I have collected all shop payments through 2009, except for Ath Power.

JC&Assoc. still owes me for a small job I did in Nov.

JC and Associates. May 2009.
Restaurant Evaluators. July 2009.

I am not counting anything done late in the year and still on normal non-late pay schedules.

**********************************************************************
“Making mistakes simply means you are learning faster.”
~Weston Agor

I have 1 November Freeman job still to be paid. As of a day or two ago it went past the 8 weeks promised for payment. I have not started contacting them yet.

About 80% of December work has not yet been paid, but none of it is past due yet and none of it is with companies where payment has ever been an issue.

I am pleased that for 2009 I had no companies walk away from payments due, I had no companies give me rubber checks, I had no companies claim they paid me where I have no record of receipt of check. I received two checks with small overpayments--in one case I was told to 'just keep it' and in the other I sent them an email with the next shop to deduct the difference. So aside from slower than normal payments, I am not unhappy about the payment process for 2009.

While I am aware that other shoppers have different desires, I would truly love to have no future paper checks and everything go through direct deposit or Paypal. I still have an expired check on my desk from 2008 that I received more than a month after its 90 day expiration date as it evidently had been flopping around in the post office and misdelivery (the postmark on the envelope was timely). Supposedly the check was replaced but to this day it has never arrived.

All shops I did through November have been paid, with one exception. I didn't get a $12 payment for an October shop from Ritter, who pays by check. Ritter says "Requests to re-issue checks that are misplaced or lost will incur both a stop payment and reprocessing fee which will be deducted from the second check. The stop payment charge is $35 under all circumstances. The reprocessing fee is $15 if we are notified within the first 90 days of the original checks issuance and $35 if we are notified after the 90 days. If a check is returned from the post office due to damage or destruction in postal processing, a new check will be re-issued immediately to the shopper free of charge."

It irks me, but I haven't even inquired. Merry Christmas, Ritter. I would also like to not receive paper checks from MSPs.

Goodwin is the only unpaid November shop for me and I take some responsibility for that, since I took the shop mostly to see if they had started paying in a timely manner yet.

All of my december payments have been on schedule but there's one due next week from Restaurant Evaluators that I suspect may be a problem. We'll see.

Overall, my policy of not taking shops from those who have burned me is working out.

Sorry to hear about the check from Ritter, Mert. I'd contact them to see if they at least claim it has been sent, unless they now charge for an inquiry as well.

I have not been paid from JC and Associates for a phone shop thru a scheduler done is Sept. I wrote them 3 times and the scheduler and have now sent a note to the new company that they have merged with.
They should at least answer the e mail. It infuriates me.

I think I've been paid for everything except for December shops.

I got the check for the last shop I did in December today. It was one of those "somebody dropped it, can you do it" shops just before Christmas.

Strangely enough, last night I got a personal email from a scheduler at RE inviting me to do a shop for them for dinner this month. I replied back that I would not consider it until they had reimbursed me for my July shop. I have worked their process, starting immediately after it went late. That always got me paid in the past. This time, my 3 inquiries over time went un-responded to, and my final email (sent using their system, and also to this scheduler and the company president) stating that if I was not paid by last Friday I would seek any and all remedies to be reimbursed, also went un-responded to. When I sent this, I got an email from the scheduler apologizing and saying she forwarded it to the department I already had sent 3 emails to. I am going to pursue this as it is getting back funds I fronted, not a fee. If it was a low fee I might let it go and just not work for them and make sure others knew why, but in this case, I feel that not reimbursing shoppers for monies fronted for accepted reports is tantamount to fraud and stealing. I am not sitting back and taking it.

**********************************************************************
“Making mistakes simply means you are learning faster.”
~Weston Agor

This thread should be made a sticky, I think.

**********************************************************************
“Making mistakes simply means you are learning faster.”
~Weston Agor

dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This thread should be made a sticky, I think.


Good Idea!

I think if everyone contributes to this site, we won't shop these companies that don't pay their bills on time for 2010.

I have some December shops unpaid, but I know from experience that I will be paid by these MSP's the end of January. Similarly some Service Sleuth shops from November.

The only one I'm concerned about is a November shop for Channel Watch, but that's only $11.

MFI still owes me money for a customer intercept I did in August. They got my time records confused and did not pay me for the complete job.

Hopefully they will get that straightened out in a timely fashion Emdisco. A few years ago a company was slow and when I contacted them, their records indicated they had sent me two payments. We verified social security and such--they had paid a shopper with a similar name in another state and thought perhaps I had moved . . . My payments were in their next round of payments. MFI usually pays promptly and reliably, so payments not received need to be checked on quickly because there is probably an error.

I am relatively new to this, 9/09.
How do you track payments?
Thank you in advance for your wisdom.
Greg

I do mine on the same Excel spreadsheet that I schedule shops onto.

popgreg1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am relatively new to this, 9/09.
> How do you track payments?
> Thank you in advance for your wisdom.
> Greg


I prefer paper, and made a log with columns of MSP/Shop ID#, date, location, mileage, fee/reim, date/method paid, fee/reim paid. I keep these logs in a 3-ring binder, along with cover sheets, phone nos., etc. New Mystery Shopping section of this forum has different shopper preferences.

There have also been shoppers with skills in Quicken or Quick Books who have used those to keep track of it all. Figure out where your strength lies and work it accordingly. You will not keep good records if you dread or are uncomfortable with the method you select. You do, however, need to keep fairly uniform and understandable written records should IRS ever decide to ask you to share :)

I prefer paper also. I have a ledger log that has the date, shop, fee, paid and date paid. Certified owes me for a trailer checking shop I did in November for them. They always get their pay screwed up. You would think they would be better since they merged with Marketforce. I have never had any problem with Marketforce.

I have a file on my computer's hard drive as well as on a thumb drive as backup. Now I am afraid if there is ever a fire at my house I will lose all my records. Of course I will lose a whole lot more than that! I worry about it and at the same time realize how crazy it sounds :). Maybe I should upload my records to some site like Google docs, so it's out there in virtual space where no flood or fire or any other natural disaster can get to it.

I have two external hard drives that connect to the computer by USB. There is a great deal of personal as well as business data that I am uncomfortable having out there on the web due to security concerns. On or about Dec 31 I back up all documents and data from my computer to one of the external drives and place it in a sturdy zip lock bag that is stored in my safety deposit box at the bank. (Zip lock because in case of hurricane the bank may well flood. I suspect that the boxes will remain in place but not water tight, so all docs in the box are in zip locks). When I drop off the one, I pick up the other and use it for the next backup. I have too much historic information to dare lose it on a dead hard drive or stolen computer or house fire or any other kind of disaster.

Just received pymt. from JC&Assoc...so, all caught up!

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have two external hard drives that connect to
> the computer by USB. There is a great deal of
> personal as well as business data that I am
> uncomfortable having out there on the web due to
> security concerns. On or about Dec 31 I back up
> all documents and data from my computer to one of
> the external drives and place it in a sturdy zip
> lock bag that is stored in my safety deposit box
> at the bank. (Zip lock because in case of
> hurricane the bank may well flood. I suspect that
> the boxes will remain in place but not water
> tight, so all docs in the box are in zip locks).
> When I drop off the one, I pick up the other and
> use it for the next backup. I have too much
> historic information to dare lose it on a dead
> hard drive or stolen computer or house fire or any
> other kind of disaster.


OK, this actually makes me feel better, that thinking about stuff like that does not make me too paranoid. I guess even keeping a hard drive in the home, inside a fire resistant metal box could also help protect it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2010 09:14PM by shop-a-holic.

I never said I wasn't paranoid :) But I've been using computers long enough I have recovered or tried to recover from too many hard drive crashes. Over the years I have been through saving data on 5 1/4 floppies, 3 1/2 floppies, magnetid tape, Zip drives and CDs. I have had computers stolen at work and out of the home enough to have at least moderately safe passwords and files saved away from the computer to recover my data. For years my office ran backups overnight every Thursday night and the backups were dropped off at the bank box when the Friday deposit was made. Without your data there is little you can support.

All done except for one $20.00 Gift Certificate shop!

Oh! And if anyone is an expert on WTH to do about taxes (I have a few 1099s for the first time this year) - PLEASE email me (bivouac at yahoo dot com).

Thanks!

MinneapolisMichael, check the New Mystery Shopper area for info on taxes and what to do with 'em. :)

I finally received a check from Ath Power for my December shops. I am happy to say all my shops are paid.

I received my check today from Ath Power. Yippy, all paid up now for 2009.