How low can a company go?

I excitedly shopped a bowling lane for a very well known company that, to start with, instructed me to pay for 2 games and order a combo meal for one person.ofcourse,I followed the instructions.The meal consisted of a burger,some fries and a drink.
It cost me $28.76 for 2 games including rental of 2 pairs of shoes and $6.38 for the meal.I then sent my very long narrated,very detailed report that very same night. It was so long,it took me approximately 3 hours to fill it out and I faxed the receipts the next morning. Only to have at 3 different ladies from this company send me emails one after the other for 3 days,instructing me to "fax my receipts otherwise,I wouldn't be paid"
Now,because I don't have my own fax machine yet,{I'm still new in this business} I have to fax from an office business that charges me $2 a page.It cost me $8 to repeatedly fax my receipts to this company,and they still claimed not receiving them.For this,they were paying $12.00 and $13.00 for the meal.Does this make any sense? I'm $43.14 out and ALL THEY WERE PAYING WAS $25? I lost all that money and they still pretended not to have recieved the receipts just so that they wouldn't pay me? I'm so so disgusted. That's how low they stooped.

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There's a possibility that there was a problem with the faxing. Sometimes we do lose out. It's a shame we don't get paid more. Maybe in a "one time" situation, a business where you shop often, such as a pharmacy, for example, might fax something for free. Maybe a local insurance company or real estate agent, or even a neighbor would do it once when you find yourself in this situation. Sometimes faxes get lost for whatever reason. Try a different machine. Also, make sure that everything on your fax is labeled so that there is no question who is to get the fax, who sent it and why. In large offices, anything can happen to paperwork.

Dear Sandra Sue,
Thank you for taking the time, and what you are saying,makes a lot of sense.However,is it not their responsibility {the office} to have a setup whereby there would be no loss of faxes? This is a company that has probably been in existence for a long time.To think that they could lose the faxes,is a bit unproffessional as far as I'm concerned.In all the 4 times,I repeatedly sent the faxes,I made sure that the confirmation note said "ok" How many times can they lose the faxes?
I'm just very disappointed.I'm scraping for money.I just can't afford to throw it away in the hopes of making it. So much for Ethics.Do they only apply to us? And not the companies?
Do they even care these people?

Mabatho,

Unfortunately, there are too many middlemen. We are probably on the bottom of the totem pole. Have you tried sending them a bill for "expenses"? Maybe unforeseen ones, or some other descriptor? I once got paid $5.00 "consolation pay" by a company that accidentally scheduled me for a shop twice when they should have done so once. As long as I'm not whining, it seems I get attention if not pay. If the scheduler knows of your situation, maybe she/he will throw a few extra shops your way next month.

Yes,,,I sent and resent the bills.And as for new shops,they send them to me everyday as if nothing has happened.I just ignore them. I don't know about you,but I believe strongly in "once bitten,twice shy" philosophy.They are not the only ones around.You see Sue,whining is one thing,and having someone stick their hand in your pocket and take whatever misley pennies you may have,is another.They recieved their fee from their client for a job welldone.

It does appear to us that sometimes they do take their pay from their clients, no matter what happens to us. I've seen numerous complaints about that very fact on this forum. I'm not sure that it happens all the time, though, or even that it's common. Unfortunately, there is no way either of us can get proof.

(I wasn't implying that you are whining. I try to watch myself when I make inquiries to companies about a shop gone wrong because I'm sure they do get lots of shoppers who are upset about them and I don't want to sound like someone who can't just move on. I try to watch my "tone of voice" in writing. I also have a suspicious nature that I have to control.)

My schedulers have been wonderful with situations they have to work with. Once, I had a shop that did not have all the details it needed. The company contacted me later and said that the company decided to take it after all so they were paying me part of the fee.

So far, the only company that I refuse to deal with is one that has an impossible website, and when I ask for help, the answer is always something like, "Well, it's there." I put an X over their information in my files.

Yeah,no truer words said.I guess we can just bite the bullet and move on.

Some companies are just hard to deal with. Can you ask them if you can email it in? Then you would have proof it was sent. If it is holding up your payment, then then may accept it that way? I would also document the dates and times you have sent the faxes. Be firm but not rude when you contact them. If you can tell them when you faxed and maybe even get them copies of receipts from the faxing for proof it was faxed?

I just wish things could be uploaded or emailed to all companies. The excuse they never got the fax or received it via mail gets old when you spend your valuable time doing the work!

While I'm new at this, I have already found a couple that are not worth it. My problem is I live in a small town and have to travel to shop. And there is the companies like the OP, where its a 20 minute shop, and 3 hours for the report to be done. All for 10 or 12 dollars. Thats why I have moved to doing merchandising instead of shopping. Short reports and a steady income for ongoing or long term projects.

There are only two companies in my city that do bowling. One pays a flat $50 fee, so that is probably not them.

The other is Kinesis, who uses Kern to schedule. If this is where your problem is, go fishing around for a phone number. I am pretty sure Kerns is 800, I have never had a problem with Kinesis, but you can find their number too. Calling settles problems that email doesn't.

If it is a different company than my city, I think the above advise would still hold.

Of course by now the OP problem is 4 months old, but as a general rule when all else fails, get on the phone. I have had a "situation" where when I signed up for a shop the shop ID # was copied and pasted into my shop sheet. I then went ahead and copy and pasted the number from my shop sheet to the fax cover sheet on which I taped receipts before faxing. Luckily I also wrote the location and shop date on the cover sheet because when the fax came in it was discarded because there was "no such job number" due to their having CHANGED the job number after I accepted the job. Their faxes were saved on a computer so they were able to recover the fax based on date and time sent and we were fine. An unusual situation, but the verbal conversation was enough to figure out what had caused the problem.

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I fax daily and always get the conformation when the fax goes through. Call them with that. Don't fax more than once if you get a conformation sheet saying it has gone through. Call the company, you might have the wrong fax #.Always try and fax to a 800 #, it cost $1.00, opposed to $2.00...every penney counts.

Companies will go as low as you let them....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2008 08:51PM by shop 4 u.

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