Can the shoppers who are owed money by a defunct company somehow claim the money as a loss come tax time?

Anonymous - You can claim the expenses you had for doing the work, such as your mileage, whether you were paid or not. You cannot claim the unpaid fees as a loss unless you have previously reported it as income. Check with IRS.gov or your tax professional.

The amount of money that you should have been reimbursed (i.e. the cost of the hotel room in this case) and were not can also be claimed as a loss.

I am one of those people who is owed money by Bill Freeman and ONLY Bill Freeman. To date my total is about $4,000.00!! Now Will Tarrant seems to be a focus in this forum but I can tell you that he is actually owed a lot more money than I.

Will Tarrant seems to be a target probably because he was the only one at Freeman with the courage to respond to desperate shoppers when no one else there would. He was duped like the rest of us and it was Will who advised me not to take on any additional work with Freeman until I received payment for the shops I had completed.

It is not a mystery to me why Will Tarrant would be in a position to be able to negotiate with former clients of Freeman and based on his honest reputation that these clients would entrust their business to "Service Metrics Group" under Will.

Without hesitation I will gladly take jobs from Service Metrics Group and I shall update this forum with details of my business relationship and payments received for my completed shops.

I haven't seen anyone specifically say anyone other than Bill Freeman owes them money. OTOH, there has been speculation regarding the business relationship. Many shoppers got screwed by Freeman and to be anything less than cautious with a company founded by former employees at the same time as Freeman's device is not only warranted it is advisable. We have also been provided some conflicting information about the new company. While the new owners may not owe anyone an explanation, imagine the good will created if they chose to tell the whole story. Don't you think if the business is successful they may find themselves in need of experienced shoppers? Or are they going to be able to just recruit shoppers who know nothing of the forums and won't be bothered to do some investigating prior to spending money?

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don't you think if
> the business is successful they may find
> themselves in need of experienced shoppers? Or are
> they going to be able to just recruit shoppers who
> know nothing of the forums and won't be bothered
> to do some investigating prior to spending money?

Wasn't that the premise that Freeman was operating on for the past year?....than unknowing shoppers would take the assignments because they were not privy to the information we were. This may be yet another example of business as usual for these guys.

It seems from some basic research that Will was not a board member at Freeman, but here's a short list of freeman executives listed online:

Bill Freeman-Founder
Kem Young-Chief Financial Officer and Director
Patrick O'bryan- Chief Operating Officer
Seidy Elizondo-Director of Central America Operations
Barbara Garbacz-Director of Product
James Hogg-Director of FG Europe
Kedrick Malone-Director of International Development
Greg Marquart-Director of Training
Pam Senter-Executive Director of Measurement

It's my understanding that this was an incorporated business, so Bill is not personally responsible to any shoppers that were ripped off. Kem is listed as a board member and yet little animosity is directed at him. Seems like he is could be equally responsible for the mismanagement.

Sad and unfair as it may seem, these guys can put the corporation into bankruptcy and presumably keep all of their personal assets, then just walk away.

Hi Guys,
Freeman Group owes me $90.00 I saw and his PROFIT site for hotel shops stills has about 12 shops around the United States. If Freeman Group wants the hotel shops done Please pay before the shop starts. Oh and by the way I did a DE-INSP for Freeman in July 2012 and I have not been payed.

Also what CO does the shops for [names of clients] now that Freeman group shut down?

We cannot tell you if we knew. Please read and understand ICA agreement before posting. Thanks.

slibby1995, I think it's a stretch to ask people to trust anyone who was associated with Freeman Group in the past. Will Tarrant didn't offer to help us in any way while at Freeman, so we don't see any reason why we should trust him in his new venture.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2012 06:21PM by Dalearts Inc.

Does anyone have personal contact information For William Freeman?

is this him?

William P Freeman

2808 Foxcreek Dr

Richardson, TX 75082-3078
Age: 60-64
Associated: Hannah C Moore, Billf Freeman, Spencer J Moore, Stan Fain, Alan A Moore, Mary Moore, Carol A Freeman

If anyone has his phone number(s). Please send to robertdaleclp@hotmail.com

"Can the shoppers who are owed money by a defunct company somehow claim the money as a loss come tax time? "

In general yes, but it becomes more complicated when hotel and restaurants are involved. You are paying for a personal benefit. If it is big money, consult a CPA, if not, think about whether or not you want to risk an audit for a few tens of dollars off your taxes.

I am not a CPA. This is not business or tax advice, just the fruit of personal experience trying to help guide your thought process.

They owe me money as well and I contacted one person with no response. Thanks for your help guys!

I am owed over $12,000.00 in shopper fees and reimbursements by Freeman and am financially crippled and saddles with significant interest due to their non-payment. They have not returned my calls or emails. Most recently, all emails that I have sent to every contact I know at the company has been returned as undeliverable. I worked REALLY hard for them and spent a lot of time and effort as well as charges on my personal credit cards in order to complete evaluations for them. I don't know what to do!

Welcome to the forum, neatoplace. Freeman has apparently closed their doors and they appear to be in bankruptcy. This may be money you will not be able to collect. You should probably talk with a tax attorney about a possible tax write-off.

So sorry to here tht neato. But with that dollar figure, I definitely would do some greater investigation as to what you can do to potentially regain even a percentage of your money.


Even though it's a lesson you've already learned, still serve as a reminder as to why it's important not to take on reimbursement shops above a level which you can reasonably afford to lose and to do your research before investing a lot of money company while waiting for reimbursement. Just based on prior speed of reimbursement, that would've been a lot of money involved with based on researching Freeman group.

I'd be afraid that if there is a media uproar, new shoppers would be coming out of the woodwork looking for the "best" companies. My sister used to love to coupon, but she swears because of tv's Extreme Couponing, the grocery stores have put limits on coupon use.

That being said, I am so sorry for everyone who lost money with Freeman. Luckily, I did not.

audrialyn30 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Has anyone contacted the media?

pippama77 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'd be afraid that if there is a media uproar, new
> shoppers would be coming out of the woodwork
> looking for the "best" companies. My sister used
> to love to coupon, but she swears because of tv's
> Extreme Couponing, the grocery stores have put
> limits on coupon use.


So your premise is that if people get wind that others were sent to fleabag de-brand hotels and not paid or reimbursed, they will flock to mystery shopping and take your jobs? Perhaps you're getting easier and better paying assignments than me, but my experience is that only a small percentage of folks have the stomach, organization or patience to MS. It's not a coupon, but really difficult and poorly paid work.

My concern is that media attention would make MSing look bad, scare people and potentially even some clients away from it, but anything that gets the unpaid shoppers paid in my book is a good thing.

Maybe my area is just more saturated than I like? You definitely have good points SteveSoCal.

I have actually done several shops for Service Metrics and have had no problems....so far. However after reading this and the fact they used to be Freeman Group (who still owe me six hundred and some odd dollars), I decided I am going to email Service Metrics and ask them outright if they used to be Freeman Group. Service Metrics has outright denied that this. Would appreciate any input/views?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2013 03:13PM by pwrplay.

Here is my view on what is going on with Service Metrics. I made mention of it a few months ago after noticing that Will and others had this company listed on their LinkedIn accounts.

On a lark, I sent Will an e-mail to his personal e-mail address in November (which I will not give out, so please do not ask) to see if he responded. Surprisingly, he did respond within a couple days, and stated what others have said. He said "had to leave Freeman for much of the same reason and was owed too much in expenses and pay to continue further."

It appears (purely speculative) that him and other Freeman employees used their contacts with vendors to start their own business providing essentially the same services. From what I can tell, the folks at Service Metrics had no real say in who got paid at Freeman, which is why I will not give out any of their personal information. There are also other former Freeman employees who appear to still be looking for work, so its not like everyone just moved over to Service Metrics.

If you are getting paid by Service Metrics in a timely manner, I wouldn't be overly concerned.

btemps, thank you very much for your input on the matter and I completely understand about not giving out personal information regarding emails, etc. From what I have read, it appears that employees that used to work for Freeman have went out and started their own company? Is this how I should be reading the above? If that is the case, then best of luck to them and I most certainly would consider shopping for another 'victim' of Freeman

Freeman Group appears to still be in business advising restaurant and hospitality groups. Only their Sassie website has been terminated.

I had scheduled a shop for Freeman last year. It would have been my first for them. After reading posts on this forum about how many folks hadn't been paid by Freeman, I let the scheduler know I would not be able to complete the shop. Thank you for saving me the aggravation that the shop would have brought me!

Too bad we aren't keeping score on how many shoppers have been saved by sharing information on the forum!

What has been the result of those of you who notified the Postal Inspector and the U. S. Attorneys office (in Dallas, I presume)? Has anyone received any feedback? Has anyone been notified by the bankruptcy Courts that we are creditors of Freeman Group?

Linda
topshopper16

I had worked for Freemans for years and always got paid...even if very late. I just learned to use cash with the shops, so that I never had any interest charges.

I was very excited when I was offered the chance to do resorts in the USA and foreign countries. There was no way that I could come up with that much cash, so I talked with my parents. They agreed to loan me $2000 from their savings so that I could do the resort (no plane tickets were involved). It was understood that Freemans paid late, but that I would return their needed money by Christmas.

I used the borrowed money to pay down a high interest credit card, so that I could complete the resortshop. I am now out the $2000 in reimbursements, have a high interest rate credit card to deal with, and have lost the almost $1000 I would have been paid in fees. Plus, I still have the loan to my parents that is late. I would be willing to participate in any ongoing legal action.

JacobJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dear Forum Community,
>
> an update on what's been happening with the
> Freeman Group. As you may know, we pressured the
> MSPA to kick them out of their organization.
> Additionally, at my urging, Sassie gave Freeman
> Group a deadline to pay shoppers or lose their
> contract. Freeman did not meet the deadline, so
> they lost their contract with Sassie.
>
> The combination of these things seems to have put
> the Freeman Group out of business. After abusing
> mystery shoppers for several years, they now seem
> to be out of business. Despite my hope that they
> would be able to make a turnaround and pay their
> shoppers, this did not happen. They failed. They
> stole from mystery shoppers. They're out of
> business.
>
> However, the story continues. It appears that the
> people behind the Freeman Group are attempting to
> start a new company called "Service Metrics
> Group." We need to keep our eyes on this, and
> hold their feet to the fire.
>
> Additionally, Franchise Compliance, another
> company that regularly abuses mystery shoppers,
> appears to have been kicked off the Sassie
> platform as well. I want to congratulate Sassie on
> playing an important role in protecting the
> interests of mystery shoppers, and the mystery
> shopping industry.

A company called Service Metrics is a Canadian Company and has nothing to do with Freeman. CAREFUL about what you say. They do not do restaurants.

Steve Brunnel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JacobJ Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Dear Forum Community,
> >
> > an update on what's been happening with the
> > Freeman Group. As you may know, we pressured
> the
> > MSPA to kick them out of their organization.
> > Additionally, at my urging, Sassie gave Freeman
> > Group a deadline to pay shoppers or lose their
> > contract. Freeman did not meet the deadline, so
> > they lost their contract with Sassie.
> >
> > The combination of these things seems to have
> put
> > the Freeman Group out of business. After
> abusing
> > mystery shoppers for several years, they now
> seem
> > to be out of business. Despite my hope that
> they
> > would be able to make a turnaround and pay
> their
> > shoppers, this did not happen. They failed.
> They
> > stole from mystery shoppers. They're out of
> > business.
> >
> > However, the story continues. It appears that
> the
> > people behind the Freeman Group are attempting
> to
> > start a new company called "Service Metrics
> > Group." We need to keep our eyes on this, and
> > hold their feet to the fire.
> >
> > Additionally, Franchise Compliance, another
> > company that regularly abuses mystery shoppers,
> > appears to have been kicked off the Sassie
> > platform as well. I want to congratulate Sassie
> on
> > playing an important role in protecting the
> > interests of mystery shoppers, and the mystery
> > shopping industry.
>
> A company called Service Metrics is a Canadian
> Company and has nothing to do with Freeman.
> CAREFUL about what you say. They do not do
> restaurants.


Actually, there are TWO Service Metrics companies. One is in Canada. One is in Plano, Texas. That is the one Jacob is writing about.

The Service Metrics Group in Plano, Texas, was co-foundered by two ex-Freeman Group principals, [www.servicemetricsgroup.com]

The two founders, Rob Scott and Will Tarrant show their bios on the Service Metrics website, [www.servicemetricsgroup.com]

Surprisingly, they don't mention their past association with Freeman Group.