So I was cancelled out by Bestmark today after several years of successful shops. They accused me of forging reports...the ultimate insult in this business. Of course they have no proof, as there is not any. I do several small town rural dealerships 2 or 3 times a year for them. These dealerships have very few employees. One of them is out of a trailer and it is the owner and his secretary, THATS it. Sooooo as you can imagine repeat salesmen come along and I have had several shops over the last couple years with the same name. OF COURSE that means I'm cheating them at Bestmark, there couldn't POSSIBLY be any other explanation. I did about 12 shops in the last 2 weeks, 6 had new sale people I met, 6 did not. So they gave me no warning and a nasty email and that was it. No questions asked, just adios E and C Consulting. No soup for you. Shoppers beware if you are in the same boat I have been in!!!!

I don't understand: " Sooooo as you can imagine repeat salesmen come along and I have had several shops over the last couple years with the same name. OF COURSE that means I'm cheating them at Bestmark, there couldn't POSSIBLY be any other explanation."

Also, I'm not sure what this means: "I did about 12 shops in the last 2 weeks, 6 had new sale people I met, 6 did not."

Do you mind clarifying?

(heart)

It means since I talked to the same sales person at these dealerships more than once on different reports they accused me of cheating them and reusing old business cards or something. Thats not what happened, I just didn't have different sales people to talk to when I visited because the dealerships don't have many employees. Of the 12 I did 6 were people I had done before and 6 were new employees. They took my 6 reports and paid me, cancelled my other 6 accused me of cheating them, and deactivated me. Without so much as a clarification email.

Ah, now I understand!

I know you're hurt and insulted and frustrated at this moment and want to vent. I don't blame you becaause I would feel exactly the same way, however, going forward (when you're ready), always write the shop number on business cards and receipts.

I don't know where you're located, so I can't make worthwhile suggestions, but there is, at least, one really good MSC who does the exact same auto shops as Bestmark and offers a higher shopper fee.

(heart)

It's like that where I live. One sales associate and maybe the manager, if he's not sleeping around the corner with his cowboy boots on his desk. It's the same with some grocery stores around here. I have to interact with the same person for 3 or 4 different departments every time I visit. So far, so good though. Good luck.

I believe you, BTW

EDIT: I do not believe you anymore.....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2013 10:02PM by Canuck.

EandC: Did you try calling them and explaining the situation?

I'd really call them and see if they would listen, and understand, that very reasonable and understandable explanation.

If they don't, then it appears they've just lost a good shopper for no real reason. Their loss.

Yes I have been emailing back and forth with a Quality Editing supervisor. She is not being helpful. Its all nonsense. Later bestmark, Peace Out!

I am NW Ohio, so yes if you know of another MSC doing similar dealerships let me know.

I couldn't care less if they fire me which means I will never get fired. You know how that theory works! Come to think of it I have never been fired by any MSC. Actually come to think of it I bet one of those Best Mark editors did not like the tone of one of your e-mails and that sealed your fate right then and there.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2013 11:59PM by FREELANCEREPORTER.

WOW! I am so sorry. How about and arrow right in your ego! I am a true believer that you are supposed to be where you are supposed to be.

Most of the companies I contract with do not allow reshipping the same contact within a certain amount of time. They ask in the contract that the shopper inform them before performing the shop. They will decide to approve you to go forward with the
shop. Communications key. Good luck. Twelve car shops in two weeks is a lot.

Twelve in two weeks is a lot? One month I had 12 in six days on a 2,400 mile route. The next month's routewas only 1,500 miles so I was able to do 20 in five days

stilllearning Wrote:
-----------------------------------------------------
>
> going forward (when you're ready), always
> write the shop number on business cards and
> receipts.

This is really interesting. It seems like every company has different rules and it seems like some wouldn't like it if you did this.

This leads to another question. When companies way there is supposed to be say, 180 days per shop are we as shoppers supposed to keep track of that? I'm pretty sure I have a wrong impression of these companies as being like God, all knowing.

Some do keep track, but I always keep track myself. Not all MSC rotations are long enough for me. Plus if a client changes MSCs they won't know I was there six months ago, so it behooves me not to go back too soon and be outed as a shopper.

EandCconsulting: Thank you for sharing your experience with BestMark. We understand that what you have shared with the mystery shopping community is your side of the story. I do feel it is necessary, however, to point out that you did leave out pertinent details of the situation, which led to our decision to terminate you as a shopper with us.

We carefully perused every single report you submitted as a BestMark shopper and sifted through the information you provided for each report. You are correct that you did complete several rural car dealership shops, very likely evaluating some of the same salespeople. However, this was not the issue. In several instances, you uploaded the exact same image of a business card even though the shops were months apart. You provided inconsistent descriptions for associates you had shopped previously, and you provided names and descriptions of associates were not working at establishments at the time you performed your shop (which was reported by the client and was the reason we investigated to begin with). Most pertinent, however, is that during a recorded conversation with our Quality Editor Manager, you did freely admit that you had in fact fabricated several of the business cards you uploaded. After this admission, you insisted that you be compensated for the shops you claimed were legitimate and threatened to go on every blog as well as to the Better Business Bureau to denigrate BestMark because we refused to be extorted or threatened.

I would like to clarify that we do not remove shoppers from our database unless it is for a legitimate reason (shopper fraud, suspicion of fraud, shopper unreliability, etc.). It is in our best interest to keep as many different shoppers in our database as we can, as this provides both BestMark as a company and our clients with various perspectives completing the assignments. Moreover, we go to great lengths to contact shoppers to clarify/gather additional information required for a report, as an effort to save a shop so it does not cancel.

As I am sure you understand, mystery shopping providers (along with almost every other business) have quality control processes in place to ensure that the information they’re providing/gathering is reliable and valid. As our clients expect us to provide them with accurate and veritable data, we hold that same expectation with our shoppers. Your actions reflect negatively on the entire mystery shopping community who make the time and effort to provide real feedback when they perform mystery shops. It is indeed unfortunate that you would attempt to capitalize on the support of this community without mentioning the fact that you performed and admitted to performing fraud (fabricating and reusing business cards)- the absolute nemesis of the mystery shopping industry. It was not our intent to make public your actions, but we have no option but to defend our position.

EandCconsulting, if you have any questions regarding this, please let me know and I will email you directly.

Thank you,
BestMark, Inc.



EandCconsulting Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So I was cancelled out by Bestmark today after
> several years of successful shops. They accused
> me of forging reports...the ultimate insult in
> this business. Of course they have no proof, as
> there is not any. I do several small town rural
> dealerships 2 or 3 times a year for them. These
> dealerships have very few employees. One of them
> is out of a trailer and it is the owner and his
> secretary, THATS it. Sooooo as you can imagine
> repeat salesmen come along and I have had several
> shops over the last couple years with the same
> name. OF COURSE that means I'm cheating them at
> Bestmark, there couldn't POSSIBLY be any other
> explanation. I did about 12 shops in the last 2
> weeks, 6 had new sale people I met, 6 did not. So
> they gave me no warning and a nasty email and that
> was it. No questions asked, just adios E and C
> Consulting. No soup for you. Shoppers beware if
> you are in the same boat I have been in!!!!

Wow.

I just don't understand why some come here and do what they do. Are they nuts? They'll be caught. That's for sure. Thank you BestMark for clarifying this. I kinda like your Company.

Frankly, I'm appalled by shopping companies that feel the need to reply on this forum in such excruciating detail, rather than contact the individual shopper privately to get into this.

If the MSC finds it necessary to defend itself from false or misleading statements from shoppers that are made here, I understand that, and it appears to be warranted in this case.

BUT a few sentences providing the overall facts of the matter should suffice. For example: "We would like to clarify this situation by explaining that this shopper did not provide accurate information, verified by the business owners, and/or provided false information. He (she) has admitted to us that uploaded images were duplicates of previous images, or faked. We will be contacting this shopper privately to provide details." That's all any of us here need to know to "get" the fact that the OP was not truthful.

It is unnecessary for all of us to know the exact details, and unprofessional for the MSC to provide them. It was, of course, unprofessional for the OP to give us misleading information--but that doesn't make an excuse for the kind of embarrassing (to the entire community) public airing of all the dirty laundry.

This specific communication should have been privately made, IMHO.

Why individuals and companies feel that everything about everything should be made public is beyond me. Especially when it comes to businesses that are supposed to be professional entities employing professional staff. I'm truly appalled by the posts I've read on this board that have been made by employees of MSC's. As individual shoppers who have a forum in which to discuss issues and who do not represent anyone other than ourselves, if our posts are lacking in professionalism, it reflects only on us. On the other hand, posts such as the one above reflect on an entire organization. And not well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2013 11:28PM by BirdyC.

I disagree on this one. The information given by the shopper could damage the reputation and brand of the company. Reputation is everything. The company was right to defend their position. I did not find anything unprofessional about their post.

A lot of people look to these boards for advice, it only takes one time for someone to get false information. I personaly am glad they nipped this one in the bud.

I agree that in most cases, when there is a misunderstanding, the company should directly contact the shopper to work things out. I also think that a good company with a good reputation in the shopper community should not feel the need to defend itself against every comment.

However, this isn't one of those times. The OP was very specific in his post about Best mark. Thr OP did not have questions and was not unable to understand the situation. There would be no reason for Best mark to contact the OP ...... there was nothing to work out. Apparently, from both his post and theirs, they do not want him back.

The purpose of the OP's post appears to have been to strike out at the company in public, and I applaude the company for telling the whole story.......and doing so in a nice and professional manner.

In cases like this, misbehavior by some shoppers gives all shoppers a bad reputation and calls our ethics into question. The post by the company answered questions that were in my head when I read the OP's post.....it simply didn't smell right.

I appreciate Best Mark taking the time to clarify the situation.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2013 03:17PM by spaztck.

WOW. That was unexpected. I'm torn. I know shoppers come on here to vent. I've done it. It sucks when you don't get paid and your only course of action sometimes is to squeak your wheels and hope to get oiled. But, having the company respond with your personal info! That's....humiliating for sure. Legal? Hmmmm.... No one used names, right?

The company did not respond giving any confidential information about the shopper, only the situation. (We have had companies respond and post the shopper's name on the internet forum as a form of "revenge" which is inappropriate and has been edited out by our moderators.)

There's a difference between"venting" about a situation and fabricating a story to damage a company's reputation.

People immediately read a "slam email" against a company - that is why I came here as I have shopped for BestMark too. So the shopper had our attention...

EandCconsulting was very defamatory towards BestMark and could damage their reputation, so I have no issue with their response. I was happy to read a thorough and well researched case before dismissing the shopper - they even have the MS on tape admitting fraud!

No sympathies for the MS and well done BestMark. The right to defend your reputation works both ways...

I totally agree that the shopper in this case was wrong to have done and posted what he/she did. I have no sympathy for the shopper, and my dismay over the detailed response by BestMark has NOTHING to do with not wanting to see the shopper embarrassed. The shopper has done that himself (or herself, as the case may be).

However, I still don't feel the level of detail provided by the MSC's post was professional or appropriate. Yes, BestMark has a duty to defend itself and protect its reputation from false accusations. That's indisputable.

But it was possible for a well-drafted response to achieve the desired outcome--i.e., explaining the situation for what it truly was so that everyone here understood that the blame lie squarely with the shopper and not BestMark--without a nearly blow-by-blow detailing of the situation. We all didn't need this level of detail to understand that the shopper was at fault here.

I realize I may be in the minority, but I really don't think was a professional manner in which to handle this. The shopper was beyond unprofessional, of course, but as they say, "two wrongs don't make a right."

I ALWAYS state a notice when I'm posting about an MSC that fired me in the past, as did BM. The reason, although no explanation was required, was that I wasn't willing to complete their high work, low paying shops; that is correct.

In my opinion, BM's response to the OP was thorough and justified; of course, I've no knowledge as to it's accuracy. In addition, in my 10+ yrs. in this business, the OP's comments are the first in which I've read of BM's integrity being questioned.

They and I parted ways years ago. I caught them editing my reports and told them to stop "creatively rephrasing the facts" to their clients, and chewed out their editor. Thoroughly. The owner of Bestmark got involved, and we decided to part ways.

It happens sometimes. I make no secret that I have my own clients, do my thing my way, and sometimes that makes people at various MS companies feel uncomfortable. Other times, they love it and we have a great, enduring relationship. Bottom line, if I get challenged by a MS company, I'm likely to have audio and video to prove the truth. You can imagine how they feel about that when it shows up in their inbox.

Truth trumps BS, no matter what game yer playin'

BirdyC Wrote:
---------------------------------------------------
> I realize I may be in the minority, but I really
> don't think was a professional manner in which to
> handle this. The shopper was beyond
> unprofessional, of course, but as they say, "two
> wrongs don't make a right."'

I agree that the shopper was unprofessional, which the company's post made very clear. I believe that their post was professional because there was no name calling or threats and they made no attempt to publically identify the shopper. I believe that their detailed response was necessary, because, unless they posted a detailed, well-thought-out response that made sense and was believable to me, to me, there would have been no point in responding. I would not have believed them simply because they said "We are Best mark and the shopper lied."

As far as two wrongs not making a right, the statement itself is correct. But I'm not seeing two wrongs here. The shopper's actions appear to be a wrong - possibly his post is a second wrong - or just a continuation of the first wrong......but I see no wrong on the company's part. I think the company has handled a bad situation in a very positive way with a very professional post that shows respect for the shopper community.

Just for the record, I don't have a dog in this hunt. I have never shopped for Bestmark.

AustinMom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would not have believed
> them simply because they said "We are Best mark
> and the shopper lied."
>
>

Austin, that's not what I implied that BestMark should have said--some detail would be needed in order to offer a plausible indication that this shopper was indeed forging reports, and I think I was pretty clear on that originally.

I just don't happen to think the detail posted here by BestMark was appropriate. No, the post didn't contain threats and yes, it was well written. But, in my own personal opinion, this could have been handled here on this forum much more professionally. JMHO, of course, but my career specialty is in business and marketing communications, and I'd never advise a client to post this exact statement on a public or semi-public forum. In fact, if a client gave this to me to review first, I'd be in there with my red pen doing heavy editing! Again, just my point of view....



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2013 07:04PM by BirdyC.