@pochutka wrote:

Hi,
I did a very labor extensive shop for Bare which took a lot of time and receipts to complete. Then they asked me for additional information three times. I responded to them in timely manner. Suddenly, they sent me email that they won't send my job to a client, because I didn't submit it in 24 hours.
I don't believe them and think they sent my work to a client and decide to skip my payment. They required me to spend $124 out of pocket and submit a lot of receipts and pictures with it.
How can I find out if my work was sent to a client or not?
Thank you for your feedback.

I am working with the same brand from a year almost and never find any situation like this.. Bare is a company whom you can trust... They never do such kind of activities. If they are saying that they cant submit your report , there must be dome reason brother..

And the imp. thing: The field and the companies we are dealing with is 100% depends on the trust that we have on them and what they have on us.. For us its just few bucks matter but for them this is worth of lakhs Rs. Client...

Oh boy.

@pochutka wrote:

Hi,
I did a very labor extensive shop for Bare which took a lot of time and receipts to complete. Then they asked me for additional information three times. I responded to them in timely manner. Suddenly, they sent me email that they won't send my job to a client, because I didn't submit it in 24 hours.
I don't believe them and think they sent my work to a client and decide to skip my payment. They required me to spend $124 out of pocket and submit a lot of receipts and pictures with it.
How can I find out if my work was sent to a client or not?
Thank you for your feedback.

i don't put down any substantial amount of money of my own with any company that i haven't extensively worked with.

while it is quite likely that your work was submitted to the client, you will never be able to find out either way unless they specifically tell you. and they may not even tell you the truth. you're not ultimately privy to this information. it's technically classified information.

personally, i've submitted shops that were a few hours past the deadlines, but they were still delivered to the clients and i got paid. this company may be trying to burn bridges with you.

@cokesoaker3 wrote:

what frekin shop did you do to have to pay so much frakin $$??

It's not uncommon for a fine dining shop to go to $180 for two people. I've done a fine dining for a company more than once that was over $100 and my first shop with them.

I did have another forum member PM me that the shop was well worth it and were very much on point. I'm finding that I spend just as much detail and effort on a $70 shop as I do on a $100+ shop. Those $70 shops will have more no questions that need detailed explanations than a smooth shop that is over the $100 price point.

It's also easier (for me at least) to write a glowing report than to explain in excruciating detail why I checked off 5-6 'NO" boxes in one narrative area. A bad report takes much longer to write. Especially when the manager needs to come to the table and apologize and perform a check back and then try to comp. the desert or something.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2015 05:37AM by scanman1.

@pochutka, I apologize for anyone who posted a difficult reply, and please know that they have probably not been out $100+ lately...

I have worked for BARE, but since the shipping jobs have changed to another company, I rarely have patience to deal with them, anymore. For one, I have received strange job listings with bad grammar from a foreign office, and when I questioned the legitimacy, BARE confirmed that yes, it was actually someone from their company. I thought it was weird.

Then there was the shipping jobs last Christmas. I actually have a dear relative who lives at a distance from me, and I like to send packages to them. I had to run all over two counties to get my chances to do them, but when Christmas came, BARE had no problems filling those jobs, and I was ignored. That p*ss*d me off.

Again, I've noticed posts from some who have had problems with (BARE) miserably detailed drink shops that messed with their credit cards and caused stress for weeks and months.

From another company, I was ripped off for multiple phone shops that were assigned to me to another part of the country, than I had originally applied. I was accused of not following directions, and informed that I would not be paid the miserable little 2 bucks per shop. I still work for them for regular shops, but it makes me feel dirty, because I JUST KNOW THEY USED THOSE SHOPS.

Either that or they messed them up themselves, because the directions they accused me of not following--were followed. I probably still have the phone script somewhere in my records years later. I know who they are...

By the time they denied payment and accused me, I was so tired of trying to deal with them, that I just let it go. I am not the only one who went through this scenario with that particular company, and they do have some decent people working there.

I'm sorry pochutka about your situation. I hope you contact management, and at least get to all the facts. Companies change, and as an IC, I have to be constantly evaluating them, just as they are constantly evaluating me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2015 05:50AM by Pumpkin2.

What I have observed is that small mistakes can be made by either end (the shopper and/or the editor or scheduler). At the end of the day, I have noticed that there are editors or schedulers who help and others who don't. Clearly in your case you were not helped and that's a shame, but it does happen, unfortunately. Now if your report was used while it was refused will remain a mystery. I've posted about this before so I know the feeling, even though it wasn't as obvious as in your case.

Considering the expense and the years you've been doing work for them, I would use these as arguments and try sending a plea. I doubt there is much else you can do. Sorry it happened, I would be just as devastated!

I have done a fair number of shops for Bare and have never had a problem, either with acceptance of the report or with payment. I have had a couple of minor glitches to which I have promptly responded and was not penalized. I am quite careful to be timely on reporting and double check myself for accuracy. I feel that the responsibility for correctness in my reports is mine, not the MSC's. I make sure that I comment on any apparent discrepancies so that the editor/scheduler will know that I am aware of them and have not simply made a careless mistake.
Yes, sometimes reports seem to be a hassle, especially when I have been on a route and am tired at the end of the day. The point is that if I accepted the job it is up to me to be clear on the requirements and follow through as instructed. If there is a question on the initial job offer I will contact the scheduler ahead of time so I am clear on what is required. If I can't get a response from the MSC I don't do the shop. That seems to avoid needless headaches.
I tend to avoid reimbursement shops with large outlays until I have taken on a few "trial" shops with smaller expenditures for a company with which I am unfamiliar. Even then I am pretty picky since my pay could be affected by an employee's incompetence over which I have no control.
I have only been at this for a year and I feel blessed that the forum exists to share wisdom and encouragement which has been enormously beneficial.
Happy shopping to all!

@Chilo wrote:

The mystery shopping companies make a lot of money especially when they don't pay their shoppers... This happens often so their scamming large sums of money out of the mystery shoppers and are getting away with it. The mystery shoppers aren't taking action against the mystery shopping companies and that's why they continue with their practices of finding false errors and reasons they can't submit the reports so they don't have to pay you.

All this thread needs now is a poorly written call-to-arms for shoppers to band together in a class-action lawsuit against the editors!

Could it not be that one receipt was the bar register, and a different one for a credit card register. I have had time issues that way?

You said you did not receive their first email. If you have never had a problem with receiving emails before this, I would be inclined to call and ask to speak to a supervisor and I would request a copy of that original email, so first you are going to find out if there was a first email; second it will give you the time it was sent; third you will see the email address it was sent to. Everyone makes mistakes and the 1st editor may have typed your email incorrectly, or something else that caused it to go astray.

I have also worked for Bare for many years and never had a problem.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2015 10:34PM by res820.

lol WE've all been wondering this about pizza jobs that were told they were unaccepted ... all that $$$ we lost........and they prob gained...................

I agree... And bare is notorias for this...

I feel for the OP who is out a substantial amount of money. I, too, have wondered if my detailed report was submitted to the client but rejected by the MSC. In the past, I have failed to see how I could be the one at fault and wanted to simply lay the blame on the "faceless" editors. But in my 18 years of shopping, I realize that mystery shopping is not for people with poor grammar, observation or record-keeping skills (as exhibited by the OP -- but hey, haven't we all at some point?) I'm only writing to help newbies or those shoppers who wonder why their report might have been rejected understand that while the $30 bonus and the free drinks might be nice, this IS WORK and the MSC has to deliver a top-notch, unquestionable report to the client. They may be looking at one or more dishonest workers which is why accurate timing is crucial so the management can go back through any videotape that might have been running to watch the transaction in question. To the OP, keep working on your skills and perhaps start with smaller shops and only accept those where you have time to read the entire guidelines first. Good luck!

This is very interesting for me. I was hit by a similar problem with a different MSC. My most recent shop was rejected by "the client" because of an action on my part that I had been doing for at least six months without any comment or complaint. Because of this, I cancelled another shop for the same MSC and client, and explained why.

I just got off the phone with a scheduler who wanted me to take the job I cancelled. I told her I had cancelled the shop because of the problem with the previous MSC-requested shop for the same MSC.

Maybe it is because I live in a relatively isolated place with fewer shoppers. I cannot support this idea that the client and the MSC are always right. Everyone involved is human, and humans are not perfect,