has anyone else had problems with Market Force employees promising to pay higher amounts only to not be paid the agreed-upon amount? Worse, not being paid at all after two months awaiting a significant cheque and reimbursements from movie tickets (for theatre checks)?

I have learned that market force has temporary workers that tend to field calls (which is unsettling, especially when the calls have to do with urgent trailer and theatre checks/patron counts). I have had to spend a great amount of time pursuing which person said what, getting employees to send e-mails with the agreed-upon amount (and not always getting said e-mails, a fact which I would discover after doing the shop once I were home and checked my e-mail account) and dealing with Market Force to get the amounts. To this day I am still owed well over $500.00 yes, over $500.00.

I have worked for Market Force since 2005, but the payment problems of the last few months have been far too severe. Some of the money owed is for movie tickets, which means that not only have I not been paid (and no, there have been no problems, just non-payment and all manner of excuses) and have since removed myself from Market Force's availability list. The non-payment problem has prompted me to sit down with a US Postal Inspector owing to the nature of the problem (monies sent across state lines, inter-state bank accounts and all that).

Has anyone else had such problems with Market Force? If so, what did/are you doing to resolve it?

I will offer that if one starts getting messages from Market Force (whether via e-mail or over the phone) that conflict with what they state on the MF Web site (such as the "five days" for payment inquiries, when MF personnel will later state it takes up to 12 days), this is a red flag.

There is considerable discussion on the forum about the old Certified Field Associates which is now a part of Market Force. It is the 'purple portal' and just a whole lot of folks have had issues with bonuses not getting paid and generally getting jerked around, often ending in sudden termination as a shopper for them.

That is indeed the one: the Purple portal and the up-state NY office.

A dingbat scheduler in Denver also has serious truth issues.

I will certainly keep this thread updated as developments occur. I will also be glad to offer any contact information on CFA/MF as I am finding it rather difficult to find contact information let alone personnel accountable for payment matters. There is quite a bit of "Oh, there is no specific person who handles payments" and all that when it comes to questions about such matters.

No, always paid on time and what I am owed.

Justme615 Wrote:
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> No, always paid on time and what I am owed.


They started that way with many of us but it changes over time.

Justme615 Wrote:
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> No, always paid on time and what I am owed.


Well I have been with Certified, aka Market Force purple for quite a while and am nearing the completion of 4800 assignments. I have always been paid the rates for the assignments, including any bonuses offered. I can expect a direct deposit every 14 days on average. I have also done shops for Shop n' Chek, now known as Market Force blue and paid proper each time. The grocery store shops that usually don't pay a fee and only reimburse I simply ask for a fee and they grant it. When they call asking me to take a location I always make sure to get a fee with no refusals.

always paid what i am owed.. usually 6-8 weeks from assigment date completed

SO far I've not had any issues with MF or the Certified Section either although I find their payments so low for what they require that I seldom accept their assignments.

I like Market Force the best. I've never had a pay problem. I especially like their policy of a range of dates for an assignment, easy reschedule system, and easy report forms. They also offer an interesting variety of assignments.

I only discovered the purple portal in Nov. but have been with blue for over 6 months. Apparently I am one of the only shoppers in my area. I call in weekly and ask about past due shops. They usually give them to me for double or more the fee being offered online. So far I have been paid correctly and twice a month. I hope it continues. It sure helped this Christmas.

Well I just accepted a theater assignment for late May so I will have to update you all as to how payment goes.

I had a problem with Market Force (Blue Portal) not paying the bonus amount that the scheduler had told me I would earn. Next time I will ask the scheduler to put it in writing in an email.

Regarding Certified (Purple Portal) I've really had to stay on top of them for payment. There's been at least 4 times where they forgot to pay me for a job. Irritating.

Metro Force

sorry you're going through this. I commiserate.

For everybody and every company you work for:


may I suggest that you not go out and do the shop til you get the confirmation email of the bonus that they said they would send, and of course tell them you wont be doing the shop until you receive the email of the agreed amount fee and bonus.

Apparently the company works on the clout system.

Everybody pays their dues one way or another.

Never had any problem with payment or bonuses. Love them!

Anytime I have a call from MF to do a shop that will pay higher I ask them to follow up with an email. This way I have validated that I was quoted the higher rate. I have not had a problem with them sending me any emails. This works well for me.

Twice this week I came home from doing a shop to find that "I cancelled it" which I did not. Once they were able to put the shop back so I could enter the results. Today, they could not as they had given it to someone else. So I am out the amount I had to spend on top of the bonus money. Has anyone else had this problem?

I got a call this morning from Rosa asking me to do another fast food assignment. I explained why I was hesitant, telling her about the canceled jobs and the Help Desk response. She was great! She said I was the second shopper who had this problem and she would look into it. Well within the hour, she called me back telling me that the job was ready for me to submit. Now that is great service! I feel much better now.

Odd that some of the people who are gungho about MF have 4 posts on the forum or 13......makes you wonder if they are connected to the company in some way doesn't it.

Meanwhile I just got an email from MF and they have a lot of $4 jobs and some
$12 FF jobs in my area and I was going to ask what they are about and how bad the reports are?

But if they are playing games with paying , why bother.

This is really nuts. If you worked in an office would you wait 30 or 60 days to be paid? If they didnt pay you would you keep on working for that office?

It think someone who is good at excel should help us all by starting a thread of alphabetical non pay mystery shop companies.

All you need to do is look at your CPI. If the pay is not what you agreed upon, give them a call.

and ask if they are a temp working there or someone really employed by MF itself.

LOL! I just started posting on this forum, but have worked as a MS and posts over at Volition for the last seven years. I love MF from the beginning. I shop 4 star hotels, spas as well as FF, banks and cell companies. Sometimes I don't need the stress of writing another 3 hour report for $120 dinner with bar. So, I'd take some easy shops from MF to de-stress. It's a balance thang. I have been "shopped out" of several chains from MF and I will never be able to do them again, but when they offer a bonus, it had always shown up on the CPI, as promised. I DO NOT do any work for the purple portal. Oh, regarding if I work for MF, the answer is NO. They have always been more than fair.

i work for purple portal i have no troblem get pay from purple portal

I had a problem and sent the email the scheduler sent me as proof. I did receive my bonus. After that I made it a habit to always ask them to send an email confirmation regarding payment. This was on the merchandising side of MF but I will apply this rule to any company that calls me.