Mary, I totally missed that.

Shadow seems to have pushed their payments out to at least 60 days.

I did a search for Shadow Agency, it doesn't appear to be related to Shadow Shopper. The website looks very professional and legit. They do video mystery shopping. lniemcz@aol.com, did you wear a camera and record the shop or was yours a traditional shop?

MDavisnowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello, lniemcz@aol.com. I can't answer your
> question and I was hoping someone who knew
> something would hop on it. You will get a
> response if you start a new thread and put the
> name of the company in the title line. When you
> slip it in on an already existing thread on
> another subject, sometimes it gets lost.
>
> There is already a thread going on Shadow Shopper.
> Is that the same outfit?

Shadow Agency has both traditional and video. I've only shopped the video side and that is taking 2 months or so to pay. So far I haven't come across a company that has longer payment terms for video than traditional and assume it is just the same across the board.

My inquiry was just out of curiosity; I was not relating it in regards to payment schedule. I was just curious about the video shopping because I have never done that.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Shadow Agency has both traditional and video. I've
> only shopped the video side and that is taking 2
> months or so to pay. So far I haven't come across
> a company that has longer payment terms for video
> than traditional and assume it is just the same
> across the board.

Sorry to perpetuate the "recipes" subtopic... but wanted to mention that one of the merchandising companies I work for, Lawrence Merchandising Service, started a Recipes collection on their web site a few months ago. They put out a "Cooking with Lawrence" cookbook as a PDF.

Cooks.com is my favorite recipe sharing site.


sallyf024 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Whoa! This is scarey (and sad). Responding to such
> energy cannot be good for anyone. But absolutely
> loved the recipes! How about a permanent thread
> for recipes!!??

If you're interested in trying video, I'm not sure if Shadow loans cameras. I know EPMS both loans them and provides some in depth training. So does a company called Instant Replays. The shops pay a bit less when they are supplying the equipment, but if you aren't sure it is something you will want to pursue then the loaned equipment is the way to go before investing $420 plus on your own rig. After 4 or 5 shops you should be able to tell if you like it enough to purchase your own equipment.

Thanks for the info. How's the pay?

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you're interested in trying video, I'm not sure
> if Shadow loans cameras. I know EPMS both loans
> them and provides some in depth training. So does
> a company called Instant Replays. The shops pay a
> bit less when they are supplying the equipment,
> but if you aren't sure it is something you will
> want to pursue then the loaned equipment is the
> way to go before investing $420 plus on your own
> rig. After 4 or 5 shops you should be able to tell
> if you like it enough to purchase your own
> equipment.

It is more than traditional shops, but just like them, varies from company to company and depending on the type of shop. Honestly, I've had them be as low as $35 on up to $200 plus. You have to keep in mind that it is still growing and most, if not all, video shoppers have to do some traveling to make money. There are some shoppers who do video and little else. For me it is just a portion of my income.

The core clients are still apartments, new homes and new cars which makes for some very long rotations and the need for a video shopper to be available during normal business hours. More and more video shoppers have been doing some tests for different types of clients and there has been an uptick in retail. Hopefully, the trend will continue.

Can you tell us a little about what a video shop is like ? I assume these are most covert. Am I correct. Can you fill us in on a few details of what one is supposed to do on a video shop ? The concept sounds very intrusive.

It is covert. There is no scenario that is unique to video shopping. They are just like any other. The skill comes in being to keep a target in frame for a large percentage of the time. IMHO, they are no more intrusive than any other shop and I prefer them because there is no relying just on a shopper's memory and perception. If you keep in mind that with mystery shopping in general our goal is not to catch people misbehaving, but to reward good behavior and identify opportunities for education and training it will put it into perspective.

Interesting that no one has chastised you for using foul language in your post, LOL. It is quite rude.

blanka Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Stay away from these companies. They are frauds.
> They require a lengthy shop, then bullshit you
> that the form "needs more information" but they
> refuse to tell you what is missing. That was
> Monterey.
>
> Bestmark unilaterally withholds payment after the
> work was done and the form was sent. They are
> frauds. Never sign up with them.
>
> Marketforce rejects the receipt upload over and
> over, and you have to stand on your head to submit
> it. It took me 12 weeks to get paid, and I had out
> of pocket costs. Never do it..NEVER

Well I can sympathise with the OP that this is a frustrating job at times. I have tried and tried to write reports that score well for one MSC. I finally thought I had done it and waited for my "report card" hoping to finally edge my overall score up to 90%. I did it, I got an A on my report but a no for timliness. My overall score crept down.
Their system would not let me enter my report, I sent a message well within my deadline which they never answered. I then sent message by Livechat a wonderful feature they have during their business hours. It took the staff several tries to get me into the system. I am frustrated because I think the system made me late but they are going to pay me and I finally got my A so I will let it go. There aren't that many companies with work in my area.

Thanks for letting me get my frustrations out, and thanks for the suggestions else where on the forum that helped me finally get an A. But I do sympathise with shoppers who are often frustrated.

I have had a very good relationship with Bestmark. They have paid me for every assignment without a problem. My experience has always been pretty straightforward with them. They only contacted me one time for more info, I gave it to them and all was well, and I was paid.
I hope you have better experiences in the future.

....still going!

This is the thread that never dies! I step away from the forums for a week and y'all are still beating this dead horse. What fun!

My favorite posts are the ones where they argue about arguing about arguing!

Let's keep it going!

The Bestmark only not paid me when I did not followed directions next time I followed as they asked. I always get paid and fast. I think they are good MSC.

jentodd Wrote: Please you don't need to do that. Thank you,-------------------------------------------------------
> Let me ... see...
>
> blanka's account information:
> Member Since: 08/20/2012 03:36PM
> Last Activity: 08/20/2012 05:06PM
>
> davemlkk's account information:
> Member Since: 08/20/2012 04:33PM
> Last Activity: 08/20/2012 05:06PM
>
> Hmm. =D

I don't understand the last post.

I'm not sure but I think Namkurtz was saying it would have been better if jentodd didn't post the information about the two usernames. I can only guess at the rationale for that opinion.

That was my thought, but I didn't want to disagree without knowing for sure. In the case of probable trolls, it's all fair game. No doubt Jen would not have posted the information otherwise.

Oh - maybe I misunderstood. Given Namkurtz's positive post above about Bestmark, I assumed that by quoting Jen's post Namkurtz meant to say that he also believed the two trolls were either the same troll or a second troll who came in specifically to agree with the first troll.

In any case, our usernames and the date/time we signed up is a matter of public record and can easily be looked up by anybody who clicks on our username.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2012 07:26PM by AustinMom.

I have had no trouble with getting paid from bestmark. they do complain alot about the reports..... I am with a lot of other companies that never have anything bad to say. I wonder if they realize they run people off with there complaining,

Marketforce on the other hand.....Cancelled me for having a friend that worked at zzzzzzzzzz 4 years ago in another state. how crazy and I am still waiting on payments from 3 months ago. They are not worth the trouble.

I guess everyone's experiences are different. I have never had Bestmark complain about anything, and I have done a lot of shops for them over the past 8 years or so.

Marketforce: not had any problems either. You should edit your post to remove the client's name for that fast food company, that is a violation of your ICA and also the posting rules for this forum. Now, did you complete one of the ********* shops, or are you saying you had a friend who worked for that fast food company and you were doing other types of shops but got canceled anyway? It is pretty clear in the ICA that you can't have any relatives or friends that work for one of their clients within the past 5 years and complete a shop for that client. It doesn't matter how far away they are. I can't see them running you off unless you broke your ICA. I have done hundreds of shops for Marketforce and never had any issues getting paid. I get direct deposit the following month for all my shops. You should call them or contact their helpdesk if it has been 3 months and find out what the problem is.

kiasardan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have had no trouble with getting paid from
> bestmark. they do complain alot about the
> reports..... I am with a lot of other companies
> that never have anything bad to say. I wonder if
> they realize they run people off with there
> complaining,
>
> Marketforce on the other hand.....Cancelled me for
> having a friend that worked at Mcdonalds 4 years
> ago in another state. how crazy and I am still
> waiting on payments from 3 months ago. They are
> not worth the trouble.

I Didn't write the clients name I wrote why they cancelled me. I see what your saying about the 5 year rule, the other 40 something companies I work for have not cancelled me. Don't we all know someone that works in fast food, a gas station, or a restaurant. NO one would be able to work for Marketforce.

kiasardan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I Didn't write the clients name I wrote why they
> cancelled me. I see what your saying about the 5
> year rule, the other 40 something companies I work
> for have not cancelled me. Don't we all know
> someone that works in fast food, a gas station, or
> a restaurant. NO one would be able to work for
> Marketforce.

No, you did write the client's name:

"Cancelled me for having a friend that worked at [CLIENT'S NAME] 4 years ago in another state."

Every company has its own rules.

kiasardan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I Didn't write the clients name I wrote why they
> cancelled me. I see what your saying about the 5
> year rule, the other 40 something companies I work
> for have not cancelled me. Don't we all know
> someone that works in fast food, a gas station, or
> a restaurant. NO one would be able to work for
> Marketforce.

That is probably true, but all the other shoppers who know someone who used to work for the client do not have the friend who used to work for the client using their computer. If a friend who is a previous employee of one of the clients that you shop has access to your computer, then Marketforce may believe there is a lack of security and confidentiality.

You are bound by the confidentiality agreement you signed not to reveal the clients of Marketforce. You should go back and edit your posts and remove all client names. When explaining that your friend worked for XXX, call the client XXX rather than revealing the name.

Do you think that when someone is applying for a job as a state trooper they answer the question about if they ever did drugs honestly? Do you think that the person applying for the state trooper job is going to get hired if they say "yeah I smoked pot once when I was 14 at my neighbors house over summer vacation".......hee hee haha. You have got to use some common sense people. The question becomes do you want the job or do you want to fool around.

SAMMYSLY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do you think that when someone is applying for a
> job as a state trooper they answer the question
> about if they ever did drugs honestly? Do you
> think that the person applying for the state
> trooper job is going to get hired if they say
> "yeah I smoked pot once when I was 14 at my
> neighbors house over summer vacation".......hee
> hee haha. You have got to use some common sense
> people. The question becomes do you want the job
> or do you want to fool around.

I find it very interesting that someone who argued vehemently for honesty and integrity and stalked another shopper/poster here until he quit these forums is now advocating "common sense" over morals and ethics.

"I find it very interesting that someone who argued vehemently for honesty and integrity and stalked another shopper/poster here until he quit these forums is now advocating "common sense" over morals and ethics."


You do huh? I find it interesting er I mean I find it abstract that you could find some kind of close comparrison between the act of someone going to Walmart and buying a $100 dollar camera to do mystery shops with and then taking the camera back the next day to the act of someone not mentioning that they have a friend who used to work at McDonalds years ago. Yes technically you are right but in reality you have taken common sense and thrown it out the window.


"and stalked another shopper/poster here until he quit these forums"

How do you know that unless you are his wife. The truth is you just made that up. For all we know the guy found a job and does not have time to be posting on here anymore. Admit it you have nothing to base that accusation on other then you just made it up!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2012 11:15PM by SAMMYSLY.

I'm not surprised that the shopper self-assigned shops with the burger joint even though it required that none of her close friends could have worked there within 5 years. She knew she had a close friend who had been employed by the burger joint within five years and she lied because she thought she wouldn't get caught. Not a big surprise. She says she shopped the burger client lots of times. So each time she did a report she lied - each report required her to repeat that she had no close friends employed by the client within five years AND each report had a statement that told her if she did not answer the question honestly she would be deactivated. She got caught. She got deactivated.

What surprises me is not that she lied to get and do the job. What surprises me is that she seems totally puzzled and annoyed at being deactivated.

And, yes, I think that purchasing a camera, using it and returning it the next day is similar to lying to get a job that you would not have gotten if you had not lied.

SAMMYSLY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "I find it very interesting that someone who
> argued vehemently for honesty and integrity and
> stalked another shopper/poster here until he quit
> these forums is now advocating "common sense" over
> morals and ethics."
>
>
> You do huh? I find it interesting er I mean I
> find it abstract that you could find some kind of
> close comparrison between the act of someone
> going to Walmart and buying a $100 dollar camera
> to do mystery shops with and then taking the
> camera back the next day to the act of someone not
> mentioning that they have a friend who used to
> work at McDonalds years ago. Yes technically you
> are right but in reality you have taken common
> sense and thrown it out the window.
>

No. I was comparing (1) obtaining a camera through false pretenses and returning it to get a refund and (2) YOUR taking the position that someone should use "common sense" and LIE about drug use to get a LAW ENFORCEMENT job.

COMMON SENSE would dictate that someone not lie under the penalty of perjury to get a job.

COMMON SENSE would dictate that someone like you, who not only exhibited a holier-than-thou attitude, would think twice before showing what a hypocrite he is by posting what you posted.

>
> "and stalked another shopper/poster here until he
> quit these forums"
>
> How do you know that unless you are his wife. The
> truth is you just made that up. For all we know
> the guy found a job and does not have time to be
> posting on here anymore. Admit it you have nothing
> to base that accusation on other then you just
> made it up!

There is such a thing as PMs and, believe it or not, people who are not spouses can and do actually communicate with each other.

You don't know what the truth is and frankly, I don't think you care. You just accused me of making things up when YOU are the one who is making things up.

If you truly care to find out what the truth is, you may PM Jacob, the owner of these forums. He knows what happened BECAUSE I PM'D HIM when you kept trying to stir things up again by stalking charyuop and bringing up the camera incident when those threads had nothing to do with that incident.

This may blow your mind but people who disagree on moral or ethical issues can and do sometimes communicate with each other.

I thought what charyuop did with the camera was wrong and I told him so in PM. However, I also accepted that to err was human and saw that he contributed to these forums by participating positively in different threads.

Let me ask you this: What is YOUR contribution to this forum? You rarely post, which is not a problem. However, most of your posts are negative and that IS a problem.

You are a hypocrite.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2012 11:43PM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.