Sentry Marketing is a terrible company to shop for. I was lied to regarding bonus pay, quick pay, and then after 3 months of inquiring regarding my payment, I received an email stated my report had been rejected by the client. Stay away. Terrible website and unreliable staff.

This shopper was not lied to in any manner.

The assignment that was assigned to this shopper includes a requirement that the shopper arrive at the client's location 20 minutes prior to their appointment time. This shopper arrived 5 minutes before their appointment time. The arrival time left us no choice but to reject the shop as the deviation from the assignment guidelines impacted the evaluation.

We take extensive steps to avoid having to reject any shop. There are times, however, when the situation leaves us with out any alternative.

Amazing that it takes you only a few hours to respond to a public complaint but months to let me know the shop would be rejected and I would not be paid. I even had a scheduler email me 3 weeks ago asking me to do another shop in which I replied that I was new to Sentry and waiting on payment for the last shop. Still no word of payment or the shop being rejected. I sent a total of 6 emails over the span of a month before receiving the response that my shop was rejected. Again amazing.

In 10 years of shopping I have never had a report rejected. There were circumstances that prevented me from arriving that early in which the location would have charged me had I not shown up. I called to try to rescheduled but the location told me I would be charged regardless. I tried to reach the scheduler and of course no answer. The fact that the report was rejected was not conveyed to me for several months after my shop was completed and I had already inquired about payment several times. I could understand a deduction but a total rejection of payment on a $72.00 out of pocket shop in ridiculous.

Despite the nonpayment this was for a massage shop which was terrible and left me with shoulder pain for several weeks after the massage. Since I no longer choose to shop for Sentry, I will be calling the corporate office of the client tomorrow morning to let them know about my experience.

My guess is we will not hear from npoarch again. I have completed 27 shops for them and have had a couple of issues. However, the problems were resolved quickly and professionally. Other than that, I have enjoyed doing their shops. While the surveys can be a little redundant, I willingly sign up for their shops. They have a good variety of client companies in my area. Sorry, npoarch, I will continue to shop with them in the future.

Although I have been shopping for 10 years this is my first complaint. To me they were very misleading and slow to respond. The service for the shop also ended up being $15.00 plus a 10.00 tip more than the reim. amount listed to start with and then after 3 months they tell me I am not getting paid at all and my shop is rejected. Due to a sequence of mishaps with them I felt the need to share with other shoppers.

I am glad your experience has been great and I wish you the best of luck with all your shops.

npoarch,

I understand that having a shop rejected can be an upsetting and frustrating experience. We do not like having to take this action and only do so when there is no alternative. Your shop was rejected because the late arrival impacted the mystery shopping evaluation in such a manner that your shop was not able to be sent to our client.

I was first made aware of your issue this evening when the email you sent to our support@sentrymarketing.com email address was brought to my attention. The only communication I can find from you are the two emails that you sent this morning and this evening to the aforementioned email address. I cannot find a record of any other communication sent to us via our support email or support ticketing system.

Any time a shop is rejected, the shopper is notified via email. The email is sent via the same automated system that sends out notifications of available assignments and similar communication. In addition, the status of all completed shops is readily available in the History tab of our shopper support center.

As a shopper with ten years of experience, it's disappointing to hear that you are going to knowingly breach the nondisclosure section of the ICA that you agreed to when you signed up to be a shopper with our company.

I've done one shop with Sentry and all went smoothly. I even received a nice thank you card in the mail afterward. I've talked with the owner on the phone a couple times. Originally because I had a concern over something with the report. I sent an email and a few hours later, got a personal call from the owner. He was helpful and accommodating.

When I have time, I'll do more. If I'm in North Carolina, I'll be taking the one relaxing shops I see all the time. That client is near me recently so hopefully, they'll be offering them soon, too. Lord knows I could certainly use that service, especially since I'm still sore and tense seven months after my car accident.

To the OP, if you have shopped for 10 years, then I am sure you know how most all MS companies will not allow your shop time to vary by even 5 minutes. You're embarrassing yourself for arguing something that you are admitting was your mistake. Most all shop instructions state their time requirements in bold saying, "you will not be paid."

The fact the massage left you in pain is not the MS companies fault either.

NPOARCH----->SENTRY MARKETING has a red phone ringing each time we post about them as do most MSCs (that follow this forum). Some will respond and some won't.

It is your luck day that they did within 24 hours on a public forum board.

I find if I email a MSC for anything,I also email "it" to myself. Sometimes they get the email and sometimes they don't. What happenned to it? I don't know. But if I email the correspondence to me also, I have proof.

NPOARCH, also I wouldn't try to burn or violate my bridges. Some MSCs are in contact with others so they may de-activate you for being a poor sport or shopper. and then where will your 10 years of MSing be? :-(.

10 years ago MS was not the same as now. Move on, SM is not the only MSC out there.

Npoarch - NOT a good move to contact that client. You signed a contract you would not do that, and getting into a dustup with the MSC does not void the contract. Careful, careful. You're a ten year veteran, but newer shoppers need to be aware this is not an acceptable action and could have unpleasant repercussions.

As an experienced shopper, you had to know going into that shop late that you were already dead in the water. Timing infractions are normally unacceptable, no matter what the reason.

The way I see it from your posts, you had the option of paying for a massage and getting it, or paying for a massage and not getting it. The MSC is not responsible either way, because you did not meet the guidelines for the shop.

A dear old friend once told me this: Education is not free.

What is the typical turn-around time for a ticket entry at Sentry? I entered one about payment on a shop and have never heard back. The comment re: this shop after I completed it was >>>>Thank you for completing this assignment. Thanks for the
detailed comments and well written report.
>>> and yet when they list the payment owing me, it is an underpayment by more than 50%! Confusion.....

Susie,

It should be no more than three days. I apologize that we did not respond to your ticket and will personally handle your situation. Please email me at dave@sentrymarketing.com.

Thanks

Dave Agius

Hey, Dave - How come we don't have a massage shop here in Albuquerque? I want one of those!!

On another note I have done a couple shops for Sentry and find I like working for them, except I didn't like the food at one of their shops which is no longer in business here. The food gave me heartburn when I walked in the door. You know it's really hard to do a report when you hate the food.

plmccut Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey, Dave - How come we don't have a massage shop
> here in Albuquerque? I want one of those!!


LOL, same here, and I'm in Missouri. I actually haven't found any Sentry shops close enough to me, but from Dave's responses to forum queries, it sounds like a decent MSC.

While I agree with most of what people have been posting here - I do have to point out that the OP never said they were going to violate their ICA explicitly. What they said was that they had experienced shoulder pain from their massage, and that they were going to contact the provider about this issue. I took that as they were going to contact the client as a "customer" not as a shopper.

As the report is not being used and the shopper is not being paid, it seems well within the OP rights to contact the client about the dissatisfation they had with the actual massage they received (obviously leaving out anything having to do with the MSC or mystery shopping).

What if the claim that the OP had "shoulder pain for weeks" directly contradicts what was written in the report? Also, what about the fact that this experience took place several months ago? Because in this case, both of these are true. Do we have duty to report the issue to our client?

Our ICA prohibits contact with the client and does not distinguish between a shop that is published and a shop that is not. In this case, since the event in question took place over 60 days ago, my impression is that the OP intended to contact our client to discuss her experience with our company.

Anyone having pay issues with Sentry? I was paid on July 12th, but my address is wrong on the site and I have written 4 emails for help to change it and no one has responded.

Did you try to e-mail Dave? dave@sentrymarketing.com

He is pretty quick to repond. He might see your post and be able to help you too.

Rachel,

I have responded to the help desk ticket you submitted.

Thanks

Dave

Thanks guys for all the comments and advice. My opinion still remains that a I should have been notified within a timely manner if my shop was rejected not several months after the fact. I had emailed the scheduler and notified her of the arrival time while waiting in road construction on the way to the location. I guess I have been spoiled by all the other companies I shop for because I have never experienced the hassles I encountered with Sentry. I agree some things were not the fault of Sentry but I was reporting to shoppers about my complete overall experience. Thanks again and Happy Shopping!

Anyone know the pay schedule for Sentry Marketing? My typical rule is, I'll only do one shop for a company until I see the first check. Exceptions exist if the shops don't cost me any money. I did my first shop for them in June, and I broke my rule because they needed the place shopped again in July and they put a bonus on it. I just got a call that they want me to shop the same place. Apparently no one wants to drive to the middle of nowhere for a free meal and a few bucks. Anyway, I checked the site and I couldn't find their pay schedule.

I DID get paid last night. Thanks to Dave, who was very helpful and the check was in the mail!

jschilz, they normally take 60ish days to arrive, but you WILL get paid.

Npoarch...you can see your shop history immediately on your page. Did you ever check there? I doubt it...

rlkanner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I DID get paid last night. Thanks to Dave, who was
> very helpful and the check was in the mail!
>
> jschilz, they normally take 60ish days to arrive,
> but you WILL get paid.


---

Thanks, I'm glad I asked. I've gotten so spoiled with payments made at the end of the next month, that I might have gotten crotchety and thought I was going to get stiffed. Although, I don't think I've actually been stiffed by a company yet. There's one company that I have to email to get payment, but I always get the payment within a week of the email. It's pretty annoying when it's the same company and you read about them on the boards and everyone has the smae problem. Why can't they just pay when they say they will.

You remember to e-mail requesting payment and so do some other shoppers. There are probably some who don't do such a good job with their record keeping. If they don't request payment, they don't get paid. What do you think happens to the money

Too many complaints on this entity. Constant. Threads and more threads of complaints.

People complaining they email and email and never hear anything from the company until they post on public forums.

I am particularly quite struck by the usual Greek Chorus praising and amening
the errant company, while snidely attacking the new OP.

As far as the OP contacting the company which injured him, since as an Independent Contractor he is not covered by workmen's compensation or hospitalization if, say during a mystery auto shop the salesman ran over his foot with the car,and the MSC contract actually states it takes no reponsibility for any injury which occurs during a shop; the OP would be perfectly within his right to sue the dealership and the salesman for the injury no matter what the unilateral contract states, which in essence an IC is forced to sign without any opportunity to amend. Some clever lawyer might even call it signed under duress without opportunity to negotiaste contract due to needing a job or any job in these economic times. If the MSC would want to put himself in the position of a witness for his client, one would have to wonder if he too would not be putting himself in jeapordy of being sued, although such testimony would likely not be given much weight.

What do they call that? hmmm zero game ? in some sports?

There are shoppers here who are expert at brown-nosing, others who are also schedulers or editors as well as shoppers; and some reveal themselves as such while others don't. You can usually tell who is whom by the side of the argument they take.

OP, you do what you need to do and never mind the usual Greek chorus.

shoppinalong

"Threads and more threads of complaints"? I respectfully disagree and would say that this is an exaggeration. There is positive feedback about our company on this forum (and others) and there is negative feedback about our company. This is normal and you can find similar feedback about nearly every company in the industry on forums like this one.

I think it's interesting that your post marginalizes positive feedback about our company as coming from "brown-nosers" or forum members with an agenda. I don't have any control about what is written about our company on this forum be it positive or negative feedback. I do try to address any concerns that are posted here in an effort to be transparent.

Thanks

Dave Agius, Owner
The Sentry Marketing Group



shoppinalong Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Too many complaints on this entity. Constant.
> Threads and more threads of complaints.
>
> People complaining they email and email and never
> hear anything from the company until they post on
> public forums.
>
> I am particularly quite struck by the usual Greek
> Chorus praising and amening
> the errant company, while snidely attacking the
> new OP.
>
> As far as the OP contacting the company which
> injured him, since as an Independent Contractor he
> is not covered by workmen's compensation or
> hospitalization if, say during a mystery auto
> shop the salesman ran over his foot with the
> car,and the MSC contract actually states it takes
> no reponsibility for any injury which occurs
> during a shop; the OP would be perfectly within
> his right to sue the dealership and the salesman
> for the injury no matter what the unilateral
> contract states, which in essence an IC is forced
> to sign without any opportunity to amend. Some
> clever lawyer might even call it signed under
> duress without opportunity to negotiaste contract
> due to needing a job or any job in these economic
> times. If the MSC would want to put himself in
> the position of a witness for his client, one
> would have to wonder if he too would not be
> putting himself in jeapordy of being sued,
> although such testimony would likely not be given
> much weight.
>
> What do they call that? hmmm zero game ? in some
> sports?
>
> There are shoppers here who are expert at
> brown-nosing, others who are also schedulers or
> editors as well as shoppers; and some reveal
> themselves as such while others don't. You can
> usually tell who is whom by the side of the
> argument they take.
>
> OP, you do what you need to do and never mind the
> usual Greek chorus.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You remember to e-mail requesting payment and so
> do some other shoppers. There are probably some
> who don't do such a good job with their record
> keeping. If they don't request payment, they don't
> get paid. What do you think happens to the money


----
Yeah, it's just obnoxious. You'd think that they can't possibly make enough money doing that to risk losing people who actually do their shops. Maybe they wouldn't have to keep bonusing all of these shops if they actually paid without issue.

(as a side note since I'm not a few messages past my original message, This side conversation is not regarding Sentry Marketing Group, I wouldn't want anyone to get confused and think I'm saying they don't pay)

Glad you cleared that up since we did get off of the subject MSC. For the companies that do that, it is an obnoxious practice. Maybe it comes from my days of managing businesses, to me there is just no excuse to be disorganized when it comes to the company finances.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2013 02:18AM by CAscotch.