IC and I said nothing negative about the company. That was the second time I had a major brouhaha with the owner. The first concerned an incorrect payment and her response was condescending and unprofessional. The issue was corrected and I chose to let bygones be bygones. When this came about I asked to cancel the shop and be removed from their database.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2012 06:37PM by LisaSTL.

At this point, I am not concerned whether they follow or not. I joined this form so I could learn. I get to vent and ask questions...and maybe help another shopper. If the MSCs don't like that, tuff noogies.

If a company like Remington is reading these posts, I am glad they know I have told everyone what happened to me--and I am proud I warned other shoppers. I told the absolute truth. If Remington doesn't like that, they can revisit the way they do business.

Really since we have so few rights (other than not taking shops) we need this forum. And we need to speak freely and honestly, while maintaining respect and dignity. For ourselves, our fellow shoppers, the MSCs, and the clients. IN THAT ORDER.

I most definitely can understand and respect the reluctance of many shoppers to use their names on a forum. As for me, my self-respect wouldn't permit me to comment under an alias. It goes back to the belief my opinion is irrelevant under anonymity; that being stated though, this is my decision and I'm in no way encouraging others to adopt my stance on the issue.

When I initially signed up for Volition, I used the name by which I'm known: Bob Engleman. In 2010, a shopper who occasionally visits here mentioned this forum at a video seminar. When I signed up though, I decided to use Shopper Bob to differentiate between the 2 forums. My position on MSCs reading my opinions is that I NEVER flake and I write intelligent reports. Should a company and/or scheduler wish to deactivate me because I occasionally post, that's certainly their prerogative. In my 49 yrs. of self-employment,, I've been both the terminator and terminatee involving contracts; that's business.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/2012 11:51PM by shopperbob.