I just got this high end offer, but I have decided NEVER to lay out ANY money for any MSC, although I just got fooled by one where I had to go photocopy 240 sheets
and pay with my own money.

I had a bad experience with a company who promised payments within 2 weeks and it
was 5 weeks and 4 emails before I was re-imbursed. "Check lost in the mail" bull.
Company name begins with a B


So here is how I answered the offer and this is my proposal to all MSC's:

>>>>Thanks for the offer but at this time I have decided not to lay out
monies for Mystery Shop Companies. I have had a bad experience where the mystery shop company did not reimburse me when they said they would,

Even with a return on my credit card, it is not credited until the next month costing me interest .

If your company wants to issue gift cards or a credit card in the amount they want to purchase I would be happy to do the shop. But I will not
be paying out of my own monies. <<<<

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2012 06:29PM by shoppinalong.

How did they respond? I have often wished the same for the shops with substantial purchases but companies seem reluctant to do so. I can understand with new shoppers being reluctant, but I think for shoppers that have a dependable history with the company, perhaps they should consider it. At least within a certain range of cost... It would sure make the job easier as some shops I just can't accept because I can't afford to be out of pocket the purchase fee required for weeks.

Perhaps another alternative is to arrange repayment of the purchase amount alone very quickly. I do believe I have seen at least one company state that they will reimburse purchases very quickly and you just wait on the shop fee. Anyone work with a company that does this?

Hi Angel.

NO response yet.

Since the scheduler is probably new and here in this country she may have to check with her overseas owners.

And they are a new company also.

Not laying out 10.00 or 10 cents any more.

"Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me"

But then again, I'm trimming the companies I work for to those who pay on time
and I dont mean 60 days or more.

We are financing these MSC's and if we have layed out money (never mind hours of time) and they dont like our survey/report, we're out both!

I'm lucky in that most of the companies I work with pay out within 45 days or less. But I hear you! I used to do work for one company that took 90 days to pay and no more! They would have to come up with some really well paid assignments for me to consider working for them again I think.

Shoppin - I understand your problem with this, but I don't understand how you can effectively do this if you don't spend some money on the shops. I don't for a minute think the MSCs are going to change the way they reimburse for outlaid money by covering it up front. That would be a self induced nightmare.

What I have done is arrange my work so I don't have much unnecessary outlay that I wouldn't have spent anyway. In February total outlay on my shops was $167.95. Here is how it broke down:

Money I would have spent anyway:
72.15 - Gas - Ordinary household and work outlay
29.00 - Groceries and household items
24.80 - USPO shops - I used these shops to mail personal packages

Money I spent for which I got a partial benefit:
10.00 - Spent at 2 retail shops, got something I can use
20.00 - 2 casual meals, worth about $10 to me. I prefer to eat at home.
12.00 - Inside purchases at 12 gas stations - Soda, Coffee, Candy

I spent a total of $42.00 during the month for items I would not have purchased on my own but which were still partially beneficial. I will be fully reimbursed for these items.

Fees alone for the month were $822 (I shop part time). I spent just a tad over 5%, which will be fully reimbursed, buying items which I would not have bought anyway. The beauty of the program is I will be reimbursed in full for my total outlay of $167.95.

Possibly you are concentrating on shops where you have large outlays, like fine dining, and then you have to wait a long time to get your money. If you want to reduce the money you spend shopping, you can do different types of shops that require less money to be spent. I cannot see any way to shop without spending at least small amounts of your own money up front.

Indeed this is a situation where knowing your companies and having a 'shop kitty' both make a whole lot of sense. If I'm not comfortable with a company, I don't know why I would even take the time, drive the distance and do the report if there was a prospect of not being paid or not being paid without demand. Certainly I need to do a couple of shops with a company that is not giving everybody else fits before I can determine if I am comfortable with the company or not. Common sense says I don't lay out much for those shops until my comfort level is determined.

Building a 'shop kitty' over time so that outlays awaiting reimbursement are not coming out of the household budget in real time cuts down the pain of reimbursements and indeed the pain of reimbursements lost for whatever reason. Of course I would not lay out $1000 on behalf of a mystery shopping company until/unless I had a very high degree of comfort level with their reliability, but I regularly spend several hundred dollars a month for several companies I have found reliable.

A well supplied 'shop kitty' also allows me to play other games. This month I have purchased a number of discounted gas cards on my grocery shops because as a grocery purchase my credit card is paying 5% cash back. Before the 5% on groceries runs out I will purchase grocery gift cards that can be used on shops (but not purchased on grocery shops) to use during the months when groceries are not 5% cash back. Now if I could only persuade gas stations to sell grocery and restaurant gift cards at a discount! Before the end of the year there will be promotions by restaurants for a 20 to 25% discount if you buy restaurant gift cards from them and usually there is 5% cash back on at least one of my credit cards covers restaurants at that time. I will get gift cards for the restaurants I shop that allow you to use gift cards for payment. The 'shop kitty' pays the bills for these future shops and services and so causes no current stress on my budget.

Overall you will find that the fee + reimbursement shops are much more likely to pay you a higher real value than a fee only shop if the reimbursement is for something you can use. Deciding you will not lay out a penny seriously limits what you can do.

Bottom Line...no shops for you.

That was like Elaine talking to the soup nazi on Seinfeld.

shoppinalong Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Even with a return on my credit card, it is not
> credited until the next month costing me interest


You do realize that most credit cards' interest charges don't kick in until after the due date of the statement that they are received on, so long as you're not carrying a month-to-month balance, right?

Example: I have a card that has a $0 balance. I make a charge for a shop. At the end of that month, that charge appears on my statement. My interest charges are $0.

I have until the due date listed on that statement to pay the total balance listed on that statement, or else I will be subjected to interest. All in all, it works out to up to 45 days.

Let's say your card's statement cycle runs the 1st-30th, with a due date of the 24th. If you have a $0 balance, you could make a charge on January 2, pay it off on February 24, and incur zero interest.

Plus not to mention Flash's point. Most credit cards offer some form of cash back or other incentive. If you're being reimbursed for your purchase, this is pure profit. And, even if you wind up with several hundred in cash back over the year, cash back rewards are not subject to income taxes, which means they really are true pure profit!

thanks for all your points.

But when a company says you'll be re-imbursed on the 17th, I'm expecting to be
re-imbursed and receive the check arournd the 22nd or 23rd. Not 5 weeks later.

It's a matter of trust. And don't forget I'm a newbie.

I'm not Elaine yelling at the soup nazi yet. And this is a company that many have complained about. They're still sending me jobs, and I'm still not taking any- not even with a phone call - demanding and nasty at that. Haven't told them why I'm not taking any....when I get a human being on the phone I might discuss it with them.

But NO TRUST is no trust. And they showed their colors to me. Color them liars.

Sounds to me you are on the right track with this particular company and maybe should not even shop for them at all. If I sign up with a new company I take some simple shop first and wait to see how it goes and if I get paid before accepting something else. If all reports are glowing for them on this forum I am not as cautious. If you accept shops that expect you to lay out a sum you are uncomfortable with take them only when they are within the first week after the end of your credit card cycle giving you the most time to get reimbursed before you need to pay your bill. If those shops are typically in the beginning of the month and your credit card cylcle ends mid month, you can request the credit card company to change your cycle so it fits better with the shop dates of your high layout jobs. shoppinalong Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> thanks for all your points.
>
> But when a company says you'll be re-imbursed on
> the 17th, I'm expecting to be
> re-imbursed and receive the check arournd the 22nd
> or 23rd. Not 5 weeks later.
>
> It's a matter of trust. And don't forget I'm a
> newbie.
>
> I'm not Elaine yelling at the soup nazi yet. And
> this is a company that many have complained about.
> They're still sending me jobs, and I'm still not
> taking any- not even with a phone call - demanding
> and nasty at that. Haven't told them why I'm not
> taking any....when I get a human being on the
> phone I might discuss it with them.
>
> But NO TRUST is no trust. And they showed their
> colors to me. Color them liars.

I agree... particularly since some of the reasons MS companies use to disqualify shops are pure BS.

shoppinalong Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> But when a company says you'll be re-imbursed on
> the 17th, I'm expecting to be
> re-imbursed and receive the check arournd the 22nd
> or 23rd. Not 5 weeks later.
>
> It's a matter of trust. And don't forget I'm a
> newbie.

I know which company you're talking about from your other posts on here, and I have never had a payment problem with them. Yeah, I'd prefer direct deposit over a check, but such is life. They have always beat their expected date by one or two days for me. "Check issued 4/13"...arrived 4/11. Also their schedulers have been very helpful with shop issues I've had. My only complaint with this company is that the right hand doesn't talk to the left, so you'll get two email replies from different people with different answers. I usually pick the one I like

I guess the "scarey question" is...what if you did not perform the shop "correctly"...would you get your cash outlay back?????

SunnyDays2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I guess the "scarey question" is...what if you did
> not perform the shop "correctly"...would you get
> your cash outlay back?????


Nope.

Some here may know better though.
there are those like Flash who know people and phone numbers to call up and straighten things out. I guess it's a hit or miss and how well they know you.

Others have waited and waited and just call the Better Business Bureau.

You know, on my way to my "shop" this afternoon I was thinking during the drive...
when you lay out money for these MSC's it's like giving a loan to people you don't know. There are neighbors and friends and acquaintances you DO know that you wouldn't loan money to, yet these companies have the impertinence to demand we shoppers loan them money by laying it out for them, and we've never layed eyes on them, their offices, or even if they have an office. We just have e mail addresses and maybe p.o. boxes and if lucky , phone numbers

It's ludicrous.

Cringing at saying it, but what it comes down to is what Barnum and Bailey said, or was it Ringling -

"there's a sucker born every minute" -

and I've decided to not be one.

I like Shoppingalong's moxy. Reminds me of me! LOL. I am getting to the point where I will not put out too much money and will not put out any for an MSC I do not trust (and I do not trust many of them these days!!!!) I do the As and Bs for Bare but that is the extent of the risk I am willing to take. I did one the other day that required a small outlay. If, for some reason, the MSC found fault with the shop, I would return the silly thing. They haven't, so I am keeping it as per the guidelines. It was NOT something I needed, and frankly, I resent having to buy things I can't use. For those who are asking, why the hell did she take the shop...easy answer: I had a senior moment.

AND maybe the MSC won't even read shoppingalong's note. Or...maybe if more of us let the MSCs know what we find objectionable and why.

oops, sorry, double post repeat - so deleted

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2012 03:23PM by shoppinalong.

jersey07032 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I like Shoppingalong's moxy. Reminds me of me!
> LOL.

Thank you for the kind words Jersey. Reminding you of you is not a bad thing.


I shall soon change my sign-on name to "Moxy"

I like that more than shoppinalong! go moxy.