cirrus was about the only company other than sentry i hadn't signed up with due to all the hate they get on here and the ridiculously long payouts, but they had a storage audit only 20 minutes away from me for a decent fee($45) so I decided to sign up, and pick the shop up. alta360 audits the same place only their base pay is 5 times less. i've done the ones for alta when they're bonused, and it's not a bad gig, but how are the ones for cirrus? just looking at the questions, it seems like a lot more work.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/2016 08:48PM by jay225.

If it's anything like their big box store audit, RUN.

@Hoju wrote:

If it's anything like their big box store audit, RUN.

i did lol...deactivated myself.

jay, why? It may turn out to be easy for you.

I have one scheduled for Monday. I'll report back on how mine went.

I don't know much about their audits, but I have done quite a few other shops for them. The folks are easy enough to work with and genuinely nice. Their reports tend to be a bit longer than other reports I have done for similar shops at other MSP's and their initial pay, I believe, is low. However, they do not hesitate to bonus shops that don't get picked up and, if you are willing to travel for them, don't seem to mind negotiating a higher rate.

The wait for payment (4 months) is longer than I would like, but, if they will pay me, I'll be okay with that. (Though, I often choose other shops from MSP's with same pay instead of the Cirrus shops as there is a value to being paid sooner rather than later.)

I can't bring myself to bite on Cirrus. I LOVE my announced audits and have been eyeing these storage audits for awhile....I mean really what could they possibly want me to evaluate for a shop with just a bunch of garages? I mean right! But I've just had this nagging feeling telling me no,no, no that I can't get over. I'm big on the time value of money especially when it comes to mystery shopping. $45 now is different from $45 four to six months from now....in truth doing a marketforce grocery announced audit even at their lowest pay of $15 with $15 reimbursement is worth at least the same if not a little more to me considering the time value of money then a shop that pays $45 that many months later. (side note: You can see why with this post 1. I love announced audits, 2. I'm big on the time value of money; why GFK is my #1).

But anyway yea a lot of time when I'm even thinking of biting on a cirrus storage audit I instead find something else that I'm more comfortable with that I consider of more value (even if the figure is less) and I end up doing that instead. If cirrus were to change their pay schedule to 1 month I'd sign up for a storage audit right now,but as it is the time value of money tells me these shops just aren't worth my time when I have a bunch of marketforce cell phone audits I can pick up that I know are easy and I'll get the money on August 10th guaranteed. Cirrus always ends up becoming an afterthought

@HonnyBrown wrote:

jay, why? It may turn out to be easy for you.

I have one scheduled for Monday. I'll report back on how mine went.

eh... the report looks tedious. they want sentences after every question, even on yes's. if someone replied in this thread saying they're easy, I would've done it, but all I can keep thinking about is, "Why would I put myself through that to not get paid for 4 months? And i'll have to chase payment too? Why bother." I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes though.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2016 01:28PM by jay225.

There are no narratives. You upload 2 pics of the clock, and one of the site address. You upload pics of anything out of compliance.

The papers that you print out have room for notes, but they do not go into the report.

the report looks easy, but i thought they send you a separate link for the audit? if you look at the guidelines and all the questions, it doesn't make sense that the report is as small as what it shows.

i seriously doubt it's that simple... i looked at the report and thought this looks too good to be true. look at the audit link on top though.

Jay, I looked at the audit link. I don't think it will be as bad as the big box store audit.

I'll report back on how mine goes tomorrow.

The audits for Alta360 and the audits for Cirrus are not the same. That is why the pay is so different. I did a bonused survey for Cirrus and I would do more. They do not occur very often, apparently only only once every 3 or 4 years for each location. You have to take a photo of a clock in the office at the beginning and end of the visit to show that you spent the required minimum time on site. How long it actually takes will depend upon the actual location and how busy they are, and how delinquent accounts they have. I would never do one of the Cirrus Big Box shops.

I did the shop today. It wasn't bad. I finished the report. It did not allow you to cut and paste from the guidelines. I spent less than 2 hours at the facility, and 2 leisurely hours on the report.

FOUR hours! I could get 8 Alta's done in that time.

Hoju, what are the Alta inspections like? Are those the $9 ones?

This was LESS THAN 4 hours total, and pretty easy.

Yes. the $9 ones. They're are fast.

Hoju, I think those are inquiry shops. The ones at Cirrus are audits. Naturally, audits will take longer to do than inquiries.

I'm talking about the cleanliness audits.

I did one of these and it was not that bad. But they did not believe me on one of my answers and I had to do it again. It was a big hassle and the reviewers will not take your word on anything. Plus, they recently lost a really good shopper. My girlfriend has been shoping for them since Jan. 1st she had to continually hassle them for her first payment which was 3 months later, which is ridiculous. 2d- They dissed her on a $45 shop because she could not get the correct contact at an apartment shop. She finally went to the apartment to find the contact actually had quit two weeks before. She went above and beyond on the shop only to be told she was not authorized to go to the apartment. they had told her to do this in the past. She had over 30 shops completed and was a 10 out of 10 on her reporting. Needless to say she told them to take a hike.

The Cirrus audits are totally different.

@Hoju wrote:

I'm talking about the cleanliness audits.

Anyone with PAY ISSUES w/CIRRUS MARKETING is CORRECT!!!! This company is very disorganized. The pay takes that long because they take from Peter to pay Paul. They also have these mysterious email accounts with the same person answering them. There are no name associations, such as you see in other mystery shopping companies. At Cirrus Marketing, you don't know who you are going to get and they don't respond with an ACTUAL name. It is all a mystery. In regards to pay, they put out a pay schedule that they themselves NEVER follow. So, if you are supposed to get paid at the end of May, you are lucky if they pay you in June. You have to follow up with payment AT LEAST three times before they get it right. ONLY then, they make such a fuss about payment, as if they got caught with their pants down. ANY SHOPPERS WHO COMPLAIN to CIRRUS MARKETING gets on their "deactivation list." This has happened to several shoppers. This also means they don't get "Invited" to the emails that are sent out about a particular shop. This is OK, since (a box store) is really the only big account they have. You could look at what they have in other areas, but (a box store) keeps popping up as their largest account. ONLY IF (a box store) knew what they were up to. (a box store) should actually use another more responsible shopping company, instead of CIRRUS MARKETING which neither pays shoppers well OR ON TIME it seems, from complaints received. (a box store) shops take an average of 3 hours, with reports averaging another 3 hours. Shoppers used to get about $90 (including bonus), now that average is around $65. The payments went down over the years. INTERESTING. Let's say you are getting $70 for this (a box store) shop, the amount of time you are putting in averages around $11 an hour. This time does not include your drive time to get to the shop and back. As one shopper alluded to in another posting, CIRRUS MARKETING RECRUITS NEW SHOPPERS TO REPLACE THOSE WHO COMPLAINED. This is FACT, not fantasy. There are at least 28 shopper complaints about this and another 54 for payment. YOU ARE ALL RIGHT TO BE AWARE OF THIS COMPANY.

(Mod note: Name of the box store removed as it violates Forum rules and probably also your ICA to link an MSC with any of its clientele.)

does someone know why the payment comes after 4 (four) months? do they even have a valid reason for that?

@baseball_mom wrote:

does someone know why the payment comes after 4 (four) months? do they even have a valid reason for that?

Because they can.

Cirrus is being reported to the client. Cirrus has breached their responsibilities to the independent contractors therefore they are hard pressed to enforced the mystery shoppers agreement. Report them to the client and the more complaints the client receives...they'll employ a reputable marketing company

Cirrus pays the first week of the fourth following month. Scroll to bottom here [cirrusmktg.com] That's a long time to wait for payment. Have folks waited longer than that for payment?

I see "Cirrus" in anything, and I'm already wary. I did 2 mystery shops for them about 2 years ago. I waited 7 months to get reimbursed, even after several inquries, so I no longer bother with them.

I did my first, and now only, shop for Cirrus in June and was not paid as per their stated time.

I tried calling, got an answering service, my call was never returned. I sent an email and second invoice to an email address on their website - it bounced back, no such email address.

Finally I hassled a scheduler: Francine Bryan, she sent a very comprehensive reply which gave me 2 names and 3 email addresses that I could contact etc.

This morning I resent the invoice to invoice@cirrusmktg.com
also to Bristin Herbig's alternate e-mail for invoices: bherbig@cirrusmktg.com

And to Monnie Howard: mhoward@cirrusmktg.com.

This evening I found I had a reply from Monnie stating I had been sent paypal information... Never saw any information But when I checked my paypal account the payment was in.

I put this here to help others. I will not use Cirrus again as I feel 90 days is way too long when companies like Bestmark send checks every 2 weeks and I don't have to send them an invoice!

Finally... I know not getting paid can lead to frustration and anger, but when dealing with those who are giving you $$$, even small $$$ that you worked for... Honey goes down sweeter than lemons...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/2016 02:30PM by lueds.

I have been mystery shopping since 2012 and I deactivated my account with Cirrus in 2013 after not being paid for some audits. Other audits required me constantly resending my invoices and waiting 4-5 months for pay. Totally unacceptable!

My reaction to seeing "Cirrus" in anything: Run, run for your life!

I have done two a year for them. I like them. Why? Once I am done, it is data entry. The storage company has excellent employees who know what is going on. I feel as if my role is to improve the company not to play cop.