I'll try and keep this short but wanted to share my "victory" with you all. Some of you might be able to guess which company this is but I won't specify it in this post.

End of May, I did 4 "e-commerce" shops that involved doing a purchase and return. Out of the 4, I had one retailer that would not allow a return.

I contacted the retailer 3x and kept in communication with the scheduler and editor the entire time. After the second time the retailer told me they wouldn't accept the return, I submitted the shop as non-returnable (this was an option on the report). All of the back and forth, return policy from the website, etc was screen shotted and/or fwd'd to the scheduler and editor as there was no place in the report to put this info.

A week later, a different editor re-opened the shop and asked me to contact the retailer again. I asked if they would increase the fee or add a bonus because I had already done what was required of me.
She didn't respond. I resubmitted the shop. It was marked down from a 7, to a 5, to a 1. I don't care about the rating though.

A week later, I login to check my shop log and square up the payments. I found that this shop was re-opened. I received no notification or email about this. No additional commentary. I reached out to the scheduler, original editor, and 2nd editor and asked for next steps and get no response. A day or two later, I emailed again. They completely ghosted me.

(Noteworthy- during the time I was doing these shops, my son broke his arm and we were transported in an ambulance to a children's hospital for surgery. I still least had the decency to respond to emails, and inform them that my responses and updates to these shops might be delayed due to a medical emergency, so to be ghosted by this company was completely unprofessional).

Anyway, after being ignored by the 3 people above, I escalated with an email to the VP at the company. Didn't get a response. Reached out on facebook. Continued following up until I got a response.

It's now basically mid July, and after all that additional follow up, I finally got the shop overturned this morning for pay + reimbursement of the item I don't even want and am stuck with.

For those of you who have had similar experiences, or for anyone who encounters something like this in the future, I want to encourage some of you - stay persistent. Take screen shots/pics. Save your email discussions and don't be afraid to go to the next level for what you are owed.

Wow. Kudos to you. They never should have given you a 7 to begin with - you did what was required. If the retailer won't take it back, that's not on you.

Hope your boy is okay.

Barely. In the neighborhood of $50 between fee and reimbursement.
I thought about abandoning my crusade for justice and just letting it go, but this was on principle at this point. I decided I'm not letting a huge company get work out of me and then not pay me for it, especially when I did what was required. There were plenty of reviews on various websites/forums of people having similar experiences with this company. That likely would have been my next step.

His arm is doing great. He had three pins in the elbow that were removed 2 weeks ago. We go back for a follow up in early Aug. He's been a trooper. Thank you.

quote=ServiceAward]
I'm glad you got it resolved. Congrats. Was the fee worth the headache you endured?

Hope the broken arm is healing.[/quote]

How is your son now?

Major kudos to you!

I don't see the harm in naming the MSC. Some people might applaud the fact that they corrected their initial wrong.

Others (like me and probably most of us here) would like to know which MSC put you through such an ordeal for something which you had no control over and refused to pay you when you completed the shop to the extent possible.

Congratulations and wishing a speedy healing process to your son. That sounds like a nasty injury,

After a bad experience, I now screenshot everything to CMA.

I'm supposed to get the payment next week, so after I get paid, I will post the company, and also deactivate/delete my account(s) with them. I've heard they deactivate shopper accounts without informing them, so I don't want my payment withheld out of retaliation.
They are a huge company, probably the one talked about the most here. They use sassie and shop metrics platforms and I don't plan to do work for them after this.

@DRJ wrote:

I don't see the harm in naming the MSC. Some people might applaud the fact that they corrected their initial wrong.

Others (like me and probably most of us here) would like to know which MSC put you through such an ordeal for something which you had no control over and refused to pay you when you completed the shop to the extent possible.

The MSC banks (literally) on the odds of shoppers spending that much time and energy on trying to get rightfully paid. Many shoppers wouldn't, knowing they have no real recourse, so the MSC cashes in on that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2024 10:42PM by sestrahelena.

It was pretty rough but apparently a very common break for kids. Right above the elbow and close to a nerve. Apparently the children's hospital does this surgery 10-12x a week, so I'm very glad our local hospital sent us there . He really was a trooper throughout it all and is on the road to recovery.

@DRJ wrote:

Congratulations and wishing a speedy healing process to your son. That sounds like a nasty injury,

I have copies of EVERY email, and every text message I get from ALL mystery shopping companies. It has saved my hiney more than once. If I could afford a decent quality phone recording system or app that actually records both sides of the conversation, I would have that too.

This same company isn't paying me for not being able to get a price quote for a piece of lawn care machinery (IYKYK). There wasn't a salesperson available and I was told to come back the following week when he returned from vacation(!). I wrote all of this in the report, which was rejected. I would think the company would WANT to have this information. As others have suggested, I wonder if the report was still used but they are using the "not following instructions" to exclude payment.

@Nikki21 wrote:

This same company isn't paying me for not being able to get a price quote for a piece of lawn care machinery (IYKYK).

Was this the “mini excavator”?

I’m convinced they use a lot of rejected reports. I hate that I have to do work for them, but they’re just about it here in Podunk.

If ses’ sweater is itchy af, my bathing suit is cold and wet af. -lol-

I just cancelled one of those shops today. I applied two days ago for a shop due yesterday. Late yesterday they sent me the shop and extended the due date til today. So I was able to see the guidelines and report which needed a huge number of screenshots and had a long list of questions some of which needed narrative. The pay was too low for that and the report only showed a spot for 5 of the 16 required screenshots so I wrote the scheduler this morning to find out if I really needed all those screenshots and did not hear back. I wrote again around 2 PM and said I could not do the shop if I heard back after 4 PM (I had plans for the evening). At 6:30 PM I sent a third email this time asking for the shop to be cancelled and finally heard. back and the answer about how many screenshots I really needed was "its in the guidelines". So I cancelled the shop.
The scheduler was ok with that. I am thinking due to her having no issue with cancelling a shop perhaps she gets cancelations all the time when the shoppers see the requirements involved for a pittance of money.
Good for you for following through on this. You certainly did not need all this drama while trying to deal with your son who needed you.
Edited to say it is two days after I cancelled the shop that had a $5 bonus.. Yesterday the bonus went up $5, today it went up another $5. Tomorrow if the bonus is a total of $20 I will consider applying. But they may not want me again.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2024 01:23AM by sandyf.

Yes, the mini excavator

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2024 01:09PM by Nikki21.

Yes, these were all smaller companies and I speculate that it might actually.be a new shipping offering through USPS or a web plugin that tracks the shipping on the website. That might be the end client.

It was actually kind of annoying to have the shops stay open - you submit it multiple times and they send it back to you to complete the next section, but that sometimes took days or a week for them to send it back to you. . There was another thread about this.

@Okie wrote:

When I picked up these shops and saw the whole list of shops that had already been assigned, most seemed like small retailers. I thought it was a large number of shops in one round. To me, the appeal was the flexibility and the shops stay open along the way. I did a good number of these shops for one of their large clients over the past couple of years, but that client's process is seamless. I wasn't sure if these shops were a general study or competitor study.

The issue with some of these retailers is the availability of return policy information or them abiding by it. For some, sale, discounted, or discontinued items don't qualify. Others, the policy hasn't been updated. If it's due to the retailer's fault, the MSC should make things right without any hurdles.

The initials were KH. It was extremely frustrating to get no response from her and the original scheduler, who I've worked with before and is normally responsive. I'm guessing the three of them agreed that they weren't going to respond to me. So unprofessional and a lack of integrity, imo.

@Okie wrote:

Glad to hear you got your reimbursement, and your son is doing well.

I did a couple of these shops, as well. Thankfully, I was lucky with my experiences. One shop, I got to use Happy Returns. The second shop, I put same amount for the purchase amount and refund amount. However, the editor caught that I was shorted about $15 on the refund. The editor corrected this and sent it back to me. This was an editor I never had issues with. I was paid the difference.

I am curious though, who was the editor when your report was re-opened and/or rejected? There has been one editor as of late who gives the white-glove treatment and gives no leeway or flexibility on small things.

Im a bit surprised you can't readily guess which MSC this is. Do you know of more than 1 who ignores pretty much all communication from all sources?!

@DRJ wrote:

I don't see the harm in naming the MSC. Some people might applaud the fact that they corrected their initial wrong.

Others (like me and probably most of us here) would like to know which MSC put you through such an ordeal for something which you had no control over and refused to pay you when you completed the shop to the extent possible.

I can think of two.

A few months back, a shopper stated a deep regret that she was in the position she needed this MSC; I THINK she actually mentioned hatred. It is my opinion, a chunk of their business model is geared toward roping in folks who are desperate. I am NOT stating all of their ICs are so contracted due to need.

ooooooooh, now I'm racking my brain!

I see posts about small MSCs not responding to payment inquiries, but thankfully I've not found anyone other than the Big Eye who doesn't respond to project questions.

@DRJ wrote:

I can think of two.

I did get my payment, the Msc was Ipsos. I'm sure some of you figured that out already!

I've had several shops rejected in the last six months by this company for inaccurate reasons. Editors are not paid for rejected shops, so I can only guess the editors are not being careful. I reached out to the company and was able to have it reversed but it's pretty lousy business to reject so many shops. There must be shoppers out there who probably do not question the rejection. Glad joanna was able to resolve the situation.