I signed up for this company and saw this message:
Customer Service Perceptions charges an administrative processing fee of $2 to each shopper applicant. This is in response to the high volume of shopper applicants we are receiving and the increase in administration costs associated with the process. This fee in nonrefundable and does not insure that you will be accepted for inclusion in our shopper database, but that your application will be reviewed and considered for inclusion. Also know that inclusion in our database does not guarantee you will receive an assignment, but that you will be considered for assignments that do become available in your area. Customer Service Perceptions DOES NOT have shops in all areas, but as our clientele expands, so does the areas in which we shop.

Has anyone worked for this company?

The forum has a good "Search" function. Searching before asking for current information gives you more background on a subject. The question came up a few months ago. Few comments were made. This is my answer then:

I have never worked for them. I logged in a couple of years ago and took a look - but I make it a practice to never pay to shop.

Looks like a scam to me. Volition has some very old posts about them. Apparently after paying the processing fee and becoming their shopper, there were very few jobs to be had and payment issues with the jobs that were available and performed. Those who complained about not getting paid got deactivated.

No one here seems to have commented over the last 4 years when we have had 3 posters ask about them. I'm guessing no one here has worked for them.

Thank you for posting this. I also noticed that 2 dollar fee when I went to sign up. Since I am systematically going through the list at the bottom of the page signing up with every company there, I have questions about many of the companies on that list.
I did click on the link to the discussions and I guess this is one more to note as Not Desirable for now. There are still a lot more to check out.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2013 02:26PM by prince.

yes there is a fee to pay but not much

Why would anyone ever pay just to be "considered" as an IC with them? How do you know they even have shops in your area, let alone shops that you would want to do? Besides, I went to their web site and it looks like it was built by a middle school student.

Why is this MSC even on the Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies? I thought they were supposed to be reputable companies who pay their shoppers. And how many times have we read NOT to pay for MS'ing?

Shop2LiveinFL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why is this MSC even on the Official List of
> Mystery Shopping Companies? I thought they were
> supposed to be reputable companies who pay their
> shoppers. And how many times have we read NOT to
> pay for MS'ing?

I was going to ask that question too? I've looked back through the discussions of it, and seeing it on the 'approved list' makes me really suspicious of the 'approved list'. (I rrealize I need to do my own research too.)

All kinds of companies have been on the "approved" list ..... some were once good and then went bad. Freeman - which went bust owing a bunch of shoppers big bucks - was once on the approved list. So was Franchise Compliance - another one that was once a good company but then began to pay later and later ..... until going down without paying its shoppers. Then .... there was the company company I've been stiffed by (in 6+ years, yes, it has happened once!) - Nationwide, for which I worked for 6 years and found them to be a great company ..... but they suddenly lost clients and boom! NO pay for shoppers, including me. All of them were on the list. All of them used to be good. Do NOT blindly trust the list.

The point is that this is a changing business. What I do (and it saved me for 6 years, until a good company that I trusted went bad) is to sign up with any company on the list. BUT - before I take that first assignment for ANY company, I do a search here to see how they pay. A little bit of bad feedback is understandable. We all have our favorites - some of the companies I love are at the bottom of another shopper's list. Some of the big favorites here are companies I won't touch. Pay attention to WHO says what - not all posters here have proven themselves to be credible. And if NO PAY or NOT PAYING ACCORDING TO THEIR STATED TERMS pops up more than once or twice when you are reading about a company, RUN. Research carefully before you risk dollars. And if you are not sure about a new company, take a job that is payment-only, with no expenditure required, or one that involves only a small reimbursement.

Thanks, AustinMom. I totally understand what you are saying. I do my own research all the time and I have no problem signing up with new MSCs. But now I am getting a bit nervous about even applying with some of these companies. In most cases, we have to submit an application with personal information including our SS#. If these companies are not paying shoppers lately even thought they have in the past, who says that we can trust them with our personal info? I'd rather have an updated list even if it means a shorter list. Just a thought.