Satisfaction Services Website

So after being signed up with Satisfaction Services for 5 or 6 years, I did my first shop for them over the weekend. I submitted the shop and got the email reply that said it was submitted, so that's all good. But, I can't find any place on the webite that indicates I've done the shop or that it was accepted, or that I have a payment pending.

For those of you who have done shops with them, is that normal or does it just take a few days (I completed the shop on Friday) for the completed shop to be noted somewhere on the site?

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Satisfaction Services sends an email that shop has been received. They do not confirm shops on their site. Payment is made by check in approximately 60 days and I have never had any problems.
They will email you if there is an issue. I recently did not submit a receipt (there was a hiccup with the site and I did not have the availability to do so). They emailed to ask for it.
I've done some mystery shopping for this company (restaurants), but have discontinued my relationship with them. They take 6 to 8 weeks to pay, too long for me to carry on a credit card. They'll also procrastinate by asking a million questions, claiming you've not completed required info correctly. If, ultimately, they turn down your review, you not only lose the fee, you're also out the out-of-pocket money you spent...no reimbursement for it. Personally, I've been paid for the few restaurants I shopped for them; however, a friend's review was refused. When I learned she was not only denied payment, but also not reimbursed for her expenses, I discontinued my relationship with them.
Welcome to the forum, cruiser. Typically, when any MSC refuses a report, neither the fee or the expenses are paid. That's the nature of being an IC. We are not employees. Employees get paid for showing up and trying. ICs are required to perform the job correctly or there is no pay.

Since you have been paid for the restaurant shops you have completed for them, I am assuming that you have recognized that this is a reputable company which is not difficult to work with. The number of questions asked usually relates to how well a submitted report explains the requirements. I've worked for them since 2008, performing many assignments. I have only once gotten a question about my reports; otherwise, I just get the grade with no feedback.

As far as your friend not being paid or reimbursed, I would guess that she did not correctly complete the assignment. Did the company tell your friend why her report was not accepted? Did she share that reason with you? Because the company is required to send another IC to perform the shop when a report is rejected, your friend was not paid. The second IC who did the assignment was the one who got paid.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2015 10:57PM by AustinMom.
For those of you who work for Satisfaction Services, do you recommend paying them the $10 a year to be a rated evaluator. That seems unreasonable to me, but I am curious to see what others think.
I personally wouldn't. They only have one shop in my area that I have never had trouble getting it when I want it.

Kim
I wouldn't recommend paying to be an evaluator. I don't do a lot of work with them, but I have always got the shops I wanted (and sometimes with a bonus).
My problem lies more in the fact that my friend was not reimbursed for her out-of-pocket expense, than anything else. This was not her first assignment with SS; she's quite experienced. They came back to her with questions, she responded; bottom line, they didn't accept what she submitted. Okay, so don't pay her for it, but to keep her out-pocket-money, is outrageous.
Why should they reimburse for the same shop twice, one with errors preventing it from being submitted to the client and another performed correctly which the client will eventually pay for? If MSCs made a practice of reimbursing regardless of the outcome how easy it would be for someone to accept a free meal, spend a few minutes on an unusable report and laugh all the way to the bank?

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Cruiser, as independent contractors, we should all be aware that the MSCs are our customers. If we do a job correctly and the report is accepted, we are paid, including fee and reimbursement. If the report is not accepted, we get nothing because the contractor who succesfully completed the job gets paid. Know that there is always a risk, because the job must be done correctly to get paid.

For example, let's say you have a broken water pipe and you call a plumber. He comes to your house but can't fix the pipe and you have to call another plumber. You will pay the plumber who fixed your pipe. Most of us would not even think about paying the unsuccessful plumber.....not even if he said "Well, I bought tools to try to do the job, even though I couldn't..... If the plumber didn't correctly do the job, he gets no pay and his expenses are not reimbursed.
you don't incur personal out-pocket expenses if plumber #1 isn't "satisfactory", If you did, you'd, be reimbursed.
I think you are missing the point here, cruiser. I am comparing independent contractors: the plumber and the mystery shopper. We are independent contractors like the plumber. The MSC is the customer. The plumber who does not do the job right does not get paid by the customer and does not get reimbursed for any of his costs. The customer pays the plumber who did the job right. The MSC does not pay or reimburse the mystery shopper (independent contractor) who did the job wrong. If the mystery shopper's report is not acceptable, the MSC has to find another mystery shopper to do the job. They pay and reimburse the second mystery shopper, the one who did the job right. They are not going to pay or reimburse twice for the same job.

And - if this lack of payment and reimbursement is a problem to you, being an IC/mystery shopper may not work for you. Almost all companies operate exactly like Satisfaction Services in that they do not pay OR reimburse when a report is rejected.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2015 06:51PM by AustinMom.
@cruiser wrote:

Where do get "she did the same shop twice"? She only did that shop once.

It's not her that's doing the job twice. If I go have a dinner and my shop isn't accepted then they're gonna have to send AustinMom out to do the same dinner. Now they are reimbursing two dinners for 1 accepted report.

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At the moment only demons come to mind
I have done several shops for this company and they pay about 30 days after the shop. There is no landing page for your previous shops so you have to kind of keep track of your own records here. They are easy to get ahold of though and ready to work with you and they do pay pretty quickly. I have one to do tomorrow as a matter of fact. Am looking forward to it!! Hope this helps!!
I finally just looked through their job board because I was interested in some restaurants I "think" they do. But I'm disappointed so far. If it's one thing that irks me it's a job board that gives you ZERO information to base if you want the shop or not. It gives bare bones and sometimes not even the pay. How does anyone decide on jobs for them? It will say "shop" ...ok... and the city and no dates or time-frames or no quick sentence to say what you have to do. You must select it, wait and they contact you. Uh...whaat?
@susieq572 wrote:

I have done several shops for this company and they pay about 30 days after the shop. There is no landing page for your previous shops so you have to kind of keep track of your own records here.
arent we supposed to keep track of all shops that we do? you wont remember come next tax season.
The schedulers are pretty good about getting back to you and once you get in
with one, you can contact them directly about all their shops.
@mleighb: Yep, that's pretty much how it works. You click on the shop, the schedulers contact you, explain the shop and you decide. It's very informal. Apparently it works for them because they appear to have a lot of clients. Nice schedulers; nice company!

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@stilllearning wrote:

@mleighb: Yep, that's pretty much how it works. You click on the shop, the schedulers contact you, explain the shop and you decide. It's very informal. Apparently it works for them because they appear to have a lot of clients. Nice schedulers; nice company!

(heart)
Wow ok thanks! I guess I am spoiled by so many MSP sites that give you a good paragraph & description plus pay before you choose to click. I will try one. smiling smiley
This company. imo, is great, one of my favorites! Elise is fantastic, they work with you and explain everything in detail
Yes, that is normal. They are the first MSP I have ever worked for. In our 3+ year relationship, they have always paid on time (by check) and their schedulers have been very accommodating. Great company...just wish they had more shops in my area.
I have a lot of experience with them, shop wise, am from april and everyone I talked to was very nice. There job board isnt good, but when I requested information on the shop I had a scheduler call me within a few hours with the information. And I had to decline one because just not enough $$ and she thanked me and told me she understood so scheduler wise I have had no issues, I cant say much about payment because I completed my shops with them in April.

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Will they allow email instead of calls? I hate calls (just my preference) and like everything via email.
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