They dinged me $5.00! I didn't have that much in the account but I was surprised that they did that. Does anyone know if PayPal does this?

Paypal does not do that. There is another thread dealing with this issue including a response from Ace.

Here is a recent discussion of the PayQuicker fees. This is only one of many.

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

I've had an account with PayPal for 15 years. I've never had a fee and I never had a problem (except when some idiot tried to get into my PayPal account, and they locked it until I verified with my bank).

I stay away from PayQuicker. ACE is the only MSC that uses only PayQuicker with no other form of payment. PayQuicker has a long Site User Agreement that includes, among other distasteful things:

XXXXX

Inactive Accounts
If you have not initiated an instruction through your Account for a purchase from or a deposit to your Account for six (6) months, your Account may be classified as inactive by us. Subject to applicable law, we may charge an inactivity Fee on the Account for each month that the dormancy continues thereafter. The Fee will be discontinued when transactions resume or the balance of the account has reached zero, at which time the Account will be closed.
XXXXX

and

XXXXX

Fees
You are responsible for the payment of any Fees set forth on the Fee Schedule relative to the use and operation of your Account and the Services. You authorize PayQuicker LLC to deduct applicable fees from your Account. If the Account has insufficient funds to cover the Fees you authorize PayQuicker LLC to initiate a payment from your Funding Account in a sufficient amount to cover the Fees and any overdrafts to your Account that may have occurred, together with all costs of collection. We may, from time to time, revise the Fee Schedule and will notify you as the law requires.

XXXXX

READ the Fee Schedule. You won't like it.

PayPal, yes, PayQuicker, NO.

I haven't shopped for ACE since they instituted the PayQuicker crap. Don't need punitive actions nor loss of money. The heck with PQ.

someone at ace is likely involved with pq that is why they use them.
Only valid explanation. Nothing like making money off your own shoppers
by sucking the money back!

I LOVED working for ACE. Although they never had many clients/assigments in my area, I like the staff and enjoyed the way they work. Despite really liking ACE, unless they someday have an alternate payment choice, I won't be able to shop for them again.

I guess I won't be looking for shops on Ace either if their only form of payment is PayQuicker.

I didn't mind it a bit until the time I forgot to sweep a payment right away and eight months later I discovered they had taken not one but two penalties without even bothering to email me that they had done so. They did refund one of them when I squawked but refused to refund the other.

So ... no more Ace for me either. I only ever did a total of three shops for them anyway but I'm not even sure it was legal for them to consider an account inactive without first notifying the account holder that their status was about to change.

remember way back in February they claimed they were "looking into"
using another provider. Considering every other msc uses one of 3
options, how can it possibly take them so long?

@AustinMom wrote:

Here is a recent discussion of the PayQuicker fees. This is only one of many.

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

Thanks I will take a look at it.

I just checked my PayQuicker account...@#$%& charged me too! I didn't even have any funds in there - they charged me and I have a negative balance.

Clear Evaluations was using PayQuicker for a while, so that's the bulk of why I used it. Going to close that account and just not shop for Ace, ever....

I looked and also have a negative balance. I'm waiting for my payment from Ace, which isn't very much to begin with and I've got to pay this dormant fee?? This isn't going to happen to me again. So, glad I read this thread. I guess Ace and I will part ways until they change their method of payments.

How do you close the account with payquicker?

@kathygry wrote:

I looked and also have a negative balance. I'm waiting for my payment from Ace, which isn't very much to begin with and I've got to pay this dormant fee?? This isn't going to happen to me again. So, glad I read this thread. I guess Ace and I will part ways until they change their method of payments.

Yes it's sad. I really like Ericka, but I wish that they could find another way to pay. I like keeping my mystery shopping money

Thank you for mentioning this. I just closed my account.

I closed my a few weeks ago with a negative balance.

The MSPs are using them because they pay less fees on their side to use them. We pay the fees.

Until a large number of people refuse to use Payquicker, you may have to switch who you take work from.

So far, the only MSC that I know of that offers PayQuicker only with no alternative payment method is ACE.

@AustinMom wrote:

So far, the only MSC that I know of that offers PayQuicker only with no alternative payment method is ACE.

Same here, Austin Mom. I really liked working with Erika, but that wasn't enough to make me sign up for the money grabbing entity known as PayQuicker. When ACE started using PQ exclusively I was afraid other MSC's would also start mandating the use of PQ. Apparently, other MSC's were smart in letting ACE "test the waters". Shoppers are wising up and not falling for the "you MUST" stuff anymore including offering only one unethical payment option.

@kpmccord wrote:

I closed my a few weeks ago with a negative balance.

The MSPs are using them because they pay less fees on their side to use them. We pay the fees.

Until a large number of people refuse to use Payquicker, you may have to switch who you take work from.

I wonder if they can go after you if you have a negative balance?

I wonder if they can go after you if you have a negative balance?

I kind of doubt PQ would go after anyone for that small an amount. Court costs and attorney fees would make such a move laughable. I doubt they could even get a collection agency to place a call since the negative balance would be so small.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2015 07:38PM by bestofbothworlds.

I have not shopped for them since mid November last year. I did transfer out all funds and have a zero balance.

I just checked and there is no $5 charge. For those that have negative balances, did you leave funds in the account or were you at a $0 balance and gained exactly a $5 owed balance? The way I read the contract, if you have a $0 balance, the account will automatically close for inactivity. The $5 fine only kicks in when you leave a balance in the account.

@scanman1: I closed my $0 balance account with PayQuicker yesterday, using "Live Chat". The conversation went like this (they sent me a transcript):

PQ: Was there a problem with the account or an issue with PayQuicker?

Me: No, however I've been reading Mystery Shop Forum and keep seeing posts by shoppers who have been charged a "dormant account" fee by PayQuicker.

PQ: I see. If the account isn't used then closing the account is the best way to avoid dormant fees. The account has been closed. You will receive a confirming email shortly. We"re sorry to see you go!

(heart)

Yeah, I bet they're just broken (heart)ed about it.

We have had complaints from shoppers about PayQuicker charging dormant fees. After addressing this with PayQuicker, we have not been able to come to an agreement for our shoppers to not be charged a fee for each month they have no activity in their account. For this reason, we have been searching for another method for shopper disbursements. Honestly, we are holding our head in our hands in disbelief of these additional fees AND the treatment some of our shoppers have received with PayQuicker chat staff. We are so incredibly sorry!

The good news – we have decided to start doing Direct Deposit immediately. If you want to close your PayQuicker account, please feel free to do so. The new provider we have chosen to facilitate the direct deposit is Dwolla. They are a cash-based payment network that provides real-time, low cost for companies(100% free to shoppers), online and mobile payments. Dwolla securely connects individuals and businesses to their existing financial institutions via the Internet to move money efficiently and safely. This cardless and paperless network addresses countless risks and issues associated with legacy payment networks.

We really hate to inconvenience shoppers, however, before sending disbursement we will need to get a W9 form filled out. The IRS requires we have this information since we no longer have PayQuicker to verify identity. We have a quick and easy method of doing this online here. [rightsignature.com]
Don’t worry – we are also sending this information via email to all shoppers as they complete shops or are due to receive disbursement.

Why use Dwolla?
No waiting to receive your physical check’s
Your banking information remains confidential and is not transferred or released
100% FREE to shoppers, low cost for us

How do I sign up to receive payment?
[www.screencast.com]

So you can see why we have chosen Dwolla, here’s how it works on our end:
[www.dwolla.com]

What if I have questions?
You can visit Dwolla’s Support Center at [help.dwolla.com]
Email or call Dwolla’s Customer Support at support@dwolla.com and +1.888.289.8744
Security [www.dwolla.com]

It is so easy that even if you not read this entire post, I promise you can figure it out!

Julie Simbro
ACE Mystery Shopping

Another provider no one's ever heard of. Thanks for the info, Julie. Let us know when ACE wises up and offers PayPal as an option again!

Julie -

I just used the online form for the W-9 submission. It worked well, although my signature looks as though I am just learning to write in cursive. Heopefully the rest of the new process will work well also.

I thought that it was interesting that DWOLLA is a service provided by a credit union (Veridian Credit Union). One of the pages might be interpretted to mean that when I receive a payment, that I owe them $0.25, BUT - I have carefully read their terms of service, and it is Ace which owes them the $0.25 charge when you send me money. Of course, the proof is in the pudding, and none of us know how well it will work until one of us gets the first payment and reports back here (I am willing to be the guinea pig).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2015 03:56AM by myst4au.

@bestofbothworlds wrote:

Another provider no one's ever heard of. Thanks for the info, Julie. Let us know when ACE wises up and offers PayPal as an option again!

In order to do direct deposit, every company has to have provider that they outsource to. Whether it be companies like ADP or PayChex (for checks or Direct Deposit), PayPal or whatever. Unless we are an actual bank, we cannot deposit money into your bank account without the help of a third party vendor. Dwolla is no different than those companies, with the exception that we are being open and honest, about our choices. We have chosen Dwolla in part because it is easy, free to shoppers and economical for us (even more so than PayPal). While I'm sure that every payment method is not going to please everyone, we are trying very hard here to choose the solution that is best for most everyone. Believe me, there have been many REAL tears shed at our office over the heartbreak of losing good shoppers because of our past decision to use PayQuicker. We are trying hard to accommodate as many shoppers we can and I'm really sorry if this doesn't work for you.

Thanks!

Julie Simbro
ACE Mystery Shopping

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2015 04:06AM by JulieACE.

@myst4au wrote:

Julie -

I just used the online form for the W-9 submission. It worked well, although my signature looks as though I am just learning to write in cursive. Heopefully the rest of the new process will work well also.

I thought that it was interesting that DWOLLA is a service provided by a credit union (Veridian Credit Union). One of the pages might be interpretted to mean that when I receive a payment, that I owe them $0.25, BUT - I have carefully read their terms of service, and it is Ace which owes them the $0.25 charge when you send me money. Of course, the proof is in the pudding, and none of us know how well it will work until one of us gets the first payment and reports back here (I am willing to be the guinea pig).

Don't worry - we've received lots of W9s over the last hour and they all looked like they were submitted by a 3rd grader (You should see mine!)

Yes, ACE assumes all of the fees when we pay shoppers! And Yes, it is Veridian Credit union that facilitates the transfers. I see you have done your research.

Thank you!

Julie Simbro
ACE Mystery Shopping

@JulieACE wrote:

@myst4au wrote:

Julie -

I just used the online form for the W-9 submission. It worked well, although my signature looks as though I am just learning to write in cursive. Heopefully the rest of the new process will work well also.

I thought that it was interesting that DWOLLA is a service provided by a credit union (Veridian Credit Union). One of the pages might be interpretted to mean that when I receive a payment, that I owe them $0.25, BUT - I have carefully read their terms of service, and it is Ace which owes them the $0.25 charge when you send me money. Of course, the proof is in the pudding, and none of us know how well it will work until one of us gets the first payment and reports back here (I am willing to be the guinea pig).

Don't worry - we've received lots of W9s over the last hour and they all looked like they were submitted by a 3rd grader (You should see mine!)

Yes, ACE assumes all of the fees when we pay shoppers! And Yes, it is Veridian Credit union that facilitates the transfers. I see you have done your research.

Thank you!

Julie Simbro
ACE Mystery Shopping

Thank you, I really appreciate it!