I have performed hundreds of shops and MANY banks. I decided to try Maritz, as they do banks in my area. I was disappointed to see they only pay $12.50 AND they want a lot of work. For $12.50 you are expected to call the bank and request materials, wait 14 days for them to arrive and then scan about 5-6 images and upload them.

THEN, you are expected to visit the bank in person and inquire about an account, obtain materials, scan (again) 5-6 documents and upload them.

Then do the report...for $12.50.

I did all of this, EXCEPT for the fact that the banker did not offer to "sit down" with me (he appeared to be busy with a co-worker). He did provide me with the materials and a business card.

Maritz refused to pay me because I did not "sit down" with the banker......I could not require him to sit with me......

Please be aware of this policy as you could waste a lot of time for nothing. Even IF all goes well...you will make $12.50 for hours of work.

Good luck.

Addendum: I have called them multiple times and emailed them. Their "support" system is VERY weak and they do not return calls.

Chris, it sounds like your very first job for Maritz went the wrong way. I regret the problem, but it should not be surprising they are not willing to waive the guidelines. The company doesn't communicate one on one with emails but they are usually very good about returning calls. If they already made the decision to not accept the report, perhaps they don't want to pursue the issue. I understand you don't want to work with them anymore, but putting out a "Beware" notice based on your one experience seems premature. Many of us have worked for them for years quite successfully. Once you get organized on the bank shops you'll find them a piece of cake. You can't judge the hours involved in a shop until you refine your procedure and get yourself up to speed. One time around won't do that.

I just did my first bank shops for Maritz. I thought it was odd that the questionnaire asked if I sat down with the banker since I did not recall anything in the guidelines about whether I should be sitting or standing when I speak. Fortunately I sat for all 5 shops. Now I'm just waiting for the mailed materials or the 14 day deadline so that I can enter my shop. It's been a week already so I was hoping the materials would have arrived by now so I could close these out in February.

I was paid a bonus for each job; I recommend you wait for the bonus to be offered if you do not think $12.50 is adequate. I was paid $25.50 for each location and they were all within 5 miles of each other and less than 15 miles from my house.

Most of the time you sit down with a banker. They invite you to their desk to speak with you. I did have a banker that chose to speak with me standing up across the teller station. Whatever, I reported it and got paid. I also went into a branch and the banker went home sick, early, for the day (day before New Year's Eve and a Friday....go figure), I got paid for that one too.

I think when something like this happens, it is important to report the anomaly in the "Maritz Internal" box. When things are reported there, you more likely than not, will be paid. If you choose to mark NO for if you sat down with a banker and then no further information about the situation was given, they probably won't pay.

Sorry you had a bad experience, but I like working for them. I like the bank shops. I don't do them often because there isn't a wide variety of scenarios I can use...but I do like them and 20 minutes of work (pics, report, phone call, and usually visit -unless I have to wait on a banker) is worth the $12.50 to me.

I would bet that 'did you sit down with a banker' means: 'did you have contact with a banker and give him a chance to discuss things.'

So, saying 'No' translates to: 'I grabbed some brochures off a desk/the teller tossed me some info.'

I doubt that the sitting is an essential part of the process.

This Maritz we're talking about......

I find their bank shops to be easy breezy. You can't judge a whole project and a whole MSC on ONE shop. There is a learning curve for everything that is new, even for experienced shoppers.

Now I will admit that it is harder to reach them by phone these days ever since they "got in over their heads" with all their new gas station clients. Hopefully they will get it together soon.

I agree with you. On a few occasions I met with a banker but was standing rather than sitting. The banker went through the whole process. On the report I marked "yes" for did you sit down with a banker.

Ishmael Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would bet that 'did you sit down with a banker'
> means: 'did you have contact with a banker and
> give him a chance to discuss things.'
>
> So, saying 'No' translates to: 'I grabbed some
> brochures off a desk/the teller tossed me some
> info.'
>
> I doubt that the sitting is an essential part of
> the process.

That question "did you sit down with a banker?" sounds odd to me. Like the OP, I would also think it meant did I actually sit down with a banker and discuss. But then I also take the questions on my reports a little too literally sometimes. If it only matters that there was a discussion, then that should be the question - "Did you meet with a banker and discuss etc etc?"

I've just done three of these shops, but I've noticed that the report centers on the information the banker gave you. It wants to know if he covered Point A, Point B, and Point C. It doesn't have narrative and get into the details of whether he pulled the chair out for you, how warm the handshake was, and whether he made charming small talk. So, that's another reason for my interpretation.

These are compliance shops with the bank. They don't care how the banker treated you, only if the information they gave you was correct to protocol. I wish I could report on things going on inside the bank or how the banker treated you. But, it doesn't ask, so I can't.

Right. That's what I meant. So, whether you actually sat down would be relevant if they were checking on the overall bank atmosphere, but has nothing to do with what they're looking for.

jonk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just did my first bank shops for Maritz. I
> thought it was odd that the questionnaire asked if
> I sat down with the banker since I did not recall
> anything in the guidelines about whether I should
> be sitting or standing when I speak. Fortunately
> I sat for all 5 shops. Now I'm just waiting for
> the mailed materials or the 14 day deadline so
> that I can enter my shop. It's been a week
> already so I was hoping the materials would have
> arrived by now so I could close these out in
> February.
>
> I was paid a bonus for each job; I recommend you
> wait for the bonus to be offered if you do not
> think $12.50 is adequate. I was paid $25.50 for
> each location and they were all within 5 miles of
> each other and less than 15 miles from my house.


I just did over 20 of these jobs. I asked for a bonus but was told they don't offer them LOL! Now I know better!

I received a call today from Maritz because 2 of my shops, the banker did not give me any of the "approved documents"...but did give me a little white/blue booklet so i listed that under additional materials received. Well.. i was told I should have checked approved document received because he gave methis booklet. She insisted its on the 1st page of the approved document page.

I thought i was going blind because I do not see this booklet under the approved documents list. She finally looked it up on her end. Apparently, it was in the January documents list but not for Feb & March.

I also had a banker that told me she's too busy with others and just gave me the information. Took down my name and number and said would call me later. She never did. I hope we still get pay for this since we did our end of the assignment.

Don't give up Nancy. Anyone who would do 20 of these bank shops, just out of the starting gate, is going to be fine!

(heart)

PS
I love, love, love Hawaii!

stilllearning Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don't give up Nancy. Anyone who would do 20 of
> these bank shops, just out of the starting gate,
> is going to be fine!
>
> (heart)
>
> PS
> I love, love, love Hawaii!

LOL. I just counted..it was 30! I did a marathon and did 10 shops in 1 day.. but took a break on the remaining and spaced them out.

Keeping myself busy while I'm in Seattle. Heading back home next week. We don't have as much assignments in our little island

To each his/her own but I do a lot of work for Maritz. I can do 8 banks in a couple of hours = $100. Distance traveled 30, 40 miles = $15, $20 travel costs. Ratio 5 to 1 or better. I average 10 minutes in the bank and 10 to 15 minutes downloading, uploading and doing the report. I'm happy with $100 for less than a half days work. I also find the tellers and banker extremely friendly and found only one banker who wanted to hand me some documents and send me on my way. I told him I have some questions - can we sit down? He did.

I actually enjoyed doing these bank assignments. Most of them was pretty fast.. one I did had to wait 40 minutes because 2 bankers was busy closing loans.