I have been a shopper for Restaurant Evulators in Chicago for many years doing many shops a month and very expensive ones. I have not been paid for 8 months and am contacting lawyers now. Unfortunately my expenses are over $800.00. This is one I will continue to seek out. I will contact the managers of all the restaurants since I am in the hospitality industry.

Looks like the other thread about RE has vanished.

They are no longer doing business, is seems. Good luck collecting the money you are due.

Didnt she set up shop in Washington somewhere? Good Luck. You have an uphill battle. I hope it turns out ok.

I have checked Washington, CA, and AZ
She did call on her cell phone once Im trying to find that.
She has many locations
Thanks

SteveSoCal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looks like the other thread about RE has
> vanished.
>
> They are no longer doing business, is seems. Good
> luck collecting the money you are due.


I'm seeing about six of them. It was because of at least one of those threads that I never shopped for them. Came close, as they had a great restaurant very close to me, but when I told the scheduler my concern about possibly being out money, he didn't even try to argue.

I'm so sorry for everyone who was taken advantage of.

There have been a number of warnings here on the forum, so I have deleted immediately everytime I see anything from them. I'm always sorry to see other shoppers get caught in it, though. Hope you are able to collect.

Good luck. If this company/person surfaces in another form, please let us know.

Hi Byrnes:
Welcome to the club. I have likewise been "duped" by RE. I did a restaurant shop for them in Chicago last August, whereby I paid $152 & was never reimbursed. They of course never respond to calls or emails. I have since personally visited their "offices" at 500 N. Michigan, where there is some sort of a company covering up for them, claiming that they only take their messages.
I have been able to find Yael Deutsch on Facebook, as she was the person that reviewed my report and gave me a great grade on the shop. One of her Facebook friends is Karen Call. Yael is in Wisconsin & Karen apparently fled to the state of Washington. Yael wrote to me that Karen also owes her money.
Good luck with your search & keep me posted, as I would really like to catch her and break her neck!

Glad to hear from everyone and I will pursue Karen Call. I have filed with Better Business and Illinois States Attorney.I suggest any shoppers copy their files in case she pulls the site. I copied all reports and receipts. I also worked with Yael and had a great relationship and great scores after 50 shops. I have sent her emails to see if she was still around. I have a background in the hospitality industry and will contact the restaurant managers in Chicago. I even spoke to her at length about hotel reviews.
I will post any information I receive and if more surface maybe we need a class action.I know she had problems this summer in Washington and California and has been in Arizona. She has many addresses and many extended family names.I have records of all my office calls and emails.
Thanks

yes. do keep us updated. The moderator from V-god knows Karen. maybe he might know something.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2012 01:41AM by audrialyn30.

Hi Byrnes: Did you try getting ahold of Yael or Karen on Facebook? I have also filed a claim against RE with the BBB in Chicago. They were unable to help me, as they have them listed with an "F" rating. I also registered a formal complaint with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan in Springfield. I will let you know if anything comes of that.
I will be attending the mystery shoppers conference in Rosemont coming up in March. When I'm there, I will ask other shoppers if RE likewise left them holding the bag.

not aware of V god. Thanks
Also have worked with identity search
Just pay up Karen we all did our part and well.

Karen is on Facebook. Why don't you request that she be your "friend?"

Might be interested in the conference, not aware of that event..Karen was around a long time had excellent clients Chicago. I was paid but with a long wait, she promised it would get better. Now Im out over $800.00 in 2011, I did four a month so it happens quick.

Really, would she respond? Thought we were best friends

Did you ever pay them a personal visit to 500 N. Michigan & if so, what happened? (I got into a big fight with those people.)
Yael has responded to me on Facebook but Karen is hiding. With regard to the conference in Chicago, go to the Facebook page of IMSC - Independent Mystery Shoppers Conference.
Howard

For hose new to the board, I will try to summarize the info from the missing RE thread:

-The problems had been going on for over 2 years before RE closed it's doors.
-Dee Shops and I went to battle with RE and finally got paid. We warned all on the board to shop at their own risk.
-After 1 year, the BBB finally answered that our claims would not be accepted, since they were 'business to business' and not consumer complaints.
-Many shoppers contacted the AG in Chicago.
-I personally contacted all of the RE clients and explained that shoppers were being defrauded. One answered me and dropped RE as a client.
-Yael finally chimed in here and explained that she did not get her last paycheck when RE finally closed down. She apologized and sympathized, then explained that she felt she was not responsible for the problem. The thread disappeared around that time.

I wish you luck in any class action suit you can bring forward, but if you read through these boards and learn the history behind other defunct MSCs, you will find that it can be an expensive proposition and really difficult to force the money from Karen, even with a judgement.

I'm sorry for everyone that has lost money due to the unscrupulous business practices of RE and all other shady MSCs. Like MSing scams, it pays to do a Google search when things are awry. The writing for this MSC closure was predicted 2 years ago and yet shoppers continued to work for them. I did my best to warn them......

howzer12, I am on board with anything you need to do in an attempt to get paid, but it sounds like the "business" at the address is a good old-fashioned answering service. In that case there is no "covering up" because they really won't know anything about the company and their business practices. The bigger surprise would be that the company has bothered to pay that bill long enough to keep from getting cut off!

I worked for several years and did talk to her quite often, my expenses added up quickly when I did four shops a month. Stopped in August.

No, there are actually people there at 500 N. Michigan Ave. in Suite 300. I was afraid that I was going to be given a police escort out of the buiding.

I just did a quick search on the address and it belongs to an executive search firm. I was wrong about the answering service, but it doesn't mean they were associated with RE. The name of the principal is not one I've seen associated on any of the threads.

I say it's "guilt by association." By the way Lisa, how much money did they rip you off of? It's amazing that their website is still up and operating.

I would say about the company at 500 N. Michigan that it's "guilt by association."
So Lisa, how much money did they rip you off of? It's amazing that their website is still up and operating.

Check that, it looks like their phoney website is now defunct also.

Me, none at all. I'd never heard of them until threads here. What I'm saying is the company at the address is not necessarily associated. If a company is going to behave like a scam there is no reason to believe they didn't use someone else's address. It is also a business address so it could be that it is really out-of date. Several months ago people were trying to learn about them and it may be when you were planning your visit. I did a little research and found 3 associated addresses in Chicago. I'm a real geek about things like that

Hi Byrnes: Any luck tracking down these thieves? I will be at the conference in Chicago in March. Hope to see you there.

Thanks for checkin in Howzer12.

No luck, Karen refuses Facebook contact so far. She has not refused my emails but not returning them. I intend to try contacting the restaurant managers to see if they were also stung. Guess not, got my money and a good tip.
I reviewed the conference and did not see anything I was interested in at present. I will keep everyone posted Im sure several are owed money.

Sound good. Please keep me posted if you ever do find them. The only other alternative that I could think of is that since the restaurants were basically an accomplice to the crime, that with every restaurant that you went to where RE stiffed you, go back there again and order a big meal. Then, when the bill comes, tell them "Now we're even."

I just got a Shadow Shopper email (July 13, 2012) with Restaurant Evaluators, with a link to apply there.

Shadow Shopper ad: [www.shadowshopper.com]

The link to apply DOES work [restaurantevaluatorsonline.com]

I was already registered there and when I logged in it said I had been manually deactivated and I was like what the heck? Did a search here and found this thread. I would suggest those of you defrauded apply as if you live near St. Louis and use a fake name in order to get in contact with someone there. Just go to an online white pages and look up someone named Smith in St Louis and use that address.

I am a paralegal and my suggestion is to go to the Secretary of State's website in the state(s) she is registered and look up the business and find the registered agent. Find the county that the RA is located in and get them to send you the paperwork for a small claims case against the company itself, her personally, and any other person listed on the SOS's paperwork. If necessary you can send the court a SASE to get the forms. Maybe one of you can get it, scan it to PDF, and provide that to the others. You serve the RA. The filing fees for small claims are often very low - $50 or so - but if you're already out $800 + it might be worth your while.

I am willing to help any of you that need it. I can't answer any legal questions - that's the misdemeanor of practicing law without a license - but I can help you fill out the forms. My email is farm.world.mystery.shopping@gmail.com.

Carolyn Gerding

I googled her and it said her new company address was 9017 Peacock avenue in Gig Harbor Washington. It says she is in Real Estate.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2012 12:27PM by audrialyn30.