She sent out this email this morning:

"I am looking for shoppers to open new PO Boxes. If you are interested in opening a new PO Box for this project, please let me know how many you would like to open, as well as 3 to 5 zip codes you'd be willing to open them in. "

Since she asked for, and I sent her, a list of zip codes 1.5 months ago, I have sent her several follow-up emails -- including one recently. She responded to very few emails. In spite of telling me she would send me new box-opening assignments, she never did.

Looks like she is back to work.

Only took 18 days but she finally got back to me about some mail pieces I found last month and with P.O. Box Renewal Surveys for a couple of P.O. Boxes that need renewing at the end of March.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2022 12:24AM by Lady Marius.

My PO box renewals from the first half of the month have not been approved. Only my regular weekly surveys were approved. So, I will have to wait, for no apparent reason, another two weeks to be reimbursed hundreds of dollars.

Am I stressed about the money or in dire need? No. Am I out of patience and disgusted? Yes.

Ditto.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

My PO box renewals from the first half of the month have not been approved. Only my regular weekly surveys were approved. So, I will have to wait, for no apparent reason, another two weeks to be reimbursed hundreds of dollars.

Am I stressed about the money or in dire need? No. Am I out of patience and disgusted? Yes.

Wish I could put a frawny face on those posts. I have never had my P.O. Box Renewals not be approved for payment for the very next pay period. Up in Canada we are only paid once a month, due to banking fees associated with wired money. (They cover the fee).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2022 03:06PM by Lady Marius.

I just found out it was not her fault this time. (This has happened once before and it was her fault last time.)

There's been a change to the baby mailing project. Now, all shops are loaded at the beginning of the month and you can do them anytime during the month!

Yes! Big improvements! So happy!

@Sagacious wrote:

There's been a change to the baby mailing project. Now, all shops are loaded at the beginning of the month and you can do them anytime during the month!

The nonsense resumes!

"I have updated the closure list for this month. If you are on this list, please close out your PO Box the next time you visit it."

Her closure list yesterday took up about a QUARTER page. Today's closure list takes up about TWO AND A QUARTER pages.

No apologies, either.

I already checked most of my PO boxes and now I will have to go back to some of them to return the keys because they are on the new closure list.

I sure hope she doesn't update the list this month again.

I received an email telling me I would no longer be a part of the baby mailing project as my "baby" has aged out.

How strange! Did you provide new zip codes? I have been in this project for years and have had tens of these phantom babies.

I am sorry you are no longer part of the project. It doesn't make sense.

@barbage wrote:

I received an email telling me I would no longer be a part of the baby mailing project as my "baby" has aged out.

At what age will my soon-to-be-delivered little bundle of joy age out?

A lot of my boxes were closed about 2 years after they were opened. I don't recall how old my babies were.

Im not getting the reference to boxes being closed -- i thought PO box jobs were separate. My baby will be getting its formula at my home address.

Ah! OK!

There are baby mail assignments that require setting up PO boxes and then there are baby mail assignments where the mail goes to the shopper's home address. A scheduler once told me that shoppers who are part of the PO box project are not eligible for the home project. My guess is the cut-off age is the same for both projects but that's just a guess.

BTW, I don't see why a shopper that is in the mail-to-home project can't just use a relative's or a good friend's address to "have" another baby.

I have had 17 phatom Babies, and have been with this project for several years. Up in Canada you can either have the mail delivered to your home or open a P.O. Box at which to receive the mail. Once you have used your home address, you can no longer use it. I moved after I used my previous address and thus was able to have the mail delivered at my home for 2 different phatom babies. Up in Canada it was always a monthly, and not a weekly project. We get the assignments at the beginning of the month and are asked to check the P.O. Boxes once a month. Before the Pandemic I checked them twice a month, now I only check them once a month.

I am waiting on her to send me a new set up survey. I opened the P.O. Box over 2 weeks ago, and I was not able to invoice for it. So not entirely happy with this project, or her, at the moment.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2022 03:30AM by Lady Marius.

I hear you, Lady Marius, and I empathize. I am not brave enough to set up a new box without seeing a survey first though. Let's just say I have trust issues when it comes to her (not Mintel).

I waited about 1.5 months once for her to send me box-opening surveys. What got me more upset than the long wait was her not responding at all to some of my emails and then she sent out a mass email asking for zip codes for new boxes. It was as if the 1.5-month wait and multiple emails never existed. I was reluctant to reach out to Josh but she was tardy in responding even after I did.

Of course, not getting my box (renewal or opening) expenses approved promptly SEVERAL TIMES was upsetting, too. One time, she admitted it was her fault. One time, I thought it was her fault and it turned out not to be (and I made sure to post here to say it was not her fault when I found out). Then, it happened again, and I had/have no idea whose fault it was.

All I know is hundreds of dollars were tied up each time for two weeks or so. I make sure I have adequate funds to cover late payments/reimbursements so I won't have to pay interest or late fees to credit card issuers but I shouldn't have to spend time chasing reimbursements. Time = Money.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2022 07:36PM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

I will not ever open a P.O. Box without having the new assignment in hand ever again. I know Mintel will reimburse for the expense, but I never thought she would delay sending me the set up survey. She said that she was sending it by end of day or I would never have opened the P.O. Box. Never again. I have never had her not send me the set up survey when she said she was going to. She now says there is an issue on their end which she is working on. She send me a renewal survey to invoice for my expenses for the P.O. Box opening rental fees. I hope they will reimburse me on the 15th instead of the 30th but we will see. (Usually we only get paid once at the end of month in Canada, due to banking fees which Mintel covers). I also have sufficient funds to cover the cost. But no one should have to deal with investing 100s of dollars of their own money for, what will be a month or longer if I am not paid until the end of the month.

Good luck but I had to wait till the next scheduled payday each time. Have you reached out to Josh?

No but I planned too. It was actually Jon that was scheduling the Canadian shops before her. I plan to reach out to him as he and I have the history not Josh and I. I have not done so as of yet because I thought this was going to be resolved by now. If she has not gotten back to me by early next week then I will reach out. But the earliest I will be reimbursed is May 15th. Jon paid me a few times on the 15th, so we will see.

I hope this all works out for you. I know how aggravating this can be.

@Lady Marius wrote:

No but I planned too. It was actually Jon that was scheduling the Canadian shops before her. I plan to reach out to him as he and I have the history not Josh and I. I have not done so as of yet because I thought this was going to be resolved by now. If she has not gotten back to me by early next week then I will reach out. But the earliest I will be reimbursed is May 15th. Jon paid me a few times on the 15th, so we will see.

If you don't mind my continuing to pick your maternal/paternal brains here since I'm brand new to "motherhood," I want to make sure I understand what is expected of us.

- Is it correct that we create a new survey for every piece of mail and every text?

- If so, do we submit that survey immediately or let it build up and ultimately submit the whole assignment at the end of the month?

- Do folks wait until right after the last day or the month to snail mail the stuff, i.e. do they want it in an exact batch of "here's what I got from June 1-June 30"? If you snail mail on July 3, for instance, would you include baby mail from July 2 or hold that for a July batch?

I'm enjoying my experiences so far with this company (I'm working with Josh on something else), except that the system is a bear to navigate!

Thanks in advance!

-- Amy

I am a PO box mother instead of a house mother. There may be different rules for house parents.

- Is it correct that we create a new survey for every piece of mail and every text?
No. Regardless of how many boxes/babies you have, you are signed up for texts with only one phone number. There is only one monthly survey for texts. You forward each text when you get it but submit the monthly survey only once (at the end of the month). You check each box once a month. Regardless of how many pieces of mail you get, you submit one survey for each box per month. Even if you get nothing, you still submit a survey saying you got nothing.

- If so, do we submit that survey immediately or let it build up and ultimately submit the whole assignment at the end of the month?
You submit the text-forwarding survey at the end of the month. You submit one box survey each month after you check the box. It is up to you what time of the month you check each box. If you check a box on the 5th, for example, don't wait until the end of the month to submit it. In the U.S., we get paid twice a month. I have checked almost all my boxes this month already. Hopefully, I will get paid around the 15th instead of the 31st.

-- Do folks wait until right after the last day or the month to snail mail the stuff, i.e. do they want it in an exact batch of "here's what I got from June 1-June 30"? If you snail mail on July 3, for instance, would you include baby mail from July 2 or hold that for a July batch?
You will find no baby mail in a box more often than not. I wait to send mail only if I know I will check more boxes soon and may bundle any baby mail I get in those boxes. Otherwise, I send any mail I receive promptly to the MSC. There is no point in making them wait and the sooner you send what you got (and submit the shipping costs), the sooner you get paid.

I'm enjoying my experiences so far with this company (I'm working with Josh on something else), except that the system is a bear to navigate!
Josh is wonderful. The MSC is solid. I actually like the system but it did get some getting used to. Good luck. This is a great program. If you are a box mother, may you have as many babies as you wish! Easy money.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2022 08:39PM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz, thank you so much! (Sometimes it truly is easier to get info from fellow shoppers than from harried schedulers/editors -- not that we aren't harried too sometimes!)

You're welcome, amyann2.

I am happy to report that payment has been processed for both my P.O. Box renewal costs and the cost of the P.O. Box I opened in April and I am being paid with the May 15th Payouts. Not so happy to report that I am still waiting on the new assignment with which to use my new P.O. Box. I did not need Jon's help although I did request it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2022 05:16PM by Lady Marius.

From a new box setup assignment:

"This job will range from 2 month to 18 months."

@amyann2 wrote:

At what age will my soon-to-be-delivered little bundle of joy age out?

Is it weird that I haven't received any baby mail after my due date has already passed? (I haven't checked email for that since all that is forwarded anyway, but I was expecting at least *something* in the mail to congratulate me!) :-)

How long before your due date did you enroll? I did not get any congratulatory mail for any of my phantom babies as far as I recall. I did get other mail though.