dcrector Wrote:
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> MSPA had to do it's due diligence before we could
> terminate their member status. By not doing so
> could have resulted in serious legal issues. MSPA
> based its decision on several complaints shoppers
> submitted in writing. There were, I believe 3-4
> complaints that we investigated before making the
> decision. I know that on the forum there were
> many complaints but the investigation began before
> these complaints were posted and I don't believe
> any of the written complaints came from the
> shoppers on this forum. We can not take any
> action based on the posts on any forum.
Sine the Freeman debacle is apparently up for discussion and some are wondering how the distrust of the MSPA escalated, I would like to point out the timeline and events that occurred:
-As early as April of 2011, posters were complaining on this forum about payments from Freeman being slow/non-existant.
-Around March 2012, Freeman engaged an outside scheduler to bring in fresh shoppers, as apparently their existing shoppers were starting to refuse taking shops due to lack of payment.
-June 12, 2012 A supposed Freeman employee posts here that the company in near bankruptcy and then quickly deletes the post.
-June 29, 2012 The MSPA posts on Facebook an assurance to shoppers that Freeman is not going bankrupt and asks shoppers to be patient with expected payments. They later remove the post after suspending Freeman from the MSPA, but not before I copied it and posted it into this thread:
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www.mysteryshopforum.com]
-July 19, 2012 Jacob writes an open letter the MSPA that can be seen here:
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www.mysteryshopforum.com]
-July 26, 2012 The MSPA suspends Freeman's status as an MSPA member.
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www.mysteryshopforum.com]
-August 10, 2012 Bill Freeman sends out a letter to select shoppers, explaining his proposal for paying shoppers, bringing the pay cycle current and apologizing. I believe this was probably thaw last public comment from the company. It's my understanding that no shoppers were paid after that point and the company subsequently ceased mystery shopping operations, leaving shoppers on the hook for untold thousands of dollars. You can read the letter here:
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www.mysteryshopforum.com]
-March 9, 2014 Doug sends a newsletter to his database of shoppers, commenting on his opinion of shopper forums and touching on the Freeman issue. You can read it here:
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www.mysteryshopforum.com]
-September 15, 2014 Doug claims in the quoted post above that the MSPA investigation on Freeman began before any complaints were posted on the forum.
So, we are to believe that an investigation by the MSPA was started in early 2011 and concluded more than a year later, and coincidentaly 7 days after Jacob's open letter was published. At no time did any representative from the MSPA address the complaints on the forum or suggest to forum members that the a formal complaint should be lodged with the MSPA regarding Freeman. Doug is named in Jacob's letter and was actively posting on this forum at that time. In addition, the MSPA was publicly defending Freeman's position less than a month before they were suspended.
How are shopper's supposed to have any trust in an organization that operates in that manner? They were actively encouraging shoppers to continue shopping for Freeman while it was apparently under investigation for non-payment, and absolutely no regret or apology for that was offered to shoppers. The post was simply removed.