I am looking for new companies to work with. I realize no one wants to tell the "good" ones but I would like to avoid the bad ones. Tonight I started to sign up with one company and they wanted so much info off the bat I got nervous. Do you really need my social security number, my bank account number, a copy of my driver license and more before we have even worked with each other? Isn't this how identify fraud happens? I stopped before I went to far--my gut instincts kicked in. This company was Ritter. Has anyone worked with them? I would love your comments on companies you truly consider fraud or really bad to work with. Thanks

Ritter is FANTASTIC and Legitimate.

You will need to provide your social and bank account to be paid.
It is alarming when your not sure who is legitimate and who isn't.
To prevent identity theft do not supply anyone with both your
social and drivers license #. I always white out my driver license
number. Thanks to the homeland security laws all employers
must have one on file regardless of the employee status
part full time employee or independent contractor.

Legitimate companies can be found by clicking on the
Looking for companies link? at the bottom of the page

To get a general sense of what its like to work for a
company just click on the mystery shopping company discussion link
at the bottom of the page.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2014 04:20AM by busybme.

I think this is a great post idea. The list of companies could be out of date.

ADSLJAFOIJSO spelled wrong and in all CAPS....imagine that

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2014 09:16PM by elijahboy.

I would say not to worry about specifically staying away from signing up with any of the MSCs. I would go alphabetcally down the list and sign up with all of them. Before accepting the first assignment with each one, I would do a search on the forum, putting "all dates" into the search criteria, to see what has been written about the company.

When reading about other posters experiences, keep in mind that all of us like different things, so not everyone is going to love a company you might think is great, and others love a company for things you will dislike. A couple of negative posts is not unusual and should not deter you. Pay attention to exactly what a negative post says and how many times the same thing is posted by the same poster. Does the the poster exTplain exactly what happened and why the company was at fault? (Maybe the poster was actually at fault or maybe it was a one time problem.) Pay attention to multiple negative posts from different posters - multiple posts by a single poster looks to me like an angry poster with a vendetta and I tend to ignore those posts. The only companies I stay away from have multiple posts warning about payment issues - they pay later than their posted pay schedule, they require a "reminder" from the shopper before paying, or - the worst! - they don't pay. Those are the ten foot pole companies! Good luck and happy shopping!

I have had great experiences with Ritter and Intelli-shop. There are a ton of both positive and negative posts about just about every MSC on here. You just have to do your homework because what might be good for one person might not be good for another. I know that there are some MSCs that I like and I'm happy to work with and yet some others on here wouldn't touch them for anything. I won't do fast food and others love it. Its just finding your way and there aren't a whole lot of short cuts.

Everyone has their opinions, obviously, but for me personally I'd stay away from Intelli-shop, Sentry, Beyond Hello and JM Ridgway. I always had to remind JM Ridgway to pay me.

I'd say to stay away from Market Force, but they are good for new shoppers who want to get their feet wet. Same thing with Steri/CORI.

I've been on a bit of a rant lately about Gapbuster not paying. You might want to steer clear of companies that are having trouble paying their shoppers.

And pay attention to who is posting the negative comments. Typing in ALL CAPS and shouting at us with nothing to back up their claims should be taken with a grain of salt. Lots of spelling errors and bad grammar says a lot about a poster also. You can click on someone's name and find previous posts. Is this person always posting rants and negative comments with nothing good to say? Do they start fights just for the fun of it (aka trolls?)

Most of the answers have been addressed in this forum. You just have to take the time to do your research. Good luck.

I have read these forums consistently for the last few months. I would say that at this time there's a huge red flag attached to Gapbuster. Clearly, people are not getting paid in a timely manner, if at all. I'm not registered with them, so I don't know what they have to offer. I think it would be wise to not take any shops from them that require reimbursement or extensive driving. That way, if you don't get paid, you'll mainly lose your time.

I don't see any other red flags out there. There are people, some very vocal, who dislike some companies. That is counterbalanced by people who like them just fine.

My companies NOT to work for are: Intellishop, Cirrus, Goodwin, Bestmark. My best are: Reality Check, NSS, Customer Impact, and I'll save the rest for myself.

Also, keep in mind that not every rant is advising people to stay away from a MSC. I use this board as a stress reliever to vent frustrations; I would recommend that you experience everything for yourself, as everyone has different opinions with different MSC's. I may love a MSC, but others had issues. Doesn't mean you will have the same issues.

The only thing that brings a red flag to my attention is companies with payment issues, and thanks to this forum, I have never had an issue with a company not paying me.

I agree, until you have difficulty with a company, they are all good.

I have never done an assignment for Marketforce, CORI/Steri, Maritz, or Ath Power. Just nothing that appeals to me.

I may rant about Service Sleuth, Confero, GfK, Intelli-Shop and others, but when the price is right, I do work for them.

My favorite companies are.... (I'll keep those close to my vest for now). Sorry

I did OK with Ritter & Associates until a scheduler got really snotty with me. They did not have many shops I was interested in.

Stay away from Regal Hospitality and Best Mark. Best Mark did a "bait-and-switch" on me, and constantly questioned me on the most ridiculous things. By the third shop, I got smart and recorded it and took pictures. When the scheduler emailed me to tell me "but the manager said that no one by that name works at the store," I offered to send him the audio file and the photos proving I was at the right location. He did not take me up on the offer. Best Mark tends to pay lower for most shops.

Shiksagoddess Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I did OK with Ritter & Associates until a
> scheduler got really snotty with me. They did not
> have many shops I was interested in.
>
> Stay away from Regal Hospitality and Best Mark.
> Best Mark did a "bait-and-switch" on me, and
> constantly questioned me on the most ridiculous
> things. By the third shop, I got smart and
> recorded it and took pictures. When the scheduler
> emailed me to tell me "but the manager said that
> no one by that name works at the store," I offered
> to send him the audio file and the photos proving
> I was at the right location. He did not take me
> up on the offer. Best Mark tends to pay lower for
> most shops.


What exactly was wrong with Regal?

I enjoy Ritter, the cheque comes in the mail like clock work.
I agree some MSC asked for too much info, before even knowing if they have work in my area.
I don't gave my banking information until I actually do a shop for a MSC.
One MSC wanted a copy of my passport and driver's licence. No way unless I am sure I would shop for them.

Ritter is a great company to work for. The starting pay is on the low side but if shops are not taken they will bonus them. I always wait for the bonus. From my experience Intellishop is a good company except for the editors. I have completed over 30 shops for them and always got paid. You just cannot get upset with the shop grades and comments provided by the editors. Other companies that I like are ath power, informa, and Research Services Group. keep in mind that YMMV. Do the research and find out what shoppers do not like about certain companies so that you can decide if you want to try them out yourself. BTW: asking for SSN is standard practice unless you have a tax Employee id number. Also, Ritter asks for your bank account # because they pay via direct deposit. Others may pay via paypal or check.

Because I voiced a problem with a "good" company, don't stay away, that was my experience, and after 7years, I guess I'm entitled to one problem. You need to find out for yourself which jobs are good for you, and who you like to work with. I'm more of a boutique kind of gal, liking the smaller companies, but I'm in a phase of my life, that my Msing style has changed.
Sign with many, and dwindle down.

Phoebe's post reminds me of what some have pointed out, in this thread and the other several dozen discussing the same basic topic in a slightly different way... Some of the MSCs that some people hate, are the same MSCs that other people love.

One of the MSCs on Pheobe's "stay away from" list is one of my favorites ~ JMRidgway. Have I had to 'remind' them to pay me? Yes, I used to. Lately I don't. Even when I did, they'd pay almost immediately after being 'reminded'. I also love Market Force and I *used* to love CORI. And have made a large percentage of my income from these three companies. Just not CORI anymore since they went all to hell.

So a lot of times when people pose questions like this, they may hear a lot of answers, but are pretty much still in the same boat ~ they have to try the MSC for themselves and form their own opinion. Just like they should in the first place.



Phoebe70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Everyone has their opinions, obviously, but for me
> personally I'd stay away from Intelli-shop,
> Sentry, Beyond Hello and JM Ridgway. I always had
> to remind JM Ridgway to pay me.
>
> I'd say to stay away from Market Force, but they
> are good for new shoppers who want to get their
> feet wet. Same thing with Steri/CORI.

I have always leaned toward companies that treat shoppers with respect. My view of respect is accessible schedulers, fair and timely pay and reasonable expectations. Sign up for as many companies as you can and then determine which you favor the most as you go along. It is a time consuming process. Back to respect: My least favorites are Intellishop (because the pay is low, the expectations are unreasonable and the editors tend to treat shoppers badly) and MarketForce (because the pay is low and because the company has a pattern looking for ways to withhold shopper pay for circumstances beyond shopper's control). Many shoppers love these companies. Last, search through the archives here and look for patterns of complaints that span over time.

I just read the thread right before this one about Sentry taking over Feedback +. One of the forum members made a comment regarding Sentry that could be interpreted as not flattering. That forum member was warned by several other forum members that she/he could be dropped from a company for writing bad stuff about it on this forum. For this reason answer this thread's question at your peril. Some forum members seem to have had bad experiences when saying something even slightly negative about one of the msc. So perhaps we should steer clear of bashing companies unless we dislike them so much we never, ever want to shop for them again or if we are quoting a particular situtation we had trouble with and not doing a general bash of the company.

Just for the record....always make your experience the criteria as to whether or not you work for a company, not what happened to anyone else. We talk about our experiences, take it with a grain of salt. Freeman not paying goes down in history, and should be listened too, one bad experience (like I had) does not make or break a company, comes with the territory. Sometimes this forum allows us to vent and that's a good thing, as long as it is true and not overdone.

The only company I ever had even close to an issue with was Daymon, or Interactions, or whatever the hell they're calling themselves now.

Terrible communication. Just awful. Aside from that, they paid me so they're not rant-worthy.

I say Intellishop .....AND TO BACK UP MY CLAIM.....the reason has already been posted in another thread...never had anything good to say about this company and never will...

Fantastic for some not for all....... every company on this list will have pros and cons...



busybme Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ritter is FANTASTIC and Legitimate.
>
> You will need to provide your social and bank
> account to be paid.
> It is alarming when your not sure who is
> legitimate and who isn't.
> To prevent identity theft do not supply anyone
> with both your
> social and drivers license #. I always white out
> my driver license
> number. Thanks to the homeland security laws all
> employers
> must have one on file regardless of the employee
> status
> part full time employee or independent
> contractor.
>
> Legitimate companies can be found by clicking on
> the
> Looking for companies link? at the bottom of the
> page
>
> To get a general sense of what its like to work
> for a
> company just click on the mystery shopping company
> discussion link
> at the bottom of the page.

Here lies the problem with this thread. What company I may not like you may find to be your favorite. Further, I may love a company that has no work in your area.

The best thing would be is try everything. Research the companies here for the good and bad and don't do too many shops with one company until you get a payment. Sort of a trial period. This way you can build your company base while testing the waters.

Even those threads that have negative rants will have others chiming in on their positive experiences and that also goes both ways.

You are just going to have to try things for yourself. As far as giving your information. They are going to need it to pay you. I always just put it in. The one company that I did not enter the information for I emailed and wondered where my payment was... well, my payment will be late because I did not put the information in at sign up....

Good Luck

I have worked for most all the companies mentioned on the forum today and I am here to say everyone has been great. I have made mistakes and they have given me the opportunity to correct them. I had never done anything except teach for 30+ years and these last 5 years I have really enjoyed. The mystery shops have introduced me to a lot of shops I had never been in and the merchandising ones helped me make a lot of new friends. I just completed a shop where I had to ask about an Ultra HGTV and I want one. These jobs can be DANGEROUS to my wallet.

I'm a bit new to all this, so you can take my advice for what it is worth.

I follow two steps:
Step 1.) Read what folks have to say about the MSC on this forum. Use discernment and then decide whether they go on the "test" list or if they should be completely discarded. Not too many would be discarded - most would be on the test list.

Step 2.) Sign up with them and do one job for them. If it goes well, if you find the editors are reasonable, and if they pay in a timely manner, sign up for two more jobs and do them. Then make a decision.

Most likely, during the first few jobs they will be looking at you as much as you are looking at them. If it is a good fit after the first few shops, you will know. And if it is not a good fit, you will know that too.

One other thing. Make sure your first few jobs don't require a purchase. That way if you find the editors are unreasonable (as I found out in one case) or if their client is ridiculously picky, you are out only your time and not your reimbursement.

Excellent advice. If I may add one thing. If you find the company does not seem to be a good fit, don't deactivate yourself. Clients come and go as do schedulers and editors. There were companies and assignments which I found so difficult in the beginning. After getting some more experience I had reasons to try again and it all worked out.