I just had a breif but awful experience with Market Force Purple. I'm relatively new to all of this, but that was just a horrendous experience with them. I'm posting to warn anyone else considering dealing with them that it might not be worth the time and hassle.

Essentially I signed up an open theater check, which included a pre-film trailer check invenotory (looking for a specific trailer) and then exit surveys of theater patrons about which trailers they recall assisted/unassisted.

This seemed fine, and would be paid "per showing" after 6pm. There were 10 showings of the film for the opening weekend, making it worth more than many hourly jobs I've worked in the past.

Well, I get the paperwork and there's only slots for 4 showings to be penciled in. I call the scheduler, and I'm told to just take as many shows as needed to get to my requested number of surveys and just make more copies of the paperwork to vouch for those extra showings. I say there's 10 shows - She says "Well I don't think it's going to take 10 shows and they can tell if you're fudging it. Just report how many it honestly takes" This seems "off" a little, but worst case scenario I can pencil them in. The scheduler admits that catching 30+ people flooding out of just 4 showings who watched -all- the trailers (a requirement for the survey completion) is going to be difficult.

I research online, being a still "newb" shopper, and decide to get something in writing/email incase the payment issue comes up. I'm not even planning on trying for the full 10 shows as I don't want to stay the full night anyways. I call the general helpline they provide on the paperwork.

Get the most rotten human being I've ever had the displeasure of speaking to. This woman tells me they'll pay me for however many shows it takes, but that it only takes most people 4 shows to do - exactly the opposite of the last Market Force rep I spoke to about it. I tell her I'm concerned about the payment and there not being something firm about the amount - and specifically if there's an upper limit on the number of shows I can. She wont answer. I say i'm concerned about there not being a firm amount for payment. She doesn't care.

I'm not speaking being accusatory, I explained "Well i'm concerned about there not being a written agreement for the payment and I'd prefer if.." type explination.

I get met with a put out "Ugh.." and exhasperated sighs and "Well do you just want to cancel?" and "Fine, then cancel."

All because I wanted to know what I was going to get paid before actually agreeing to work a job? That's ridiculous.

So, that's Market Force Purple for anyone who was curious. I was worried about getting dropped for canceling because this assignment was looking shady but now I really don't care after they behaved that way. I don't need to be involved in a company that isn't willing to honestly say how much the payment is going to be in advance.

Hello Lori, and welcome to the forums!

I did one shop last October for the Purple Portal - it was not a movie shop. I was paid promptly and then started to look for other shops, including those Theatre Checks.

By that time, fortunately, I was a member of the forums here and did some research - oh boy, I was so glad that I did not accept any of those theaters!! You are correct to stay away. Some people may like them, but many, most that is - seem to not like them. (from what I've been able to gather from posts here)

As far as your question regarding pay? You absolutely have a legitimate concern. I would want a confirmation email also. There's a ton of companies out there - and when you do sign up with one (or before you do), make sure you review the discussions about those companies here on the forums. It's an excellent resource!

They also sent me an email, right before I called, asking me to do a trailer check at another theater during the same time period tonight at another theater across town.

Gee, thanks for not even bothering to check and see that I was - at that time - assigned to something else that made it impossible for me to do both.

I only take jobs from them with a bonus. Once there was big screw up and the person on the phone kept giving me the wrong info about pay. I got a nice call from his supervisor clarifying and then requested she follow up in writing confirming the amounts before I would complete the job. Unfortunately, they cannot always be trusted.

Yup, they deactivated me already.

I have the information from the film company thank to their paperwork - I will be contacting their ethics department about their relationship with Market Force.

Only do that if you think it will make you feel better because it is unlikely to have any other impact. Clients contract with MSCs and how the MSC conducts business with their vendors is of little concern to the client. Sad, but true.

You'd be surprised what a certified letter to an ethics department tasked with investigating such relationships will do.

Sorry to hear about your negative experience with MF. I've also had my share of rude treatments when dealing with the help desk.

When it comes to theater jobs, there's always last minute changes, including pay rates. It's possible the person you spoke with didn't know what the pay rate was so she wasn't able to tell you.

I often wonder why, when "Market Force" consumed Shop n Check, Certified, and a few others, why some operations were not merged. The Shop n Check web format was kept, for better or for worse, and even some schedulers survived.

Why they allowed Certified to just carry on like this is beyond me. Same hassles, same BS, same snark. It reflects poorly on the Market Force brand as a whole.

There is a change. They make long, long phone calls. Usually, the people calling have accents I don't understand. They have a script--a long, long script. The script is apparently written by someone who doesn't want to leave out the smallest detail ("town is 18 miles from you", "this assignment will take 12-1/2 minutes"--I'm probably not exaggerating here.) They call about an assignment I've done dozens of times, ask me to go to a town I'm familiar with, and, as we're talking, when I give them those cues, they still go on with their script just as if they are nothing but a recording even though nothing has changed since the last assignment. They offer me the assignment. If I do have any questions, they hear that I've said something but they apparently can't process my accent any more than I can process theirs. They answer the wrong question. Since they are a person and not a recording, I can't hang up on them. Isn't it the point for a company to have people who meet the public who can understand what the public has to say and can speak so the public thinks they are from the family next door? Maybe I'm not a member of the public. That's it.

I did hundreds of jobs for Market Force purple (former Certified) and I never had any issues with them that I could not solve on the phone. Like any other company, they might have ups and downs...but if you are amicable and professional, they will respond in a similar fashion. They only want to know upfront any timing issue that you might have and they will work with you a solution. Simple!!!!