@Shop-et-al wrote:

So back to the gig. Are the majority of recipients really going to go ballistic, pull a weapon, take a hostage, or otherwise endanger the mystery shopper/delivery person? Probably not. But people who believe that recipients are going to go ballistic are going to shy away from this gig and possibly carry a lifelong unsupported belief about strangers. We are supposed to be objective. Is this happening? But this is not the most interesting. part of the job.

For me, the most interesting aspect of the gig is the payment. This sounds like a messenger job with a twist. Regional pay for messenger service + fee for a few pics = a reasonable payment. YMMV.

I agree to a point. Recipients will respond in many ways, the vast majority of which will be of no consequence to the delivery person. The violent response is going to be a rare thing I'm sure. You might do a hundred or a thousand of these with no particular problem. I suspect the occasional bad response would typically be more along the lines of some yelling or maybe a shove. Maybe a thump to a car fender or hood. But we are talking about people who may well be facing the loss of a lifetime's equity along with all the trickle down consequences to relationships and social standing that come from that level of stress. For that rare person who's just plain had enough, no response is off the table. When the odds eventually catch up to a person doing a lot of these the stakes could be high.

Discretion is the better part of valor. Why voluntarily put your self in the proximity much less cross hairs of somebody who is under that kind of stress and running out of options? Risking rush hour traffic to get a shop done at a burger joint is one thing. This is something else.

As you point out though it really comes down to the money. For a fee that represents a quarter or a fifth of an ER visit (or dent removal service) maybe I take that risk. But for a fee that represents less than 1 percent of an ER visit the risk/reward calculation is not going to land on the "go ahead" part of the scale for me,

@guysmom wrote:

I recently mailed a letter to my insurance company....Certified AND Return Signature......total cost: less than $6.00 via USPS....why couldn't We Go Look just send a certified/return signature to the person for half of what they are asking someone to do that is risky??? I'd never do this job.

Speaking as someone who has done collections for small business, here's how that goes when you're looking to get a debtor's attention and collect on a debt with a certified letter. About 1 in 20 times, the debtor finally realizes that you're serious and figures out a way to get you at least a partial payment. The other 19 out of 20 times, they just don't accept it or won't sign for it. So then about 10 days later, it comes back to you. It's unopened and the signature was never obtained. But now there's a rubber stamp added to the corner that lists the date and time for each failed attempt to deliver it. It's sometimes but not always handy if you want to prove to a judge that you've continued to try to collect the debt so you can get a judgement docketed but it isn't always particularly useful in actually getting them to put the money in an envelope.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2019 07:34AM by JustForFun.

For this conversation, it's an MSC, and the client was never mentioned.

@NanaKefalas wrote:

We go look is not a mystery shopping company. It is a crowd sourcing company.

For anyone interested, in California they just passed a law on debt collection. The statue of limitation on debt collection is 4 years. In the past, debt collectors would go to court and get a default judgement on any old debts if you didn't show up for court. You would have to prove the debt was over 4 years old, to remove it. Today, the debt collector cannot take you to court until they have proven the debt is over 4 years old. They even have to send you a letter telling you they cannot sue you for the debt, because it's over 4 years old.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2019 02:51PM by johnb974.

I have performed many of these confidential door delivery of document gigs, and so I speak from experience. I was charged at and threatened while taking required pics from the street. My car was also boxed in while parked on the street by same guy so I could not depart. I am a senior female and he was younger than my youngest child. When I was forced to call 911, and when the cops showed up, they sided with the assailant, saying to me " I would not want anyone taking photos of my house either " I presented my letter of authorization and ID, and while I completed the assignment, I overheard the assailant and cops discussing his problems..divorce..job loss..bank issues, etc. as though this was a justification for his aggression at me.
I have also had neighbors intervene while taking the required photos, threatening to call cops or demand I leave the area.
All this for the sterling sum of...twelve bucks. Nope. I choose to pass on these risky gigs. As an IC, it's my decision. If it were simply a matter of taping an envelope to the doorway and verifying the delivery, that would not be so bad, but several photos, inc. of the vehicle verifying the VIN while on their property ? Nope.

and I know other companies that perform similar services and hire on IC's for " verifications" are gearing up for more business in the future, since there's talk of a recession coming.

This doesn't apply to secured loans, and that's what those door delivery "looks" are all about: secured loans in default.

The VIN! That's invasive. Wow, it really does sound like a job for a private investigator. I am glad you survived those experiences and decided not to put yourself in those possibly-dangerous situations anymore.

How did a debt collector of your neighbor get YOUR phone number?

@johnb974 wrote:

I've gotten calls from debt collectors who wanted me to go to a neighbors house and see if they were home. I've always said, do it yourself.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

How did a debt collector of your neighbor get YOUR phone number?

@johnb974 wrote:

I've gotten calls from debt collectors who wanted me to go to a neighbors house and see if they were home. I've always said, do it yourself.

They just start calling people in the neighborhood, hoping to find someone to do it.

I've done two vehicles and I had to make an appointment with the car owner. They opened the car so I could take the interior pictures, including the VIN.

A friend of mine was an assessor for an insurance company. This was exactly what he did, but for much less money ($21).

@sestrahelena wrote:

The VIN! That's invasive. Wow, it really does sound like a job for a private investigator. I am glad you survived those experiences and decided not to put yourself in those possibly-dangerous situations anymore.

In my state, that would be considered a privacy violation if the collector in any way discussed the business of one party with another without consent.

@honey those standard vehicle inspection " looks " are OK. have never had an issue with them. It's the requirement when performing those confidential door delivery " looks " that the vehicle in mention on the instructions be verified if on the property. WGL= good company with responsive staff. Never got stiffed ever. I would personally avoid those * confidential document delivery " looks. Too many un-hinged people out there.

Exactly! There are too many unhinged people to take a risk like that. These are people's homes. During the mortgage meltdown of 2008, this 90 year old woman shot herself when the sheriffs came to take her house.

It's a matter of time before the gun get aimed at the messenger.

I was just unsure how they are obtaining people's phone numbers. That seems really strange to me.

@johnb974 wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

How did a debt collector of your neighbor get YOUR phone number?

@johnb974 wrote:

I've gotten calls from debt collectors who wanted me to go to a neighbors house and see if they were home. I've always said, do it yourself.

They just start calling people in the neighborhood, hoping to find someone to do it.

I was just reading an article about that on TopClassActions.com!

@SS4U wrote:

In my state, that would be considered a privacy violation if the collector in any way discussed the business of one party with another without consent.

One reason for doing this, the bank wants to know the person is living there. Sending it by mail does not help with that.

I'm sure there are a few people who would do this shop for the thrill or drama.

It is actually extremely easy to get legit phone numbers.
Google works wonders... Takes a little while but totally possible.
I tried it looking for a lost uncle.... found him second phone number I tried.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I was just unsure how they are obtaining people's phone numbers. That seems really strange to me.

@johnb974 wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

How did a debt collector of your neighbor get YOUR phone number?

@johnb974 wrote:

I've gotten calls from debt collectors who wanted me to go to a neighbors house and see if they were home. I've always said, do it yourself.

They just start calling people in the neighborhood, hoping to find someone to do it.

There is no privacy unless you are VIP and someone is masterminding and funding all the cloak and dagger secrecy moves for you.

Anyway, I have visited closed locations and verified what remained (if anything) of former business operations. These were easy, done in daylight, and I never felt afraid. The worst thing that could have happened is that someone might have asked why I was peering into windows and photographing a building. Did I have a LOA? Would I have needed a slick reply, such as I was interested in renting or buying? I have forgotten that detail. Anyway, I wonder if the message delivery has been added to this older shop type or if this is a completely different type of assignment. Hmm.

Folks are dropping landlines in favor of VoiP or mobile phones, which makes it very hard to obtain the phone numbers. For a collection agent to cold call the neighborhood and discuss the personal business of a 3rd party is both a federal crime and likely a state crime, as well. This happened to me. I sued and won big. Know your rights.

I have had a shotgun pulled on me just for walking down a rural road. And I was wearing a pretty dress and carrying a small white dog. Hardly the picture of a lurking bandit. I go anywhere and everywhere without fear, as long as it is public property. Stepping onto private property around here is just asking for it. Go ahead and think that I'm "afraid of strangers". You don't know what you are talking about.

That is what my thought was. Why not save even $12 plus the fee the msc takes and just have the post office deliver with a signature guarantee. Of course the owner might not be the one to answer the door and sign but the owner might not be the one to pull a taped letter off the door either.

@panama18 wrote:

Such a letter could be mailed. But the bank doesn't want to mail it. In a last-ditch effort to prevent foreclosure, they want to shake the recipient up by having the letter hand delivered. That's the job. Go out there and shake the person up. For $12.

Years ago I got a series of calls from a debt collector looking for a friend of mine who had evidently listed me as a reference for some application. My friend always paid her debts to the best of her ability and I was thinking this was probably due to some computer error or something she was fighting. I had once loaned her some money and told her no interest was due but she insisted on giving it back with a fairly high interest rate. She had moved out of state by the time these calls started to come. But I sure was not about to reveal my friend's whereabouts to them.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Are you serious!? I'm glad you responded that way.

@johnb974 wrote:

I've gotten calls from debt collectors who wanted me to go to a neighbors house and see if they were home. I've always said, do it yourself.

As a person who's had the sheriff show up with divorce demand in hand, I'd never do that to another human. It was completely devastating.

OWCH! Were you expecting it?

Someone served me with papers. The larger situation was absurd and should have gone to mediation or arbitration. But papers went via a server and cost someone some money. I hope that the server was paid well for bothering about the silly situation. I also hoped that the sender used recycled paper instead of wasting a tree. So you see? There is at least one person who will not react or overreact to such a situation. Some people know what to expect, even if they do not like their situations.

I did one of these in my zip code yesterday. It was simple, but nerve wracking. Luckily, the person wasn't home and neither was their vehicle.

No more WGL " looks " for me. The jobs are fewer and fewer, and the company is squeezing their lookers with lowered pay, more requirements, vehicles not in the city where it's indicated to be, angry yelling contacts, bad contact information, and the mother-of-all: confidential document delivery, which made me anxious and IMO not worth the risk. WGL is also encouraging claimants to take their own photos, thus cutting out the lookers. It's on WGL's web site. More than once I had to fix their mistakes with my time, and no pay. I do not work for free. This company is slipping rapidly. I deleted the app.

I have had that happen. The vehicle was supposedly in the next town over. I called the contact and it was a salvage yard. The contact told me that the vehicle with that VIN was in South Bend, Indiana.

I had a property Look scheduled for today. No address or city. I contacted support and they put the Look on hold.