kittybratt Wrote:
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> 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.


I got the same message about not being able to verify my Social Security number 4 times. I finally got tired of fooling with it and sent an emai telling them that I did not know what the problem was because my Social Security number had no problem being verified by the Secret Service and Federal Marshalls. My SS# was verified when President Bush came to visit the hospital I worked for and when I served a sky box Bill Clinton was in at a football game, when he was president.

I've been shopping for them for about 4 months. Right now they are my favorite. I hope I don't get the axe. It seems like a lot of people do.

I've been doing shops for over 5 yrs & MSPA Silver Certified with 9-10 Sassie ratings & last month I got bumped from MFI. After emailing asking why, I was finally told the company I kept shopping thought my reports were in error several times. How can a shopper be in error when they are just reporting the facts? Why would we lie or state something negative if it is what we observed? Either case, the "best shopping company to work for" in my book (which I had posted several times) deactivated me. Makes no sense - how often is the shopper backed up by the shopping company? Oh well. I pretty much stopped doing most shops with all companies as I can't figure it out and am very discouraged with the industry.

I have a pretty good record with my shops and with the comnpanies I shop for. MFI kept telling me I was overlapping shops. Couldn't overlap them if they were 30 miles apart. Then one day my social security number was not valid. I never could get any kind of answer from a person just the computer telling me my SSC was not valid.

Don't let them get you down and turn you against the rest of the companies. Just find you some you can work with and still continue to do your best and it will work for you. You may never figure out what happened as there is probably no valid reason why it happened.

It has happened to a lot of us.

when you get to the 600$ threshold they have to send a w1 for tax purposes. Them dropping shoppers might have something to do with this.

There is another thread on this subject of MFI dropping shoppers in the forum under companies I think. A lot of shoppers have been dropped. Some received reasons why they were dropped and other have never heard back. A lot of shoppers do not miss them once they are dropped. It seems to be a toss up. Some shoppers have shopped for them for a long time and are still in good standing while others shopped a very short time and got dropped.

They operated the same when they were Shop'n C...., like Flash I've been shopping with them 8+ years and they are my "bread and butter" company which makes me nervous. I know a scheduler well and she told me they do not randomly let go long time quality shoppers for no reason, although I'd like to think she doesn't drink the Kool Aid I am not buying that!

MF must believe they have a valid reason, but that doesn't necessarily make it so. The shopper should be communicated with and given the opportunity to clarify. Not corresponding with a shopper regarding issues that result in deactivation is disrespectful and unfair. Yes, of course, I can drop them like a hot potato for no reason, but if it's a relationship I value, it wouldn't be in my best interest to do so.

Deech, funny you should mention overlapping. A couple of years ago, I got a stern warning that I had overlapped shops and that if it happened again, I would no longer be allowed to shop with MF. However, I did not overlap shops, proven by the time on the receipts, and the distance between the shops. I communicated that back to MF but never heard another word. At least I know that I have one strike against me, false as it is, and that for me, two strikes and I'm out.

I got an email the other day saying I was identified at one of the FF shops. Asked for complete description, car, clothes etc. I told my hubby that was probably the end of MFI for me, but as of yet, I haven't heard. As of today I can still see shops, but looking day by day to see them gone.

What got me about the overlapping shops was it always happened when the shops were 10 to 20 miles from each other. Nothing was ever said about overlapping shops within 3 blocks of each other. Never did understand that.

I realize this is much later, but I have worked with both market force and criny. The two sister company's supposedly merged even though they have two separate websites still. They were great companys a few years ago, but within the past year or so have gone down hill. Both my father and I have had a lot of trouble. My father, after being called and asked to do jobs and told he would be paid more money, did the jobs and then told he wasn't getting the increase, for some incredibly stupid reason. They paid me half of my money, and then waited a couple of months to pay me the other half, way beyond the due date that I should have gotten it. I used to get paid very well for doing movies, but I won't even accept them anymore, because the last job I did caused such a problem for me it wasn't even worth the trouble I had to go through. They no longer answer the phone and take forever to get emails back. I finally got my payment when I wrote to the BBB. Just thought I would let you all know that. I don't play games when it comes to getting paid, This used to be one of my favorite companys, and now it is one of my least favorite.

Here are the responses I have received and now my wife.....

In answer to your query, we at Market Force do our best to support our shoppers and try to communicate with them effectively without revealing confidential information (although sometimes that is impossible). I am sorry that you feel otherwise. We wish you the very best in your future endeavors.

and the other email we got....

Good afternoon:

We apologize for the confusion. Last time you were removed, it was not in error. Actually the error was ours in reinstating your status.

Unfortunately, we have decided that we cannot offer you any more assignments. As you know from reviewing the Shopper Quality Standards that are posted on our shopper website, we review each shopper's shopping history using several different historical reports. We hope that you can understand that we cannot share the specifics regarding why you are no longer being given the opportunity to select new shops; doing otherwise could reveal some of the most confidential and proprietary aspects of our business. Because Market Force is unique in this industry, we are not at liberty to share the decisions behind how and why shops are or are not offered to certain shoppers. However, we have had to remove your name from our shopper database and we will not be able to offer you any more assignments. We wish you professional success in your present and future endeavors.

Deech Wrote:
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> What got me about the overlapping shops

What is "overlapping" please?

Bena Wrote:
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> Deech Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What got me about the overlapping shops
>
> What is "overlapping" please?


I am wondering the same thing - the only thing I can think of is where the timing of one shop is during the time of another shop as well?

Or maybe for the FF if you do a shop between the drive through and the drive in portions?

Liz

You got it. It is starting a 2nd shop before the first one is finished which is kinda hard to do.

Assume that two shops require the shopper to stay on site for 10 minutes. Let's say that the time on the first receipt was 10:00 am and I reported that I stayed on site from 9:50 to 10:00. I then drive to my second shop. If the time on my second receipt was 10:10, in all probability my shops overlapped and I didn't adhere to the guidelines. (Unless the shops were a very short walking distance apart) Overlapping would indicate the shopper didn't follow the guidelines, and lied about the timings, and the shop(s) should be rejected.

My shops were logistically impossible to overlap, easily proven by the address and time on the receipts. It would have been nice to hear that an error had been made and it had been corrected.

You are right it would have been nice to be told that the message was in error. My overlapping was on stations that were at least 20 miles from each other. On one I drove from one town to another (15 miles) then ran into an old friend and we talked for over 30 minutes. I was going to old stomping grounds so I worked my way in one way and back another and did a total of 5 shops visiting friends in between the shops. I explained all this but never go a reply. I worked with them for over year after that and never got another overlapping message again. I guess the black mark was still there though.

The Blue pill or the Purple pill? Neo choose.....

I thought I was axed because my search feature disappeared, but it reappeared like 15 minutes later!

MFI would not let me log in and the other one kept telling me I needed to verify my SSN and when I tried they kept telling me it was not a valid number. Took them three months to stop sending me emails.

Life goes on. Without relying on this weak crutch, there are strong opportunities out there.
Don't try to make sense out of the nonsense at MFI. Their management makes Moe, Larry, and Curly look like Mensa.

Deep South Tom Wrote:
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> Life goes on. Without relying on this weak crutch,
> there are strong opportunities out there.
> Don't try to make sense out of the nonsense at
> MFI. Their management makes Moe, Larry, and Curly
> look like Mensa.


You are right, I did not miss either one of these folks.