I am livid ShadowShopper!!

So this morning I am checking my email and see a PayPal payment of $29.95 to ShadowShopper. I signed onto them last month when the one month special was around $5. I am so angry that they charged me again. What do you think myfirst step should be? Blood boiling..

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Well usually when a company like this is having a 1 month special, your account automatically renews at the regular price at the end of the special. This is why it is beneficial to read everything before you sign up. Nothing you can do now but cancel your account with them and hopefully they will refund you the difference for the rest of the month, but don't count on it.

Triple Platinum Certified - Shopping South Central Kansas
I previously signed up for Shadow shopper on their one month special but I read all the details which did say it would automatically renew unless I contacted them in advance and requested a cancellation. Hopefully you'll get more than enough shops to cover the costs. Use this time to link up to as many companies as you can through them so you will be on their email list. That's what I did.
I might recommend a site that's free to use. I know it doesn't help with trying to get a refund, but I work at Shopmetrics and we just released a free job board. If you work for any of our companies, you should have gotten an email this week.

it's at www.MSJobBoard.com

right now there are 19 companies posting to the board, and there are no fees or anything to deal with.

Hope this can be a little silver lining!

Alex Eding
Shopmetrics, Inc.
www.msjobboard.com
The trick after signing anything for one month, is to go in and cancel before month is over. They are set up to auto, charging you for every month unless you cancel. You may want to dispute this with your credit card company, so it won't happen again.

Live consciously....
MSJobBoard is a fav of mine. Showing all of the assignments on a map view is the way to go. If only every company and/or job board had the option!

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
When I look at that board, it says there are currently 3426 jobs posted, 3 in my area. Of the three, not one is available, only taking backup shoppers. Hmmmm. I wish it was a little more helpful than that.
As Alex mentioned there are only 19 companies on the site as of now. Like any other job board the number of open opportunities will vary during the month.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
Aeding Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I might recommend a site that's free to use. I
> know it doesn't help with trying to get a refund,
> but I work at Shopmetrics and we just released a
> free job board. If you work for any of our
> companies, you should have gotten an email this
> week.
>
> it's at www.MSJobBoard.com
>
> right now there are 19 companies posting to the
> board, and there are no fees or anything to deal
> with.
>
> Hope this can be a little silver lining!


Aeding I got an email invitation to this board, and I tried signing up, but it's not sending me my password. I tried requesting the password again, and I'm still not getting it. any suggestions?
Aeding Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I might recommend a site that's free to use. I
> know it doesn't help with trying to get a refund,
> but I work at Shopmetrics and we just released a
> free job board. If you work for any of our
> companies, you should have gotten an email this
> week.
>
> it's at www.MSJobBoard.com
>
> right now there are 19 companies posting to the
> board, and there are no fees or anything to deal
> with.
>
> Hope this can be a little silver lining!

Thanks for posting this. I got the email this morning to my ACE email and was wondering why since I don't use it for shopping. Now it makes sense. I've got to tell you, as an editor I've worked with Prophet, Shopmetrics, trained on SASSIE, used ClientSmart, and other independent systems. Shopmetrics is by far my FAVORITE platform. I'll make sure I'm registered with all the Shopmetrics companies because the system is so easy to use. Thanks again! smiling smiley
Sylvo2121 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So this morning I am checking my email and see a
> PayPal payment of $29.95 to ShadowShopper. I
> signed onto them last month when the one month
> special was around $5. I am so angry that they
> charged me again. What do you think myfirst step
> should be? Blood boiling..

ShadowShopper has been automatically charging shoppers for years. Shoppers have repeatedly claimed that the information about the renewal fees and cancellation policy were hidden. Some have had luck, some haven't. I would contact them or challenge the charge with your credit card company or bank.

I've always been told to never pay to shop. ShadowShopper is essentially that. And it's filled with newbies who have no idea what MSing is about so if they don't flake, then their reports are often enough to cause the editors a headache. I've heard many schedulers complain, complain, complain about ShadowShopper and a few who said they liked it. I do know they will use it when they need a live body.
Great news!!!! So I had immediately cancelled my membership and sent them a message since their online help wasn't on. I stated that I was very upset that I was charged and would contact PayPal to refute these charges if they didn't make it right. Guess what?!?! A PayPal refund for the entire amount has magically appeared! Yay!!!!

By the way, I am on MSJobboard and love it there. Thanks for all of your feedback!
The email I received:

Thank you for contacting us about your account renewal. While our terms and conditions state we do not give refunds for the unused portion of your membership, I have made an exception in your case since you contacted us immediately. I have refunded <$29.95> back to your payment method and cancelled your account.

For your convenience I have included the offer, terms and conditions, and other instances where the trial membership terms are clearly stated, for your reference.

---

Fair enough! I was in the wrong, it is in the terms and conditions and what can I say other than I messed up and they could have gone ahead and kept it. Glad they didn't. Not a good time money wise for my family. I am thankful for second chances like these!
I would still keep an eye on your bank statements and if they continue to charge you, after cancellation, I would close your bank card out and get a new card account issued, asap!
I used to be in the business where I knew about how the ACH process works. You can assert what's called a chargeback against Shadow Shopper, The bank should get the money back for you. There may be a bank fee involved and see if the chargeback time period has passed. Good luck.
Thanks, Sunny... good idea though I hate to go through all of that. It will probably be worth it overall.
Why pay to mystery shop when there are literally hundreds of legitimate companies out there and all you have to do is sign up for free? I am a veteran and considerd SS be 4 I understood the process.I would be interested to know if anyone has used their "services" and what was the result.
I am a member of Shadow Shopper. In 200...something LOL I gambled 100 bucks because I did not know anything!! I MORE THAN made my money back!! I dropped out of the game for a bit and am back again and again paid the 100 bucks. Again I have made my money back!! YES you can go to sites like MSPA and other reputable sites (which I have also) I think I am registered with dang near every company out there (labor intensive...LOL)...BUT with SS I continuosly find new opportunities filtered for my area (and I think that is the BIG key for me)....Let's face it...some companies you may only do one job and never see again and some you do shop after shop for. I guess the key/trick is figuring out which companies have shops in your area (which I find many companies lack that type of info) I do find SS job board a bit cumbersome (of course it could be the user...me..LOL) but because I also demo and merch and whatever to make a buck...I think it is worth the money. After spending countless hours, weeks and months searching through every link I find...the lazy way is Shadow Shopper!! and shouldn't it be a tax deduction?
If I remember right, this company advertises the available shops. The Bronze if free but hardly have good shops, so what they do is dangle on your noses the interesting shops for Silver membership or Gold membership. Though you cannot apply unless you upgrade. That is their trick. It is really not worth it to pay for the membership. Just sign up with many companies and you will get many shops. But, yes, it is the lazy way to get some shops. However, my policy is never to pay to get some shops. But if you have to, take advantage of the rare times they reduce the fee for upgrade and once you have found your shops and new companies, cancel your membership. But $100? No way!
Never, ever, never pay for shops. Go to MSPA web site. thats how I started and had good meals and made $325 my first month with just a few companies. Seriously , all you guys paid to start shopping?
I have to say that when I first started MS six or so years ago, ShadowShopper was helpful for me. I knew nothing about the MS companies at the time and ShadowShopper had a lot that had clients specific to my area. There were also a lot of job opportunities emailed to you every day. I stayed with them until I was familiar with a lot of companies with clients in my area and then dropped out. Now I wouldn't pay to be able to shop for a company, but it did serve its purpose in my case.
Seriously you paid them $100. Do you think that they have shops that other MScs donot or what . I have avoided them.
Whenever you sign up for a promotional anything and pay with paypal - go into paypal and do the following:

How do I cancel an automatic payment I have with a merchant?

Here is how to cancel an automatic payment with a merchant

1.Log in to your PayPal account.
2.Click Profile at the top of the page.
3.Click My Money, then click Update beside My preapproved payments to find your payment.
4.Select the payment, and then click Cancel.

I do this IMMEDIATELY when I sign up to prevent those little surprises.
gotta tell ya that doesn't sound very inviting to a new shopper congrats on the full refund. I'm in portland or. just starting tonight any tips on how to stay on top of the fray?
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