I want to vent so bad about a recent shop I did. The description for this forum says to discuss the good and the bad but I have seen shoppers discussing issues about particular company and the employees and owners come on and defend themselves. If I vent about my recent shop, I want to be anonymous but even the small information will reveal what MSC it is.

What a dilemma!

You can name the MSC as long as you don't name the client.

Who is this?

Canuck, you don't understand. Lisa's dying to vent, but knows that if she gets the least bit specific, the MSC will identify her and hunt her down. This would be very, very bad. (smile).

I think, at this point, we can only offer Lisa sympathy for having to wrestle with her dilemma, which, by the way, she really, really, really wants to share with us, but is skerd.

(heart)

But, she could yell and holler and maybe NOT get specific??? I do understand really.

There is actually only one MSC that makes a point to identify shoppers who have posted about that company. Sometimes companies do come in and post "their side" of the story. In my experience, except for one company, the companies only post when they believe the story is significantly different than what the shopper provided. So, in most cases, if a shopper is telling the truth when she vents, it's not necessarily a negative. Several liars have been "busted" when the company popped in to tell the other side of the story.

I have over the years posted things both good and bad about companies. I try to make sure what I post about companies is very objective, describing what actually happened, without embellishing and without adding my perceptions to the description, much the same way a good shopper objectively describes what happened on a shop. It allows the readers to draw their own conclusions. At the end of my description of what happened with the company, I might add my perception and I might not. If a shopper has a definite problem with a company, such as non-payment, being paid short, or having a shop canceled after performing it, I strongly encourage the shopper to try to work it out with the company *BEFORE* posting their complaint or vent.

I think most companies do not have a problem with a shopper venting about a shop gone wrong or about the difficulties of performing a certain scenario. I also think an honest post is not viewed in a bad light by most companies. However, most companies DO have a problem with angry posts colored by emotional and flamboyant phrases like "SCAM! CHEATERS! RIPPED OFF!" That type of "yellow journalism" is almost guaranteed to get negative attention, not only from the companies, but from other shoppers.

If you are concerned about a company identifying you when you vent about them, I agree you should not post your vent. Vent to your Mom or Dad, husband, kids, or friends.

I believe my historic overall shopper grade was lowered because I posted on here that my hotel charges have not been reversed, even after 60 days. MSC had told me before I posted that it should take 7 to 10 days, and there was nothing they could do about it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2014 10:43AM by Bayberry.

"Discuss the good and bad of mystery shopping companies. Which ones treat you well? Which ones have burned you? Give your feedback here."

But if you put which ones burned you, they figure out who you are. I noticed you can not change user name now I am noticing I do not like my real name used.

You can contact JacobJ, the forum's owner, if you would like to change your screen name. But, when posting details of interactions with MSCs, even with an anonymous name, it is not difficult to identify a shopper.

Okay now, if they burned you and they're bad guys why do you want to continue to work for them? They must not have burned you bad. When I get burned, I'm cooked up and done.

I did not get burned, yet. We will see!

Just an FYI, if you vent about a certain company whose initials are S.M., the owner will log on and tar & feather you. Granted, he does bust some liars and trolls 80% of the time, yet for the remaining 20% that have legitimate complaints, he'll deactivate you from their system. Sad, but true.

Eric in Tampa is right Dave is an @#$%&. I hope his shitty msc folds soon.

MDavisnowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Okay now, if they burned you and they're bad guys
> why do you want to continue to work for them?
> They must not have burned you bad. When I get
> burned, I'm cooked up and done.


No kidding. I don't give a flying youknowwhat if any of the MSCs ID me or not. I guess it's easy, because I'll be back out of grad school in a matter of weeks and back to "real world" jobs, anyway. There are more of them that need help than I can work for, anyway.

It at least took Marketforce several years and over 500 shops before they jammed me on a shop (it was not for their lack of trying, either, in retrospect) just once for me to give them any symbolic finger you want to throw in and be done with them.

GFK only took exactly 10 shops for me to do the same for them today.

All it took was me noticing a 1/10 rating for a late-night take-out wings shop ("9:30-close, enter within two hours of closing" ) I did on 10/8.

First, the response was that I came in too early. Then, it was "Oh, they close at 1am? You came in too late". Then, when asked why this shop was rated a 1 when I've gone into other late night shops even later (after midnight for a 2am closing time on a Saturday night, for example) and gotten 8s or 9s, poor Robin could not clarify that any further. I can do the math and I deactivated that endless pile of emails for shops nobody wants to do for them this morning (whew!) and eventually myself from the site a few minutes ago.

So, there you have it.

Another one of those MSCs that preaches neutrality and integrity and all that other jazz, but just remember not to tar and feather their big client's performance on a shop even when it is deserved. We just can't have that, you know.

Maybe it's time some of you stop being afraid of these MSCs and hold them to that high and mighty standard they preach so much about and they won't get away with the nonsense that they do and the ones that don't get the message will just go away like they need to.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2014 07:31AM by AlfredB1979.

If you blast a company, how do they figure out who you are?

Beach, if you give any true details sometimes they can figure it out. Or they think they can figure it out.

It's unfortunate that shoppers are unable to vent or not vent about MSC's whether they are good or bad especially on a platform such as this. Afterall, it's their opinion and they have the right to voice their opinion, just as MSC's have the right to voice theirs. MSC's should respect the shopper's view instead of critiquing or removing shoppers. MSC's should take a step back and consider the circumstances and go from there. It's called "negotiations" and they come in all types. In my opinion, there are too many secrets. Shoppers should not be afraid that they will be removed from a certain MSC. If they are, then they should not make any comments. As I see it, the rules for this kind of platform need to change.

I agree that everyone should have the right to voice their opinion. The problem is that, on this forum just as in real everyday life, there can be consequences depending on what is said and how it is said. Opinions are based on personal points of view, which may or may not be based on facts. As independent contractors, we have the right to choose which companies we work with. The companies in turn have the right to choose their contractors. The internet is open to the public, so what we post is open to the public. This is not a private conversation.

I never understand why people post about MSC here but not name them. Like someone else mentioned, if you are fearful, talk to friends or family. Don't make a post not naming what the issue is or who the MSC is. It's frustrating for people like me who would like to help. If you ate scared of retribution maybe you should consider shopping with other companies.