I signed up for one of the Yellow sign electronics dealer shops in March. You were assigned a rep from one of four major computer manufacturers and were supposed to only interact with the manufacturer's rep (not the store rep) on a computer that was named in your scenario. I went to the store, waited 40 minutes like they requested, and none of the representatives from any of the computer companies were at the store. I filled out the form saying the shop couldn't be completed. I was supposed to be paid $14 for the shop according to the initial email with the shop offer. There was no mention of a lowered fee in that email in case the shop couldn't be completed.

So, like the ignorant idiot I was, I signed up for another one of these shops a week later. Same store. The shop instructions for the second shop were for the same computer, but to interact with any of the computer manufacturers' representatives for their computers if your assigned rep wasn't there. It was the same as the first shop. None of the mfr reps were in the store. Again, I waited 40 minutes to see if one of these reps showed up. I filled out the report the same as the first shop, that it was unsuccessful because no reps were in the store.

Soon after (because they do pay quickly) I got an email that I was paid $3 for the first shop. I looked in my log and saw I was scheduled to receive another $3 for the second shop. It cost me $10 to get to these shops via public transportation!

I sent a letter to the scheduler saying I felt this was unfair, and that it was certainly not my fault if the reps weren't in the store. I said, isn't it supposed to be verified with the client and the MSC that targeted employees are going to be working in the stores before assigning the shops on any particular dates? I also said I wouldn't have agreed to shop the same location a week later had I known I wouldn't be paid the full fee for the first shop.

All the other MSCs I have dealt with have always paid me the agreed upon fee if the shop couldn't be completed due to circumstances beyond my control. In this case, it appears this MSC assigned all the yellow sign electronics stores in the area (probably across the country) to shoppers with a promise of a $14-16 pay rate, without verifying any of the manufacturers' reps would be working, and the shopper who didn't find any reps working was just SOL with ZERO explanation.

Had it been stated in the initial email that an unsuccessful shop would pay only $3.00, I would never have signed up for either shop. But nooooo, they didn't tell me that until a week and a half after submitting the report. I actually lost money on these two shops due to my transportation costs being $10.00. Throw in the 80 minutes I spent in the store, plus an hour travel time. The reports were quick because the shops were unsuccessful, but that was the only good part about the shops.

I never heard a word back from the scheduler and my second $3.00 payment came through. I thought I was over it, but after seeing the "bait and switch" comments tonight in another thread, I thought I had better warn people what the tactics of GFK can be. I am debating deleting my account with them altogether as this is just too underhanded. Live and learn. Let the shopper beware!

Did any of you have similar experiences in March with these yellow sign electronics stores and GFK?

I didn't do any of those shops and I'm sorry that happened to you, but thanks for letting us know.

Thanks for the sympathy, and you're welcome! You'd think that they'd rather try keep shoppers happy and pay the $28 than to risk ruining their reputation for a grand total savings of $22. Of course, that's just for my two shops. If you added them all up across the country, I'm sure the savings would be a lot more.

That old saying, "You get what you pay for" never falters, even when you're not the buyer!

All this could've been avoided by verifying with the client when/where the reps would actually be working.

Just a thought, but I think I would have been tempted to stop by the Customer Service desk and ask to see the vendor log. I probably would have whipped out my camera to take a photo of the page where the target name was or should have been. It may well be that the mfg thought their representative would be there and he/she either didn't show or is in the break room rather than doing their job. In any event, I would have communicated with my scheduler before taking on the shop a second time. But paid $3 for 40 min of unsuccessful waiting is unacceptable.

Yes, but that would have required effort on someone's part. Easier to let you go to the location on the chance a rep would be there and not pay you if you didn't find a rep. It's a shame the supply of shoppers is inexhaustible and it's sad when a company does something like this. Even if the client failed to let them know the reps would not be there, it's still not your responsibility. It's just wrong for them to hit you with an incomplete fee of $3.00 when they didn't make that perfectly clear up front.

GFK is notorious when it comes to "closed" locations. They are the only MSC I've ever known to also reduce the bonus. A scheduler actually told me it is "rare" for a MSC to pay the full fee for a closed location and most will not pay the the bonus at all. Wrong.

From what I've seen, a big part of these shops is to determine if the rep is even there at all. The problem is the shopper is supposed to hang around for anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes to be sure the rep really isn't there as opposed to being on an extended break while an interaction if they are on site only takes about 10 to 15 minutes. At one point TNS had these at $15 regardless of the outcome. When they dropped the fee to $10 for a no show, I dropped the shops. All we are doing at that point is taking attendance.

@Flash - The thing is, that there were four different computer companies (all the big ones) that each were supposed to have their own individual reps working there. They couldn't have all been on breaks both times I shopped the store. More likely than not, either they left several hours before the store closed (I came within the last 3 hours of closing both times), or they were never booked to work in that particular store at all.

I never thought about asking to see any vendor log. I don't know if there was one, and if there was, the store management may not have wanted customers to have a look at it. Plus, taking out a camera to take photos of a vendor log could potentially flag you as a shopper, don't you think?

I did contact the scheduler after the second shop that no reps were in the store both times, still not knowing about the fee reduction, before I wrote the longer letter mentioned above, and heard nothing back. She didn't want to be bothered communicating about the shop. She reassigned the same shop to someone else the following week with a bonus! LOL Yeah, right!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2014 05:05AM by nycrocks.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> GFK is notorious when it comes to "closed"
> locations. They are the only MSC I've ever known
> to also reduce the bonus. A scheduler actually
> told me it is "rare" for a MSC to pay the full fee
> for a closed location and most will not pay the
> the bonus at all. Wrong.
>
> From what I've seen, a big part of these shops is
> to determine if the rep is even there at all. The
> problem is the shopper is supposed to hang around
> for anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes to be sure the
> rep really isn't there as opposed to being on an
> extended break while an interaction if they are on
> site only takes about 10 to 15 minutes. At one
> point TNS had these at $15 regardless of the
> outcome. When they dropped the fee to $10 for a no
> show, I dropped the shops. All we are doing at
> that point is taking attendance.


Lisa,

Thanks for this explanation. $10 for a no show is a lot more fair than $3, but our time is still worth more than that.

All actual "closed" shops I've done for other MSCs have been paid, except once when I didn't know I could take a photo of the location and get paid for the shop. Even the MSC with the finicky editors always pays if you submit a photo. A verification photo of this electronics retailer was required for the shop, and of course, these locations are not closed.

The terms of a shop, successful or unsuccessful, should always be disclosed up front so there are no surprises later, and shoppers can make a fair choice of whether to accept a shop or not.

I haven't had this problem with any other MSC yet. I've seen some shops saying that if "_______ isn't done, or done on time, fees will be lowered" but right now I can't remember which MSC that is. Of course, I avoided taking such shops.

Mystery shopping shouldn't be a mystery to the mystery shoppers! HA!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2014 05:42AM by nycrocks.

I have to wonder why such a huge electronics retailer would've commissioned GFK for this project without doing their part in trying to get the results they wanted. Or maybe they did, and GFK just didn't want to be bothered. There were very specific dates for these shops and you couldn't choose. Go figure.

OMG, with all the negative for this company in this forum... I am standing clear... thanks to everyone and this forum so that I may base decisions on actual reviews...

I think you should have received full compensation for something that was not your fault.

Thanks for the notice. I will steer clear of those shops for fear of getting suckered.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From what I've seen, a big part of these shops is
> to determine if the rep is even there at all.


And this is why the full pay should be given, no problem. Shame on GFK and other MSCs who do this. :/

Wow that is terrible! I know what shop you are talking about, and I didn't take one because the language about speaking to a specific rep sounded like a long shop not worth the $12 offered.

If you can't find anywhere that GFK warned you ahead of time about a $3 fee, then I would protest that higher than just the scheduler.
In my opinion that is absolutely unacceptable of them. After all the place was not closed, and you waited 40 minutes as instructed. What else could they expect you to do?

I have almost taken a couple GFK shops before, but after all this bad press on the boards, I am going to be deactivating my account. Totally not worth dealing with crummy companies.

It will probably be buried in the paperwork. To me it seems the biggest problem with these reduced fees is the MSCs are incorrectly categorizing them as a closed location. I have had more than a few closed locations over the years. Standard operating procedure is to take a few photos that can be used to verify the information. Sometimes it involves being out of the car for five minutes and other times I could just take them through the car window. Obviously a hell of a lot less time than the required 40 minute wait.

My suggestion: Go to the GFK Facebook page and complain about it there. You might get more feedback in a public forum as they wouldn't want their dirty laundry aired for all to see.

With Facebook and other social media being so widespread, it might be better to make your concerns known to the company on those sites rather than here. As we used to say in the Navy: 1 awwshi* equals 10 attaboys.

That blows and I'm glad to know that they do that because I've seen those shops and while I wasn't particularly motivated to take them before I definitely won't take them now. Also they are wrong, there are several MSC that pay full fee or a good portion of it for this kind of thing when it's not the shopper's fault. I think you're just going to have to chalk it up to a learning experience that you will not work for this company again. That's how I'd look at it.

I ran intko a similar issue with a shipping competitor shop for another big msc. They sent me to ship a package from a pack n ship type place with a 20 dollar fee plus up to 34 bux reimbursement. I got there and the place was a new pizza joint. The manager said the shipping place had closed over a year before, The msc accepted my report, but only pais me 5 bux. Somewhere burried in the guidelines it said this would be the case, but it wasnt anywhere obvious. It was burried with all the bs stff about late reports that no one ever reads.

I went on the job board of the msc on a hunch, and found about 20 similar shops nationwide, and with some simple Google searches, I found that the first 10 locations listed were also closed. The msc was doing the shops to verify closed locations while promising higher fees and big reimbursements for a shop they knew couldnt be completed.

It would be nice to know which MSC was pulling such a low down dirty trick.

nycrocks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It cost me $10 to get to these shops via public
> transportation!
>

I assume you completed other shops along the way of your $10 fare, or your net starting pay would have been $4 for each shop.

Unfortunately on this issue, we are very up front in our shop guidelines about what constitutes as a "closed" shop fee and that we pay $3 for them. However, I had not heard that we were having an issue finding these employees at the store. I will check into this.

Also, just so everyone knows, the fee we get to bill the client for a "closed shop" is greatly reduced compared to the regular fee or sometimes we do not get to bill them at all and all charges (shopper, proofer, scheduler, system, etc.) come out of our pocket. It's actually more common for us not to get paid at all for closed shops. I know a lot of other companies are in the same boat as well. I know it's not everyone's favorite thing and we spend hours on our side tracking shops and trying to make sure that "closed" shops never get into the system to be scheduled but it is a huge process and one we are still working on.

Thanks,
Donna

Donna Goodwin
Operations Manager
GfK Mystery Shopping
GfK | 200 Liberty Street | 4th Fl | New York | NY | 10281 | United States
Donna.Goodwin@gfk.com
ww.gfkmysteryshops.com

Donna, I do beg to differ with you about other companies. Many also charge the client the full fee and pay the shopper the full fee.

As to no show manufacturer's reps, that is information the client should have and everyone should be paid to provide the information. As I pointed out earlier, they should not really be classified as "closed" locations because the shopper is required to spend more time on site than a completed shop would take.

Lisa,

No worries on the differing. I think we both just said that we know a lot of companies that are on our respective sides of the fence. I am not claiming the majority side as I do not know the practices of the over hundreds (thousands?) of mystery shopping companies out there, but I do know the practice of about 40-50 and we are simliar to roughly half of them.

As to the reps availability, unfortunately this is retail. People do call in and reps are not there when they are supposed to be. I am not saying this is a perfect system or that we even like everything about it, but what I am saying is that we do communicate it up front.

Donna

Donna Goodwin
Operations Manager
GfK Mystery Shopping
GfK | 200 Liberty Street | 4th Fl | New York | NY | 10281 | United States
Donna.Goodwin@gfk.com
ww.gfkmysteryshops.com

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Lisa. Many locations do pay a full fee for closed shops, however, I don't have a negative reaction to a closed location paying slightly less as long as it is fully spelled out in the guidelines and it is not a shop that I agreed to drive a long distance for at a bonus.

However, a closed shop should also mean that you drive up to the location, confirm it is closed, snap a pic or two and are gone. Total time on site well under 5 minutes. If I am forced to stay for a minimum amount of time, that negates that whole ease and time savings of a closed shop. By having a shopper stay for 40 minutes and only paying $3.00 that is really devaluing our time. Essentially you are saying what we do is worth about $4.00 an hour, minus the gas to get there.

I would never agree to a shop that required me to put in that much time and still only get paid $3.00.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2014 07:29PM by Shelly.

Donna, I do not think the shops which the representatives are not present should be classified as "closed shops". In my experience, a "closed shop" is a location which is completely closed, as in the store is not open at all. And yes, MSCs I have worked with have stated explicitly a low fee if the store is actually closed, although not all of them. Some will pay the full fee if the store is truly closed. I have not encountered even a mention of a lowered fee if the location was open but the shop could not be completed because of circumstances beyond the shopper's control, i.e. the manager refused an audit, no one provided service within a certain time period, etc. Here is another point: most shops that require service state a much shorter waiting time in which you can leave after not being taken care of- 10 to 20 minutes rather than 40. If you really want these shops done, you need to 1) make sure the representatives will be there at the appointed time and 2) pay the full fee if no representatives are available after the full 40 minutes OR pay a reduced if no representatives are available, but allow the shopper to wait a much shorter time, say 10-15 minutes or so. This would be fairest for the shoppers, as well as GFK and the client.

Here is another possibility. I have done these for another company whose instructions were to look first for the company rep. If I could not find that person in a given length of time, I was to look for the rep of any computer/tech company. If there were none of those, I was to do the shop with a store rep. That would require some cooperation on the part of your client, but it is another way to be fair.

Note that for your shop there is no possibility of calling ahead to find out if the shop really is "closed." That's the type of circumstance where a $3.00 fee for a closed shop makes sense.

Donna, I've been biting my hands all day not to email you about some audits that you are desperately trying to get done by tomorrow. I've had six or eight emails and the bonus has slowly gone up from $30 to $45. Normally I would have been tempted to try to get that Flagstaff shop done for you but after reading about this experience I decided "no way" would I risk driving 200 miles to end up with $3 if something outside my control kept me from getting the shop done.

Not paying shoppers for the work they did (waiting the required 40 minutes) is not right. If you want us to get your shops done for you, we need to know that when we get in our cars and drive to some out of the way place for a bonused shop, do everything we were required to do, but can't do the shop because of a situation at the store, that we are not going to end up with only $3 for our trouble. I don't even do phone shops for $3.

It doesn't help us to know that the client is stiffing you too; the client isn't the one who begged and bribed us to do these shops.

It's not our fault if the contract you negotiated with the client isn't fair to the shopper. It *is* our fault if we put ourselves in the position of trusting someone who promises what they can't deliver.

OP's story has had a chilling effect on my willingness to work for GfK, unless I happen to be driving past the site anyway. You've got stuff I'd love to do, and I'm willing to drive to do it. But I'd be a fool to trust that I'd get paid after what happened to OP -- not once but twice.

Donna,

I agree with dspeakes; "10 foot pole" category, as in the words of stilllearning. I would not touch these shops with a 10 foot pole. I detest GfK's "closed shop" fee policy. It's not a shopper's concern whether the company pays you a full fee for a closed shop on these shops. You require someone to wait 40 minutes, so technically the shop is not "closed". The store is open, so you need to pay a shopper the full fee AND bonus. A closed shop is when the store is out of business.

I used to love working for GfK and would have had zero gripes until I had an agreement with a scheduler to complete two shops at $50 each; she scheduled them at $25 each, so I said something and without even contacting me back, she cancelled the shops.

I don't take kindly into a scheduler going back on an agreement and furthermore, I find it disrespectful when a company tries to use "strong-arm" tactics to force a shopper into doing a shop cheaper.

GfK keeps getting cheaper and cheaper about things; that's why I take less shops from them.

dspeakes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Donna, I've been biting my hands all day not to
> email you about some audits that you are
> desperately trying to get done by tomorrow. I've
> had six or eight emails and the bonus has slowly
> gone up from $30 to $45. Normally I would have
> been tempted to try to get that Flagstaff shop
> done for you but after reading about this
> experience I decided "no way" would I risk driving
> 200 miles to end up with $3 if something outside
> my control kept me from getting the shop done.
>
> Not paying shoppers for the work they did (waiting
> the required 40 minutes) is not right. If you
> want us to get your shops done for you, we need to
> know that when we get in our cars and drive to
> some out of the way place for a bonused shop, do
> everything we were required to do, but can't do
> the shop because of a situation at the store, that
> we are not going to end up with only $3 for our
> trouble. I don't even do phone shops for $3.
>
> It doesn't help us to know that the client is
> stiffing you too; the client isn't the one who
> begged and bribed us to do these shops.
>
> It's not our fault if the contract you negotiated
> with the client isn't fair to the shopper. It
> *is* our fault if we put ourselves in the position
> of trusting someone who promises what they can't
> deliver.
>
> OP's story has had a chilling effect on my
> willingness to work for GfK, unless I happen to be
> driving past the site anyway. You've got stuff
> I'd love to do, and I'm willing to drive to do it.
> But I'd be a fool to trust that I'd get paid
> after what happened to OP -- not once but twice.

dspeakes and Dante have both just summed up my aggregate experience with Gfk.

I am also of the mindset that a requirement for the shopper to enter the store and wait 40 minutes should not constitute a closed shop. Putting quotation marks around the word closed doesn't make it any more reasonable.

If, as Donna says, the shop instructions clearly point out what GFK constitutes as "closed" and explain the fee structure for those shops, then the fault seems to lie on both sides; With GKF for creating such a ridiculous scenario and with shoppers that accept such shops without reading the fine print.

Kind of sad to see that a company with such a prestigious address in the financial district of NYC has so little understanding of the costs that their contractors take on in completing these assignments. Next time you see a rant from the MSPA or any other MSCs begging for our help in protecting the IC status, you may want to consider this particular scenario as what they are fighting to protect.....