Market Force has got to be joking...

Now I reactivated my profile with Market Force's movie division where you do patron checks, patron reactions, installs, ect...

I just got an e-mail about a patron count, and I remember years ago I used to make a decent dime doing that kind of work. Now I am wondering what kind of trick father time is playing on my memory. They expect people to work all day for $45. I mean this has got to be a joke since from say noon until 11 PM you are running back and forth between your home and the theatre all day, or you are staying there all day to do this work. Who seriously does this for a mere $45?

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

Already a member? Log In.

I also work for MF. Have been for 6 years. I only do the theater standees and usually get a bonus. I don't do the low pay projects and let them know that some of the projects don't pay enough.
I've never known them to have a sense of humor.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
@LisaSTL wrote:

I've never known them to have a sense of humor.
That's just what I was going to say.
We are thinking alike a lot latelysmiling smiley

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
I used to make $150 - $200 per day doing patron counts. I was on good terms with the theaters, so I stayed all day. They let me hang out, use the internet between shows, and stay in their employee break area between shows. I wasn't allowed to bring in food or drink, but I could leave and if I bought one soda they would refill it for free all day.

Silver certified for 11 years and happily shopping Arizona!
@fyrekittyn wrote:

I used to make $150 - $200 per day doing patron counts. I was on good terms with the theaters, so I stayed all day. They let me hang out, use the internet between shows, and stay in their employee break area between shows. I wasn't allowed to bring in food or drink, but I could leave and if I bought one soda they would refill it for free all day.

That's what I see as real money, and for that I'd do it in a heart beat, but $45 for the day for 1 screen is a joke. One refill of my gas tank, and all my profits go down the drain.
A few years ago (I think it was MF) they had theater jobs where you would need to do the first seating on each screen playing, watch the movie and get patron counts and audience reactions. With several screens playing every 1/2 hour I would build teams of my daughter's HS friends who would do a screening and we'd meet for lunch afterwards and gather the data. It was the only way you could get summer blockbuster done when it was on 6 screens in a cineplex. Much better than sticking around all day. The kids loved the free movies on opening day. It was fun being the cool mom for a change smiling smiley

~~*~~*~~*~~ kal ~~*~~*~~*~~
Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just forget to load the film.
When I did the trailer checks several years ago, the managers of the theaters would shaggy you out of the place when the movie started. It was offered at the time as "see movies for free". Not in the theaters I did. 15 page beast report. One night and done for me
MF had an expert level install offered recently that required 2 people and would take an expert almost 5 hours to complete. So two people, for possibly 6 hours, was laughable. I would never do any of these. Not worth it.
@cindy55 wrote:

When I did the trailer checks several years ago, the managers of the theaters would shaggy you out of the place when the movie started. It was offered at the time as "see movies for free". Not in the theaters I did. 15 page beast report. One night and done for me

I never got that line, but most of the time the manager's left me alone to work once I got in.

I almost wish someone from MF read this thread, and realized because they bid so low, or are so cheap, good people won't work for them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2016 09:58PM by OldDog.
I'm technically a certified field agent for their movie division too. But I have NEVER performed one because it just seems like they want to pay peanuts for jobs that should be so much more. But I shouldn't be surprised cause they do the same thing with their mystery shops. Every start of the month they throw out these ridiculously low fee numbers for jobs....the shocking part is there are people that pick them up. I want to slap those people in the face cause they're the reason marketforce gets away with it lol
@1JJ I'm fairly new to MS and realized quickly I had lost money on numerous jobs by the time I had completed the shop, time it took for report, gas, and data plan. I couldn't believe they were putting jobs out there at that rate...they should try it themselves. Anyways I am wondering if you are saying at the beginning of the month Companies put jobs out at low rates and then eventually those fees if nobody bites?? I wasn't aware that happens. What is an example of this? thanks for listening to a newbie
Back when Market Force also did merchandising jobs, which they stopped doing maybe five years ago, they never paid worth squat for that, either. They'd pay a flat rate, say a job should take only 45 minutes, the job actually took 90 minutes, and since it was a flat rate, you had not a prayer of getting paid for the extra time. Even the jobs that could be done in their estimated time frame actually paid way below minimum wage by the time you did all the admin work with printing/reading the paperwork, uploading photos, and data entry. I'm still registered with them, but have avoided their trailer checks and patron counts. I did one standee install for them maybe six years ago. That was okay, but they often don't have much of that available in my city. It took forever to get paid by them, too, for any of the work I did for them!
Why do they offer rates so low if the majority of the shops will be sitting for months collecting dust? Is is possible the company can't afford to pay any more than what their offering and that's why these shops won't get done until someone accepts the payout?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2016 08:42AM by JasonHunter79.
I've only been doing the trailer checks and audience reaction checks for Market Force. I did one of those patron count things for $90 per day, and I had to be there both days. But that was HARD.. 9 am to 11:30 pm two days in a row is far too much like work for only $90. and now they've cut it to only $45.

They also used to do a "covert" shop where you went to see the same movie all day and do the patron counts that way.. it paid a little more and you could watch the movie which is good. At least until you get to the 4th or 5th time and can recite every line in the movie. lol The hard part of that one was supposedly being covert, I changed my shirts, scarves, glasses, canes, purses.. trying to look like someone else, but it doesn't work, by the end of the day they know who you are.
@JasonHunter79 wrote:

Why do they offer rates so low if the majority of the shops will be sitting for months collecting dust? Is is possible the company can't afford to pay any more than what their offering and that's why these shops won't get done until someone accepts the payout?

Because in many areas someone does take these low paying jobs. ( in my area they are gone the same day without bonuses) Every time I see a magazine or on line article about making money from home, or a TV segment about how someone is making $60,000 a year mystery shopping, there are a large number of people that sign up with several of the most mentioned, lowest paying MSC's and take the "easy" sounding jobs. After a getting a rude awakening as to the time these "easy" jobs can take, they learn.
If you want to get into the field, you can look at it as free training and get some experience on how the whole process works. In that situation, the low fee jobs can have a use.
The more you learn, the more you can earn.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2016 07:41PM by cindy55.
Funny thing last week Market Force was begging for people to do an easy job in my area, and no one was biting. It was Friday, and I was doing my scrap work to finish off the week, so I reached out to them. We cut a few deals, and I made a decent buck off of them.

I can't speak for everyone, but I wish companies that hired us as IC realized that in a sense we pay the same bills they pay, and those of us who are smart aren't going to work for 2-3 days straight for $135. We do need rate to go up or yes we'll work normal jobs no matter how much we like doing free lancer work.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2016 07:22PM by OldDog.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login