Hello Fellow Shoppers:

It's enough that we have to wait 30-45 days for payment for our shops. What about 5 MONTHS?!!! I performed a hotel shop for The Freeman Group on February 20, 2009. As of this posting, I have NOT received payment. Oh, yes, I've emailed, called, but have been told, in part, they're having financial difficulties.

I have even emailed MSPA (since the Freeman Group is involved with them), but, still, I've heard nothing. I don't know what else to do!!!. Has ANYONE out here had any kinds of problems with this company? Any suggestions on what I can/should do? NOTE: My shop was submitted on time, done according to guidelines. So, there's NOTHING wrong with the shop and/or my online submission.

HEEEELLLLLLPPPPPP!!!

Yes, they have had financial woes from their clients not paying in a timely fashion. You can use the 'Search' feature for Freeman on any shopper forum and you will find the complaints. I am comfortable that you will eventually get paid and I have no doubt that you did what you were supposed to do when you were supposed to do it. Most shoppers have not accepted jobs with them since October 2008 or so because of the payment issues. Keep contacting them and ask where you are in the queue to be paid. For a while they were running about 9 months behind.

My goodness!!! What an outfit. That was my FIRST (and last) assignment w/that company. I just joined this forum (on a recommendation for assistance), so I was unaware, but will search out this company. The KICKER, Flash, is I have received MORE email shop notifications for the SAME HOTEL SHOP (in a different city)!!! How CRAZY is that, Flash? You would think this outfit would not have anything else to do with that client. Heck, I know their shoppers aren't going to continue to wait 5 and more months to get paid. That's TOTAL ridiculiuos!.

Thanks for the reply.

I do check their website from time to time because there are some jobs I would be willing to do for them and wait for a very long time for payment (but not reimbursement). That is MY decision and NOT what I would recommend to others. I base MY decision on having done a lot of work for them in the past that was good paying and I felt there was good mutual respect. Obviously if this was your first experience with them you will have a really bad taste in your mouth from the experience.

It is easy to be cavalier in thinking companies should ditch clients who aren't paying them on schedule. They can no more expect to do that and survive than we as shoppers can afford ditch every company that stretches payments, hands out BS about checks 'lost in the mail' and the other myriad excuses. Too many businesses, clients and companies are feeling the economic stresses shoppers are feeling. It is truly a time to watch forums to see what companies shoppers are complaining about slow payment/no payment to protect yourself--especially on shops with substantial reimbursements.

bananapepper,

You should write a letter to the client CEO and let them know how sleazy and unethical their ms company has been. Make the key point that assignments they paid the ms company to fulfill won't get done when shoppers boycott their ms company and nicely suggest they contract with an ethical ms company next time.

This is not unreasonable and screw the ICA which was already violated by Freeman. You owe Freeman nothing at this point and it's laughable for them to scare you with court action which will never, ever happen.

We all have to play hardball with all of these ms company @#$%&.

Writing a client? That would not be my first line of defense. Ever. Do you know that Freeman WAS paid by the particular client? If so, HOW do you know?

I was a victim of the very late pay, for my first and only shop, and I found a much more effective way to deal with it. Once I did, I got paid the same day. Think creatively and go out of the box. A solution that is better will come to you. And no, before anyone asks, I will not share here what I did to get paid.

Darn.

And if you contact the client and that violation of your ICA becomes known it will be a cold day in Hades before you see decent shops. Certainly not a recommended approach. Deal with the folks who owe you money--Freeman.

Arch, I don't appreciate that kind of language.

I'm NOT writting the "client", people...I'm writting to Freeman Group. You're right. FREEMAN owes me.

Sanda Sue. Hades is mentioned in the Bible and yes it does mean Hell. Even though Flash is using it out of context. Sort of like saying someone will do or not do something when pigs fly.

I think it was Stanton's calling people ho's that she was referring to, not Flash's double toothpic reference, sella

Arch Stanton Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bananapepper,
>
> You should write a letter to the client CEO and
> let them know how sleazy and unethical their ms
> company has been. Make the key point that
> assignments they paid the ms company to fulfill
> won't get done when shoppers boycott their ms
> company and nicely suggest they contract with an
> ethical ms company next time.
>
> This is not unreasonable and screw the ICA which
> was already violated by Freeman. You owe Freeman
> nothing at this point and it's laughable for them
> to scare you with court action which will never,
> ever happen.
>
> We all have to play hardball with all of these ms
> company @#$%&.



Ouch.

I would like to mention marketforce. They don't pay either so stay away from them also

They certainly do pay. Like clockwork.

Yes, that has been my experience with MarketForce as well--at least the Blue Portal portion (which is where I do most of my work for them). If you are set up for direct deposit with them and have not received payment, do check to make sure you provided the correct information and contact them. I have had several shops not paid for cause, one of which we compromised and they processed the reimbursement but not the fee because the error really was on their side of the equation.

thelovelylisa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would like to mention marketforce. They don't
> pay either so stay away from them also


I've been much ill-used by this company although there are those for whom they have been very profitable and productive. Perhaps it's a regional thing, with certain people in charge of certain areas of the country and those are the people one deals with. I have definitely NOT had happy times with them.

Market Force is not my favorite by a long way and they do have a lot of drawbacks but they pay on time every month in a very organized way so I can tell very clearly what they are paying me for. It's very easy to go back and check off the shops and be sure I got paid for each. I like some of their shops and I like being able to self-assign. The good outweighs the bad for me and I shop certain shops for them. Some I stay away from. I shopped a lot with them when I was a brand-new shopper because they always have shops and they are easy to get, probably because of the low pay. As I got a little more experienced I found jobs paying higher rates so I don't shop for them as much.

Precisely. And one of the nice parts of being an independent contractor is getting to choose what shops at what pay you are willing to perform.

dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I was a victim of the very late pay, for my first
> and only shop, and I found a much more effective
> way to deal with it. Once I did, I got paid the
> same day. Think creatively and go out of the box.
> A solution that is better will come to you. And
> no, before anyone asks, I will not share here what
> I did to get paid.

Dee, your such a tease...

I did four apartment assignments for a company and right away there were problems. First, I missed my target, who then went on vacation. Ok, that one is lost. For the other three, I continually received notices for information. A thunderstorm took down the Internet, so I faxed in the proof that I was there. Later, I uploaded them. They still hadn't received them although I had the fax confirmation, so I faxed them again. Then, one of the proofreaders said half the pay was deducted because they didn't receive proof. I sent an email saying that was unfair. I received a response asking which shop number it was. Well, they never used shop numbers in emails. Then they began asking for clarifications that in some cases were silly or that were already answered in a similar question. Today, I received a notice asking for clarification for an assignment that not only shows it is completed (It is the only one of the four still on the screen.), but when I click on the sections, all of them tell me they are completed. Well, I know I'll get paid for half a shop. The question is whether I'll get paid for anything else. I didn't have these problems the only other time I did assignments for this company.

Last night, I did a mystery shop for another company. I looked at the instructions before I went out and noticed that the company had reduced the time required in the store. This morning, I had an email asking for clarification. I didn't believe the email. It shows that I spent one minute more in the store than was required, which is correct, but it wants me to clarify why I spent only 11 minutes in the store when I'm supposed to spend at least ten. It is a "noreply" email, so I'm guessing nobody bothered to change an automatic system to reflect how long they want the MSers in the stores now.

One of my personal guidelines is that I will NOT do target shops. The only exception to that is target telephone shops where I am given the direct line and paid for dry runs that hit an answering machine or where the target is not there or unavailable.