Hello wonderful forum members

Tabitha from Bare International here, it is that wonderful time of the month again.... Payment Processing Time. This is the time when we begin processing payments to our loyal and hard worker shoppers. This is also a time for a great many questions to pop up in my inbox. I am always more than happy to help and in that spirit of helping, I thought, why not share some general information with you all here to address the most common questions I receive. And so for your viewing and discussing pleasure... I give you a payment FAQ

Q. I just received notice of payments via email for two assignments. However, I had $4 of expenses for parking at the above evaluation. I sent the receipt via email right after sending in the report. Can you please add this to my payment?

A. I see that your question pertains to a specific shop and the reimbursements involved for parking.

Please log in to your account on our website and reference your Shopper Log. In the "Actions" column you will see a link titled "comments".

These comments are direct from the shop posting and should include a statement of maximum reimbursement and which reimbursements are permitted.

Should you still have questions after researching this, please reach out to your project manager directly in follow up.

You can access your project manager's email address using the "Help/Contact" link in the same "Actions" column.

..... the above scenario happens with many different nuances and in regard to many different shops. Sometimes it is questions about additional expenses being reimbursed, sometimes it is a discrepancy in the reimbursement amount or even the fee amount. We are always happy to look into these matters and address them. Your project manager for the specific shop will always be your most efficient point of contact for matters of this kind.

Q. I just received notice of payments via email, it says I will receive a check, but I have recently moved and my address has changed.

A. I am more than happy to attempt to catch your check prior to it leaving our office for the general USPS delivery system, please reply with your first and last name/your current and correct address/and also take a moment to update your address within our system. Changes to our system can take up to 25 days to process, so it is imperative that you make changes as soon as possible so that they have time to take effect prior to your next payment processing.

....this scenario occurs more often then one might think. Sometimes we humans are transient and our addresses may change; it is important to realize the turn around time involved in updating information within our system. It is a big system with much to track and update, 25 days is the time frame one should allow when changing an address and also banking details.... speaking of banking details.....

Q. Still getting paid by check. Updated several months ago for direct deposit. Can you see what the issue may be?

A. Certainly, I am happy to look this up. If there were more than 25 days between the time you set up your banking details and the pay processing period, and your banking details are correct and complete in our system you should not be seeing any issues. Also, keep in mind that payments over $500 are payable only by paper check per company policy. I am happy to look into your account and trouble shoot this for you. You can also feel free to dial Bare directly and ask us to verify your banking details for you. Never send routing/checking numbers via email for verification for security reasons.

For now, I leave you with these three common questions and the address to our FAQ page which is a great resource for many a question a shopper may have [www.bareinternational.com]

I am happy to further discuss/clarify if need be within the forum and will be following the topic. I am also always more than happy to assist via email and will share my email at the close of this post. Many thanks to this wonderful forum for creating a supportive and educational environment for shoppers!

All the best,

Tabitha Barbarito
Office Manager Bare International
tbarbarito@bareinternational.com

Thank you for that helpful post!

Great post and quite informative. I do have a question about this:

"Also, keep in mind that payments over $500 are payable only by paper check per company policy."

What is the purpose of that policy?

Tabitha, thank you, but doubt it will cut down on the number of emails you get.

In my experience, Tabitha and Bare do a great job of paying on time and accurately. There's just one thing that I think could be done better. Would it be possible to change the format of the email payment advices so that they would be easier to import into Excel? Currently each shop is shown on two lines. If each were on one line, the data could easily be copied and pasted in to a spreadsheet.

Anyhoo, thanks for the informative post and the friendly approach to shoppers.

@tjr wrote:

In my experience, Tabitha and Bare do a great job of paying on time and accurately. There's just one thing that I think could be done better. Would it be possible to change the format of the email payment advices so that they would be easier to import into Excel? Currently each shop is shown on two lines. If each were on one line, the data could easily be copied and pasted in to a spreadsheet.

Anyhoo, thanks for the informative post and the friendly approach to shoppers.

Copy and paste into note pad or write pad or something like that manipulate the data then copy it into the spreadsheet program. That's what I do with the Paypal statements. I once saved it as a PDF then saved that as a text file then copied to a spreadsheetLot of work.

Yeah, that's more or less what I do. It's a fair amount of work and could lead to errors. Paypal has an export feature that works pretty well with Excel, no need for multiple conversions.

Awesome helpful information. Thank you!

I was wondering what if you need to change the direct deposit bank information? How would someone do that?

LisaSTL

Thank you

The policy is in place for security and documentation reasons that protect and benefit both our valued shoppers and us as an MSC.

tjr,

I will happily pass this feedback along. We are always looking to improve and value feedback such as yours that helps us to do so!

gypsymonkey,

Happy to help!

To update direct deposit account information, follow the instructions below:

Access your main profile page within our system, scroll down to the “Additional Information” section.

You may see a "change" option to the left of the box, if you do, choose that option.

Ensure your curser is in the box, erase any dots you see using the backspace and delete keys.

Now, you will enter your routing number followed directly by your checking number followed directly by a capital letter “C” to indicate checking account.

Ensure that there are no spaces.

You will insert the sequence listed above once and then again to confirm/verify in the second box.

You will then click the “edit shopper profile” button in order to save your information before navigating away from the screen.

Please keep in mind that all changes and updates can take up to 25 days to process within our system.

Payments will be processed to the address associated with your profile at the time of processing if you were not set up for electronic transfer deposit at that time.

Never hesitate to email directly with any other questions/concerns

Tabitha Barbarito
Office Manager Bare International
tbarbarito@bareinternational.com

Thanks for the info. Just received my check right on time .

Dear Tabitha,
Perhaps you could find someone at Bare to tell me why I stopped getting Shop invitations over a year ago. I have gone directly to the board and applied. I never get a response. I am shopper [personal info removed]. I show as active. My name is susan Trost. My email is [personal information removed]. Thank you for any assistance you can give me. Susan

Mod note: Susan, your personal information has been removed to protect your privacy. This is an open forum and can be seen by all. Please PM or send an email to Tabitha at the address she gave below.

SUSANSDCA,

Hi Susan, I have looked into this for you and I am happy to discuss this matter with you. I do not want to share information directly relating to your standing with Bare on a public forum and so for the sake of privacy, I would ask that you send an email to me directly at tbarbarito@bareinternational.com and we will look into this further. Thanks for reaching out Susan. I look forward to assisting you with this further.

Tabitha Barbarito
Office Manager Bare International
tbarbarito@bareinternational.com

I have done literally hundreds of assignments for Bare and have found them to be: understanding if there are issues such as inclement weather/family emergencies, etc.; schedulers who are communicative and pro-active as well as editors who suggest improvements to make future reports more concise/professional etc.

Additionally, the Office Manager, Tabitha, has been very pro-active in researching the very few issues that I have had regarding payment (the faults were of my doing, btw).

It would be great if all MSCs were as professional as Bare and conduct their business in a similar fashion and values us, the "boots on the ground", as valuable assets to be treated with the respect that we deserve.

I've read before it has something to do with security and that is what baffles me. Sending paper checks via USPS is less secure than using direct deposit via verified accounts. Almost ten years ago I was working for a company as they were transitioning all of their vendor payments from check to wire/ACH because of the increased risk of fraud and theft with paper checks. I still don't understand how it could benefit your shoppers when it delays payment and increases the chance of lost or stolen checks.

@tbarbarito wrote:

LisaSTL

Thank you

The policy is in place for security and documentation reasons that protect and benefit both our valued shoppers and us as an MSC.

@tbarbarito wrote:

Also, keep in mind that payments over $500 are payable only by paper check per company policy.

Not that I've ever been paid over $500 at a time by one company, but this, to me, defeats most of the purpose of having direct deposit to begin with. It's bad enough to have to deal with paper checks for companies that don't offer DD, but I'd certainly be quite unhappy to wait on a $500+ DD only to get a paper check. (It was bad enough when one MSC sent me about $30 via check with a PayPal email address on file.)

Do you happen to know the logic behind this policy? Why was it implemented, and what problem(s) is it supposed to solve?

Not only can paper checks get lost in the mail but an thief could easily steal the only info they need for ACH fraud the account # and routing #. This is something everyone should think about when using paper checks.

I think the issue of security is one internal to the MSC. I suspect that they have a limit of $499 on PayPal payments in order to keep someone inside the company from sending a larger sum of money to someone via PayPay. Presumably, the paper check system includes more people who must approve and finally sign and then mail the check. So, the "security" issue is in my opinion an issue of internal MSC security, rather than the security of the check once it gets put into the mail.

There should be a way for the MSC to improve internal security / checks and balances, but that it what I think the issue is. There may also be some sort of PayPal policy which comes into effect at $500.

I once got told by Bare that if the amount due was over $600 a check was sent but lower amounts were direct deposited. This month though my check was for $117. It seemed unfair that the harder I worked and the more money I was owed, a check was going to have to be waited for, deposited and possibly floated for a day by the bank before I could spend my money. I often had to decline shops at the end of the month while waiting for my money. And then I would lose out on shops and income while waiting. One time I was out of town and expecting the check to be direct deposited and it wasn't. And I had to have somebody Send me money to get home for my route. I would appreciate it if you all would fix this system so that nothing like that ever happens again. I've had to start assuming that I'm not going to have my money from Bare until it's actually in the bank. Unfortunately, that means that sometimes at the end of the month I have to turn down the bonused shops. I have stockpiled some cash now so that that doesn't happen anymore. But most shoppers don't have that stockpile or they wouldn't be probably Mystery shopping. My amount due from Bare is generally over $600 per month. I'd like to see them switch to direct posit for everything. Then I can depend on my income being deposited on the 20th instead of a check arriving on the 20th or the 21st or the 22nd and then having to be deposited. Sometimes I'm not home on that day because I'm out on route. I need my money to be in the bank and not in the mailbox. I've had this discussion with two or three other people at Bare but it hasn't been resolved.

Hi everyone, it seems that our policy regarding payment of larger sums is a hot topic.
We appreciate and value feedback, and your voices are certainly heard.

I will take a moment to reach out to all of you who have posed further questions regarding this policy and just reiterate and clarify that larger fee pay outs (over $500) are audited to ensure accuracy of said amounts. An extra check and balance is for your benefit. 20+ years of experience with this policy in place have validated the logic of this policy.

Additionally, I want to share again a link to our FAQ page. [www.bareinternational.com]
There are many policies and procedures (including the above mentioned policy) outlined via this page. It is a great resource for familiarizing yourself with our policies and procedures. We want to ensure that you are aware and comfortable with our policies and procedures prior to choosing to complete evaluations with us. We realize that you are dedicating your time and energy to your shops and we do not wish for our valued shoppers to experience surprises in payment processing methods and timeframes.

I hope this post has been helpful and informative.

All the best to all of you

Tabitha Barbarito
Office Manager Bare International
tbarbarito@bareinternational.com

I agree with the poster who suggested there are additional verification processes in place at Bare designed to prevent problems for the company. As many have stated, for shoppers it is a hindrance and places a lot more risk on the transaction. The stated benefit, ensuring accurate payment, could be accomplished regardless of the payment method. Additional verifications would not just ensure accuracy it would prevent internal fraud. IMO, I would rather receive a direct deposit for the wrong amount than have a check stolen from my mailbox and fraudulently cashed. The former could be corrected simply and quickly while the latter could takes weeks or months to straighten out.

I've only shopped for Bare during one month. As a Canadian I got a cheque. I was surprised it was still in the envelope when it arrived though. It was not shut by the time it got to my door. If I had had to request a replacement for something that had had nothing to do with me, I would have been pretty ticked off.

I have occasionally recieved checks, and I have to admit that it is nice when that happens since it means that I am receiving a lot of money (it is most likely to happen when I do a lot of scenario C shops).

And my April check was for $117, not an amount exceeding $500. And I guarantee you when the first Tim my $600+ was not deposited and I was in Las Vegas expecting it to be there on the 20th and it was in my mailbox in Arizona, I was very miffed. I can roll with it now because I have savings to fall back on, but since most shoppers need that money in the bank, direct deposit is more convenient and much safer.