Market Force Radar

This company makes up 40% of my shop income, so when I read that its best to "fly below the radar" with them I got concerned after some problems I had with shop reporting occurred. After reading alot about them here I'd like to know if anyone can offer any advice on how to do this, and why it is necessary.
The head of computer programming at Market Force is good and I think MF might have some kind of algorithm that alerts them to when a shopper's reports fall outside of what they define as a "typical shopper." But I'm just speculating. Still it worries me when I make a mistake on a report and have to contact the help desk after what I've read at this and the other forum.

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Expert investigator and evaluator with PV-700, PV-500EVO, AstroScope 9350NIKS-3PRO, B&H DNV16HDZ-M Full Infrared Night Vision Camcorder

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2014 12:32AM by aggiejim72.

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That's very insightful, Aggie Jim. I was a part-timer at a company that had an algorithm of some sort for our performance. We had to have results very similar to at least two other people. It was very counter-intuitive work, but it paid well, and everybody had to have a college degree.

aggiejim72, you might be on to something. I have read numerous posts about shoppers being deactivate by Market Force for no apparent reason. A couple of years ago I received a certificate from them (which btw the bank wouldn't cash) for having completed 500 shops. I have know idea how many I've done to date and have had only two shops not accepted. One was for paying with a credit card instead of cash, and the other was for shopping the wrong location...both stupid mistakes on my part. So, if the posters that have been deactivated are telling the truth, then there has to be some underlying reason for their deactivations.

My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.
Benjamin Disraeli

Long ago, the second time I was deactivated, I was told you get three strikes. Doesn't matter if those are across five shops or five hundred. In my case it was five hundred, I pointed out it was less than .006 percent and was reinstated.

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.

Three strikes, huh? I guess on my next shop with them I'd better at least hit a foul ball.

My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.
Benjamin Disraeli

It struck me as funny. Once at a relatively high paying job I forgot to convert USD to Euros before sending out a wire transfer. The vendor was over paid quite a bit and they didn't fire me. Yet enter the wrong start time on a report and MF won't let me take any more $9 assignments.

Out of hundreds of shops over five years with MF, I've had three strikes with them, one time violation, and twice wrong locations, but only once have they not let me re-do a shop (they paid me a bonus later that month to do that one, though.) There is a great interview with their CEO in the latest Mystery Shopper Magazine where the author tried to get an answer from him regarding deactivation.
My advice, aggiejim72, would be to not worry about it, but also to prepare for it.
Diversify.
40% of your income with one company is a lot. When CORI went through their computer troubles in the winter of early '03, I had 50% of my income with them, and was nearly wiped out in one month. Thanks to finding the Forum, I was able to diversify from shopping for 7 companies to now shopping for over 50, I'm not overly dependent on any one of them, and my MS income has tripled.

I've had two time overlap violations with them (they require a certain amount of time on site no matter what, and my watch didn't match their clock, or some such nonsense, causing me to leave one shop two minutes AFTER I arrived at the next one, which happened to be right next door), one outright rejection for bad pizza photos, and four timing violations for shopping outside the times specified in the guidelines. Oh, and I left a burger joint sooner than I should have. This is over the course of three years and about 1000 shops (pure guess on the shop numbers). Still calling me every day wanting me to do McDrivethru.

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Some times you just have to turn around, give a little smile, toss the match, set the bridge ablaze, and walk away.

Silver Certified on the Carolina Coast. You want fries with that?

Thanks jonchance, your experience is helping me relax about Market Force.

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Expert investigator and evaluator with PV-700, PV-500EVO, AstroScope 9350NIKS-3PRO, B&H DNV16HDZ-M Full Infrared Night Vision Camcorder

Just this week I received the congratulatory "1500" shops completed email certificate. I've made some errors along the way and so far, still shopping with them. I happen to like the company. They have a nice variety of shops around here.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

I got briefly deactivated when I was packing for a move because I failed to put in some receipts (stupid, I know) and when I went to look for them, they were either thrown out in the chaos, or packed in a box. I explained the situation and was reactivated.

Other than that, my only "okay, this worries me" was on a shop for Odd Men where their clock didn't match my phone even a little bit (there was something like a six-minute time difference), and so I couldn't put in my correct entry time (because my receipt showed a time "before I entered"

. When asked why I didn't stay in the location for 15 minutes I simply explained that I'd timed with my cell phone and that the entry time according to my phone was X, but the clock in the location was off and the form therefore insisted I enter Y as my entry time. I further suggested that if they needed to confirm my times via video and my math was right, my exit time on their clock should show up as Z but that I hadn't wanted to put it as my exit time because it did not match my timing device. The editor fixed my report, I was paid, and the next time I went in, the location's clock had been fixed.

aggiejim72 Just my opinion but if it the bulk of your companies you would be smart to start finding back up!
They can pull at any time for no apparent reason.

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