what are the worst three mystery shopping companies that you have ever worked for? and why?

starting with the very worst, what mystery shopping companies do you refuse to ever work for again? and why? who should we stay away from?

perhaps it had to do with customer service issues? website issues? payment issues? etc?

(if you have less than three companies, then please just list those.)

maybe at the end of the thread, we will have a 'worst mystery shopping company award' with runner-ups, lolol.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2012 06:19AM by vince.

Now what is this going to do to my New Year's resolution to keep my posts positive Oh hell, what was the chance of that happening anyway, LOL!

lolol.

1. JM Ridgeway. I'd refer anyone to my previous posts about them, but my biggest complaint boils down to just plain old bad communication.

a) They withdrew shops from me for no apparent reason, and the best reason they could give me was that 'another shopper wanted them for a route and could do them sooner'. Don't make shops available Jan 1-31, when you'll take them away from someone who accepted (self assign, prophet) them for the 15th, when you'll let someone undercut that person to do on the 10th instead. I have emails spelling out 'the reason' verbatim from the 'scheduler' (Nikki), if anyone has doubts.

b) They then changed shops requirements which made me ineligible, but this new requirement in no way restricted me from assigning the shop to myself and this new shop requriement was listed no where in the shop isntructions. You wouldn't find it until towards the end of your report. So one might accept a shop, perform it, and not find out until 90% of the way done with the report that you couldn't do it. And it was not clearly spelled out when it was posted.

I understand 'Bob', the owner (?) ripped into me on another thread, making it seem like I was upset about the changed requirement, which was no longer allowing an out of state ID, but this is not the case. It seemed that I was one of the main reasons for the change in policy yet you took no proactive steps to inform me of the new requirements. This whole situation could have been diffused by simple, polite communication, but JM Ridgeway took the reactive route (well, actually they still did next to nothing).

c) Bottom line, I don't think the scheduler knows what she's doing. She seems very green and doesn't even understand the basics of their reporting platform (ie shops still showing available, but with due dates of 2/28/11?, and yet new, current shops at the same location). If I didn't know any better, I would say they're a 'fly by night' company, which appears to be swooping in, uneducated and embarking on a variety of shops and learning nothing along the way nor building any relationships with shoppers. They were established back in 1924, right? So that somehow makes them better/experienced/established, and gives an excuse to their poor communication? Just because you've been around that long doesn't mean you're actually doing a good job.


Otherwise, I might have some companies I'm less than thrilled with, but most have been ok/tolerable. I might not have been happy with a report or two, or gotten a rejected shop, but the shops are worth it and generally they're 'ok'. I've had a few that aren't my cup of tea.

Well, VINCE and LISAstl, neither one of you listed Ur worst MSC......Whats up with that?

My worst is Franchise Compliance---b/c they never paid. Everyone else I shop for have been pretty reasonable. Whether the pay is 1 day or 120 days, at least they paid.

So FC is my worst.

What's up with that is I actually can't think of any right now and any which I felt were not worth working with have been deleted from my list and relegated to an "inactive" folder in my e-mail. While my resolution was a joke, I don't see any reason to dredge up the past when looking forward to a new year:-)

dkk5685 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> a) They withdrew shops from me for no apparent
> reason, and the best reason they could give me was
> that 'another shopper wanted them for a route and
> could do them sooner'. Don't make shops available
> Jan 1-31, when you'll take them away from someone
> who accepted (self assign, prophet) them for the
> 15th, when you'll let someone undercut that person
> to do on the 10th instead. I have emails spelling
> out 'the reason' verbatim from the 'scheduler'
> (Nikki), if anyone has doubts.

i had a similar experience with reality-based group, although it may have been an isolated incident. they were not self-assign shops, but they were assigned to me and then taken away and given to another shopper. i had never even done any previous shops with that company before. i was told that the client had put a hold on the shops that i was doing, and therefore didn't want them done, but they still remained posted and were assigned to another shopper nonetheless. eventually, when the other shopper couldn't complete one of those shops, it was given back to me again.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2012 08:21AM by vince.

sojo917 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, VINCE and LISAstl, neither one of you listed
> Ur worst MSC......Whats up with that?
>
> My worst is Franchise Compliance---b/c they never
> paid. Everyone else I shop for have been pretty
> reasonable. Whether the pay is 1 day or 120 days,
> at least they paid.
>
> So FC is my worst.

thus far, i would also rate franchise compliance as the worst, for the same reason. however, they finally paid after i threatened legal action.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> While my resolution was a joke, I don't see any
> reason to dredge up the past when looking forward
> to a new year:-)

perhaps my main reason for starting this thread is to help myself and others to avoid companies which may present a primary problem in the future. thus, my focus is not so much the past as it is the future.

#1 on my list: Intellishop, because:

a. Poor communication between editors. I talked to a Sal about an issue and then Chris sent me a snarky email about not receiving a legible receipt. When I told him I spoke to Sal about it and that Sal received the receipt, he said he didn't know a Sal. I copied the email from Sal and sent it to him. And then I got two points deducted because they contacted me. It wasn't my fault they had to contact me, so why deduct points?

b. Low paying jobs.

c. Hero citations...which I find offensive. My theory is that they give lower scores in hopes that we will jump for a chance to earn a hero citation. A hero citation is just a cheap way to get a job filled with no extra money.

d. Slow paying.

What defines a bad mystery shopping company? Without using any standards all of this is completely subjective and I don't see how that is helping anybody. Like Phoebe I don't like working for Intellishop mostly because of their pay schedule which I would define as "bad", but I know a lot of shoppers would disagree with me. If you are really concerned about signing up for a company search them on the forums and read the dedicated threads about that company and read all the posts and make up your own mind. One person's "bad" is another person's "bread and butter".

The ones that don't pay within 2 months....you and they know who they are.

I agree. This is all highly subjective. I've had great experiences with some companies that others report as horrendous, and vice versa. Reading through threads topical to each company should let people get an idea of each company's pros and cons.

Brak Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What defines a bad mystery shopping company?
> Without using any standards all of this is
> completely subjective and I don't see how that is
> helping anybody. Like Phoebe I don't like working
> for Intellishop mostly because of their pay
> schedule which I would define as "bad", but I know
> a lot of shoppers would disagree with me. If you
> are really concerned about signing up for a
> company search them on the forums and read the
> dedicated threads about that company and read all
> the posts and make up your own mind. One person's
> "bad" is another person's "bread and butter".

Phoebe70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> #1 on my list: Intellishop, because:
>

hhmm, i've had pretty good experiences with intellishop, although they don't pay alot. intellishop was actually the first online mystery shopping company that i had worked for, due to their telephone shops.

How about having horrendous and great experiences within the same company. In all my years there have only been 2 companies from which I deactivated myself. Too often a different type of project or shop comes up and is maybe handled by a different scheduler. I just ignore all the e-mails regarding shops I don't like, that don't pay enough, that have crazy reports and that take too long to pay. Meanwhile I'm waiting for that gem to come along, and they do

Any ranking system developed to bypass any bias or subjectivity is still going to be flawed. I understand what many others have already said about not having a problem with a certain company that others do have a problem with, and vice versa. Well never get around that but for the sake of entertainment and some information, this is one of the best options we have.

Just thinking about the list of MSC and 'ranking' the companies based on ones with most topics/discussions and those with the least. That in and of itself speaks a lot too. Some are most positively discussed while others are not.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How about having horrendous and great experiences
> within the same company. In all my years there
> have only been 2 companies from which I
> deactivated myself. Too often a different type of
> project or shop comes up and is maybe handled by a
> different scheduler. I just ignore all the e-mails
> regarding shops I don't like, that don't pay
> enough, that have crazy reports and that take too
> long to pay. Meanwhile I'm waiting for that gem to
> come along, and they do

lolol, the way that many posters incessantly complain about the evils of mystery shopping companies, i was expecting long lists of horrendous companies to accumulate. i had previously started a thread asking for people's favorite 10 companies with stellar results, so i thought that i'd ask for the lease favorite also. maybe it's a good thing that there aren't as many bad companies as there are good companies, if that is the case. the only company that i'd absolutely tell anyone to stay away from is franchise compliance, because they don't even pay half of their shoppers. i was trying to get an accumulated list of bad companies that we should stay away from, versus having to search through all of the threads upon signing up with each new company. pleasantly enough, no long list seems to be forming.

Direct Scheduling Services which is no longer in business and owes me $130. It was promised time after time after time.

Franchise Compliance because they did not pay until I informed the BBB and badgered them just about every day until they finally paid up.

MF blue were jerks to me at the end, but I didn't really have a huge problem with the other 300+ reports. Because of that I found this board and more companies, to which I am grateful to them! Lol
I got to expand my retail and eatery rotation

I haven't had any issues with other companies...yet. Still waiting on payments from Goodwin and Intellishop. Hasn't passed the deadline yet...hopefully they pay me. I've done a ton for intellishop and always had high scores. Hope it continues to be good for me.

I have had great experiences with dozens of mystery shopping companies over the years. To me, a bad company is one that does not pay for perfectly good shops/reports. That being said, my top three are:

1. Restaurant Evaluators - never paid on a pricey cupcake shop from April 2011 even after extensive efforts to get reimbursed. It seems that they may have gone out of business at this point.

2. Hilli Dunlap Enterprises - took 9+ months to get paid after exhaustive efforts (emails, phone calls, conversations, broken promises, BBB complaint).

3. Franchise Compliance - took 6 months to get paid after laying out a lot of money for a horrendous carpet cleaning job and having to harass them repeatedly to get reimbursed.

I don't mind Goodwin & Associates because in my experience it has only taken one payment request via email and the pay is immediately processed.

ItlianDiva Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 2. Hilli Dunlap Enterprises - took 9+ months to
> get paid after exhaustive efforts (emails, phone
> calls, conversations, broken promises, BBB
> complaint).
>

would you mind elaborating more on your experience with hilli dunlap, so the rest of us can watch out?

Mf for the reason of not using ANY shoppers who were honest to say GED and not HS or above diploma. A GED is NOT an easy way out any longer. It is tough to obtain. But they judge you are not "smart" enough to be a shopper.

On the other hand just wait till they say those of us with masters degrees are over qualified. No thanks.

Vince - There is a whole thread dedicated to Hilli Dunlap (HDE) if you search under the mystery shopping companies topic.

Just had a weird expience with GFK. I've worked for them before with no complaints but I applied for a self-assign shop, got it and tried to take the test associated 2 times. I know all the answers were correct so I e-mailed the scheduler about the problem. She said I should switch my browser to Firefox and then I could get jobs. I never had a problem before and actually am now doing a GFK shop through another company. Obviously they could not find anyone themselves. I use Internet explorer and have never had a problem. Everything I do for over 30 other companies works with IE.

If a person is unhappy with a MSC, go get a new one. Stop doing things you don't like.

Don, in Vegas


dkk5685 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1. JM Ridgeway. I'd refer anyone to my previous
> posts about them, but my biggest complaint boils
> down to just plain old bad communication.
>
> a) They withdrew shops from me for no apparent
> reason, and the best reason they could give me was
> that 'another shopper wanted them for a route and
> could do them sooner'. Don't make shops available
> Jan 1-31, when you'll take them away from someone
> who accepted (self assign, prophet) them for the
> 15th, when you'll let someone undercut that person
> to do on the 10th instead. I have emails spelling
> out 'the reason' verbatim from the 'scheduler'
> (Nikki), if anyone has doubts.
>
> b) They then changed shops requirements which made
> me ineligible, but this new requirement in no way
> restricted me from assigning the shop to myself
> and this new shop requriement was listed no where
> in the shop isntructions. You wouldn't find it
> until towards the end of your report. So one might
> accept a shop, perform it, and not find out until
> 90% of the way done with the report that you
> couldn't do it. And it was not clearly spelled out
> when it was posted.
>
> I understand 'Bob', the owner (?) ripped into me
> on another thread, making it seem like I was upset
> about the changed requirement, which was no longer
> allowing an out of state ID, but this is not the
> case. It seemed that I was one of the main reasons
> for the change in policy yet you took no proactive
> steps to inform me of the new requirements. This
> whole situation could have been diffused by
> simple, polite communication, but JM Ridgeway took
> the reactive route (well, actually they still did
> next to nothing).
>
> c) Bottom line, I don't think the scheduler knows
> what she's doing. She seems very green and doesn't
> even understand the basics of their reporting
> platform (ie shops still showing available, but
> with due dates of 2/28/11?, and yet new, current
> shops at the same location). If I didn't know any
> better, I would say they're a 'fly by night'
> company, which appears to be swooping in,
> uneducated and embarking on a variety of shops and
> learning nothing along the way nor building any
> relationships with shoppers. They were established
> back in 1924, right? So that somehow makes them
> better/experienced/established, and gives an
> excuse to their poor communication? Just because
> you've been around that long doesn't mean you're
> actually doing a good job.
>
>
> Otherwise, I might have some companies I'm less
> than thrilled with, but most have been
> ok/tolerable. I might not have been happy with a
> report or two, or gotten a rejected shop, but the
> shops are worth it and generally they're 'ok'.
> I've had a few that aren't my cup of tea.

sojo917 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, VINCE and LISAstl, neither one of you listed
> Ur worst MSC......Whats up with that?
>
> My worst is Franchise Compliance---b/c they never
> paid. Everyone else I shop for have been pretty
> reasonable. Whether the pay is 1 day or 120 days,
> at least they paid.
>
> So FC is my worst.

sojo917,

I agree regarding Franchise Compliance. I performed a Bathfitters shop for them. I had to sit through one hour and 15 minutes of a presentation from a very nice salesperson. Then I completed about a 15 minute report. I received a 10/10 rating. This was in April of 2011. In May I they showed a Payment pending for 9/15/2011 on my account. I immediately sent an email regarding the wrong date. They stated they had made a mistake and would correct it. The correction was never made. The next month, the payment went from pending to paid. I never received payment. This company is absolutely the worst. They resfused to respond to over ten emails, calls and even calls and emails from the scheduler. I finally gave up and sent them a final email regarding the company, their integrity and the reputation they had with others which its obvious they do not care. But if you want to be paid, do not shop for Franchise Compliance performin their carpet cleaning or Bathfitters shops.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What's up with that is I actually can't think of
> any right now and any which I felt were not worth
> working with have been deleted from my list and
> relegated to an "inactive" folder in my e-mail.
> While my resolution was a joke, I don't see any
> reason to dredge up the past when looking forward
> to a new year:


I think that dredging up the past would be a great help to everyone else, particularly us newer shoppers. I prefer to not get burned if anyone can share their negative experiences.

Thank you for all the reports on Franchise Compliance... I just about to sign up for a Bath Fitter shop with them. But now.. I will removed myself from their list.

IamAMystery, it is best that you do. Franchise Compliance is absolutely the worst company to work for. As far as this board is concerned, It appears the majority of shoppers complain about their unscrupulous payment practice. It seems the majority of shoppers have had some problem with receiving payment. Only a few have been paid and that appears to be after threatening legal action. I definitely will not perform another shop for them.