Watch Out for Cirrus Marketing

I am an MSPA Certified shopper and have done hundreds of shops for about 20 different companies over the past four years. Most of my experiences have been very positive but I must warn people about Cirrus Marketing. In order to get paid the burden is on you to prepare a monthly invoice with information already in the company records. After that their payment terms are 3-1/2 months BUT I didn't get paid even then. After submitting invoices for months without pay I started emailing and faxing them with no response. (Of course no phone number is provided.) The only way I was able to finally collect my money was to complain to the MSPA. This is not a good company to shop for and I definitely do not recommend them.

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More Discussions About Cirrus Marketing (All Companies)

I agree. I did a shop for them at a furniture warehouse that sells Sweedish goods. I was supposed to note all the employees that I interacted with during the shop. When I reported that I spoke with ......in the baby furniture dept, I was told that I could not have done that because he does not work in that dept. That was true..He was walking through the dept. I was stiffed by them. A new learning experience. And the shops take Two hours to complete.

And yet another reason not to do those furniture shops.....

I think I will delete Cirrus from my bookmarks. That's the only shop they have here, and if they are going to be that way about paying for something the shopper had no control over (an employee being in a different department) I don't think I'd even want to do a $5 hot dog shop for them (if there was such a thing).

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I pray it does not occur that the last thing I did before I died was vacuum the house or eat broccoli.

How is submitting an invoice a burden? You are a business owner so invoicing a client is not all that unusual. It may become more common as MSCs want to be sure the IRS will not classify us as employees and I don't know any businesses who will pay a vendor without an invoice.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

None of the other companies I shop for expect me to submit an invoice. They keep track of what is owed and I get a notice when the PayPal payment is authorized. For the amount of money we are talking about I feel invoicing is an unnecessary burden to place on the shopper. I work hard enough performing shops and turning in my reports on time!

Agreed, very companies ask for an invoice and if they do, they generally pay quickly. Cirrus is very slow, here is their pay schedule:
If you completed your shop during this month... You will be paid after the 15th of this month:
January April
February May
March June
April July
May August
June September
July October
August November
September December
October January
November February
December March

Cirrus has many posts on here for slow pay and no pay. Keep bugging them if you do not receive payment. They will eventually pay you. They are on my never shop again list too. Even experienced shoppers don't know every company. I encourage you to read the posts before taking a shop with a new company so we can all learn from each other

Paid waaaaaay after the 15th of the month, as in the 15th of the NEXT month after that.

Evaluating and mailing packages since 1994

I did that furniture shop years ago and found the Scheduler very helpful to me when I did not do one part of the shop correctly. I have never done that furniture shop again nor would I again but I was paid including the bonus. I have done a lot of different types of shops for the Scheduler whenever I am in NYC.

The company appears to be much different now.

I have not shopped for this MSC in about year due to slow payments.
Last shop I did for the took 6 months to be paid.
I have friend that did a shop in March and has not been paid yet
So far all email inquiries have been ignored over last two weeks.

Good to know.

I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to point out the message that is on their Shopper Login screen.

"Keep calm and pretend your at the beach!"

How can I keep calm when there is incorrect grammar right in front of my face!?

I hadn't logged in in a while and was curious to see if they had any jobs I might want...and then I saw that.

So, your to pretend your at the beach?

OMG! lmaooooooooo

I think I'll keep away from this msc. Much too long of a pay period for me.

The schedulers are always begging for shoppers around here. From time to time, I'm tempted, but I delete the email so I won't see it. LOL

Thank you all for the input. It is a great help to read shopper comments about any MSC before accepting work from them.

I personally question the 90-120 day pay cycle. You can bet they get paid much more timely than that. Does Cirrus seriously need the float on the miniscule shop fees they pay? I am questioning their ability to stay the financial course.

They have been around for a long time and have had the same shops for all that time.

Thanks, DanceMom. Has their pay schedule always been so atrocious? Perhaps it's the only way they stay in bidness. Only those with serious financial problems pay at 90 to 120 days. In a previous life, if I had a small vendor, I would pitch a hissy if pay was that slow. Something is seriously wrong with their thinking or their line of bullpucky.

I have to agree that it seems MSC's that require shoppers to provide a separate invoice are deliberately making it difficult for shoppers to delay or avoid payment all-together.

Personally, I have read enough in these few messages that I am dropping them immediately, without performing a single shop. I do not need the frustration of even trying to track their slow payments.

Thanks for the input.

Is this situation similar to pay issues with Texas Shopping Network (TSN)?

David Hall, CHFC

MSPA Gold & "UE" certified Shopping since April 2012 Arkansas, and southern half of United States.

Well done, Assuredd. I'll be doing the same once paid!

I don't remember if their pay schedule was that bad years ago. But I did some shops for them about two years ago, submitted the invoice and even called and emailed them about the payment. I did finally get paid, but have not shopped for them since.

BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz Wrote:
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> The company appears to be much different now.

BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz , So are they pay in 2 weeks now?
Just wants to know,

The company is not different now. It is wise to check a MSC's pay policy BEFORE accepting their shop. In August, 2013 I verified their 90-120 day pay cycle with a scheduler and declined to apply for their posted shops. Late pay to those who bring in the bread and butter is a sure sign of financial weakness and potential loss of hard earned fees.

Old Buck Wrote:
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> The company is not different now. It is wise to
> check a MSC's pay policy BEFORE accepting their
> shop. In August, 2013 I verified their 90-120 day
> pay cycle with a scheduler and declined to apply
> for their posted shops. Late pay to those who
> bring in the bread and butter is a sure sign of
> financial weakness and potential loss of hard
> earned fees.

Couldn't agree more, OB. Something stinks to the high heavens here ...

Contrary to what they are saying about their pay schedule, I did a shop in May, which according to their schedule should have been paid after the 15th of August. I called on the 20th as I had not been paid, and they told me it isn't paid until after the end of the month. She checked and said she had my invoice and it was received the day after I had completed the shop in May. I told the representative that I spoke with, that it says after the 15th, and her reply was, "The end of the month is after the 15th."
I am writing them off of my companies as well, I don't need the hassle.

Here's the Cirrus pay schedule I was given:

January paid mid-May
February paid mid-June
March paid mid-July
April paid mid-August
May paid mid-September
June paid mid-October
July paid mid-November
August paid mid-December
September paid mid-January
October paid mid-February
November paid mid-March
December paid mid-April

Four months for a $15-$20 shop fee? Something's rotten in Denmark!

Yua beware for an April 2013 shop there should be payment the end of July 2013. A may shop pays August 31 2013. They never pay ontime if make payments at all. It seems like they are waiting for the client to pay which is wrong. They are very misleading. Beware don't shop them.

The company is waiting for the vendor to pay them. Which could tak 3-6 months or longer, so they don't get stuck making payments to shoppers. That is why they have a 15 month or greater at the end of their payroll payout sheat. For example, an April payment is due July 15th and on which means August through September. Please by all means don't bother with them, this is a cost of doing business and not the shoppers problem.

Everyone should complain to the mystery shop association and let them know the reflection an organization like this leaves on the industry. Let the attorney general, FTC, and BBB know in each state because it is basically fraud by deception by not paying and doing the job.

Remember, they are collecting your person identification, not paying by fraud / deception, and misrepresentation which is fraud.

riskfree1 says " Let the attorney general, FTC, and BBB know in each state because it is basically fraud by deception by not paying and doing the job."
They pay very slow but they do pay.
Its NOT fraud
They tell you in advance BEFORE you do the shop how slow they are to pay.
Choose to accept it or move on
I personally wont do shops for them because they pay so slow,
but IT IS NOT FRAUD!

just a bad business practice

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