After reading JASFLALMT's post, I did a little more digging around and look what I found. Sorry, I don't know how to put a link into a post but check this out.

[creditaidinc.com]

He probably used the money he didn't pay his shoppers to fund his new venture.

Goldfl, all I can say is wow. Unreal. Same P.O. box and contact info, geesh.

Stinky stinky. He knows the problem. The new assignments offer a $25 bonus plus guarantee a 30 day quick turnaround reimbursement.

Are we out of luck with getting our money back?
Anything to be done against his new adventure?

So lousy considering this was the most expensive shop I have ever done and I never got paid.

How is this company getting their shops done?

There are plenty of shoppers who do not read the forums and take the jobs not suspecting that they won't be paid.

Yes, and I have found a few websites that have free lists of links for mystery shopping companies on them, and a couple of them I found the web moderator contact information and let them know what a disservice they are doing by listing Franchise Compliance on their sites. A couple of them replied and stated that they would make a note about this next to the sign up link: "Sign up at your own risk, shoppers have reported not being paid by this company." If any of you know of any other free list work from home type sites where Franchise Compliance is included, it would be the decent thing to to do contact the moderator and let them know the shady practices of Franchise Compliance. If we can't get our money back, that stinks, but for them to continue to fleece more people is awful as well.

It's a shame that the MSPA doesn't have the backbone to rally against companies like this, considering the poor light it paints the industry in.

I'm sure they are paranoid for the potential of a lawsuit if they put out a blast email to warn all shoppers about performing shops for FC, but it would be the right thing to do.

Has anyone contacted the police ? This guy sounds like a con artist. Even if they tell you it is a civil matter, the fact that he is settng up all these businesses sounds like he may engage in fraudulent activities. He may already have a criminal record.

Or how about the FBI? Since his crimes are against shoppers across many states and since he continues to do it.

frodosdojo Wrote:
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> Has anyone contacted the police ? This guy sounds
> like a con artist. Even if they tell you it is a
> civil matter, the fact that he is settng up all
> these businesses sounds like he may engage in
> fraudulent activities. He may already have a
> criminal record.

I think you would have to prove he intended to defraud people, which is difficult.

That fact is the FC was once a good MSC to work for. The existing system is perfectly legit, provided they send out payments, but it seems they don't.

From a legal standpoint, it looks like just another company falling behind and heading for BK, and not a scam.

SteveSoCal Wrote:
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> I think you would have to prove he intended to
> defraud people, which is difficult.
>
> That fact is the FC was once a good MSC to work
> for. The existing system is perfectly legit,
> provided they send out payments, but it seems they
> don't.
>
> From a legal standpoint, it looks like just
> another company falling behind and heading for BK,
> and not a scam.

It would not hurt to call the police. If this person has a history or record of defrauding people, they will look into it. You won't know until you ask.

The fact that he continues to post MORE jobs knowing he will not pay IS fraud.

Hey SteveSoCal, FC isn't a member of MSPA so they might not even be aware of the fraudulent activities of this company. They definitely do monitor their members.

I agree that Adam likely did not intend to rip people off. I did two shops for them before and was paid promptly, and that is why I did not think twice about taking the assignment in January. I don't know what happened to them as of late, but it would have made me feel a little better if Adam or FC accounting would have responded to my multiple emails with some sort of apology and a tentative date of when I might be eventually paid, instead of just ignoring my emails completely.

JASFLALMT Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey SteveSoCal, FC isn't a member of MSPA so they
> might not even be aware of the fraudulent
> activities of this company. They definitely do
> monitor their members.
>
> I agree that Adam likely did not intend to rip
> people off. I did two shops for them before and
> was paid promptly, and that is why I did not think
> twice about taking the assignment in January. I
> don't know what happened to them as of late, but
> it would have made me feel a little better if Adam
> or FC accounting would have responded to my
> multiple emails with some sort of apology and a
> tentative date of when I might be eventually paid,
> instead of just ignoring my emails completely.

Please be careful not to give this person the benefit of the doubt. This did not just happen. Do some more research. People have not been paid consistently for almost two years. There is a pattern and if people continue to give him a pass, he will continue to rob and use shoppers. Read this thread from the beginning and see the disdain the scheduler had for shoppers who were unpaid. They don't give two shakes about you and responding to help or get you paid. They proved that here.

Believe me, I have been following this thread for several months now and I had read all the posts from the beginning, and not just for this thread. However, when I previously did shops for Franchise Compliance in the early part of the last decade, I was paid promptly. I am still out my $218.33 from January 2012, which is more than most shoppers had put up of their own money for this type shop and with this company. I am not sticking up for Adam or giving him a pass, but I do stick to what I said in my post: I do not believe that Adam intentionally was ripping off people from the beginning. FC has been in business for a much longer time than 2 years and it has only been in the past few years that any problems were reported.

Oh, and furthermore, Julie was my scheduler. Like I said, I have been following this thread and I had seen awhile back what Julie Bishop had written.

I have a different standard for working with MSCs. If I have to chase you down for payment ever, that's it, I am done with you.

That's why I appreciate this forum for its insight and sharing of information.

The fact that for the past two years FC has gotten away with non-payment to its shoppers, to me is egregious. I wish I could be more helpful in offering a permanent solution. It doesn't matter if the company was started with so-called good intentions (which can only be an assumption since know one here actually knows his intentions).

We can see fron his performance that he does not intend to pay shoppers and he has already started a new business. Not a good look.

frodosdojo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a different standard for working with MSCs.
> If I have to chase you down for payment ever,
> that's it, I am done with you.

Frodo, so you think I have a standard of working with MSC's who rip me off? Why would you assume something like that about me? I have been a shopper for over 13 years and this is the first time I have had problems geting paid. I have completed over 1500 shops since becoming a shopper, and of course I wouldn't work again from someone who didn't pay me. Since I did not know that Adam wasn't paying shoppers until AFTER I did the shop in January and wasn't paid, I went ahead and took the shop. I had been paid and paid well previously by FC, so there was no reason for me to suspect anything was amiss. As far as being done with FC, far from it. I filed complaints with the BBB, FTC, the UT labor commission, and the UT Attorney General. I will not "be done" with FC until I get paid.

So, how much money are you out from working with FC? Do you believe that Adam started FC with intentions of stealing from shoppers from the very beginning? So he paid shoppers well for six years as part of his master plan of ripping shoppers off only in between 2010-2012? That doesn't make sense.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2012 08:34PM by JASFLALMT.

JASFLALMT Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey SteveSoCal, FC isn't a member of MSPA so they
> might not even be aware of the fraudulent
> activities of this company. They definitely do
> monitor their members.

I assure you that most MSPA members are well aware of the situation with FC.

We are talking about an organization that hired a PR company to help put a better face to the MS industry. How could this situation not piss them off?

...and if they monitor their members or offer any sort of enforcement of policy, why is Freeman allowed to be a member? Oh...right, it's cause that check was actually mailed ;^)

JASFLALMT Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> frodosdojo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I have a different standard for working with
> MSCs.
> > If I have to chase you down for payment ever,
> > that's it, I am done with you.
>
> Frodo, so you think I have a standard of working
> with MSC's who rip me off? Why would you assume
> something like that about me? I have been a
> shopper for over 13 years and this is the first
> time I have had problems geting paid. I have
> completed over 1500 shops since becoming a
> shopper, and of course I wouldn't work again from
> someone who didn't pay me. Since I did not know
> that Adam wasn't paying shoppers until AFTER I did
> the shop in January and wasn't paid, I went ahead
> and took the shop. I had been paid and paid well
> previously by FC, so there was no reason for me to
> suspect anything was amiss. As far as being done
> with FC, far from it. I filed complaints with the
> BBB, FTC, the UT labor commission, and the UT
> Attorney General. I will not "be done" with FC
> until I get paid.
>
> So, how much money are you out from working with
> FC? Do you believe that Adam started FC with
> intentions of stealing from shoppers from the very
> beginning? So he paid shoppers well for six years
> as part of his master plan of ripping shoppers off
> only in between 2010-2012? That doesn't make
> sense.

I don't care what his intentions were, he has proven himself a con artist. A legitimate business owner does not continue to hire people and not pay them. I won't try to sugar coat his past or assume I know his intentions. I wouldn't give him the benfit of the doubt and I would have done all the reporting to agencies that you did (which I have done for an even smaller amount with another company) and call the police on him.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2012 08:40PM by frodosdojo.

Steve, you have a good point. They might just think it is of no concern to them since shoppers who sign up with non MSPA companies are shopping at their own risk, but who knows. Have you thought about bringing this matter to their attention?

I don't know anything about Freeman not paying. I am signed up with them, but the restaurants they had invited me to visit are a distance from my city and the reimbursement amount wasn't enough for me to bother going...thanks for the heads up on that.

JASFLALMT, if there's any silver lining to be had, I'm guessing you found this board when researching FC and now you have a wealth of shopper experience at your fingertips.

I say 'welcome to the forum' and hopefully this will be the last MSC you have to go to battle with.

Anything that concerns MSing is of interest to the MSPA. If you read through these forums for similar discussions, you will see that it's been established that they don't have shopper interests at heart.

I actually had found this board many years ago, but I only popped in occasionally to read and never bothered signing up until I had something worthy of posting--which was after I started researching FC and experienced the pain that so many other shoppers who were not being paid were going through. I have been fortunate thus far to have so few bad experiences. I imagine I will still remain rather trusting when it comes to companies with whom I have had no bad experiences, but I will be more suspect of companies who, like FC, I have only done a few shops for instead of hundreds of shops (like Service Sleuths and Intellishop).

Thanks for the welcome!

I will keep the forum updated on any results I get from the claims and complaints I have submitted...

JASFLALMT Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey SteveSoCal, FC isn't a member of MSPA so they
> might not even be aware of the fraudulent
> activities of this company. They definitely do
> monitor their members.
>
> I agree that Adam likely did not intend to rip
> people off. I did two shops for them before and
> was paid promptly, and that is why I did not think
> twice about taking the assignment in January. I
> don't know what happened to them as of late, but
> it would have made me feel a little better if Adam
> or FC accounting would have responded to my
> multiple emails with some sort of apology and a
> tentative date of when I might be eventually paid,
> instead of just ignoring my emails completely.


Agree! Also, seems like problems started in December/January timeframe.

frodosdojo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JASFLALMT Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hey SteveSoCal, FC isn't a member of MSPA so
> they
> > might not even be aware of the fraudulent
> > activities of this company. They definitely do
> > monitor their members.
> >
> > I agree that Adam likely did not intend to rip
> > people off. I did two shops for them before
> and
> > was paid promptly, and that is why I did not
> think
> > twice about taking the assignment in January.
> I
> > don't know what happened to them as of late,
> but
> > it would have made me feel a little better if
> Adam
> > or FC accounting would have responded to my
> > multiple emails with some sort of apology and a
> > tentative date of when I might be eventually
> paid,
> > instead of just ignoring my emails completely.
>
> Please be careful not to give this person the
> benefit of the doubt. This did not just happen. Do
> some more research. People have not been paid
> consistently for almost two years. There is a
> pattern and if people continue to give him a pass,
> he will continue to rob and use shoppers. Read
> this thread from the beginning and see the disdain
> the scheduler had for shoppers who were unpaid.
> They don't give two shakes about you and
> responding to help or get you paid. They proved
> that here.

2 yrs? I thought more recent. Worse if been going on for 2 years.

myown Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> 2 yrs? I thought more recent. Worse if been going
> on for 2 years.


This particular post subject was started in February 2012, as an proposal. One should look back into the early 2011's posts about FC to see where the problem really started. Two years seems like a short period of time, but when you aren't getting paid, it seems even longer. Check the other FC subjects post. This proposal post took on a life of its own and ran like fire. :-)

This may have been the only post where a FC scheduler replied but do check out the other FC subject posts that led up to this post. This was just a modest proposal post.

Yes indeed. I have followed all of the available postings concerning this particular company.

How about contacting the local media. Sometimes I see stories on my local TV station about companies deceiving people and not responding to inquiries to people owed a service or money. Could bd newsworthy as it would bring attention to the whole mystery shopping thing and could pose an area or pitfall of warning about payment.

This company is located in Utah. Right? Anyone from Utah?

myown Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> This company is located in Utah. Right?

I think you may have answered your own question, there. I'm under the impression that folks in Utah looks after their own.

Why do you think the Franchiser won't lend a hand?

^^^

I think the same thing. Utah is on my short list of states to avoid. I know that I'm paranoid. Maybe I watched Big Love too many times!

I don't feel comfortable going there or trusting anyone with a Utah connection. I know it's wrong to feel that way, but it's truly how I feel.