The thread was Be Aware of Your Surroundings, [www.mysteryshopforum.com]

Wow. That guy was pathetic. What a bad name for mystery shoppers. I'm sorry, but if I was going to court over a case that I felt I had a good reason to sue over, you better believe I would be well prepared, organized, and familiar with my documents! He embarrassed himself, and based on his attitude and demeanor, I would suspect that he has trouble in any job he has tried to hold.

@Nova2000 wrote:

Wow. That guy was pathetic. What a bad name for mystery shoppers. I'm sorry, but if I was going to court over a case that I felt I had a good reason to sue over, you better believe I would be well prepared, organized, and familiar with my documents! He embarrassed himself, and based on his attitude and demeanor, I would suspect that he has trouble in any job he has tried to hold.

Hopefully you are referring to the TV Judge program involving a shopper suing MF, and NOT the mystery shopper who was attacked and robbed, and then had the scheduler lie to the CEO of the Company about it, as referred to in the 5 pages of the post immediately referred to above yours in the link given by roflwofl. In THAT scenario, my empathy/sympathy is all with the shopper, and I hope he/she did get a settlement made, and that all is well!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2016 04:27PM by guysmom.

@guysmom wrote:

Hopefully you are referring to the TV Judge program involving a shopper suing MF, and NOT the mystery shopper who was attacked and robbed, and then had the scheduler lie to the CEO

Yes I was referring to the tv judge video. The other thing that absolutely cracks me up in that video is the ridiculously dramatic tone of voice by the narrator. Also I'm curious how you know it was MF? I didn't catch where they ever named the shopping company.

@Jay C wrote:

There was one TV case on The Peoples Court where a shopper sued Market Force. Judge Marilyn Milan was the presiding judge. The shopper appeared and an attorney for Market Force appeared. Judge Milan showed great interest in mystery shopping and asked questions. The attorney for Market Force said all that was necessary to be a mystery shopper was that a person "be breathing." The shopper was suing because he said that Market Force had not paid him for several shops. The shopper had not kept good records, and when he presented his documentation, it turned out that he had performed those shops for a different MSC. Market Force had brought documentation that the shopper had been paid for every shop he performed for them.

Nova, The only reason I mentioned that it was MF was because Jay posted the above on page 1 of this post, so I'm going by that.

In the original thread from 2013 [www.mysteryshopforum.com], a BusyBee found the attorney's information in a Colorado legal directory and the directory listed MF as her employer and even printed her MF email address. She isn't at MF any more, she is here [www.prospectridgeacademy.org] and lists MF as her previous employer. (sorry for the excessive detail regarding an old thread, but undoubtedly someone will try the link that BusyBee gave 3 years ago and come back to this thread and say that the link is invalid, so I'm trying to avoid having to re-establish how MF was identified as the MSC)

What was interesting was that the attorney mentioned to the judge that MF once paid the shopper even though MF didn't owe him the money. The squeaky wheel gets greased once again!

A couple of years ago, I believe, a shopper took Bare to small claims court over non-payment of a shop. If I recall correctly, the negotiated agreement was that they were to pay her half the fee. And I think she felt that was fair. Not sure about the details or settlement, though. It was awhile ago.

A company wouldn't pay me --- which I thought was unfair. So I told them I'd file a complaint with the Greater Business Bureau and I did. I got paid quickly, fully aware I'd never be allowed to work for them again. If you're wronged, stand up for yourself. File a GBB complaint or go to small claims court if you are really passionate about it.

Wow; I missed the thread about fellow shopper jackaroe. I hope he/she got the high six-figure settlement mentioned. And I hope the arrogant MSC owner (who didn't bother reading the thread himself) and the lying scheduler are out of business. And I hope jackaroe has healed both physically and mentally from that ordeal. Imagine getting attacked, injured, car stolen, etc., and being harassed without justification!

I took a mystery shopping company to small claims court a few years ago because the client removed me from their program. I had worked for the ms company for 12 years and graduated to hotel shops. The client said I did some things wrong but they weren't specified in the instructions and were things I had done for other shops in the past, plus one of the restaurants wasn't open the time the website said it should have been. I was scheduled for a few travel shops with quite a bit of money I put out for flights and hotels that I wasn't reimbursed for in addition to not being paid ir reimbursed for the job in question. I felt the ms company should have defended me based on my history with them as a top shopper but they didn't want to risk losing the client. I got some $ back but not all and they told me I could continue to work for them but I never got the good jobs again:

Both my wife and I shop the East Coast, and Market Force regularly reimburses parking and tolls in the full amount. They do not pay mileage. We have never had a toll rejected, and I would say that one third to half of our shops have them.

I might also add that this has been the case at least since 2012

I pay a lot of attention to legal cases involving MSCs and there are not that many. I cannot find a single instances of an MSC having paid any kind of settlement in the four figures, let alone six figures, so I will have to consider that to be apocryphal, which is a fancy way of saying "made-up."

There is one legal action of interest, but it has nothing to do with a shopper reaping those payouts. It was a fraudulent action settlement where a training company had to pay the FTC.

[www.ftc.gov]

@BuffaloNY101 wrote:

Edited: to change Human Bean to Human Being

And a real hero.

It's important to remember that the jackaroe lawsuit was not about a shop or fees. Ultimately, it wasn't about mystery shopping at all; it just happened to play out in this forum. The situation evolved because the MSC's CEO personally accused the shopper of libel, of violating the ICA, and threatened him/her with tortious interference in making a living. Come to think of it, this might have been a lawsuit against the CEO himself, not the MSC. Jackaroe's lawsuit doesn't equate to any case brought to small claims court to recover fees or reimbursement.

I hope Jackaroe recovered from his/her injuries and if anyone knows what became of Jackaroe, please tell.

@ChrisCooper wrote:

It's important to remember that the jackaroe lawsuit was not about a shop or fees. Ultimately, it wasn't about mystery shopping at all; it just happened to play out in this forum. The situation evolved because the MSC's CEO personally accused the shopper of libel, of violating the ICA, and threatened him/her with tortious interference in making a living. Come to think of it, this might have been a lawsuit against the CEO himself, not the MSC. Jackaroe's lawsuit doesn't equate to any case brought to small claims court to recover fees or reimbursement.

I hope Jackaroe recovered from his/her injuries and if anyone knows what became of Jackaroe, please tell.

I'm actually not sure what jackaroe might be able to collect money from the MSC for. Maybe emotional distress? Because it upset him that the CEO may have threatened to sue him, because the CEO was told by the scheduler that jackaroe had broken his ICA? Or maybe a settlement to make him go away?

jackaroe's last update on May 9 was a post that he stated was reviewed and approved by his attorney. He said in 10 days he would file suit if the MSC did not settle. I have no knowledge of the outcome, but jackaroe has continued to log in to the forum. His last visit. was 07/15/2016 04:47PM.

Shoppers fit a number of different profiles - including 'brain dead'

@ChrisCooper wrote:

It's important to remember that the jackaroe lawsuit was not about a shop or fees. Ultimately, it wasn't about mystery shopping at all; it just happened to play out in this forum. The situation evolved because the MSC's CEO personally accused the shopper of libel, of violating the ICA, and threatened him/her with tortious interference in making a living. Come to think of it, this might have been a lawsuit against the CEO himself, not the MSC. Jackaroe's lawsuit doesn't equate to any case brought to small claims court to recover fees or reimbursement.

I hope Jackaroe recovered from his/her injuries and if anyone knows what became of Jackaroe, please tell.

even with this description, it says NOTHING that should result in civil damages in 6 figures. If the MSC was in the wrong in any way...the person would have to suffer financial damages (lost income, etc)......

@jmitw wrote:

even with this description, it says NOTHING that should result in civil damages in 6 figures. If the MSC was in the wrong in any way...the person would have to suffer financial damages (lost income, etc)......

Yes, that's it exactly. As jackaroe posted in the thread, the CEO did threaten jackaroe's future ability to make a living.

@ChrisCooper wrote:

@jmitw wrote:

even with this description, it says NOTHING that should result in civil damages in 6 figures. If the MSC was in the wrong in any way...the person would have to suffer financial damages (lost income, etc)......

Yes, that's it exactly. As jackaroe posted in the thread, the CEO did threaten jackaroe's future ability to make a living.

Yes, but how much lost income might we be potentially talking about? Even if the CEO had contacted every other MSC in existence to blackball jackaroe, which he apparently did not make any attempt to do, how exactly would jackaroe's future ability to make a living be impacted? Since jackaroe was not blacklballed, the only lost income is the income with the company itself. And I am sure that company's ICA spells out the independent contractor status and states that there is no contract and no guarantee of future assignments. We are talking very low-pay, one-at-a-time assignments, and jackaroe does not make a six figure income mystery shopping. I'm not seeing a six figure settlement here. Maybe a couple hundred to make him disappear.

I don't think you can make assumptions about how much could be lost. In a business where reputation is everything, to damage someone's reputation with other companies could easily result in losing tens of thousands of dollars. Think about the shoppers who make $40,000 to $60,000 a year. Two to three years and the number is up to six figures already. The real question would be if the CEO of one company could influence other companies. If they cannot, or if the influence is minimal then the loss might not be too much. It would surprise me to find another MSC wanting to dump a reliable shopper over a little hearsay.

Exactly. I don't think the CEO followed through on his comment to spread the word. Even if he had, I doubt the CEO could be that influential with other companies. I don't believe jackaroe could prove any damages in court. If he is working with an attorney, it sounds as though he has an attorney who is working on a contingency basis, promising he will not be paid if they don't win. The standard with contingency lawyers is that they go for a high number - "a high six figures" - and, in the event of a win or a settlement, the attorney gets 40% plus expenses. If there is no win or settlement, the lawyer gets nothing. Chances are very good it will never make it to court and it will settle for a couple of hundred dollars, a nuisance fee. The attorney's expenses will come off the top and the attorney will take 40% of whatever is left, if there is anything left after the attorney's expenses.

threatening a supposedly anonymous person with libel violating an agreement on a message board does not damage a rep...and besides if he really did lie and violate the agreement....the MSC is doing nothing illegal by spreading the word.

threatening future ability to work and actually doing it are 2 different things...and if jackaroo was in the wrong, nothing wrong with the threat to tell the truth about him

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/2016 09:56PM by jmitw.

I'm guessing that there's a possibility the MSC's CEO's actions could have been construed as "cyber harassment," considering the contact and the threats the CEO was apparently making. Whether or not the actions of the MSC actually rose to illegality that could successfully be prosecuted in court, who knows? But the possibility of jackaroe changing his/her mind and naming the MSC, the CEO, and the scheduler--and specifying their actions--might have been enough to make a settlement the wisest avenue.

I mean, what shopper would ever want to work for that company, given its reprehensible actions?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/2016 10:02PM by BirdyC.

@BirdyC wrote:

But the possibility of jackaroe changing his/her mind and naming the MSC, the CEO, and the scheduler--and specifying their actions--might have been enough to make a settlement the wisest avenue.

I mean, what shopper would ever want to work for that company, given its reprehensible actions?

Most shoppers, while oohing and aaahing over stories told by other shoppers here n the forum, make their own decisions based on their own experience with a company. I would think this would not be worth more than $200 at most. The possibility of an anonymous shopper posting on a forum would not be a tremendous shocker. We read posts about reprehensible behavior all the time. Sometimes it's true. Sometimes it is not. Sometimes it is partially true but partially not. And sometimes a company has come in and told the rest of the story when a shopper told us a really, really horrible story. And suddenly the shopper's story did not seem so horrible.

First, many shoppers would know the MSC and probably be more likely to believe the MSC that they had worked with rather than an anonymous stranger posting on a forum. I can guess the name of the MSC based on jackaroe's comments, and I will still shop for the MSC. Second, we've already established that only a very small fraction of mystery shoppers actually visit the mystery shopping forums, so even if a percentage of shoppers on this forum declined to shop for the MSC, how would that really affect their total number of shoppers?

If jackaroe decided to name the MSC, the MSC might decide to post and tell us their side of the story. They might even name jackaroe and blow his confidentiality as several MSCs have done in the past.

But because this forum isn't private (anybody can read it), people (not just shoppers) looking for information about the MSC could find the information just by a Google search, if the MSC were named.

I can't guess the MSC by reading jackaroe's post, but I, personally, have no reason to not believe the situation was as presented. If I did know which MSC it was, I wouldn't shop for it. But, as you say, people have the right to decide for themselves.

I don't think anybody can guess at the settlement amount. But I can certainly believe that there was a settlement. And I can believe it might have been more than $200--if indeed there was the possibility that this CEO could have damaged jackaroe's reputation to the point where jackaroe could have lost thousands of dollars in potential income. And I don't think we have any way of knowing whether or not that would be a possibility. As Lisa points out, the potential loss of income, if "provable," could run into the thousands. Courts don't look kindly on companies adversely affecting a person's right to make a living. Severance and non-compete agreements have been voided based on that.

$200 would be a small-claims amount, and it didn't seem as if jackaroe was talking about a small-claims action. But, again, we don't have the details. So all of our speculation is just that. Nobody knows for sure.

@BuffaloNY101 wrote:

wow what a fool this guy was in the peoples court case. I so wanted to see the guy win initially but it became clear the longer the case went on that he was a disgrace to all legit mystery shoppers. My only complaint is the constant line used by these msps that any breathing human being can do this job. This guy proves that false as do many others fly by nighters who come on this forum to complain.

Edited: to change Human Bean to Human Being