I don't think for a moment that Jacob is sharing our info. It might be another shopper (or shoppers) but I know it is not Jacob. You are probably right. I gave out some specifics about the conversations we had, enough so that she was able to guess who I was. In that regard, I brought this on myself. I think you are right. She was quite pleasant about it. She probably did play me. And I fell for it. Shame on me. Nevertheless, I am chilled by this experience.



AustinMom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jersey, the scheduler did not get your contact
> information from the forum, unless perhaps she or
> someone else PM'd you and you responded with
> personal information. The scheduler likely read
> your posts and identified the situation you were
> writing about and knew who you were. She got your
> contact information from HER database. Don't let
> her kid you. Jacob is not sharing our
> information. You were specific about a situation
> and in the time period that it happened she knew
> which shopper you were.
>
> As a brand-new forum poster several years ago, I
> was very naive. I believed this was a shopper
> forum and a somewhat closed discussion. It is
> neither. It is intended as a shopper forum, but
> being on the internet it is open to anyone who has
> access to a computer: shoppers, trolls, spammers
> (we get lots of those these days!), MSC
> schedulers/owners/editors/etc, clients of MSCs,
> maybe even employees of clients. There is no
> expectation of privacy.
>
> On the ICA violation, I don't have a clear memory
> of what you said, but it's debatable whether you
> actually violated your ICA or not. Some companies
> are more specific in their confidentiality
> agreements than others, but most are still vague
> about what specifically is confidential. It could
> be that the scheduler was reacting more to seeing
> her company's name on a public forum cast in a
> negative light. I think she actually handled it
> rather well: she did not come to the forum to
> confront you as some MSCs have done, she did not
> reveal your name in a public post to let you know
> on the forum that she knew who you were. She
> contacted you privately to discuss. It sounds
> like she was nice about it. She discussed the
> situation with you and you are getting partial
> payment. I'm not getting the sense that you were
> deactivated. I don't think the company is "saving
> face" - I think the scheduler wanted the post
> deleted, and now it is.
>
> And sojo, yes, jersey now knows that this company
> reads the forum. But here's a news flash: many
> MSCs read the forum. They just don't post. You
> don't know they are here but they most definitely
> are. There is NO EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY. Be
> careful what you say. Be especially careful of
> PM's. Most posters think PM's are somehow "safe"
> and totally confidential - and they are not
> necessarily. PM information can later be
> forwarded or published. And a PM-er may not be a
> shopper just because they are here - they could be
> anyone.

You did provide just enough info to make it easy. We all know where you live (be afraid, LOL!) and the type of shop and that you cancelled. It couldn't have been hard to figure out since this isn't a big box hardware store with 1,000 locations across the U.S. that each get shopped at least 2 or 3 times a month.

exactly Lisa. But....I was rather naive, thinking this was a Forum where we could safely vent. If MSCs can participate and/or prowl, it is not safe. So...I will be more circumspect in the future. Ironically, I was not even trying to trash this company (and violating my IC was the LAST thing on my mind) I really wanted information. I probably gave too much detail. I tend to do that. Again, lesson learned. The information is off the board. Jacob removed the thread. Unfortunately, he also inadvertently removed another one on ICA violations and confidentiality. Oh well, life happens.

Jersey, don't be so hard on yourself, we should be safe here. Mistrust, well, if you want to go through life like that, there is nothing wrong with trust or
being a bit naive...shame on the ones that test you or embarrass you on a public forum. I have certainly vented my head off, now I cringe and hold myself back, maybe it's for the best, live and learn, and your right life
happens. I'd still like this to be a forum for shoppers without fear.

jersey07032 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think for a moment that Jacob is sharing
> our info. It might be another shopper (or
> shoppers) but I know it is not Jacob. You are
> probably right. I gave out some specifics about
> the conversations we had, enough so that she was
> able to guess who I was. In that regard, I
> brought this on myself. I think you are right.
> She was quite pleasant about it. She probably
> did play me. And I fell for it. Shame on me.
> Nevertheless, I am chilled by this experience.

Don't beat yourself up, jersey. I don't think you were "played" so much as just that the scheduler got what she wanted and so did you. She did it nicely, contacting you privately, and you were right to concede and ask that the thread be removed because I am guessing from your post that you want to continue shopping for her. If you did not want to continue shopping for her, the choice would have been easy ... not bother doing anything. You did what I would have done if I wanted to continue shopping with the company. It is a truly chilling experience to be identified when you are not expecting it.

Austin I am not sure if I want to do any shops for that particular company because of what led up to my OP...too much oy vez, which I am not going to rehash. But...she seemed to genuinely want to know why I ended up bagging on the shops. She conceded some of the points I made. Who knows, the MSC might even change the shop (LOL) That part of it is separate from being "discovered," regardless of HOW I was discovered. I just wasn't expecting that. Being told I had violated the ICA was also disturbing. In rereading the OP I saw that I was very specific, but 1) I don't think that in and of itself violates the ICA and 2) I have seen posts on other topics, from other shoppers that are far more specific.

Bottom line: she did it nicely. she got what she wanted. i am going to be very careful about what I post.

jersen8v Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> IMHO, I don't want anyone to know that I am a MS.
> Why would I "friend" an MSC for everyone to see?


jersey07032 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> good point, jersen. I am trying to think of a way
> around that.


IF (and only if) you want to connect with MSPs, you can make yourself a facebook PAGE for your business as an Independent Contractor. This page will be linked to your facebook profile, but only for purposes of facebook keeping track of who made what pages.


jersey07032 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a business page. No one who only knows me
> from that page knows my real name/identity.


This way, you can login to facebook with your 1 email and password, and when you are there, you can disguise yourself as your page. While you are browsing with the Page's identity, you can make all those connections to MSCs, and they will only know what is posted about you on your page. Friends and family don't see that you have a page (at least I don't think so) unless you are sharing it around.

-Please remember, I'm trying to share with shoppers who are curious about how to do some social media stuff it's not my intention to come in and tell anyone who is not interested in participating in Social Media that they should. It's a completely optional practice. To do? Not to do? That's up to you

Alex, I'm a big proponent of social media in general. I'm just rather skeptical about maintaining my anonymity if using it for MS purposes. the idea of having a hidden business page seems good, but FB changes it's format and policies on a dime at times and this whole concept is still in its infancy. I would worry about exposing myself without even knowing I was doing so....

Case in point: I had an upscale dinner shop last night. The chef came over and interacted heavily with me during the meal. I woke up this morning to find a thank you from the chef (for dining with him) on my FB page. He obviously put my name from the reservation in and then matched my photo to the name.

I'm certain that this chef/manager will have this shop report in hands in the next day or two, and probably remember who I am, so now I have to monitor FB to be sure the HE does not mention it there.

Privacy as we have come to know it is decling quickly. I'm not going to do anything to hurry that along, since this job depends on me remaining anonymous.

Hi again Steve,

That's wild that they connected that quickly on facebook! Do you have your privacy settings high enough? I'm looking at mine now, and making sure that's the case. I prefer my personal page settings to be locked down fairly well. I really only want friends to be able to contact me on my personal page. That's why I think the business pages are so useful for work and MS related uses.

Agreed that's it's crazy, Alex. It's a first for me to actually have a return contact from the client via FB on a shop.

I leave very little information public with the exception of my job and my hometown, and I actually need that connection visible to make my work as a shopper seem plausible to those who may Google me while I am on site at hotels. My name is distinct, however, and my profile has a pic of my face, so it's not that difficult to connect.

I just wanted to illustrate why I'm skeptical. It's not just MSCs that are reaching out to people on FB. It's important for the clients to embrace it as well. In the future, I would be surprised to receive a FB note from the guy who cleaned my carpets or changed the oil in my car. I just don't feel like it's not the best outlet for me to be doing MS business. If it works for you...great!

Saw this in one of the hundreds of Facebook IPO articles from the past week, and it instantly made me recall this post.

"Brands have jumped on FB because of three things: 1) A huge (but highly defused) audience and 2) The typical "me too" mentality that permeates the herd mentality of big brands and 3) media buys being planned and bought by people who comprise FB's core users: 20 and 30 somethings. "I'm on FB and so are all my friends, so how can our clients not be on FB?""

Sounds exactly why MSCs are jumping on the Facebook bandwagon.

Never ever. I have a facebook acct with my cat's pic. Mostly for family pics. Once on the net anywhere, it there forever. Besides, in 5 years, FB may be gone. Remember how thrilled we were with My Space and You Tube. I never seem to go there.

Facebook has now gone public, with stock at about 33.00 a share, and the owner
one of the richest youngest men in the world...it is the #1 place to advertise
and since newspapers are out of touch, it will be around for the duration, or at least until something else replaces it. Everyone is just jumping on the bandwagon, like it or not.....

Irene_L.A. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Facebook has now gone public, with stock at about
> 33.00 a share, and the owner
> one of the richest youngest men in the world...it
> is the #1 place to advertise
> and since newspapers are out of touch, it will be
> around for the duration, or at least until
> something else replaces it. Everyone is just
> jumping on the bandwagon, like it or not.....


$38 per share was the IPO price (meaning what the company sold it to a few large brokers for). It reached the public at 11:15 this morning around $42 (what you or I would end up paying), initially crashed back to $38 and has been hovering around $41.

I had half a mind to buy in first thing this morning and dump the shares if it hit $55....which shows why I don't work on Wall Street.

gigishopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think you missed the point. Despite my security
> settings, if I comment or friend a MS company, my
> profile picture and name are shown. If I comment
> on one of their clients, I have revealed I am the
> shopper. Five degrees of relativity will
> eventually kick in and I would be figured out.

I've never heard from any friends in the industries that are shopped how they've tried to hunt down who the shoppers are in order to identify them. No offense, but people are too wrapped in their own lives to go on a wild goose chase in hopes that they discover who a shopper is just in case they're working that day and time the shopper comes by to perform the shop so they might get a good grade on the report. It's much easier to do what you're supposed to than be on the lookout for someone who's checking to see if you're doing what you should.

People put too much emphasis on keeping their identities secret. I'm a shopper. I'm an editor. I'm a project manager. Anyone who knows me knows what I do. Yet I've never been "exposed" as a shopper because of it. If I have been exposed as a shopper, it's because of the stupid questions and guidelines that scream, "SHOPPER! SHOPPER! SHOPPER!" Golden Arches and having to shop both inside and out (last time I ever shopped them) is one example. I still did them and just made sure to watch my rotation. It's not my goal to be identified, but it's not the end of my career if I am, either.

As far as companies revealing their clients, many do it all the time on their websites so Facebook is no different. The company I edit and PM for does not list client names on their Facebook page or on their website, so they stick by the ICAs that shoppers are expected to abide by. I wouldn't suggest posting a client name on their FB page but if you did, the post would probably be deleted. No one's going to deactivate a shopper for accidentally mentioning a client on their FB page. We WANT shoppers. We're not trying to alienate them. Most companies have the same attitude. They're not out to "get" shoppers so no worries about Facebook. If you don't like the idea of being friends, no biggie. Don't add them as friends.

I just performed a shop earlier this week where they told me that they check up on FB and other social media to see if some of their visitors are shoppers. I had to keep a poker face throughout! Scared me!!

Chix Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just performed a shop earlier this week where
> they told me that they check up on FB and other
> social media to see if some of their visitors are
> shoppers. I had to keep a poker face throughout!
> Scared me!!

Curious, what kind of shop were you doing that they'd mention that? My settings are all private so anyone who's not a friend wouldn't see anything juicy. I'm not worried about someone trying to crack my page to see if I'm a shopper. And as long as they don't know while I did the shop, I'm not too worried if they found out after the fact. But that's just me. I know shoppers often have a CIA need to know mentality when it comes to their line of work but I've never been too worried about my "alternate life" being exposed and it's never bit me in the butt yet. In fact, I've gotten a number of people into the business. My reputation is such that I don't worry about the local competition.

Just as an FYI, many companies do post their jobs on their FB page, though they don't post names. ACE Mystery SHopping has done that as well as posted contests with cash giveaways and those have been pretty successful with lots of participation. If wanting to know the benefits from a shopper's standpoint, they are there. All one has to do is look.

AlwaysAngie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Chix Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I just performed a shop earlier this week where
>
> > they told me that they check up on FB and other
> > social media to see if some of their visitors
> are
> > shoppers. I had to keep a poker face
> throughout!
> > Scared me!!
>
> Curious, what kind of shop were you doing that
> they'd mention that? My settings are all private
> so anyone who's not a friend wouldn't see anything
> juicy. I'm not worried about someone trying to
> crack my page to see if I'm a shopper. And as long
> as they don't know while I did the shop, I'm not
> too worried if they found out after the fact. But
> that's just me. I know shoppers often have a CIA
> need to know mentality when it comes to their line
> of work but I've never been too worried about my
> "alternate life" being exposed and it's never bit
> me in the butt yet. In fact, I've gotten a number
> of people into the business. My reputation is such
> that I don't worry about the local competition.
>
>
> Just as an FYI, many companies do post their jobs
> on their FB page, though they don't post names.
> ACE Mystery SHopping has done that as well as
> posted contests with cash giveaways and those have
> been pretty successful with lots of participation.
> If wanting to know the benefits from a shopper's
> standpoint, they are there. All one has to do is
> look.


I hear you, AlwaysAngie, I have totally private settings on my account, nothing terribly interesting etc. etc. but I really prefer to be completely anonymous.

It was an apt. shop where I had to use my real name because of my ID - and the agent was making casual conversation and that's when it came up. Even in those cases I use a slight variation of my name and so when she mentioned that she (personally, not referring to anyone else) looks I just became a little...nervous or whatever.

I did a google search on my name in quotes which I hadn't done in awhile and was a bit surprised at what came up! Had to clear all of that out! LOL!

Chix...how did you clear it out?

Hi Jersey - just deleted old accounts I forgot I had, etc. I suppose nothing is ever really "cleared out" in cyber space - but I just deleted old stuff.

I just caught up with this thread. and I'm very disturbed that some Scheduler/Editor theatened Jersey with violation of the IC contract.

First of all, Jersey may have been complaining about not being paid.

AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE DO WITH DEADBEATS.

Not everyone goes to Better Business Bureau to complain.

In the business, this is the place to put the name of the deadbeat or beaching
MSC, Scheduler or Editor.

And Jersey did not break the contract. The IC did by not paying her and/or not paying her on time as they themselves have written when they would pay in their IC Contract.

If you've been screwed by a Scheduler, An Editor, or an MSC Company you go ahead and post it here with their name in giant letters.

I was contacted by an MSC who had not payed me in a timely fashion as promised. The $100 lie. Remember. That person had the brains not to threaten me, but PM'd me that he recognized who I was, of course because of the late non-payment, and was quite nice trying to assure me it was all some kind of big mistake.

They are still sending jobs to me, calling me, and I still have not taken any.
But if I am dealing with an MSC who screws me over financially,or otherwise, be assured you all will know about it, and names will be named.

Jersey's problem had nothing to do with non-payment since she had not even completed the job at that point. So the company in question is NOT a deadbeat.

However, Lisa

Jersey felt threatened by the person saying she was in violation of the IC agreement. That was a not so subtle threat.

When the MSC's are in violation themselves by naming their clients on FB and every place else, should it go to arbitration or court, they wouldnt have an fn
leg to stand on.

A threat of retribution is a threat similar to blackmail.

If it happened to me, I would print the company and the person's name here and every where in large letters, and save the email for proof.

This is not China where you are blackmailed with harm if you dont do what the company demands.

Ok. I WAS feeling threatened. But then I calmed down. I doubt I violated the ICA but I am going to be very careful about what I post. Shopalong, thank you for your concern, but facts is facts. Lisa is right, I was kavetching about the level of detail about a particular shop (actually a group of shops that HAD to be done as a group for an MSC i had never shopped for before.)When I posted I really wanted to get feedback on this company and help in doing the shops. I am still not sure,but I may have given too much info. When describing the shop. Looking back. It seems the scheduler was able to figure out who I was based on this level of detail. In other words, I have a big mouth! In the future, I'm going to have to learn how to post without going into so much detail...or not post at all. The sheduler actually paid me a token amount for my time. Was it enough to truly compensate me for my time? No. But since she was under no obligation to pay me ANYTHING I am satisfied this MPC is not the devil incarnate. I will not out the company but if someone else mentions them I will say something like this. "the shops seemed to be convoluted And I did not think I could do them successfully. There was a lot of back and forth. In the end, I was paid a nominal fee.". I will not say more than that. If a company does not pay me I will post about every chance I get. This was not one of those times.

Thanks again to everyone who has shown concern. And for all those who have given constructive criticism!

this Facebook thing and the way it is being abused by those who have a little bit of authority is getting out of hand.

Today there was a young girl on TV with her parents. I didn't quite get whether she was in grade school or high school but she looked no older than 14. She had put a You Tube video that she wrote and acted in for a class assignment about bullying up on her FB site. The school had checked he FB account, misconstrued the intent of the video,and demanded that she take the video down or they would suspend her. They told her if she agreed to take it down they would not suspend her. She took the video down and the school suspended her anyway for 5 days.

Fortunately her parents were not the type to cower in the corner and went to the news media with her and showed how people with some small amount of power abuse it.

And then there are employers who check FB to see what employees are saying about them. Complaints and they find themselves fired.

Freedom of Speech ? whatever happened to that ?

And it has certainly spread to MSC companies. I was recently asked on an MSC application to give my FB and Twitter name. Really ??? What's next ?

I like and use Facebook, but I personally will not use it in any way for mystery shopping. Only family and a few close friends know that I do this and I prefer to keep it that way. I really don't want to set up a second account just for connecting with MS companies. I have a hard enough time keeping up with email and the one FB account I do have. I don' think companies should be using it to post jobs there rather than on the job board. In addition to is fine, but not instead of. I don't know if they are, I'm just saying.

shoppinalong Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>>
>
> I was recently asked on an MSC application to give
> my FB and Twitter name. Really ??? What's next
> ?


Now that's the Mystery shop company I want NO part of !!!!!!!!!


And even if the mandated it, I would not submitt. :-)

Just because those sites are out there doesn't mean everyone uses them. I highly doubt that's required. I do not and will not use Twitter. I go through phases with Facebook. If I was forced to include a user name, I'd make one up like "DontHave AnAccount". Or I'd get really creative and see if they could figure it out: Donna Have Ann Account.

sojo917 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> shoppinalong Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >>
> >
> > I was recently asked on an MSC application to
> give
> > my FB and Twitter name. Really ??? What's
> next
> > ?
>
>
> Now that's the Mystery shop company I want NO part
> of !!!!!!!!!
>
>
> And even if the mandated it, I would not submitt.
> :-)

I'm on Twitter more than Facebook. Regardless, my Twitter account is anonymous and there is no way I will share it. A lot of my Tweets regard political causes and I'll be damned if any companies I contract with need to know.

Lisa....I agree. I love Twitter. And I love some aspects of FB, especially my tutoring and art pages. But, yep...I sometimes voice my political opinions (or let Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert speak for me) so...no one needs to know. I don't share with business/professional associates unless they were my friends first. I don't friend my clients or anyone connected with them.