I am not happy that I signed up for the SHADOW SHOPPER "free week" and now have to pay for 90 days ($39.99). I NEVER recall seeing that I would AUTOMATICALLY be charged for this service. I recieved this email from Johnathon there:

Here's the membership agreement:
7 DAY FREE TRIAL MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
On the 7th day of your 7 day trial membership, your credit card on file will be charged for continuing membership for the time period you have specified, monthly, 90 days (default setting) or 1 year, based on the preferences you have set on your Account Information page. You may request NOT to have your credit card automatically charged for renewal anytime during the 7 day trial period by either changing your account preferences yourself on the Account Information page located at [www.shadowshopper.com] (select "I'll do it myself. Don't automatically renew." under Account Renewal Preference, or by emailing us a notification of your intent to prevent automatic renewal prior to the time of renewal. If neither of these actions are taken prior to the renewal transaction, you agree to pay the full renewal charge. NO refunds, for any reason, will be issued after the renewal transaction has occurred. You may choose to cancel your membership after the renewal transaction has occurred, however, no refunds will be issued, either in full or for the unused portion of membership. Choosing to not automatically renew your account upon your membership expiration date will result in cancellation of your membership. ALL SALES ARE FINAL.

Has anyone else fallen into this charge without wanting it?? Seems like I would have noticed this...Seems sneaky that they do this and then offer no refunds, not a good way to make friends in business. I would NEVER charge my clients for three months of a service and not at least pro-rate if they were unhappy with my service. Not very good business ethics.


IS THIS AGREEMENT POSTED WHERE YOU SELECT THE FREE WEEK? IF IT WAS BLATENTLY THERE I KNOW I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT TWICE (AGAIN), EVEN THOUGH I HAD FOR MONTHS, ON DOING THIS!!!!

I signed up for a free trail membership in March, then accepted their blandishments to upgrade it to a three-month gold membership for a total cost of $30. The terms and conditions were clearly expressed,I thought,and the first thing I did after joining was to delete my credit card number and change my preference to "I'll do it myself -- do not authomatically renew."

Am I glad I did it? Absolutely! The greatest value of ShadowShopper, as I see it, is that you may well discover an excellent company or two that you will never find any other way. In my case, I was contacted by a company that does not appear on any of the lists of MSCs I have seen. In the two months I have been working for them, the fees earned have equalled 40 times the cost of my membership.

Did I renew? No. My area is supposedly saturated with shoppers and there is not a lot of work generally available at the moment. The email notifications I received were mainly for jobs I had already seen, or for tempting assignments of the "drive 50 miles for a $12 purchase-and-return" variety. And I doubt that lightning will strike a second time!

Kmcphotg, since you've made the investment, voluntarily or not, I am sure that you can make it work for you and recoup your costs. Sign up with every new company that ShadowShopper brings to your attention,and you are bound to earn more than you paid out!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2008 10:18PM by LadyBugg1.

Hey LadyBugg,
Yeah, I am signing up with all the new companies that come along, finally found out who does the Long Horn shops! Also, bookmarking all the companies so I can sign up when I have more time.

I checked on my info on the site and see that I have checked the "Ill do it myself--do not automatically renew." So I am really confused at why I was signed up for the three months.

I just did not expect a $39 charge, money is tight now. And I honestly did not want to have a three month paid membership! Why would I have check "Ill do it myself--do not automatically renew" if I wanted it??

I just think they have a bad business practice at this point.

Sorry if i sounded a bit glib, kmcphotog -- that really is not right on their part. It's unlikely that any of us started mystery shopping when we were rolling in spare cash, and an unexpected $39 charge hurts.

It's more than a bad business practice. It's illegal if she checked the box.

Now Johnathan says that "they" checked the box after I contacted them...but I never wanted to continue after the "free" week.

Honestly, I am really annoyed at the company now.

this site opened up door to all kinds of shops, mystery displaying merchandising,et. that i otherwise would never have hit on. by the way this off the subject but am hoping to get information non any company I could sign up with for driving a free car for advertising car wrap? or something like it anyone can you please help?

this site opened up door to all kinds of shops, mystery displaying merchandising,et. that i otherwise would never have hit on. by the way this off the subject but am hoping to get information non any company I could sign up with for driving a free car for advertising car wrap? or something like it anyone can you please help?

thanks bea

I always stayed a Bronze member and never paid any money to shop. I tried that a few years back and ended up having to discontinue a credit card to stop the charges. I never got any shops from my paid membership.

But this time around I stayed a Bronze and have gotten many leads from Shadow Shopper. But a word of caution. I get a couple emails every day saying "Shops in your area" and as it happens the shops she is emailing I am already a shopper. But I go in and check to see if there is something I have missed along the line. And the shops she is mentioning aren't even posted or they are in Knoxville....400miles away.

I think what I am getting from the site is a gimmick to encourage me to become a silver or gold member. Ain't goin' to happen.

I answered your question about wrapped cars Bea in your original thread.