@Catnap wrote:

@spicy1 wrote:

Advantage, btw, screens their applicants and doesn't hire people with questionable backgrounds.

That just leaves the other 250 MSC for the felons to choose from...

Advantage is a merchandising company, not an MSC. They do background checks. I work for them as an employee. Also, in order for someone to be a felon they have to get caught committing a felony crime, and while definitely wrong, I am not sure that stealing candy bars qualifies as a felony. Why in the heck someone felt the need to drag that BS into the forum is beyond me. It appears that the OP was trying to instigate and pick a fight. I am leaving this thread and all of this negativity and troll-like behavior behind.

Up to $500 is a misdemeanor. Anything over is a felony.

@walesmaven wrote:

NV does a background check, I believe. And they require fingerprints.

You are correct, Wales. There are no felons with NV work cards.

If an MSC wanted to be assured a shopper had never been convicted of a crime, they could simply require that shopper to be registered with the PILB.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Are there any felons who can do some form of mystery shopping while imprisoned, on furlough, or as part of a prisoner work program?

They could do the two dollar phone call assignments, if the MSC wanted to save money.......

@DavePi wrote:

Up to $500 is a misdemeanor. Anything over is a felony.

Different states have different laws on this.... However, most states will also permit a prosecutor to to combine multiple offenses that are individually misdemeanors into a single felony if the prosecutor can show that it is a specific pattern or chain of events. (i.e. The cashier who takes $400 every day from a cash register for 500 days will be prosecuted for the theft of the full $200,000.) We really don't know much about the specific situation mentioned. I suspect that we are talking about somebody who swipes more than a candy bar - as the motivation was to, effectively, give him/herself a better compensation than the low shopping fees offered. However, we also don't have any idea if said shopper's activities amount to the commission of a felony.

There are two interesting discussions that came come out of this thread - if approached correctly:
1. Is mystery shopping a viable enterprise for a person who has served his/her time after a felony conviction?
2. What is our responsibility as shoppers if we have acquaintances who include theft as a part of their mystery shopping experiences?

My thought:
1. Yes! Mystery shopping provides a very good opportunity for a convicted felon to enter the workforce and chase an honest life after having served his/her debt to society.

2. We need to find a way to report said shopper's sorry butt. Such shoppers hurt the industry and put honest shoppers in a position where they cannot compete with the thief by working for the same low fees. I went into more detail in another thread.

Felons as well as all applying to work in NV. need an intensive application plus a hefty fee to apply for a professional background check, being fingerprinted, work history and more. I'm speaking from experience as I have my Vegas/NV. work card and am sponsered by a Private Dectective firm. I must add the way the OP started this thread was underhanded, taking an old post from a member and lying about the contents. I abhor that, and offering only a bit in information I know something about. Not knowing the laws or felons, I am not in good faith able to speak, and feel the whole subject is a way of putting down our industry, imploying they would hire anyone, even a felon. We have prisoner's working by cleaning up freeways, helping firefights all under guard.
Just another negative thread from a negative poster. The subject may be of interest done right .I do not agree with the OP''s start of it,



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2018 06:10PM by Irene_L.A..

I know it is not up to us who MSCs have shoppers. All types of people need jobs, I believe everyone should get a second chance.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2018 07:27PM by shopper8.

My brothers and I have a convicted felon that works for us. He's a super nice guy. Hard worker. Just had the wrong friends and made some bad decisions when he was younger. This whole "convicted felon" crap is exactly that. Crap. And a big load of it.

bgriff, it depends on the crime. My neighbors were in for selling drugs. It was a long time ago, and they've both been clean for years. I don't think I'd hire a chomo or someone who had embezzled or someone convicted of burglary. Property crimes have the highest recidividism rate (and murder has the lowest.) The chomo -- just eww.

Chomo?????

Apparently it is either prison slang for child molester or a racial slur for a Chinese homosexual.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

.I too am leaving catnap, goosehoose and whoever else you are, it's all yours.

This is the third time in the last month that you have promised to leave after criticizing the moderators and other forum members. Yet in another thread today you are continuing to randomly badmouth people.

If you don't like the forum, just leave and stop the silliness.

Don't slam the door on your way out.

Person who complains under her real name > person who complains as multiple people because she's insulted she's no longer a moderator.

I don't like when people keep tabs, especially when it's out of context and when it serves no purpose but to throw it in my face. "leave den if you no like" says da hawaiian sista to da haole waihine when she says "Hey, that was my wave!". I think it's a perfectly natural reaction, especially if you don't give a rat's ass about someone's opinion and you are just chucking your bag of exasperation beans all over the floor, to say "if that's the way it is then I'm outta here." It's obvious, from how it's been going, that some people are just here to sling mud.

Keep pulling out old posts from Spicy and myself......that's what your good for, and If I stay away from all your threads, that's my business, if I choose to read them, that's my business...not yours. Let's hear about your life , I dare you...by the way, could you be a felon???? Just askin. I am recommending a new rule,one thread per month for a newcomer, let her/him prove themself's before coming on here and putting those members one doesn't know down...
Your not making friends......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2018 01:07AM by Irene_L.A..

@bgriffin wrote:

Person who complains under her real name > person who complains as multiple people because she's insulted she's no longer a moderator.

Was she a moderator?????

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

I am recommending a new rule,one thread per month for a newcomer, let her/him prove themself's before coming on.

Why not open a new thread with your ideas to improve the forum? There is a dedicated section for such matters.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Keep pulling out old posts from Spicy ........

This thread is the only time I quoted Spicy1's content from another thread. I have already explained the situation and apologized to Spicy1.

I don't always agree with Spicy1 but I do respect her opinions and contributions to the forum.

Snoop Dogg has (had?) a Youth Football League in the LA area. He allows Felons to take part in it. With one exception: Child Molesters..........Everyone else - OK! I like this. If you do something bad to a kid you should be taken out back and beaten to the most painful death possible. Everyone else in Snoop' League w/a Felony - OK. I like this

As stupid as I think this thread is, I have noticed nobody has brought up one simple item. On many MSC registrations is the question, "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"

Really? I've never noticed that but I've also never been in the slightest amount of trouble, so it's not something I would pay attention to.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2018 06:49AM by bgriffin.

And since there is no background check, it's the easiest thing for someone to just lie and say no.

@bgriffin wrote:

Chomo?????

Child molester (commonly referred to as "chomo" around here).

@JASFLALMT wrote:

And since there is no background check, it's the easiest thing for someone to just lie and say no.

Fair point. It is also very easy to lie on your taxes. But like the background check - if you get caught lying you are in even bigger trouble than if you came clean in the beginning. The Cover Up is ALWAYS worse than the Crime.

Right, but what is the MSC going to do if they find out that someone lied about it on their application? If they ever even find out. Since they don't run background checks, the applicant knows there is little chance of being found out. The MSC can terminate their IC status, that's about all they can do.

As someone who volunteers in the prison system teaching business skills to incarcerated individuals - yes, one of the best ways for incarcerated individuals who have been released to have successful careers is to start their own business. It's simple. Businesses and business owners aren't jumping to hire the next released felon. 89% of people who are rearrested are done so while they are unemployed. It's a vicious cycle that often repeats itself solely for the fact that these individuals are unable to find jobs once released.

This is why there are programs out there who teach business/entrepreneurship skills to incarcerated individuals. So, when they are unable to find a job once released, these individuals are equipped with the tools needed to help start a business and keep them on the right track. For many, it's either start a business or go back to what landed them in prison in the first place. Kudos to them for committing to a job.

As a side note - one of the taglines of the group I volunteer for is - "we are all ex-somethings."

We do an exercise in prison where statements are read - incarcerated individuals on one side and volunteers on the other. If the statement is true, you step to the line. Anyways, one statement is "I've committed a crime in which I should've been arrested for, but wasn't." When that is read, every single person in that room is at the line. Think about it - ever smoked a little weed every now and then? Give some to a friend? Lie on your taxes a little? Or a lot? Did you ever get into a fight at a bar one night when you were younger? Many of these things are actually felonies but you were just never caught. So, it's a bit hard to judge others when I've done a few things I could be in prison for.

Sorry, just something I'm extremely passionate about. Truth be told - I actually recommended mystery shopping to one convicted felon about 2 months ago, and I'd do so again in a heartbeat. If they have the skills, organization, commitment, or whatever it takes for us to do this - then good for them. If it keeps them busy working v. going back to what they did before, I'm all for it.

Felon or not, don't you think sometimes people deserve a second chance?

@jeajea wrote:

Felon or not, don't you think sometimes people deserve a second chance?

Depends what we are talking about. Child molesters.........I think we can all agree: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Is the answer. Someone who embezzles - sure...as long as they have no access to money. SOME people - 100% agree. ALL People (and I know you did not say that) - NO!

As for the part about a Felon not saying that they are one on their MSC application and then the MSC finds out about it later............rest assured that if a MSC finds out you left off the part about being a Felon and then they find out you are one they will make sure as many other MSC as possible know and let them decide your future