Another SASSIE convert

Seriously? All I can say is it has to be better than the old, LOL!

There were supposed to be some new shops on the new site but I sure haven't seen any yet. Has anyone else?

Well, this is great news. But not for me - I already whined so much they threw me out. That reporting system they used to have was the ugliest thing I ever came across on a computer. I'm glad to hear they are FINALLY making a change. I liked the people I talked with there, and they were great to pay promptly. So now it should all be good.

plmccut Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There were supposed to be some new shops on the
> new site but I sure haven't seen any yet. Has
> anyone else?


0 for me as well

Even though they are changing their system, I doubt the slow payments and disorganization of some schedulers will change.

Perhaps the new image will cause me to perceive my interactions with them differently. Or it could be like seeing an ex with a makeover. New exterior, but with the same chaos on the inside.

HaveARayDay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Even though they are changing their system, I
> doubt the slow payments and disorganization of
> some schedulers will change.
>
> Perhaps the new image will cause me to perceive my
> interactions with them differently. Or it could
> be like seeing an ex with a makeover. New
> exterior, but with the same chaos on the inside.


Slow pay? From GFK? In my experience, they are one of the quickest payers out there...I have gotten paid within a few days and never over two weeks.

Oh I love sassie so much (snickers)

GfK took several months to pay me. And then they "forgot" the bonus. It took another couple of months to be paid in full. Meanwhile, the "lost" emails in which they previously said "Ooops, our mistake." In several emails they accused me of being impatient and violating my IC agreement. I never did quite figure that one out.

They could be reporting on the original tablets brought down from Sanai by Moses and I still wouldn't work for them. I should not have to chase down my money. Nor should anyone else.

What is most frustrating is I (naively) took the shop because they were desperate. I had to get to the store in question (see, I am STILL not violating my agreement with them!) by 30 to 40 minutes before they closed at 8 pm. It was 6 when I got the assignment and the store was 35 minutes away. I had to take a silly quiz before I could do the shop. I did all that. Got a ticket for speeding on the way. Filled out the report, which was grueling.

And then they can't get it together to pay me.

Uh, no thanks.



Lindazane Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> HaveARayDay Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Even though they are changing their system, I
> > doubt the slow payments and disorganization of
> > some schedulers will change.
> >
> > Perhaps the new image will cause me to perceive
> my
> > interactions with them differently. Or it
> could
> > be like seeing an ex with a makeover. New
> > exterior, but with the same chaos on the
> inside.
>
>
> Slow pay? From GFK? In my experience, they are one
> of the quickest payers out there...I have gotten
> paid within a few days and never over two weeks.

I haven't worked for them in a while, but I did ten of the big box electronic audits and they paid promptly every time. Maybe things have changed since I was with them, but at that time they were exceptionally good to pay quickly.

The following outlines my experience with GfK. I did three shops for them this past January:

1) The first was paid within 2 weeks. No problem there.

2) The second shop was rejected due to non-communication from the scheduler. Even after I placed 4 phone calls and sent 3 emails trying to solve the issue, the scheduler did not respond to my emails for two weeks! In her response, she told me I should call her in the future. When I informed her I placed 4 phone calls starting the day after I completed the shop and report, she had no reply.

3) I was paid for the third shop a month and a half later.

To be fair, my bad experience was due to one bad scheduler which is why I will not do jobs for her, even when she offers big bonuses. I can't afford to get burned by her disorganization and lack of communication. As far as GfK's payments are concerned, they have not ALWAYS paid me in 2-3 weeks as they like to boast.

GFK is a joke. They were desperate for help in August 2011 with a Saks Fifth Avenue Mystery Shop- a purchase and return of $500. I completed both parts of the shop, on different days as specified, and had the report in 20 hours before the due date.

I was emailed the next morning for clarification of an answer. I emailed back the clarification within an hour and a half.

I was then emailed and said my shop wouldn't be accepted because I did not complete it per the instructions, and I did not respond to the clarification email within 24 hours. I forwarded the very email I had sent with an hour and a half.

What happened was a prolonged, five month battle with GFK, the Better Business Bureau and myself. GFK owed me $45, which they never paid, but what they did do was spend 5 months responding to my continual complaints with the BBB with letters from their "vice president." The ridiculous part is it cost them way more money and aggravation to respond with their numerous official letters and emails than to pay me my $45.

I had email evidence that I had indeed completed the shop appropriately, answered the clarification email almost immediately and tried to avoid filing a complaint by emailing my scheduler six times. All pieces of evidence were simply ignored by GFK. I mean, this evidence was date-stamped, time-stamped emails. Incontrovertible. Simply ridiculous.

I've done over 100 mystery shops and this is only one of two jobs I've ever had an issue with. And pretty tellingly, I was the 9th person to file a complaint on the BBB website with this joke of a company. My guess is they stole my report, used it and did not pay me. My guess is also that they work out of someone's basement in Hell's Kitchen.

Stay far, far away. No good deed goes unpunished.

GFK is one the best companies I have worked with and hopefully will continue to work with. They pay within a couple of weeks and I have had not problems with them.

I would agree GfK is a joke--were it not for the fact that they are some of the least professional people I have ever worked with. It took me five plus monthsto get that bonus, which is frustrating enough. The real issue was they would look at their own emails stating the bonus in bold in the subject line and would still not be able to figure it out. After finally saying yes, they saw it and would pay, they "lost" that email. When I threatened to go to the BBB and the MSPA (with whom the MSCs sign agreements and (for lace of a better term) a code of ethics) they told me I had violated my IC. I am glad some shoppers have not had such negative experiences, but I look at this as SHOPPER BE WARNED. If you do a shop and get screwed, don't be surprised.

BTW. I signed up for an entirely different shop with a different company to do busiess censuses. The material I receicved for review has GfK's name all over it. When I applied, there was no mention of GfK. I have asked the scheduler of the other MSC (the one with whom I applied) if there was a connection. Since the shop (census) itself and the forms are very complication, it looks like GfK's hand is all over it.

TesoraBellissima Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> GFK is a joke. They were desperate for help in
> August 2011 with a Saks Fifth Avenue Mystery Shop-
> a purchase and return of $500. I completed both
> parts of the shop, on different days as specified,
> and had the report in 20 hours before the due
> date.
>
> I was emailed the next morning for clarification
> of an answer. I emailed back the clarification
> within an hour and a half.
>
> I was then emailed and said my shop wouldn't be
> accepted because I did not complete it per the
> instructions, and I did not respond to the
> clarification email within 24 hours. I forwarded
> the very email I had sent with an hour and a
> half.
>
> What happened was a prolonged, five month battle
> with GFK, the Better Business Bureau and myself.
> GFK owed me $45, which they never paid, but what
> they did do was spend 5 months responding to my
> continual complaints with the BBB with letters
> from their "vice president." The ridiculous part
> is it cost them way more money and aggravation to
> respond with their numerous official letters and
> emails than to pay me my $45.
>
> I had email evidence that I had indeed completed
> the shop appropriately, answered the clarification
> email almost immediately and tried to avoid filing
> a complaint by emailing my scheduler six times.
> All pieces of evidence were simply ignored by GFK.
> I mean, this evidence was date-stamped,
> time-stamped emails. Incontrovertible. Simply
> ridiculous.
>
> I've done over 100 mystery shops and this is only
> one of two jobs I've ever had an issue with. And
> pretty tellingly, I was the 9th person to file a
> complaint on the BBB website with this joke of a
> company. My guess is they stole my report, used
> it and did not pay me. My guess is also that they
> work out of someone's basement in Hell's Kitchen.
>
> Stay far, far away. No good deed goes unpunished.

Jersey (and I am assuming you are from Jersey, as am I, which must be why we are so smart and don't take this crap), thank you for your post. You are absolutely right that their "professionalism" is unconscionable. I am sorry you had that experience....but glad it validates their horrific reputation. I hadn't even thought of reporting them to MSPA, but that's a great idea. They and Measure CP have been truly awful. Every other company I've worked with has been pretty good, though. I particularly like Goodwin and Associates, Bestmark and CHG. Coyle is great in terms of the assignments, but the reports are rougggh. Hours and hours are required to get them to exact specifications. It's nice to go out to $100-$200 dinners...but your entire next night is spent writing the reports. It's a trade-off, I guess.

Personally, I have never had any problems with GFK. There system was, well, different, yes. But workable always for me, following their rules of using this version or that of this browser or that.

Pay always in 2 weeks or less.

Just did a last minute shop where scheduler communicated via both email AND text message. I've never had a communication problem with them.

My real wish is just that they wouldn't send out so many damn emails of open shops. But many companies do this, there is a reason I have a Mystery Shopping only email account.

Jersey,
what is a business census? Do you mean it is an audit and is it the one for the electronics store? I can not think of where else the GFK name would be.

Tesora Thanks for your post. I was starting to feel unloved. Yes, I am from Jersey. Grew up several blocks from Pizzaland, which was in the opening credits of the Sapranos.

KateH. I am not sure how much I can say. I don't know who the client is, so I guess I am not violating anything. It is much like the US Census but for businesses. The auditors, or whatever we would be called, have to go from business to business, make lots of observations and answer questions about each establishment. It is for one MS company but the questionaire and instructions look like they come from GfK. I say look like just to leave open the possibility I am wrong. But it is the GfK logo. I sent the scheduler a 411 (on the GfK question and other issues) 24 hours ago and have not heard back. It appears there are pages and pages of questions for each establishment. It is not clear from the instructions whether this is a mystery shop or an audit.

The shopper/auditor gets paid by the hour. Everything has to be done in by mid April, but it is not clear if you can make several trips or have to do everything in one day.

With all these questions, I am not inclined to take the shop. If there is any association with GfK, I absolutely will not do it. I have absolutely no respect/confidence in GfK. I think anyone who works for them is going to get burned sooner or later. I have been burned once and it will not happen again-- at least not with GfK.

Sounds like the credit card shops. I just have not seen anything paid by the hour.

yep, it's $12 an hour. Not what I want to earn, but I figure, better than nothing. Is it connected with GfK? I still haven't heard from the Ath scheduler.

If they are the credit card shops where you go and check signage and whether they will tell you if it is accepted or not. The "prestigious" card was done by GFK 2 years ago but last year was done by a sassie company, and the other cards were done by a different sassie. But it was always fee per shop. Have never seen them per hour. So when you say per hour, do they mean the time you spend in the shop and who determines that, or does it include travelling time as well and who decides what it is acceptable?

I was told it was travel time from the minute you left your house to the minute you got back home. (And mileage would be paid at $.50/mile) I really have no idea what is considered reasonable or acceptable, to tell you the truth. In my 411 email, I reminded the scheduler I was at least 90 minutes away from the city where these shops/audits/whatever were to take place and asked her to confirm the time and distance factors would be acceptable. I wouldn't mind getting paid $12 an hour to sit in my car and listen to the radio. There was info about credit cards but also about a lot of other stuff. A LOT!

The questionaire and form definitely had the GfK logo on it. So, either this is a GfK shop (in combinatin with another MSC???????????) or the new MSC got the old paperwork from the client and forgot to change the logo. I am just throwing the last point out there. I really don't have a clue.

I am concerned that I haven't heard from the scheduler in response to my questions, mostly because it is a bit job and if I were going to do it, I would need to schedule my time. I don't necessarily think she is ignoring or snubbing me.

BUT I am wary of anything that is associated with GfK. Anything.

And, this assignment looks overwhelming.

You should get it in writing how long they expect each audit to take/mileage, etc. you might think it is 1 hour per audit whereas they might estimate it to be 20 minutes. The credit card shops were done for the cc company and one had to go covert and see where the logo was placed from outside to inside, registers, menus, displays, credit card holders, brochures, etc, and whether there were competitor logos. The sassie company had many pages instruction but one long form, primarily y/n. GFK had not only long instructions but a 500 page report as each question had so many subcomponents, with their typical one page per question, so the report took forever. It was done so the cc company would check that the establishment is still active and see what's the marketing placement of the card in relation to competitors. Since the stores were clustered in geographical areas, you could do 2-3 per hour and ranged from mom and pop stores to upscale steakhouses.

based on the questionaire I looked at (and knowing myself) I would guess it would take closer to an hour than 20 minutes, on average. the form was confusing because you had to answer question x on line 3 but skipline 5 on tuesdays, etc. I jest, but only to emphasize how confusing and convoluted it all looked. might be a breeze for the right shopper...but I am probably not that shopper.

Thanks guys.

All the above confirms my gut feeling that anybody putting up a test before each and every shop is not worth the trouble.

Terasora I just reread some of these posts and noticed you mentioned a client. Since we are aware of the MSC, we cannot mention the client, no matter how horrible the MSC is (and believe, I think GfK is up there when it comes to sh.t.y MSCs) Still....an ICA is an ICA.

Jersey