A serious question for schedulers.

Not naming anyone by name, just generally curious.

Why would you keep scheduling for companies with a current track on non-payments and no answers when shoppers contact the company to ask about non-payments going back months?

Is there no concern about your name becoming associated with the pattern of non-payments?

Are there any ethical concerns that come into play?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2025 09:56PM by MMMM.

I'm highly doubting we see any schedulers post on here that they are okay with working for a deadbeat MSC

I wonder if the schedulers are even aware of how big of a problem this is or if they even care. That is the "other side of the house."

Sorry, but why would you keep shopping them?

OP just asked the question. They did not say they were shopping them. I thought it was a great question.

@jgardn02 wrote:

Sorry, but why would you keep shopping them?

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I'm highly doubting we see any schedulers post on here that they are okay with working for a deadbeat MSC

Agree, no one will admit to that publicly, but it makes me wonder, how are they getting paid? Are they ahead of us in the payment queue?
Personally, I'll avoid any future shops from schedulers that are ok with working with non-paying (to shoppers) MSCs, especially when the issues are widely publicized on a forum like this one. Once the trust is broken, or to use the old timey phrase "your good name is tarnished", it's impossible to redeem that relationship.

@jgardn02 wrote:

Sorry, but why would you keep shopping them?

Of course I am not shopping for them (anymore) but I am shocked that non-owner related schedulers are willing to turn the blind eye to the shopper payment issues.

If the scheduler was an independent contractor, I personally wouldn't hold him/her to that standard.

Some smaller MSCs, the director sometimes schedules high-profile clients.

@Okie wrote:

If the scheduler was an independent contractor, I personally wouldn't hold him/her to that standard.

Just out of curiosity - why not hold them to a standard? Knowingly scheduling for a non-paying company? How much could one possibly be paid to do that and still sleep well at night?

Initially, I took these questions as rhetorical. I can't speak for a scheduler. I can only speculate.

If a scheduler knowingly schedules for an insolvent MSC, I guess you can attach morality to anything. Maybe the scheduler has a "not my circus, not my monkeys" approach.

I know there's the argument that schedulers shouldn't continue to schedule for those MSCs. That's valid.

However, if the scheduler was an employee and had direct control of operations and disbursement of funds, I believe that's even worse.

I possess the ability to simultaneously have business and personal feelings and to keep each separated. As an example, I understand why, in a business sense, some MSCs are as vultures on a branch awaiting carrion. Morally, though, that action is reprehensible. When the subject pops into my mind, I recall a post of the past where the shopper explained she was in tears needing money and Ipsos stiffed her. She candidly stated she was forced, due to her situation, to continue the relationship.

Editors are paid ahead of shoppers (every 2 weeks). I'm guessing schedulers are paid the same as the editors (or earlier) and before shoppers (30-60 days. In my case, 110 days+).

Agreed!

@MMMM wrote:

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I'm highly doubting we see any schedulers post on here that they are okay with working for a deadbeat MSC

Agree, no one will admit to that publicly, but it makes me wonder, how are they getting paid? Are they ahead of us in the payment queue?
Personally, I'll avoid any future shops from schedulers that are ok with working with non-paying (to shoppers) MSCs, especially when the issues are widely publicized on a forum like this one. Once the trust is broken, or to use the old timey phrase "your good name is tarnished", it's impossible to redeem that relationship.

One scheduler I frequently work with has written me texts asking me to sign up for another company she schedules for. That other company is frequently trashed in the MSC forum here for not paying. I just don't respond to the texts but I always feel like asking the question: do you not know that they are known for not paying ICs?

So, yes, it's also something I have wondered about.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2025 01:47PM by olympia tennenbaum.

As someone who once worked as a scheduler + a shopper, if my client (the MSC) was not paying shoppers as promised, I would not feel good about asking "my" shoppers to take assignments. If you are asking people to take assignments knowing they will not be paid as stated, you are complicit in defrauding said shoppers.

This real question is; Can a scheduler afford to be picky about whom they schedule for. Many cannot.

And I also don't see why any shoppers continue shopping for companies that show any signs of financial distress. I step away at the first sign of any financial issues, since you have little recourse to fight it when they go under, and I tend to focus on high value shops.

If everyone would just run from the lame duck companies, they would quickly go under and leave more ethical MSC's to pick up the clients, so I think the whole lot of people doing business with them perpetuates the problem. There are companies that have been paying late or showing payment issues for 20+ years and are still in business because they can find shoppers to take the assignments.

To paraphrase Nathan Hale, I regret I am unable to like Steve's above post more than once.

@SteveSoCal

I agree with you. There is a problem however. There are people who complain about not getting paid on the forum, but is that really the MSC or the shopper? Maybe it is both.

There are certain members of this forum that I would "trust" more than others when it comes to companies to stay away from.

Since you have been on here for a long, long time and have the experience, would you be willing to list some of the companies you will not work due to payment problems? I know you are picky with your shops, but assuming these companies had the shops you were willing to do, which company(ies) would you not work for?

I can't ask Terminator Bob as he is quick to terminate relationships :-P

My personal opinion is that both HS Brands and Sentry are reliable, but just pay so much slower than the rest of the industry. I'm more curious about the ones that I need to stay away from altogether.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2025 05:49PM by hbbigdaddy.

Regarding questionable MSCs, this is where I find one big benefit of the forums. In particular, payment issues regarding accepted shops. The iSecretShop forums and these forums helped me stay clear of some MSCs. charlhenri's thread also helped me stay clear of another MSC. Fortunately up to this point, I've only experienced one larger payment issue that was resolved due to the efforts of other members here. Thank you forum members!

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I know you are picky with your shops, but assuming these companies had the shops you were willing to do, which company(ies) would you not work for?

I am not that far off from Bob in dropping a company as soon as they exhibit financial issues. In the past, thanks to the forum, I was able to terminate relationships with around a half dozen companies that left others hanging when they shuttered. Restaurant Cops was one that owed me money, and I hounded them enough to finally pay me just before they shut down. I'm pretty sure there's an old thread here where I implored shoppers to stop working for them

I literally delete bookmarks for MSCs when I quit, so I don't even have the full list of names, but Regal is a good example of one that's been showing instability recently...and then there are companies like Intellishop that I don't think are necessarily going out of business, but are unresponsive and have left shoppers hung out to dry.

Once you see a MSC lose large clients and start changing payment terms, be unresponsive or move to a model where they are using outside schedulers, I get suspicious.

It's easier to name companies I WOULD work for:

While Coyle has moved to outside schedulers, they are not exactly begging people to take jobs. They have a 20 year payment history of never being more than a day or two late, and have home address and phone number of the owner, so I feel confident taking high-reimbursement shops for them.

And I don't really see a lot of available work from CI these days, but I would not hesitate to take an assignment that I wanted from them, because every issue ever brought up here brings a quick and professionally reply from their COO.

Those who don't respond, are combative, or threaten shoppers in attempts to silence them go on my do-not-shop list.

@Okie wrote:

Regarding questionable MSCs, this is where I find one big benefit of the forums. In particular, payment issues regarding accepted shops. The iSecretShop forums and these forums helped me stay clear of some MSCs. charlhenri's thread also helped me stay clear of another MSC. Fortunately up to this point, I've only experienced one larger payment issue that was resolved due to the efforts of other members here. Thank you forum members!

All these years I had forgotten the ISS forum, probably because I had not really found anything useful. You reminded me it was there so I took a gander just now and was surprised to read how many shoppers claim to announce that they're the shopper while on the job!

The paternal Golden Bear opines--..........Terminator Bob as he is quick to terminate relationships :-P

Bob comments--I would replace QUICK with RIGID. As it applies to my last termination, Intelli-shop, a company with whom I had been contracted for 19 yrs. and completed 265 jobs, I very much regretted the act being necessary. Once done, though, I merely moved on with life.

On a slightly related note, I have completed, over the yrs., work for five Canadian MSCs. Predicated upon those problem free experiences AND my personal relationships with both Newfies and Scotians I would not hesitate to accept shops from up North.

@sestrahelena wrote:

All these years I had forgotten the ISS forum, probably because I had not really found anything useful. You reminded me it was there so I took a gander just now and was surprised to read how many shoppers claim to announce that they're the shopper while on the job!

It's definitely a different type of crowd over there. I believe those forums have undergone some kind of update. It's not very active, but I could have sworn the biggest thread was about Cirrus and non-payment. I couldn't track it down.

If there was one thing I learned early on, stay away from Cirrus and price scanning shops! I have never done shops for Cirrus or a physical price scanning shop. I did one mobile screenshot shop though for another MSC, and that was enough for me!

I have worked for about 7 mystery shopping companies and none of those ever just didn't pay shoppers for a period of time.
I feel that if I worked for a company who hadn't paid shoppers when they state they will and that is a continual issue, I would probably worry - because it is harder to scheduler shops when a shopper doesn't think they will be paid and I would worry if I would be paid as well.
Someone said that editors and schedulers are paid before shoppers - that hasn't ever been my experience, but of course each company has different payment schedules.
I have worked for companies where payment is delayed a day or 2 - and I know how much that affects the shoppers, so that happening a lot would be stressful for everyone I think.

Any company worth their salt would not make submitted shops disappear at midnight and beyond. It’s fine to enforce a time deadline, but to delete them from the ICs portal is inexcusable. Proof of all of the pages should be accessible to both parties until the shop is paid. Otherwise it can lead to disputes if the shop gets rejected - which Ipsos is known for, especially for gas station shops. The last minute high bonus gas station shops in the boonies are very risky. If you’re lucky you have a couple hours to get them completed because of the commute home and the fact that you can’t attach the pics directly to the survey because of dead spots. They want them finished during business hours as well. The thanks you get for bailing them out is difficulty opening the surveys even when home, and N/R from the scheduler and editor. I had an editor try to cheat me out of $250 because she wasn’t satisfied with a picture of a canopy I sent because it was too close up. If she surveyed the property she would have seen it would have required me to be in dead center of a busy 3 way rural route intersection, which was a risk to MY safety. I was forced to explain this to several different so called managers from Ipsos into the evening because they couldn’t or wouldn’t understand the issue. If I hadn’t made it an all day undertaking, they would have gotten away with rejecting a perfectly acceptable shop they had in their possession. Their sole effort was NOT to get it resolved before midnight and treat me like dirt in the process. When they were forced to accept it based of all of the evidence I compiled they banned me. For the most part that company is despicable and treats ICs like they’re disposable idiots. That’s what happens when a company gets too big and corporate isn’t minding the store with their middle management. They cost their company a bloody fortune.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2025 11:11PM by Minime.