Not all companies allow you to see a listing of shops BEFORE signing up, so I'm sure quite often, we've all signed up for a co. then regretted it because nothing pertains to us OR has the type of shops we want...even if we give them at least 6 mos to really see & give them a chance.

I'm signed up w/ 9 companies so far (in the last year), but want to take myself out of a few of them because they're not even worth staying w/.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2020 07:55PM by Forever Blue.

Many of us never deactivate. Clients change MSCs ALL the time. New clients enter the MS world. You never know whan you may have cut yourself off for good from an MSC that suddenly gets your favorite shops !

There's really no reason to deactivate from a company that doesn't have any shops in your area. It's not really affecting anyone one way or the other...unless it's a company that bombards you with emails and you can't turn them off. That would be the only reason I could see to deactivate.

Even so, I just discard a ton of emails in about 3 minutes a day, without opening them.

I have de-activated myself from two which shall remain nameless. I have also discontinued working for several, just because they either don't have anything in my area, or the fee wasn't worth the work....you will find the companies you like and continue to build relationships.

Blue,

I have never deactivated an account due to no work being available. As has been pointed out by others, you never know when jobs will be in your area of travel. That being stated, I would guesstimate I have fired 10 companies for, what I considered, cause; usually, that has been extremely poor communication or someone being deceitful. I deeply regret being in the position of needing to take such an action, but have not the slightest remorse at ending the relationships. When I deem I have been abused, I will, without any hesitation, burn the bridge.

Thanks guys! Right, don't want to burn any bridges. I haven't deactivated myself from anyone yet. I wouldn't think of doing it for at least a full year of staying on if I haven't worked 1 shop in 12 mos.

@Forever Blue wrote:

Thanks guys! Right, don't want to burn any bridges. I haven't deactivated myself from anyone yet. I wouldn't think of doing it for at least a full year of staying on if I haven't worked 1 shop in 12 mos.

Here’s my story. I have shopped since 1999. I have never deactivated myself and am a fan of just deleting emails if need be. I have done 1 shop for one of the companies I am signed up with...never anything in my area until one day ten years in they needed two people to do a shop. My daughter was home from college. The shop took maybe 10 minutes and was immediately inputted on the phone, paid $150.00 and we were paid via PayPal in 2 days. Exactly why I never deactivate.

Secondly companies switch accounts all the time. A company I made thousands from a few years ago lost an account and it went to company I never worked for before...I was able to keep up without missing a beat. Some of my previously favorite companies now have nothing (or little) and other companies are now where my work is found.

Liz

Blue,
Just waiting a year with no shops would have lost me a TON of fees. There is an MSC that I did not work for for about 5 years. But, they got a couple of new clients. So, starting about 4 years ago that MSC has added about $1000 a year to my net income, with well paid shops and easy reports. Another MSC that I only started working for more than 1 year after signing up with has consistantly netted me $400-600 per month for the last 5 years, with no end in sight.

Both companies are among the very best to work with in the MS industry. Look at the long run picture if you want to grow your MS business.

I did deactivate myself from one company, maybe 7 or 8 years ago.

Their "required" payment system was so complicated, I couldn't figure it out. After a round of e-mails, I asked them to mail me a check. They said they would, only if I would never work for them again; somehow, that was the only way they could issue a check. So I agreed.

I don't even remember what the company was, LOL.

Maybe Sentry?

Thanks a lot everyone for ALL your comments! Great to know. See, that's why I wanted to join an MSC discussion board, so I could learn a lot & not just be out on my own out here!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2020 05:10PM by Forever Blue.

JAS, might have been. Sounds familiar, and I know I have not shopped for them in years.

Forever, sure like your attitude! If you have not yet explored "New Shopper" forum, please do; even if you've been shopping a while, you'll find much new and useful info there.

I deactivated myself from one video shopping company that was deceitful and in violation of their ICA pay period with me. I was not private about it, and warned my fellow shoppers (and continue to do so when asked) about my experience.

Immediately began getting MUCH more business from some of the other video shopping companies who don’t like the nonsense and drama associated with this particular company.

I’m currently doing my 2019 taxes, and it was an absolute benefit to my profitability to deactivate myself from the “loser” company. There’s a huge increase in the amount of time that I had available to perform work for companies that behave professionally, and my net profits are up 30%.

I have never deactivated from any. Even one that was pretty deceitful. New owners came along and things improved.

I have not deactivated myself from any.... I simply choose not to work for some - unless they REALLY bonus the shops well..... I have chosen not to register with one (Red Quanta) due to all sorts of issues that they have had.

Think of it this way from another perspective. Outside of the mystery shopping world, I work as a consultant in a different industry. Many times, all our eggs were in single baskets with literally 2 mega-large clients for about 4 years of my career. Even though our relationships with them are now essentially done with, we still ensure that we maintain our relationships with them such as business development meeting with them every once in a while and especially maintaining Master Service Agreements (MSA's) with them, even though there's no foreseeable work with them.... Because you never know, when new opportunities pop up, I'd be prepared to work with them again.

The same idea is with mystery shopping companies. When you establish relationships with companies (in our case, signing up and maintaining active profiles), you leave yourself open to future possible opportunities by ensuring the door's left open and not fully closed.

I deactivated myself from one company because more than half their shops paid $0, and I saw no future wasting my time with that. I have remained registered with one other company, but I have not done a shop for them in the last 2 years because their pay is too low and it takes too long for them to reimburse me for shop purchases. There are several companies that I have not shopped for for a long while, but I have not cut ties with them. You just never know when they might have a shop that works for me.

Yeah, there's a prominent MSC that right now in my area only offers body waxing shops (I am a middle aged male, I'm sure they could help my bikini line but no thanks -- but darn one time they offered a bonus that had me thinking lol).Also they sometimes offer no-fee, reimbursement-only dining shops (I am funny that way, I don't need a BIG fee but I need a fee. NO reimbursement-only shops for me.)

But I stay registered because you never know. I was able to pick up some nice shops with another prominent company in October-November, the well has gone bone dry with this MSC the last 2 months, but stick around. Why not?

I agree that you should only de-register with a firm that does you dirty.

Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2020 07:24AM by KokoBWare.

In all my years I've only deactivated from one company. I had a major issue with a scheduler that involved many canceled shops and completed shops not paid.

Other than that, I am still signed-up with many, many companies. I would not deactivate just because an MSC does not currently have work in my area. They may have work in an area that I vacation or they may have work in my area in 6 months. I do not know.

I keep separate bookmarks for the MSCs that do not have work in my area. 2-3 times per year I go onto those websites, update any personal information and double check that they still do not have work for me.

^ 89lulalula89, true good point. As I join more, I'll categorize them more under different bookmarks too.

There is one msc that I signed with many years ago.(12??) It is one that many people seem to like but for some reason my tech set up required me to spend 15-20 minutes trying to fit each of my jpg's etc of receipts that they wanted to their requirements, I have no idea what the issue was as their requirements were not much different from other msc I worked for and was able to just scan and load into their forms. I reached out but they had no advice. This thread will jog me into checking to see if my current computers, phones, laptops etc work with their quirky for me software. I never deactivated.

I have only been actively shopping for about three years. There are probably 100 companies that I'm signed up with that are out of my area, or don't have shops I care to do, but I figured I might as well keep my options open, just in case.
Two years ago, there was a fire burning near my home. There's a casino within a five minute drive, and I had been shopping it for a few months. The day before I was scheduled to do a shop, a fire broke out in the neighboring town. Several thousand acres were burned within a few hours, and it was burning out of control. The day of the shop, the fire was three or four miles away, as the crow flies, and quickly moving towards the casino. The smoke was so bad that I couldn't see the casino from the house, and the cars and ground were covered with ash. Both of my kids have asthma, but only my daughter needs an inhaler, which wasn't helping. We could smell smoke in the house, and everyone was coughing and having trouble breathing.
I emailed the scheduler, and I sent pictures so she could see how bad it was. Her answer was it had to be done the following day. I said I couldn't commit to that at that time. For all we knew, there might not even be a casino the following day. The scheduler emailed me back stating she was in a bind, that I had a shop later in the month, the shop had to be completed the following day because I was the first shopper of the month, and to message her back ASAP when the shop was done. I replied that what I had to do was get my kids to fresh air. I asked to be taken off the schedule for all future jobs, and to be deactivated.
The wind shifted several hours later, away from the casino, and the fire was contained early in the afternoon the following day. There was still ash in the air, but the smoke had mostly cleared. We stayed with friends for two days before returning home. It wasn't my finest hour. I probably could have handled it better, but I was seeing red. The scheduler never once showed any concern, or acknowledged the fact that we were in any danger, or that going to the casino posed possible risk to my person. A friend later told me that the roads to the casino had been closed, and emergency services were directing anyone outdoors to get off the streets and get indoors because of the poor air quality. A week later, I found another company who does a casino farther from home, but the pay is a lot better. If not for the bad experience, I might not have gone looking for something better. Silver linings.

ladymacleod, that's remarkable. Instant Karma is going to GET that scheduler. GRRRR.

I am a retired middle manager with a national company. I worked for them for 28 years. They treated us like we were special Bonuses, trips and never paid us late. Then I worked as a consultant in the same business for another 10 years, never was paid late, my pay was always on time. I moved and decided to keep active, so I started doing mystery shops several years ago.
I will tell you, when you sign a MSC contract, you are an independent contractor, but they have an obligation, written or unwritten, to pay you in a TIMELY FASHION. Many of the ones I signed with have parameters that they agree to pay you within on their own agreement. If a company does not meet their own standards, you should NOT shop for them. They are putting no value on their shoppers.
So, having shared my thoughts, I will tell you, I have signed up with, shopped for and eliminated companies that are dead beats. I have also quit shopping for companies that pay late (a month late), I know it is hard out there and very hard to deactivate your account with a MSC, just in case that one great shop comes along. But, if they did not pay you well, or in a timely fashion, what good is that one great shop for you.
So, deactivate. Cultivate the good companies.

ladymacleod, wow. Yes, I'm already seeing how robotic & unfeeling these schedulers are. They don't care about bad weather or that you're sick, they just need the shop done!

Blue Skye, yes, so true!

Forever Blue,
Just remember if they do not value you, have no use for them. Stick with the big reputable companies. If a company messes with your money (once you do the job, it is your money!) lose them. Good shopping and good luck.

I've only deactivated myself from one company, because they were deceitful both when I signed up for a few of their shops and they were extremely hefty bonuses..about a week later they got rid of their bonuses with no warning to me. After I finished the shops..they wouldnt pay me on a couple of the shops because they claim I didnt follow guideline that I know with a 100 percent certainty was not there before I shopped.

I have deactivated from 3 MSC's since beginning my career as a MS:
2 are known here on this site and other pages. Rude, abusive and UN-professional toward shoppers. bye-bye ! and the other MSC: despite me requesting only email shop notifications, texting and calling me regularly to try to get me to shop a location far far away and for a tiny bonus added to an already tiny shop pay. No thanks !

I deactivated myself from only one in my 16 years of shopping. I was sad to go because I had spoken to the scheduler over the phone for years and years. They got a new editor. She was the nastiest person I have ever dealt with in all my years. She picked apart the shop I had done many times and marked it as non payable due to a problem I had while there, that I had previously called/emailed about. After being out $85 and that response, I was done. I sent a goodbye letter to the scheduler and never heard back.
I do not miss the shop It was a neat place but not close to my house. I would rather work for someone that is respectful to their shoppers.