I just did my first 2 shops for MF. I did not get any feedback at all from them. Checking their website, I cannot find anywhere that would tell me the 2 shops are approved and how much payments are pending. Their website is really difficult to maneuver, but I got through the first 2 shops on time. I am waiting to see how their payments work before I do any more shops for them.

on the eu site it gives you payments pending and payments made on the left hand side and if look at the top it will give you a rating click on it and it gives you the figures.

MF does not give feedback, or inform you of approval. If you haven't received an email from them about a problem, your shop is approved, They will always contact you within a couple of days if your shop is invalid, they need more information, etc. Payments arrive around the 9th day of the month for DD, and 15th day for checks.

I can't improve on the answer kamarkim gave. Just to add a note, try to fly under the radar with MF. The less feedback and contact, the better.

All I do, after submitting my report, is keep an eye on my receipt status to make sure it goes from Submitted to Verified. After that, I just wait for pay day.

I have received a few emails from Quality Control requesting additional info. Their reports are so straightforward, with built-in validations. When I get a QC request, I realize every report is scrutinized, even when there are umpteen zillions of them.

As long as you followed the guidelines and did the requirements you should have no problems. And be close by if they should have questions. Agree with other US posters. Payment is quick and easy. Do sign on for more shops. You might as well do something while waiting. (and there is nothing like making more money.)

Thanks, all, for your responses.
phoenixmom, what's "eu site" ? Europe?

I double checked the left hand column, and clicked on "Payment History", it shows my bank info, but nothing on the 2 pending shops or how much payment is due me. The other option was "Direct Deposit Options". It was just for signing up for DD, nothing else. "Submit CPI/Receipts" shows the 2 shops and when I click on them, it says "receipts verified", same for CPI. I guess they are ok. I just have a problem with keeping track of my done shops if they do not show on the Job Log and how much each pending payments are. I do not usually keep my own records, just depend on MSC's Job Log.

Another question: Does MF have higher paying shops or fine restaurants/hotels? I'm starting from the bottom only in hopes of getting better assignments.

Regal - another terrible website to work with. How long does it take before they give new shoppers hotel assignments? I am experienced, with other MSC's.

Well you can go into the CPI and you can see the shop fee, and you can pull up your receipt to see how much it was. Payment History is just that. History. What's happened in the past. It will give you no information on what is happening in the future.

The CPI/Receipts Status Page is the best information you get from the Market Force site. You can click on the CPI and see how much the shop fee was and you can click on the receipt to see how much it was. I would strongly suggest you start keeping up with what is owed to you yourself though.

I have never seen a hotel with MF, doesn't mean they don't exist. I'm not sure what you mean by "higher paying." DO you mean higher reimbursements? The best I've seen for reimbursement from MF is a cafeteria style chain I think. As for fees, I'd much rather do a high fee FF for MF than I had a high end restaurant for other companies that give you no pay and only reimbursement.

2 10 minute Hedgehog reports and spend the fees on a nice restaurant is way easier than getting a nice restaurant reimbursed but spending 2 hours on a freaking narrative.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2014 11:48PM by bgriffin.

The MF log won't show your shops and what's due until payment is processed.

No, no higher paying shops or fine restaurants. What you see on the job board is what there is. MF is not a company with a second and third layer of better shops that you see after completing lower level shops.

I tend to agree, bgriffin. We've had several discussions on the forum, pros and cons. A $30+ fee for one shop that takes two to three hours, on site and in report, or three or four $10 fee shops that take less than one hour each. All of us have to decide what works, and what doesn't.

When I first started this I was like, oooooh, free meals an stuff! I quickly realized that usually it requires less work to do enough fee based shops to make the same amount of money as the "free meal" was. Now if I can't work a free meal that has a nice fee to go along with it into my routes I schedule an extra $10 shop and use that to buy lunch with.

Bgriffin, Shopping in a good route with a few good fees and a meal always works for me. Plus, items I need or can use as gifts leaves more money in my pocket.

It's best to keep a log of your shops with fees and reimbursement and expenses, include mileage/cost of gas, just in case you can deduct it. Or, if you want to evaulate the cost of doing a shop. If I have 3-4 locations within a certain area, I do my best to schedule them on the same day and within similar time frames. Just don't schedule multile MF FF within the same timeframe. They will not accept it.

Some other respondents were not favorable to fine dining restaurants. My husband and I plan those for weekends and enjoy the best restaurant in Atl. Reports have become much easier since we understand the report standards. It is common for us to complete 6-8 fine dining restaurant per month for one MSC.

Here's my thing with fine dining. I understand it works for some people and doesn't for others. This is *my* take.

Person A. Does 1 fine dining shop. It's $150 reimbursement and $0 fee. They spent 1 hour onsite and 3 hours doing the report for a total of 4 hours. They have $0 profit but got to eat a "free" $150 meal.

Person B. Does 4 $40 fast food shops. Not that hard, I've done 5 shops for MF this month for $175 in fees. At 20 mins onsite and 10 mins per report Person B has $160 for 2 hours of work. Person B then takes the SO out for dinner at a $150 fine dining establishment.


Person A spends 4 hours working for $150 meal
Person B spends 2 hours working for $10, 4 lunches, and $150 meal

Who came out ahead?

Yea, b, exactly. I don't get working three to four hours for a fine meal that I cannot thoroughly enjoy because I have to be "on" every second gathering information, maybe can't drink what I want, maybe can't eat what I want, maybe don't like the inferior food and can't send it back, because, Hey, I'm ON. Fine with me if others do, but I just don't understand it. I'd rather do some other shops, make enough money for the meal I want, go exactly where I want when I want and eat and drink exactly what I want. Enjoy my dining experience paid with money I already earned, go home and hit the sack, thank you. But I understand if others don't want to gut it out with lesser paying shops and they'd rather have the fine dining experience with the constant vigilance and the never ending report. That's why all these jobs get done -- somebody wants to do all of them.

bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Person A spends 4 hours working for $150 meal
> Person B spends 2 hours working for $10, 4
> lunches, and $150 meal
>
> Who came out ahead?

I agree that Person B comes out ahead. I don't find it all that relaxing to have my fine meal while tracking every little detail. I imagine that doing more of these would make it easier, but the few I have done have been a bit stressful.

BTW, I would urge Person B to add a gym shop to the mix.

While the logic may be impeccable, I sure don't see a bunch of $40 fast food fees around here. And sure, I could go to the golden arches on Friday for a $2 fish sandwich with no report or I can go to an extraordinary fish sandwich such as I got at a restaurant for lunch today and write a report. I'll write the report any time, thank you. bgriffin's economy is sort of like stretching the grocery budget to buy steaks for one night by serving boiled hot dogs the rest of the week.

Perhaps the area is the difference. I got $160 for the 3 I've done so far this month.

I often get $40-$50, and sometimes up to $100. Living in BFE has its advantages, if you have a good radio in the car and like to drive.

I just picked up two grocery shops from this company, I have been shopping for 5 years, and this was one of the original ones I shopped with. I had forgotten how great it is to get free groceries, and, well, this is probably my favorite grocery to go to.

Once I've slaved to make the $160 I'm not likely to blow it on a $150 meal. It's easier for me to think about "lending" the money I'm going to get back versus "spending" money I've already earned. Frankly, I'd probably do both -- make the $160 in fees AND take the $150 shop. It doesn't have to be either-or.

I agree the logic here is good... and it would absolutely be more fun and relaxing to not have to pay such close attention while fine-dining and to not have to write a book about it afterwards...

BUT... like Flash, I rarely see fast food shops pay that well; let alone several in one month. I mean, I did have a span of a couple of months, a year ago, where I got five or six fast food shops that paid $25 to $35... but that was an anomaly I haven't seen (at that frequency) before or since in this locality.

Also, I would *never* spend $150 of my own money for a dinner out for two. Maybe if I won the Mega-Millions, but not til then. But if someone was going to for whatever reason (it's have to be like a 75-year anniversary or something ~ like winning the Mega-Millions ~ to justify it for me!) then your scenario B would definitely be preferable.

But, Agent 99 (love that!) has missed the point... you *weren't* slaving for that $160... it was easy money.



bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's my thing with fine dining. I understand it
> works for some people and doesn't for others.
> This is *my* take.
>
> Person A. Does 1 fine dining shop. It's $150
> reimbursement and $0 fee. They spent 1 hour
> onsite and 3 hours doing the report for a total of
> 4 hours. They have $0 profit but got to eat a
> "free" $150 meal.
>
> Person B. Does 4 $40 fast food shops. Not that
> hard, I've done 5 shops for MF this month for $175
> in fees. At 20 mins onsite and 10 mins per report
> Person B has $160 for 2 hours of work. Person B
> then takes the SO out for dinner at a $150 fine
> dining establishment.
>
>
> Person A spends 4 hours working for $150 meal
> Person B spends 2 hours working for $10, 4
> lunches, and $150 meal
>
> Who came out ahead?

Person A came ahead because person B spent more than $10.00 in gas driving all over town for the 4 shops and the 1 fine dining. Just me thinking.

I have to drive more than 65 miles to burn $10 worth of gas, so they're not necessarily spending more than $10 if the locations are all in close proximity to the shopper's home. Plus person B got 5 meals in total, not just one (granted 4 are FF).

Edited to add that I would do the 4 FF shops and pass on a fine dining meal out-of-pocket. I would only spend that kind of money at a restaurant if it was going to be reimbursed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2014 01:38AM by Tlt14.

pgl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Person A came ahead because person B spent more
> than $10.00 in gas driving all over town for the 4
> shops and the 1 fine dining. Just me thinking.


Yes, probably so, but person B still made more per hour work.

I also would not spend $150 on a meal, reimbursed or not. It's just not the type of food I enjoy. Give me a big juicy burger from a hole in the wall biker bar in the middle of nowhere anyday.

Weezy's Route 66 Bar & Grill, Hamel, IL. Right of I-55 on the way to Chicago.

bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I also would not spend $150 on a meal, reimbursed
> or not. It's just not the type of food I enjoy.
> Give me a big juicy burger from a hole in the wall
> biker bar in the middle of nowhere anyday.


You can get 25 cent extra juicy burgers from
south of the border at the Carolina's border.

Though they may cause you to start producing
your own juice an hour after eating them

Well, I just spent $17.00 on a burger for lunch this past weekend and it was AWESOME. No, it is not something I do every day but it is a nice treat every now and then. I don't do the FF burgers.

Shop2LiveinFL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, I just spent $17.00 on a burger for lunch
> this past weekend and it was AWESOME. No, it is
> not something I do every day but it is a nice
> treat every now and then. I don't do the FF
> burgers.


Talk about Pretenious! "Well, I just spent $17.00 on a burger for lunch
this past weekend and it was AWESOME."

Well, LA DE f---ing DAH.

I spent close to that once. At Casino El Camino in Austin, TX. Hour wait for a burger. Supposed to be one of the best burgers in the country. Thought it was pretty dry and tasteless.

Well, I am trying to win the Pretencious Burger Award of 2014. And I can afford a $17.00 burger since I don't own two cars with premium gas.