Apparently they hit a round on Friday, the 1st. Saw on another forum-shoppers with 100-250 shops were deactivated without explanation again.

Apparently some who inquired as to why had currently scheduled shops cancelled as well.

I will ride the MFI train as long as it lasts, but I truly find their actions towards shoppers disconcerting.

I wonder why they would just randomly deactivate shopper with a long history. I just recently started doing a assignments for them, guess I wont get my hopes up.

Now that was not a very nice 'April Fool's' joke. There have been a couple of folks here mention they can no longer see the job boards.

Flash Wrote:
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> Now that was not a very nice 'April Fool's' joke.
> There have been a couple of folks here mention
> they can no longer see the job boards.


Flash-how long have you been shopping for the Blue Portal?

I shopped them when they were Shop 'N Chek, so it probably is around 6 or 7 years.

Flash Wrote:
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> I shopped them when they were Shop 'N Chek, so it
> probably is around 6 or 7 years.


I also shopped with them when they were Shop 'N Chek...starting back about 8 or 9 years ago. I noticed when entering a shop today that the Market Force URL switched to the Shop 'N Chek one. I don't recall it doing that before. Is that something new? And...as long as I've been shopping for them, I don't know the what the different portals are?

ScarlettAL, if you enter the site from www.marketforce.com you will find your choice of "Blue Portal" or "Purple Portal", where "Blue" is the old Shop 'N Chek and "Purple" is the old Certified Field Associates. For a while there was a "Green Portal" which was the old SG Marketing. In terms of dealing with "Blue" I feel certain that they are just using the old SNC software and have prettied up the pages with a little color and the Market Force name.

Ahhhh...I always just log directly in with the www.marketforceshopper.com link. I agree that it seems exactly like the old SNC site. I'm going to investigate the Purple Portal now. ;-)

Oh...the Purple Portal seems to be the old Criny company? I did some work for them in the past, too...but ages ago.

Yes, no longer able to select jobs here.

I've only been shopping with MFI since Nov, but last month they said there was a "scheduling error" and canceled 8 of my shops. I can still log in so I've kept checking back and there are still no shops for me to choose from.

They keep calling me for fast food shops with nice bonuses!

Have a question. Before Shop N Chek was purchased and became Market Force, did Shop N Chek used to cut shoppers in the same manner? I never had a problem with this company when it was "Shop N Chek", but was axed after it became Market Force.

A recent search with the default radius of 100 miles from my zip, returned zero shops available to me. Never in my shopping years, has there been zero availability. My first thought was that I had achieved persona non grata status. I changed the search radius to 149, and voila! At least for the moment, I'm still persona grata.

deleted..not important..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2011 04:05PM by Irene_L.A..

Is this the forum where you are required to have your real name in your profile? I have often wondered if some of the people on that forum get deactivated because they violate MF's terms of service by discussing MF online.

MF is clear that you are not to discuss them on web sites, and there people are, using their real names, discussing and often bad-mouthing MF. If that is the case, they deserve to be deactivated for being so dense!

Otherwise, I have no idea why people are deactivated.

Yes, I just got axed from them this weekend. Interesting to know others have as well. I'm not a message board contributor (before this post), so it's unlikely that's the reason. When I asked why I was dropped, they told me to fax in a copy of my Social Security card...since they do periodic checks with the IRS and mine failed verification. I did that, but they still axed me anyway. That's BS that my SS number I had provided failed verification.

rainy, I think that is the other forum.

I was deactivated by them late last month or early this month...I emailed them and fell on my sword and showed them what a great shopper I have been for 15 months and they reinstated me. They have not yet reinstated my husband from over a year ago.

Well, finally got the boot. I was wondering if I would get it this month. I usually do quite a bit of work for them each month, but this month I had 2-3 times what I usually do for them so I was wondering if that would draw more attention to me.

....you must have reached the magic number, whatever that is......I'm sure it will come to all of us who shop for MF, sometime or other.....

Market Force seems pretty normal to me. I get plenty of shops and calls from them. I haven't had time to try the purple side, but I understand that there are many opportunities there also. There are so many companies to shop for that it is very tough to choose. I have always been treated fairly from Market Force, but I do what they expect.

richraynor Wrote:
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> I get plenty of shops and calls from them.

I actually got calls from them as recent as Friday morning. This morning I could still view shops and assigned one. Then this evening, I sign on and can no longer view new assignments.

richraynor Wrote:
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> Market Force seems pretty normal to me. I get
> plenty of shops and calls from them. I haven't had
> time to try the purple side, but I understand that
> there are many opportunities there also. There are
> so many companies to shop for that it is very
> tough to choose. I have always been treated fairly
> from Market Force, but I do what they expect.


Market Force is normal, rich, and I like shopping for them. They have self assign, easy jobs, easy reports, and they pay regularly. I've completed hundreds of shops and worked for them almost 3 years. But, at the same time, I realize that they have an internal selection process set up that requires deactivation of shoppers at certain milestones, which are kept strictly secret. A shopper is deactivated by simply no longer being able to view the WebFCSelect Shops link, so it is not possible for the shopper to select shops. In most cases, there is no notification to the shopper that he is deactivated. When the shopper inquires, he receives the answer that "we are no longer able to offer you new shops" and that "the reason is confidential." Although MF refuses to tell the shopper why he has been deactivated, sometimes it is because the shopper has made an error, cancelled too many shops, or a combination of issues. Sometimes it is because the shopper has met the criteria of MF's computer program collecting data and it decrees that the shopper's shopping life with MF is over.

Whatever the reason, it is Market Force's right to choose to deactivate a shopper at any time for any reason. We are independent contractors, not employees. I recognize that, and, as long as the assignments at MF continue to be attractive to me and MF continues to pay me, I will continue to self assign jobs to myself. I do realize, though, that someday I may make a mistake that results in deactivation OR I may merely be selected for deactivation by their internal computer-driven criteria. Whatever.

richraynor Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Market Force seems pretty normal to me. I get
> plenty of shops and calls from them. I haven't had
> time to try the purple side, but I understand that
> there are many opportunities there also. There are
> so many companies to shop for that it is very
> tough to choose. I have always been treated fairly
> from Market Force, but I do what they expect.


You are such a troll, Rich. You post this kind of crap no matter what company is being discussed.

What's making me the angriest about it is that a few days ago, I did reschedule four shops.... at THEIR request.

They were gas station audits and I guess they had too many already submitted so they asked if I would push them to the middle of May. Which I did even though I had already accepted other shops in the area of those gas stations for the weeks in April that I scheduled them.

Finally got the boot. I did 24 shops in 2009, one shop in 2010 and no shops this year. I guess we're just not a good fit for each other.

I think getting axed would demoralize a person. What's wrong with giving a decent explanation? They expect honesty from us, should we not, from them? They have to remember one thing: without shoppers, they are out of business. Eventually, the new shoppers will get wind of these postings. It's not good business sense to get a bad reputation on any forum.

I have been mostly working with CFA (Marketforce) over the past 4 months and after completing 200+ assignments I got deactivated without a call, cause or any explanation . . . worst thing was that I was in the field and had just wrapped up three 12 hour days of work . . . no one is returning my calls or emails and the one scheduler only advised me to fax in my reports for those 13 jobs. Of course I said I couldn't as we are talking in excess of 60 pages and as i doubt they would pay me . . .

Odd thing is that the account manager that supposedly performed the deactivation is the same one that sent me an email just a few day prior thanking me for my efforts.

Figuring to use the reports as some leverage, I even went ahead and completed the jobs I had already accepted as no one ever stated that I was to stop, and, as I believe my efforts would support any future claims that a valid contract existed between CFA and myself if things are not resolved as I want . . . of course, I could as well go above CFA to the company that is paying them for the jobs they were in fact contracted to perform, perhaps even the company that is ultimately paying for the work in question . . . I've seen and learned enough in these four months to adversely affect a contract or two!

Of course, I'd be content just doing my work while being treated respectfully . . . is that so much to ask for?

I am glad I am not the only one who got dropped from Market Force. I received an email, congratulations, you have done 100 shops. Two weeks later, I received an email saying that I had submitted a wrong social security number. I called accounting and had to fax my driver's ID and a copy of my social security card. I never heard a word from them. I tried calling and got no where.