"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"



Once again you are guilty of heinous lying and twisting of the truth. I never suggested that it was good or bad for a law enforcement officer to lie about past drug use. Lets start over again here and see if I can make this more simple for you to understand. If we are going to exclude every cop or mayor or President who ever did drugs at sometime in their life we are going to be in real trouble. Its unreasonable to assume in this modern day world we live in that many people at sometime in their lives have not encountered drugs. The same could be said for the idea that someone has not been friends in the past 5 years with someone who works at McDonalds. The Golden Arches are one of the largest companies in the world that more then likey 1 in 10 of every person in the USA has worked at. Im middle aged but it seems to me if a person was in their early 20's they might lead a pretty lean social life if they do not know at least 1 person who worked at McDonalds in the past 5 years! How dare me to suggest people use some common sense.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2012 12:37AM by SAMMYSLY.

SAMMYSLY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Once again you are guilty of heinous lying and
> twisting of the truth. I never suggested that it
> was good or bad for a law enforcement officer to
> lie about past drug use.

"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."

Let people who read your posts decide. I suspect most of the readers here don't need you to simplify things.

Now, speaking of heinous lying and twisting the truth, what happened to your accusing me of making things up? Didn't think I would have proof of what I said, huh?

Sammysly, it's not necessary for you to make things simpler for us to understand. We get it, completely. We've understood for some time now. Accusing a reputable forum poster of heinous lying and twisting the truth is stout stuff. Busy is right. You know exactly what you did to Chary, and it was deliberate, flawless, and without remorse. That kind of agenda can turn around and bite.

Now you are recommending lying to get a job, after giving Chary such a hard time for returning a purchase. Are you having a problem with your scruples today? You seem determined to keep something stirred up, and I sure hope you brought a big lunch. This may take a while.

"Now you are recommending lying to get a job"


No...now you are guilty of twisting and lying. Nowhere have I recommending lying to get a job. Unless you are going to use an exact quote of what I wrote that makes both you guilty of twisting. I realize the two of you are two bored hens who think you run this place but stop the slandering and lying for petes sakes.

Sammy, Sammy, bless your heart, you can't take it, can you? I'm not bored. You don't bore me a bit. I think you're interesting, and I can't wait to see what you say next. You've lost your cool and now you're spitting a little ahead of yourself. Watch where you step. Slow down and think this through if you plan to pull off an effective excision on Busy and me. You may have to up your game considerably.

You think we're such bored old chickies we'll be easy pickings to take out? You go for the easy pickings, don't you, Sammysly? Did you know any of those big old bullies in school? You know, the ones who were always picking on easy pickings? Poor Chary, he never saw it coming, did he? I'm going to try to see it coming, like I mentioned before.

You don't hold back now, Sammysly. You cut lose and let's see all the game you've got. Lay it out, end to end and all over the page. The more you post, the better we know you.

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.

This sounds to me like it recommends lying to get a job. This is just a quote, you understand. No twisting necessary.

"You think we're such bored old chickies we'll be easy pickings to take out? You go for the easy pickings, don't you, Sammysly? Did you know any of those big old bullies in school? You know, the ones who were always picking on easy pickings? Poor Chary, he never saw it coming, did he? I'm going to try to see it coming, like I mentioned before"


Still more twisting and distorting of reality. You two are the bullies and Im the person who had the gall to say it.

Wow, still going!

Can we go back to guacamole recipes?

<<deep breath>>

<<<group hug>>>

gnite all!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2012 03:31AM by AndrewTX.

Sammysly, seriously now, in your post you condoned lying to get a job. It's been quoted all over the thread and now you can't even fix it because you can't edit others' posts that quoted your post. So sad and too bad. That's the way it goes with the written word. Throw it out there and defend it forever, because you can't get it back.

Why don't you just say you weren't thinking, or you'd been drinking, and say you're sorry. Anything less is going to make it worse. I don't give a rat's behind if you don't know right from wrong, but you should not be calling Busy or anyone else a liar. You must be running out of cogent thoughts. Oh, well, in the absence of a cogent thought, one can always post whatever drivel comes to mind.

I must leave the forum now for a short period to make my last report of the day, but I'll be back soon to run everything and bully you some more, just in case you need it. In the meantime, while I'm gone, please carry on as best you can and I'll catch up when I get back. Sammy, if any serious crises arise, please delay all decisions and I'll make a ruling when I return. Thank you ever so much.

Market force is the best. I have been paid by them when the receipt is lost or even illigible. I have worked with them for 10 years and consider them my number one company. The easiest to work with, do reports, and schedule/re-schedule assignments.

As a point of clarification and to shed some light on the line of questioning regarding drug use; All law enforcement positions will ask about drug use when applying and some will then administer a polygraph test if an answer is not believable.

The reason for the test is not to deny employment to those who have ever smoked pot, but instead to shine a light on those who would lie about it on an application. They are mainly testing your integrity!

I don't know about it from the state trooper perspective, but do from my background as a military mom. Part of getting security clearance (and everyone needs a very basic level of security clearance) is that those in charge of checking them out dig up mistakes from their past. This could be drugs, truancy, juvenile arrests, school issues - grades or behavior, etc. They ask questions to give them the opportunity to confess while not indicating exactly what they know. While these things don't necessarily prevent someone from serving, lying can get them kicked out or a low clearance for many jobs.

The lying is viewed as worse than the crime in most instances.

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?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2012 04:02AM by Shelly.

Bottom line, it's people, not so much companies. Sometime there are new editors that ask for silly things, silly requirements, etc.
Yes, I know they work for Companies and the companies should monitor them better at times, but they don't all do it as well as they should. Once you have established a relationship with a schedule manager and a few editors, things generally go pretty well. My biggest gripe, perhaps, is poorly designed forms that don't really work or contradict themselves. It adds to the time it takes to complete the job, reducing the income possibilities.
BTW, I have worked with Bestmark and Market Force. I had an issue with Bestmark which was due to a client's requirement that Bestmark was powerless to remedy. No problems with Market Force.
No doubt this endeavour takes patience, on both sides.
Regards to all,
AZ

I'm certainly not going to argue with poorly designed forms with contradictions. Just a couple weeks ago I had a job where a question was on the report that wasn't on the printed version. In my case, a shopper friend was talking me through the assignment and gave me a head's up because Market Force purple tends to do it quite often. It reinforces the importance of this forum and all of the help we can give each other.

I have been shopping for 6 years in Massachusetts. One of the best companies I shop for is Customer Service Experts. They are all over the country. They are looking for help at all the major airports. Once your badged at the airport it's a breeze. They pay for parking, shops, food (limited) It's all about customer experience. The narratives can be tricky, just answer all of the questions. The pay doesn't look great when you first see it. I can easily make $100 or more in three hours.

I think the reason why the receipt is being rejected it's because you have a big jpg and marketforce allows only 1 mb. Try using paint and reduce the size of your jpg, it works all the time.

blanka Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NONE!!!!!! ALL SCAMS! I tried 3 companies and got
> scammed 3 times straight! It does not matter that
> you do the work, and submit everything perfectly!
> Marketforce rejected one shop because they didnt
> think I provided a detailed enough description
> about the moist quality of a hamburger bun. They
> wanted 100 characters written about a hamburger
> bun? What jerks! They purposely make it impossible
> to upload a receipt. It took me 12 weeks to get
> paid, standing on my head the whole time. Not
> worth it!
>
> I already wrote about the horrors of Monterey and
> BestMark. Not any better.

I have done work for all 3 of these companies and never had a problem. Sorry to say, Blanka, you are doing something wrong. Perhaps mystery shopping is not in the cards for you.

I'm new to MS and have worked for both BestMark and Market Force. I have had no problems with either company and I will continue to shop for them. In addition, I understand the payment turnaround time. I don't look to MS as my sole form of income, but since I'm studying Hospitality Management in college, I use MS as a tool because it gives me insight into the workings of customer service as well as the fact that it seasons me as both someone working in the industry where customer service is a major asset as well as helping me to understand what customer service means to me as a consumer.

There are tons of things you can do, Blanka...perhaps MS is not one of them. Cut your losses and keep it moving.

I have never had a problem with Marketforce and I have done over 100 shops for them.The only time I was contacted by them was because my receipt was more than the size allowed. So I learned right away to resize my pictures and CPI. I have never had a problem since.
Sorry, Blanka but most of the shops that do not get paid are because the shopper did not read the instructions properly.

I don't think that the MSC's you mentioned would still be in business if they were as you claimed "Frauds and Scammers."

I cant believe this thread is still going. SMH.

It looks like the "hens" have pecked away at SAMMYSLY. But I am craving chicken for dinner tonight. ;-)

I have to admit I didn't read page 2 through 8 - mostly because I could see the clique doing their usual tap dance on Blanka.

Did it ever occur to any of you that you dont have to correct Blanka or answer. She/he is entitled to complain without being hammered for doing so. Cheez, it gets so boring.

I have had problems with two of the companies mentioned, one with late payment which I made very public and they never did it again, and the other, after writing the scheduler and apologizing because I thought I did a lousy job on a new and complicated report, never being paid for it even after the scheduler said " I don't think it's so bad".

I wouldn't call them scammers or frauds, but I rarely work for the one, and never work for the other.

Blanka is entitled to complain here, without being attacked.

When are you "hens" going to get it ?

Maybe you should go back and read those pages. Blanka came on here @#$%& and moaning and groaning and providing absolutely no information. She eventually did tell us the real problem and some of we "hens" provided her with some solid advice. In case you forgot during your hiatus, we self police rather than rely on moderators to delete outrageous posts. In other words, call a legitimate company a scam and you will be called on the carpet. Come here with a legitimate problem and you will be supported.

The purpose of this forum is not an avenue to complain and cry about how all these companies "done me wrong" and to create an atmosphere of shoppers against shopping companies.

Shoppinalong, are you trying to pull our leg? The OP signed with the forum on Aug. 20, and her/his last activity was Aug. 21. Admittedly, you haven't read the thread, yet you generalize, stereotype and denounce "hens" and the "clique", some of whom are presumably frequent and more experienced member/shoppers than the OP. I'm all for championing the underdog, don't know if I'm a hen or in the clique, but

Your 'hens' reference brought to mind my favorite technique for hard boiled eggs - Place raw eggs, still in the shell, in a sauce pan. Add cold water to cover eggs by 1". Add a dash of vinegar, which may help the whites from running into the water, in the event the eggs crack. Another suggestion to keep the eggs from cracking, is to add a dash of salt. Bring the eggs in the water to a rolling boil. Turn off the heat, and cover the eggs. Leave them alone for 12 minutes. Voila!

I agree Blanka should get to complain, and I agree we should not respond. No argument here.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe you should go back and read those pages.
> Blanka came on here @#$%& and moaning and
> groaning and providing absolutely no information.
> She eventually did tell us the real problem and
> some of we "hens" provided her with some solid
> advice. In case you forgot during your hiatus, we
> self police rather than rely on moderators to
> delete outrageous posts. In other words, call a
> legitimate company a scam and you will be called
> on the carpet. Come here with a legitimate problem
> and you will be supported.
>
> The purpose of this forum is not an avenue to
> complain and cry about how all these companies
> "done me wrong" and to create an atmosphere of
> shoppers against shopping companies.

LisaSTL


sorry, but I disagree.

If people didn't come on here and as you put it, "@#$%& and moan" a company like Freeman would still be taking suckers for hundreds of dollars.

And to press the point, a well respected and loved old timer posted a very long diatribe, admittedly well written, about another company, and nobody attacked her.

It's enough to advise a newbie "they are normally good companies so "scam and fraud" are the wrong words to use" without going on to attack the newbie.

Same old, same old. and yes there is a clique who can always be counted on to put the newbie down. So the newbie only posted 3 posts and got attacked, and then the clique uses the excuse that they only posted 3 times so they're a troll because they never came back.

After being attacked the way any newbie continually is, do you really expect them to come back and join ?

It happens again and again.

> The purpose of this forum is not an avenue to
> complain and cry about how all these companies
> "done me wrong" and to create an atmosphere of
> shoppers against shopping companies.

You're wrong there. ONE of the purposes of this forum is to gain membership so that MSC's will pay attention to complaints about them and change their behavior. Jacob would not have had the power to affect Freeman and the company that changed their pay rate from $40 to $4.00 if he did not have the backing of thousands of shoppers coming to this forum.

We all have companies who we like and don't like; some have the patience to wait more than 90 days for payment, some have the patience and persistence to run after companies who haven't paid them in 4 and 5 and 6 months and THEY DO WRITE ABOUT IT HERE, but as long as they're known entities they don't get attacked.

The territorial, "I was here first and I know it all" attitude against complainers and newbies needs to stop. It's really gotten old old old, disgusting and many times just plain mean.

P.S. Did any of you happen to read the complaints about Market Force by "Wild Bill" which Blanka was also complaining about ? Apparently the only reason he wasn't attacked is that it was obvious he was not a newbie to mystery shopping.
But plenty of people were complaining in that thread about MarketForce.

P.S.S. By the way, Lisa, this is not directed at you - I don't consider you a "hen", you are usually well meaning and I don't think I've ever seen you post anything mean or discouraging to newbies.

cc: Jacob

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2012 07:02PM by shoppinalong.

@shoppinalong: what gets old old old, as you put it, is reading complaints from shoppers who, while using bad grammar and even worse spelling, attack various MSCs with whom most of us have worked for a long while, have had mostly positive experiences, and have had few to no issues. If a shopper with 4,000 posts on this forum places a post out there that blasts an MSC with no foundation or supporting facts, they will experience the same reaction that those "newbies" do. The reason you don't see that happen? Because someone who has been around that long, and has posted that many times, knows better.

Having several shoppers post and discuss the SAME issues and negative experiences with companies like Freeman and Goodwin is completely different from one disgruntled shopper - new or experienced - complaining about an MSC with absolutely no valid or supporting facts. Can you really not see the difference? And I have not read anything "disgusting and just plain mean" written by any of veteran folks here, "hens" as you call them. Exactly WHO is disgusting and just plain mean? Do you not think your terminology and tone is offensive and derogatory? As for why a newbie may post 2 or 3 times and never come back - I would hope it is because they have cooled off a bit after firing off some snarky drivel, reading the rational, less emotional responses from the experienced shoppers here, and slunk away embarrassed with their tail between their legs.

Thank you, pcs, I share your thoughts. I came to this forum as a newbie shopper, and a newbie to forums. I didn't know a thread, post, or ICA violation from a hole in the ground. Yet, the elders and other newbies, were patient and guided me along. Several years later, I participate in other forums, in different capacities. And, I have thousands of shops under my belt.

This forum has been a good place to hang out and share. Here, I have tried to give back, when I have the time, just as others have always done for me. I hope new members feel welcome and as supported as I did.

Now that is is a chilly autumnal day, I think that I should share my favorite stew recipe. It is particularly nice to come home to the aroma of basil, when this oven stew has been gently simmering all day.

French Oven Stew aka “Moving Day Stew” NOTES:
1. This stew makes its own gravy . No need to sear the meat.
2. You will need a heavy pot, with a well-fitting lid, such as a Dutch oven or a large pottery crock. It can also be made in a CrockPot, but I much prefer the oven.
3. Timing: see below you do not want this to boil freely, only to simmer, in the oven.
4. Cooking time can be vaired to suit your needs. If you are moving into a new home, pop the pot of cold ingredients into the new oven when you first arrive, set the oven to 275, stir it 3-4 hours later and adjust the liquid. Check it at 7-8 hours; if the carrots are almost tender, add the potatoes, adjust the spices and basil level, kick the temp up to as high as 325, and plan to eat 60-75 minutes later. OR, start the stew at 325, check and stir, add liquid at 90 minutes. Check at 2.5 hours to see if carrots are almost ender. When carrots are almost tender, add the potatoes, etc. Any combo of timing and temp in between these examples, works.
Ingredients: vary the proportions of meat and veg to suit your preferences. This is the original list, but I now use half this much meat for the same amount of veg.
1 lb beef chuck for stew, cut in about 1 inch cubes
3-4 carrots, scrubbed, unpeeled, cut on the diagonal into hunks, not little pieces
2-3 celery stalks, without leaves, cut on diagonal into hunks
1/3 to ½ cup instant tapioca beads (This is what makes the gravy, trust me.)
1 TBSP sugar (do not mess around with artificial sweetener for this.)
½ to 1 TBSP salt (start with less, adjust later)
¼ to ½ TSP black pepper
1-2 medium yellow onions, cut into quarters or eighths
2-4 TBSP dehydrated basil (or more to taste). Start with less, adjust later. Rub the basil between your palms before adding.
1 cup, at least of either tomato juice or V-8 juice, low sodium variety preferred.
1 cup at least, either strong red wine or water. Add MORE LIQUID LATER, AFTER THE MEAT HAS ADDED ITS JUICES TO THE MIX.
COMBINE ALL OF THE ABOVE IN A HEAVY POT WITH A TIGHT FITTING LID. You will need to have room to add the potatoes later! Follow some variation of the oven setting and timing given above.
When the carrots are starting to get tender add:
2-4 small to medium red potatoes, scrubbed, cubed into no larger than about 1 inch cubes. Skins on or off: your call. Return to oven, check in one hour. Serve when taters are tender.
SERVE WITH: Crusty garlic bread, maybe with some parm on the bread. Make a salad if you must, but this is truly a balanced meal in a pot.