I have been mystery shopping since September 2010 and in that time I have performed and been paid for 37 shops with 5 different companies.
I did my first shop for MF last week. They have rejected my report saying:
Shopper caused delay: You looked at and inquired about menu while at Drive-thru.
Their instructions say to order a Value Meal, so I asked for a M*Chicken Value Meal.
The order taker said there wasn't a M*Chicken Value Meal so I ordered the items separately.
The receipt indicated "M*CHICKEN VM" with a single price for the three items listed.
For this they won't pay me? RIPOFF!!!

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2010 04:57PM by SolaDude.

It's a violation of your confidentiality agreement to have the client name in the same post as the MS company. You may want to edit that somewhat.

Unfortunately MS companies are sticklers for following their narrow little scenarios and Marketforce is definitely a company I avoid at all costs.

SD,
I would remove this post if I were you. If you get reported to the MSPA as violating your ICA. More companies than just MF might black list you. There is a way to vent with naming the MSC, the client and Trademarked brand names. I would very quickly get the eraser out and cleanup this post. As far as payment goes, it sounds like you did not check the correct boxes concerning communicating with team members. If you had checked the correct boxes and then made a couple of short comments about issues with ordering, then the MSC would understand that it was a location issue and not a shopper issue. There was plenty of instruction on how to handle the "No combo" scenario in the training and guidlines. Not having the opportunity to have read your report, it is my guess that you did not document the shop correctly.
By the way, I was terminated by the MSC, so there is no love lost here. I am just sharing my experinece with you.

vanster2000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SD,
> I would remove this post if I were you. If you get
> reported to the MSPA as violating your ICA. More
> companies than just MF might black list you. There
> is a way to vent with naming the MSC, the client
> and Trademarked brand names. I would very quickly
> get the eraser out and cleanup this post. As far
> as payment goes, it sounds like you did not check
> the correct boxes concerning communicating with
> team members. If you had checked the correct boxes
> and then made a couple of short comments about
> issues with ordering, then the MSC would
> understand that it was a location issue and not a
> shopper issue. There was plenty of instruction on
> how to handle the "No combo" scenario in the
> training and guidlines. Not having the opportunity
> to have read your report, it is my guess that you
> did not document the shop correctly.
> By the way, I was terminated by the MSC, so there
> is no love lost here. I am just sharing my
> experinece with you.

Thanks for the advice, I made some changes for what it's worth. I'm not trying to make a career out of MS though, just enjoying some free meals and such. This MF experience has left a bad taste in my mouth and I find I'm not alone after searching for other stories. They are all the same - lay out your money in a ridiculous scenario of rapid fire eating - and then get shafted for some minor misstep of the rules. It's like a take on a Seinfeld episode - The Burger Nazi!

And definitely not all shoppers who work with Market Force end up with issues. I have shopped with them for years. The "issues" I have had were one time my goof and one time their goof (that they had the audacity to suggest that I should have caught and called to their attention--so we split the difference on that one). I do not do their fast food shops because that is not my choice of fodder to put into my system anyway and doing it twice for little pay makes it even less interesting. I have been known to do one where there was only one round of purchases to be made, though even that is rare. In shopping when you screw up, you own it, regardless of the company you are working with. That is why it is so important to read through instructions carefully.

I wouldn't say you were ripped off. I recently messed up on the same shop and did not get paid. When I got the notice I was annoyed but I knew it was in fact my error. I ended up canceling the 2 other jobs I had lined up with them and ended up being cut from there site. My error, so I have nothing at all to be mad about other then at myself. (that didn't stop me from venting about it).

I have never been a fan of the blue side so the cut is not heart breaking for me one bit. I happen to really enjoy the purple side and stay pretty busy all week with jobs after my real job.

It is a bummer to have spent the money and not get paid back but I just don't think you (or I) was ripped off.