In my opinion, freelancereporter, your post is totally disrespectful to mystery shoppers and this forum.

Really? I thought it was kind of hilarious.

Obviously I was speaking about the strap a video camera on a monkey remark, not his rant at Lisa.

bgriffin, the post was not directly aimed at just Lisa. It was aimed at all mystery shoppers.

freelancereporter said "Lets be real here. Thats about the only requirement for any MSC isnt it. Take a monkey and strap a video camera on him and teach him how to get on the internet and you got a highly trained video mystery shopper.

The post is offensive.

Offensive to you. It still cracks me up.

Succumb not to the FREE-baiting.

If MF comments are still appropriate, I just got two emails from Samantha. Glad I waited her out. She went up in price 40% with one offer and 70% with her other from earlier this month. I may accept the $19 one, but she's still just teasing with the other.

They've got some grocery stores in my area that I like to do once in awhile. Of course, the pay is low, but I have to go grocery shopping anyway. I like the fact that their instructions are always very clear, the pay regularly, and the length of the report forms matches the pay (I've done a few that had long report forms with more narrative, but then the pay was correspondingly much higher.).

Hello,
I've been working with Market Force for over a year and my experience has been that the fees start out low on some jobs and increase as the month goos on. There aren't many shoppers in my area and I have been offered some pretty great fees for doing these jobs. Also, I found the company is willing to increase the fee and allows some negotiation based on how badly they want the job done. Overall, I have not had problems with this company and enjoy doing the assignments.
Tlt14 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> After hearing a lot about Market Force from
> everyone on the forum, I decided to sign up with
> them. I have to say, I am utterly disappointed.
> The fees are SO low! I don't usually come on here
> and complain about low-paying jobs because, well,
> no one is forcing me to take them. I'm just
> confused because they are so popular with a lot of
> our fellow shoppers, so I must be missing
> something. Especially when I hear people say that
> the majority of their income is derived from MF.
> Are they like CORI, whose fees start really low
> and increase if no one takes them?
>
> I am in no way trying to put anyone down or start
> drama here, I just want to know why so many people
> like this MSC.

I don't assign myself jobs with MF anymore. I just wait until they call me with a bonus. However, as others have pointed out, they pay on time, and the reports are easy. My only beef with them is that they can lay the blame on shoppers when something goes wrong with a shop (whether they screwed up, or you did).

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2013 09:34PM by MilessMum.

I was picking the shops myself, watching and waiting for them to go up a bit - a year ago (for several years). But all of a sudden in December of 2012, they started calling and asking me to do shops 20 minutes a way with pretty good bonuses. (I had never received schedular calls before that.) It almost made me wonder if everyone else in the area had quit. This has continued since December. They start calling as early as the 8th of the month, asking me to sign up for multiple FF shops throughout the month at much higher payments than what is listed at the website. However, last month, I had a scheduler call and like always she assigned me to several higher paying shops. She offered me one shop @ $10 and I said "how about $12". I said with the new limited menu choices, you can't eat for under $6. But before I could say much more, she snapped "You have just out priced yourself!" she continued with that Market Force would stop asking me to do shops since I keep asking for more money. I was shocked by her attitude and rudeness. (Another schedular a month earlier said they were paying more because they knew shoppers were spending more than their food reimbursement now.) I told her, if you look at my record you will see that I have rarely asked for more money and that I have made myself available to help them out with last minutes shops, often. This was not a scheduler that I normally received calls from. So I declined the shop. She called me back a few days later about a different shop and I told her that I would go ahead and do that $10 shop since it was on my way for something else. She thanked me and reminded me again that if I continued to ask for more money, MF would stop calling me. Once again, I said if you will look at my record or should I say, review phone calls, you will see that I'm not the one asking for higher payments. This was what I was offered. Well it is the 18th of the month and I've not heard from a scheduler this month, so I guess MF or that scheduler did block me from the shops that I've been doing every month for the past 11 months.

That is fine, gives me time to lose some weight. But it is also quite annoying. I've been a good, honest shopper for them and they don't bother to tell me they are cutting me off. I want to ask them, if you were being OFFERED more money, would you say "aww no thanks, I will take less."

So MilesMum, let this be a lesson for you - you may be next if you don't self-assign some of the lower paying jobs.

I really like market force. I don't do the fast food shops, because.. well I just cant be eating burgers and fries every week. However the bonuses are on point and they pay promptly.

I agree.

What's the appeal? The $45 they're paying me to eat a burger Monday.

Dear Chocmom,

I, too, priced myself out of the phone calls. Although it is rather quiet around here, I think it is for my own good!

(heart)

Chocmom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
. However, last
> month, I had a scheduler call and like always she
> assigned me to several higher paying shops. She
> offered me one shop @ $10 and I said "how about
> $12". I said with the new limited menu choices,
> you can't eat for under $6. But before I could say
> much more, she snapped "You have just out priced
> yourself!" she continued with that Market Force
> would stop asking me to do shops since I keep
> asking for more money. I was shocked by her
> attitude and rudeness. (Another schedular a month
> earlier said they were paying more because they
> knew shoppers were spending more than their food
> reimbursement now.) I told her, if you look at my
> record you will see that I have rarely asked for
> more money and that I have made myself available
> to help them out with last minutes shops, often.
> This was not a scheduler that I normally received
> calls from. So I declined the shop. She called me
> back a few days later about a different shop and I
> told her that I would go ahead and do that $10
> shop since it was on my way for something else.
> She thanked me and reminded me again that if I
> continued to ask for more money, MF would stop
> calling me. Once again, I said if you will look at
> my record or should I say, review phone calls, you
> will see that I'm not the one asking for higher
> payments. This was what I was offered. Well it is
> the 18th of the month and I've not heard from a
> scheduler this month, so I guess MF or that
> scheduler did block me from the shops that I've
> been doing every month for the past 11 months.
>
> That is fine, gives me time to lose some weight.
> But it is also quite annoying. I've been a good,
> honest shopper for them and they don't bother to
> tell me they are cutting me off. I want to ask
> them, if you were being OFFERED more money, would
> you say "aww no thanks, I will take less."
>
> So MilesMum, let this be a lesson for you - you
> may be next if you don't self-assign some of the
> lower paying jobs.


Thats all pure nonsense and more urban legend. The schedulers are good sports about the whole thing and we joke openly back and forth about me trying to get as much out of them as I can. They are so friendly a number of them have gave me their phone numbers and I can call them anytime I want if I see a job on the board I want to get paid more for. My advice would be to loosen up and be nice and you will be surprised how far you can get with these schedulers.

FREELANCEREPORTER,

They will probably report you for making hurtful posts to others, and you would deserve it.

Don't be surprised when you find yourself conversing with yourself more often, but your posts are good for one thing: your posts make others realize that they don't want to be full of themselves like you.

Mary Smith xoxoxo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> FREELANCEREPORTER,
>
> They will probably report you for making hurtful
> posts to others, and you would deserve it.
>
> Don't be surprised when you find yourself
> conversing with yourself more often, but your
> posts are good for one thing: your posts make
> others realize that they don't want to be full of
> themselves like you.


What? My post is hurtful and I am full of myself because I don't buy into the misguided belief that Market Force has a policy that would allow schedulers the latitude to use threats in bonus negotiations with mystery shoppers? Like it or not its just not true that Market Force would allow or condone schedulers to tell mystery shoppers that they would be cut off from future bonus opportunities for asking for too high a bonus. If you have a scheduler doing that to you they have gone rogue! Like I said before, try being fun and nice when you are talking with the schedulers (and normal if possible) and you just may find those schedulers will give you their direct number and you can call them anytime and ask for a bonus. And I do mean call them anytime or day within reason. I do not call between say 9PM and 9AM to be polite. Many of the schedulers are provided with their own cell phone from Market Force.

serenatali Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I really like market force. I don't do the fast
> food shops, because.. well I just cant be eating
> burgers and fries every week. However the bonuses
> are on point and they pay promptly.

Remember, you only need to taste the meal.

I just taste it now. Can't do that food. And so so many people eat it too. It's amazing.

Fortunately so, AndrewTX!


Regarding bonuses, there's an ebb and flow with schedulers calling me for shops. Last month, I got a call to shop a FF about 23 miles from me. The scheduler offered $30, and I accepted. She also had an audit which was on the way to the FF. With it, she didn't offer a bonus, she asked me what it would take. I told her $30, and she accepted. The fee for the audit starts at $15.

Some months I get lots of calls, other months I don't. I don't think I've ever talked to the same scheduler twice. Anytime an MSP calls me, I add them as a contact in my phone, so they will be ID'd. I have umpteen MF contact numbers saved.

Also though, I've picked up nice bonuses from the job board. There was one not too long ago, a wireless shop, with a $35 "changed fee" on the board. The fee for that shop is generally $7, which does not work for me. The changed fee did!

I hate the arches and won't do them, but I like the other gourmet burger shop. I only do it once every few months, though.

Canuck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just taste it now. Can't do that food. And so so
> many people eat it too. It's amazing.

FREELANCEREPORTER Wrote:
-----------

> Thats all pure nonsense and more urban legend. The
> schedulers are good sports about the whole thing
> and we joke openly back and forth about me trying
> to get as much out of them as I can. They are so
> friendly a number of them have gave me their phone
> numbers and I can call them anytime I want if I
> see a job on the board I want to get paid more
> for. My advice would be to loosen up and be nice
> and you will be surprised how far you can get with
> these schedulers.

Thanks for your comments, but it is not all pure nonsence and urban legend. I've always been kind and nice to each one and have developed good rapport with a few of them. I have a good shopping history with them. But I've not had a single call this month - not even from the 945 area code. So something happened last month after that conversation with a scheduler I had never spoken with previously.

Freelance, your individual experience is just that--your individual experience. It's unfair for you to label Choc's experience as nonsense and urban legend.

Choc, I have several schedulers who are based in Atlanta who I talk to fairly regularly. One of them did tell me about shoppers getting deactivated or shut out from completing certain shops because they wanted too much money, so I am not surprised. This particular scheduler stated that if a shopper has done a location for a certain amount, the logic is that they shouldn't be asking for a higher fee in the future. I pointed out to her that sometimes shoppers will do a shop further away for less money if they have other shops in the same area on the same day with different companies, and she said that Marketforce didn't look at it that way. She wasn't conveying her personal opinion, she was speaking about the MF higher ups. I guess schedulers can get in trouble for this too. But hopefully, Choc, it's just an unfortunate circumstance that you aren't getting any calls presently and you are just having a dry spell with Marketforce. If they have a hard time filling the shops and you are still hanging in there you will be back in rotation. Just because one scheduler got her drawers in a wad doesn't mean that all of them will follow suit. What are you seeing on the MF job board? Do you ever look or do you only take shops when they call?

Also, there might be some new shoppers signed up in your area. I know that over the past year a bunch of new shoppers popped up in my area and there were a few times I wasn't getting any calls. Turns out that the newbies will often take shops at the initial low fee or reimbursement only, so there just weren't many shops available and none were being bonused. Sometimes new shoppers flake or mess up shops, or decide that mystery shopping isn't for them, and my regular bonused shops become available again.

LOL, when I was in Mexico once I was invited to taste some fried crickets. I declined. There are some things I don't want to taste, and the arches food is one of them!

AndrewTX Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> serenatali Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I really like market force. I don't do the fast
> > food shops, because.. well I just cant be
> eating
> > burgers and fries every week. However the
> bonuses
> > are on point and they pay promptly.
>
> Remember, you only need to taste the meal.

Update on my earlier post - I guess they are just waiting later in the month, this month, than usual. My first call this month (from Georgia) came Monday, offering me $18 for the same exact shop that last month I got "threatened" by the scheduler when I asked for $12. (Her words - "You are going to keep asking for more and more and ask yourself right out of work." "Market Force will block you as a shopper.")

When I didn't receive any calls until Monday, I thought she somehow had gotten me blocked even though I did agree to do her shop. I've talked to two different shoppers since Friday and have been offered good bonuses for shops that need to be done for the remainder of the month, putting me back up to what I normally average with them.

:-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2013 04:18PM by Chocmom.

I personally don't see the appeal either.. maybe it is my location or my vegetarianism and distaste for one of the only places they shop in the area. I did take a couple grocery store shops with them, but they were low paying and I regretted it. They don't get enough shops in my area for them to be heavily bonused and I won't do the burger joint.. so, they aren't my cup of tea, either. Maybe if I lived elsewhere they would have more opportunities for me.

Everyone talks about CORI too, and I am sad to say I may have unintentionally burned my bridge with them. They were the first company I signed up with and all of their shops asked a lot and paid little.. I didn't know about bonuses at the time and I asked to be removed... I get the impression they are like a jilted lover.. won't take you back if you have regrets.

I just self assigned a $100 shop (not an audit or fast food) with them. So I think they're worthwhile, even if you don't eat fast food.

phlutter, as you've probably determined, a better action may have been to shut-off notifications, rather than asking to be deactivated.

I have been doing some image audits for MF this week. Fun, easy, bonused. No food involved.

Every now and then, including yesterday and tomorrow, I get really nice bonus shops from them. I really enjoy these, like I imagine we all do!

I also take some at moderate-to-small bonus, if I like them and will be nearby (or they're close to home)... and every now and then I even take a specific one at the base rate.

They pay right on time by direct deposit, and to date my interactions with them have been very cordial and pleasant. I rarely deal with them on the phone, but their emails have a very nice tone and they express appreciation for my work, which is always nice.

Well, their appeal is dropping for me. One of their shops that regularly gets bonused seems to be going to another company.

So, I'll only have 2 shops per month with them now. Plus occasional ones that pop up now and then or if I happen to be near them when away from home.

Other than not much work haven't had any problems with them.