There are actually a lot of reasons that a shopper might be terminated from Market Force, and it does not necessarily mean the shopper has done anything wrong. Market Force usually is unwilling to explain specifically WHY a shopper has been terminated, which is actually not that unusual. Many MSCs do not identify a specific reason when a shopper is deactivated. We hear that complaint more often about Market Force because they are bigger and have a larger shopper base than many other companies. And, often deactivated Market Force shoppers are very angry and disappointed because they do a large volume of shops for MF and they love shopping the ability to self-assign, the volume of shops available, the clients, the easy shops, and the quick, easy reports with little or no narrative.
Market Force collects and analyzes data through "secret" computer algorithms. Shopper data is compared against the "norm" for reports for specific clients. A shopper may be deactivated because he appears to be "too critical" (more negative reports than the norm) or he is "too easy" (too many glowing reports compared to the norm). This does not mean the shopper did anything wrong. It means the shopper does not meet Market Force's definition of "the average, everyday shopper."
A shopper might also be deactivated because there are too many shoppers with his demographics in his area or simply because Market Force has such a large influx of new shoppers that they want "new blood." For example, let's say in a small college town, perhaps a large percentage of shoppers are college-aged and male. A college-age male might be more likely in that location to be deactivated than a female senior. In an area with a high percentage of retired shoppers, a female senior might be far more likely to be deactivated than a 20-something male or female.
And, yes, sometimes shoppers have made errors and been deactivated because of those errors. Sometimes posters post that they were given no reason for deactivation, although they may simply not recognize the reason. If QC has come back for clarification to a shopper 17 times, even though the report was eventually accepted and paid, are those "errors?" If the shopper got paid, he likely does not view them as errors, whereas QC may well believe that a high percentage of clarification requests equates an error because it makes dealing with the shopper more time-consuming than dealing with another shopper. A high percentage of cancelations might be a cause of deactivation. What is high? 5%, 10%, 20%? Recently, a deactivated poster casually told us his cancelation rate, which appalled many of us, but he did not consider it bad and was shocked to hear that it might have caused his deactivation. It is hard for a deactivated shopper to be objective about possible reasons.
And - I would advise anyone suddenly deactivated to go back and ask, because there are many times when shoppers have been deactivated in error - system error, returned e-mail, or any number of things. Market Force seems to quickly correct the mistake and re-activate those shoppers deactivated in error.