Is Ace the only company using this? Is it legit? I just don't like the idea. The shop seems simple, but I am reluctant to take it because of PayQuicker. Thoughts, friends?

PayQuicker is currently being discussed on the forum (see about 5 threads down from this one) [www.mysteryshopforum.com]

because of the fees they charge. Also do a search - going back to September 2011, when ACE began to use PayQuicker, there are plenty of PQ discussions.

There are a couple of MSCs using PayQuicker, but ACE is the only one that offers no alternative method of payment. If you shop for ACE, you must use PayQuicker. I LOVED shopping for ACE before they went to PayQuicker, but unless they begin to offer an alternative payment method, I won't be able to shop for them again. No PayQuicker for me.

As far as I know, ACE is the only company requiring it. There is currently a thread on the forum discussing PayQuicker. [www.mysteryshopforum.com]

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AM and I cross-posted; her post is way more informative than mine.

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I just posted this on another topic but I wanted to make sure that everyone following it had a chance to read it:

We have had complaints from shoppers about PayQuicker charging dormant fees. After addressing this with PayQuicker, we have not been able to come to an agreement for our shoppers to not be charged a fee for each month they have no activity in their account. For this reason, we have been searching for another method for shopper disbursements. Honestly, we are holding our head in our hands in disbelief of these additional fees AND the treatment some of our shoppers have received from their staff. We are so incredibly sorry!

The good news – we have decided to start doing Direct Deposit immediately. If you want to close your PayQuicker account, please feel free to do so. The new provider we have chosen to facilitate the direct deposit is Dwolla. They are a cash-based payment network that provides real-time, low cost for companies(100% free to shoppers), online and mobile payments. Dwolla securely connects individuals and businesses to their existing financial institutions via the Internet to move money efficiently and safely. This cardless and paperless network addresses countless risks and issues associated with legacy payment networks.

We really hate to inconvenience shoppers, however, before sending disbursement we will need to get a W9 form filled out. The IRS requires we have this information since we no longer have PayQuicker to verify identity. We have a quick and easy method of doing this online here. [rightsignature.com]
Don’t worry – we are also sending this information via email to all shoppers as they complete shops or are due to receive disbursement.

Why use Dwolla?
No waiting to receive your physical check’s
Your banking information remains confidential and is not transferred or released
100% FREE to shoppers, low cost for us

How do I sign up to receive payment?
[www.screencast.com]

So you can see why we have chosen Dwolla, here’s how it works on our end:
[www.dwolla.com]

What if I have questions?
You can visit Dwolla’s Support Center at [help.dwolla.com]
Email or call Dwolla’s Customer Support at support@dwolla.com and +1.888.289.8744
Security [www.dwolla.com]

It is so easy that even if you not read this entire post, I promise you can figure it out!

Julie Simbro
ACE Mystery Shopping

Why can't you just use paypal like almost any other mystery shopping company? It's pretty much industry standard and it's also far, far more trusted than any of these no-name services.

Paypal may be more expensive on their end.

Lots of companies use direct deposit, and we are never told what processing company they are using in the background. This is a slight twist on direct deposit. IMHO, get over it. Actually, don't get over it. Leave all the shops untaken until I get there to accept them.

Ace writes: "Honestly, we are holding our head in our hands in disbelief of these additional fees AND the treatment some of our shoppers have received from their staff. We are so incredibly sorry!"

They make it sound like they just heard about all of this, but I highly doubt this. Many have told Ace about their dissatisfaction with Payquicker for a long time.

I like Ace overall, but I do wish they would just use Paypal.

We have decided to use direct deposit because most everyone at least has a bank account. In order to do direct deposit, every company has to have a provider that they outsource to. Whether it be companies like ADP or PayChex (for checks or Direct Deposit), PayPal or whatever. Unless we are an actual bank, we cannot deposit money into your bank account without the help of a third party vendor. Dwolla is no different than those companies and they are the provider we have chosen.

Believe me, we have looked at probably every company that is out there before making our decision. I could go on an and on about the differences and the obstacles that would be faced with each and every company. Did you know that under certain circumstances, sometimes PayPal charges a percentage to receive money if you have a business account? We learned this a few years ago when we did use PayPal and we had some very unhappy shoppers. There's also no way for the "sender" to cover that fee. We have become very educated over the past few months. We have chosen Dwolla in part because it is easy, FREE to shoppers and economical for us (even more so than PayPal). They are also affiliated with Veridian Credit Union.

Thank you,

Julie Simbro
ACE Mystery Shopping

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2015 01:32PM by JulieACE.

Julie, I do appreciate you posting and letting all of us know. I wish more companies were like Ace as far as communication, schedulers, etc.

Thanks again

Personally, I think it's great that ACE listened to their shoppers and switched payment methods to direct deposit!

Great news!

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2015 01:28PM by stilllearning.

Here's a link to an article that we found while doing research and comparing PayPal vs Dwolla. This article is written by a third party - neither Dwolla or PayPal.

[cashmoneylife.com]

Julie Simbro

I have a funny feeling there are going to be many jobs that should be $11-$12 jobs priced at $10, as the minute they go over $10 they are hit with that pesky transaction fee.

@scanman1: Just curious, what would you suggest ACE do? They responded to their shoppers; they changed their payment methods to the most economical (25¢ per transaction to ACE), yet secure, that they could find; and they ultimately selected direct deposit, which is standard among many major MSCs.

Rather than express appreciation to ACE, now shoppers are complaining that ACE didn't choose the pricier PayPal or that the payroll wasn't being processed by a payroll giant, like ADP and now here you are alleging what you are. In my eyes, ACE is not our enemy. We're all in this together. Why the negative posts?

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@Stilllearning
Your right, I was thinking on a per job basis and not a per month basis. I'm sure that most people that are shopping for them are doing more than one shop and crossing the $10 threshold per month anyhow. So the fee won't really be a factor when they are making job offers. If a shopper does 5 jobs for them that month, they will pay the same transaction fee as a shopper who does two jobs. This would only apply if a shopper only managed to pick up one shop for them that whole month and it was $10 or less.

I jumped to this conclusion when I looked at the job board and saw that all the photo audit jobs in my state were taken at exactly $10.

The more interesting fact is that all the jobs have been taken, where before the new payment policy, there were jobs that were lingering.

Thank you, Julie, and ACE for making this change. I hope Payquicker disappears down a black hole somewhere because their idea of customer satisfaction stinks. Because of their stupid "dormant account" policy they not only hurt your shoppers, but they hurt ACE as well because shoppers stopped shopping for you because of it.

I still don't think it was legal for them to start taking those fees without first warning the account holder that the account was about to incur them.

Good, I may opt to do some of the shops provided with ACE. I was not a fan of PayQuicker, even though I never used them. DD is my way to go

Will Canadians also get direct deposit? I assume a W9 isn't required as it's a US form..

@sojo917 wrote:

Good, I may opt to do some of the shops provided with ACE. I was not a fan of PayQuicker, even though I never used them. DD is my way to go

You took the words right out of my mouth

I called PayQuicker and closed my account today. They were gracious.

I have never shopped for Ace because of the PayQuicker situation. I didn't ever open an account and saw no reason to. Now that Ace has direct deposit I'll put them on my go-to list.

@Mafia_Princess wrote:

Will Canadians also get direct deposit? I assume a W9 isn't required as it's a US form..

Unfortunately, we will still have to do paper checks for Canadian shoppers. Sorry - didn't mean to forget Canadian shoppers.

Julie Simbro

@JulieACE wrote:

Believe me, we have looked at probably every company that is out there before making our decision. I could go on an and on about the differences and the obstacles that would be faced with each and every company. Did you know that under certain circumstances, sometimes PayPal charges a percentage to receive money if you have a business account? We learned this a few years ago when we did use PayPal and we had some very unhappy shoppers. There's also no way for the "sender" to cover that fee.
Thank you,

Julie Simbro
ACE Mystery Shopping

I have a business account with Pay Pal as I run an online store and use that for my payments. So I know about the fees, I sell a $20 item with free shipping, figure the cost of the item and the cost of the shipping I get $4 then paypal takes their fees and I get $2 from the item. Yet people complain about the high cost of the item. Go figure.

Thank you Julie for hanging in there and answering our questions.

Anyone receive their direct deposit yet? I received notice from Dwolla on April 23rd that the funds would be deposited in 2 business days. Nothing showing yet for me.

You should receive your payment any time now. I think you can login and see your expected clearing date. For future disbursements, it will be much faster. After our initial disbursements, we entered into an agreement with Dwolla for them to expedite the transfers - we are hoping and expecting it to be 1-2 business days going forward. It cost a little more on our end but I think it will make shoppers much happier to get their money faster!

Thanks!

Julie Simbro
ACE Mystery Shopping

Great news they are dropping PayQuicker. Like others it would be nice if the new payment method was with an established, well known and trusted source.

Just for the record, direct deposit does not have to require a third party vendor depending on the bank Ace is using. I spent a long time processing electronic payments and all of them were processed directly through my company's bank to the vendor's bank via a dedicated website. So while not a requirement, it is possible a DD option through Ace's bank would be cost prohibitive. ADP is more commonly used for payroll, and professionally I have only used them for payroll and not vendor payments. That is not to say they couldn't be used for vendor payments. I found the service to be worthwhile since it included all tax forms.

My payment has still not been deposited in my bank account. When I log into Dwolla it just says that my bank information has been set up and it will take one to two business days. There is no "expected clearing date". It has been more than two business days.

@kenasch wrote:

My payment has still not been deposited in my bank account. When I log into Dwolla it just says that my bank information has been set up and it will take one to two business days. There is no "expected clearing date". It has been more than two business days.

Same thing with me. Ace is telling me that Dwolla is supposed to make 2 small deposits into my account for me to verify (like PayPal does), but I've checked my checking account and there are no deposits. It's been almost a week. Very frustrating. I don't understand why Ace doesn't just do "normal" direct depositing like other msc.