Intelli has not paid me bonus for the last two months!! Has anyone else had trouble with this? It says the correct amount on Sassie but Paypal's deposit is incorrect. I've never had a problem with this until just a couple of months ago and usually their on dot with payments.

can't stand this company...

Moving their status from "good" to desperate.

everytime i read this sort of thing I'm glad I parted ways.....

I am right now dealing with a !@$!@#!@#$ editor that like to waste my time and ask stupid questions. I feel like replying back: did you read the blasted narrative before you emailed me cuz in paragraph x sentence y it STATES WHAT U R ASKING ME! (I loved that I was asked why I got a second persons business card. When earlier in the survey it asked if the associate left you alone for more then a minute and to "please comment". So I commented that the associate went from business phone to personal phone back to business phone. I then made a second notation later in the survey about it.)
It also isn't helpful that if you forget to save every 20 minutes but wait till your done - IT WONT SAVE A BLASTED THING!

sorry for the caps - I am a little tired of this company. I think it is time for me to say bye-bye to them

Hey blondegondumb, I'm very sorry to hear that you haven't been receiving your bonuses. There are a variety of things that could be preventing you from receiving your bonus--but if the amount is correct in your shop log, but the deposit amount is different in PayPal, then it may be a PayPal issue.

I suggest contacting your scheduler who offered you the bonus. We can check on your payment that was sent to you and see if it's a problem on our end or on PayPal's end. We never maliciously "withhold" a bonus or payment--if something is wrong please contact us immediately and we will work to fix the issue.

I hope this helps clear up your issue! If you can't get a hold of a scheduler, please feel free to email me at sara (dot) petersen (at) intelli-shop (dot) com.

Thanks!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2014 07:24PM by IntelliSara.

Comment deleted by poster for snarky content.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2014 10:25PM by bestofbothworlds.

gypsymonkey, I'm really sorry about the frustration about having to save your shop every 20 minutes. Unfortunately, that is how the software we use is set up and there isn't much we can do about it.

If you are ever having difficulties like this with a report, contact your scheduler. They may be able to help you out with your issues and expedite the process. The schedulers job is to make sure the shop gets successfully filled, completed and the report is filled out and turned in. Shoot them an email, or give us a call at the office M-F 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST and they'll be more than happy to help you out with your report.

I personally have also had issues with Intellishop's payments.

1. Non payment for a shop at a rural location with no phone number listed that was long out of business.
2. Non payment for a successfully shopped location where they say I wasn't coached, while I was indeed trained.
3. Ongoing - There is this bank shop where the bank was unable to open an account for me (bank's policy), and therefore I was unable to complete the shop. I mailed the scheduler and got no answer. Instead, the shops were simply removed from my log and re-posted. I guess I won't get an answer. It´s been a few days now.

Also, I once had a personal issue. I asked the scheduler for an extension on 4 businesses shopped, just to input the report. Instead of an answer, I got a "flake citation" and 4 reports with a 1 rating, plus a "You failed to fill out this report. You will not be paid for this." explanation.

The above accounts for over $170 that I am sure I'll never see.


Also, I do dislike some of their editor's stiffness - almost arrogance. People that know me actually know that I am not personally impacted by low ratings, as long as I know I delivered a quality report and I get paid. Still, and with all the false "flakes" and low rating shops, I am at an average of 7 with Intellishop.

I hope they improve their methods, and I really hope this post doesn't cause any type of retaliation...

yeah cabazan I am with you on the retaliation thing. I am sitting here blushing cuz I forgot that they may actually read what we write. I was thinking that since they aren't reading what I write in my narratives why would they read this. ohhh well live and learn. I am feeling burnt out with the same shop over and over anyway. The pay for the shop was not worth the hassle. Forgive me but $17 for a shop that takes 2 plus hours and then another 2 plus hours to input. Then you have the editor asking for redundant info. $17 for almost 6 hours of hassle, not worth it. I am just upset with myself taking so long to realize it.

Hey cabazan, I really want to address the issues you brought up in your post.

First and foremost, I want to assure EVERYBODY on this forum that we do not "retaliate" against people who post negative reviews about us. We are a professional company and we do not do things like that. Also, there is no way for us to retaliate against you--we have no idea who you are. Unless you post on here "my email address is ___" you are completely anonymous. Even listing your name will not really reveal who you are because you may have the same name as three or four other shoppers registered with us.

Now I will address your other issues as best as I can:

1. The information we give you for shops is what we receive from the client. If there isn't a phone number listed, then we don't have it. If you wish to call the location ahead of time to make sure it's there and inquire about their hours, then it is up to you to look up the location on the Internet and find the phone number on their website and call them. If we have the information, we will provide it for you.

Also, we are just as surprised as you are that the location was closed and deserted. When we get the locations to shop, we assume, like you do, that they're up and running. If you can provide proof that you were at the location and it is indeed shut down by taking a time-stamped picture of the location, then we will pay you for the shop. I suggest to always have a camera with you on shops if you don't have a smartphone just in case something like this happens. However, if the location is closed down and there is a sign posted saying "We have moved to___" and the new location isn't very far away, then we expect you to visit the new location. If you need to reschedule the shop because of it, we will be more than happy to do so.

2. I do not know the specific details of this situation so I'm afraid I cannot provide any insight on this. I suggest contacting your scheduler for this shop to try and clear up what happened.

3. In terms of questions you send to us via email, we ALWAYS check our email and we ALWAYS respond to questions. The way our email works, is if you submit a "Help Contact" form through your Shop Log it then goes straight to our email. If you're submitting the form and your computer is running really slow and you click "submit" three or four times, then that email is sent three or four times and our email provider sees that as spam. If we're lucky that will show up in our junk folder and we can respond to it, but most of the time we never see it. Each scheduler also receives on average 400 emails a day. If you have a question or an issue about a specific shop, and you haven't received a reply to your email within 24 hours, or you need an answer about a question RIGHT NOW, give us a call. We're on the phone all day with shoppers helping them get their reports in.

Again, our job is to make sure these shops get picked up, done and the reports filled out successfully and the client is happy and our shoppers get paid. We HATE not being able to pay a shopper, we HATE it when we have to exclude a shop and then try and find someone else to do it. It is a possibility that we never received your emails, so that is where the flake citations came from.

Always, always contact us. Everything can be resolved if you communicate with us. We can't help you if you don't.

If you would like to talk to me personally to try and resolve some of these issues, I'd be happy to take a call from you.

If you're still with me, thanks for reading!

Sara -

While I personally have had no problems getting any issues addressed I may have had with IntelliShop, and do have a very good working relationship with the company, I would like to point out a few problems I have encountered myself, and help point to maybe a bigger problem with your company that you guys may not even recognize.

Email - I email schedulers at IntelliShop on a regular basis and do not receive a reply. I use the "Help Contact" button and schedulers emails directly with my email client with no reply. I have learned, if I don't get a reply to make a phone call and I get my question answered. But there IS an email problem. Multiple shoppers here have mentioned it. I don't know if your email client loses them, I don't know if you don't answer them, I don't know what happens. I will tell you, however, there is a problem. Maybe you can alert your supervisors or IT personnel to have them look into this.

Closed locations - Yes, I totally believe your company tries their hardest to give open, operating locations. I understand you try your best to have phone numbers, and everything else. But sometimes the location is closed. While I personally will always take photos, call the MSC while on site if possible, and do everything in my power, occasionally closed locations are gonna happen. The industry as a whole makes it very difficult for shoppers to get paid. I have never encountered this for your company, but the few closed locations I have encountered myself with other companies it takes many hoops to get paid. It sounds from other shoppers that this company has those same issues. It's frustrating for us, so work with us please!

Just my thoughts!

IntelliSara Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>> 3. In terms of questions you send to us via email,
> we ALWAYS check our email and we ALWAYS respond to
> questions.

Not always. I sent a question regarding shops for a regional cell phone company. This was two weeks ago. I don't live in their service area but shop multiple cities that are in their area. Still no reply. Tomorrow will be the 4th trip since that email was sent that I have been in their service area and could pick up shops. Shops that are in small, hard to find shoppers for type places.

@IntelliSara - I will call you tomorrow. Fortunately for us, shoppers, who have to be detail centered, I have every communication / date / person documented. As our conversation progresses, I will update any solution to my problems here in this forum for all to read. Likewise, if no solution is offered, I'll let the forum know. Does it sound fair?

treydawgmt--For those closed locations, we know it's not your fault, and it's not our fault either. We at IntelliShop work really hard to make sure that no one is punished for that happening. However, we've been burned before by a location "being closed" when it's really open. If you can provide proof via a picture that a location is closed, we will most definitely work with you and try to make sure you don't have to jump through any hoops to be compensated for that.

As for the email communications, if we get your email, we will respond to it. If you don't hear from us in 24 hours, please give us a call. We ALWAYS check our "spam" folders and we are working to see if we can get more of those emails that never even make it to our junk folder.

bgriffin--Always read the shop comments for the shops you're looking at. For this type of shop, you must already be a customer. This is listed in the shop comments. Also, please remember that each scheduler receives about 400 emails PER DAY. One email may have easily gotten lost.

cabazan--I'm looking forward to your call! I will be taking lunch between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. EST, and I will be leaving for the weekend around 5 p.m. EST.

On 2-25 at 10:27am I accepted a shop that was due 2 hours prior at 8:45. Now of course I cant go back in time to do the shop as it wasn't even on my job board when it was due. So on that day, at like 10:30 am, the 25th, I then emailed Intelli-shop asking if I could do this shop tomorrow, the 26th, NO RESPONSE. First thing in the morning on the 26th since I still haven't gotten a response I emailed again asking if I could do it again on the 27th, NO RESPONSE. Later in the day on the 26th I then get an email saying IF I DONT REPORT THIS SHOP I WILL BE CONSIDERED A FLAKE. At this point YOUR COMPANY IS THE FLAKE. The I get another email after that asking WHEN CAN I DO THE SHOP. I replied tomorrow. So I did the shop this morning. Then when I get home they are questioning the shop's update, um you stupid people I just replied YESTERDAY that I would do it this morning and I just did it like an hour ago.. I emailed them what the problem was, THEM. So then they cancelled my shop so I couldn't enter it or report it. Offered me the shop for this month with no bonus and a sh*tty little pay. AS IF. I accepted this shop with a 5.00 fee and a 35.00 BONUS...now you want to let me enter the report for 5.00....shi find someone else because there is a reason there was a 35.00 bonus BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS THEM...but go ahead and burn those bridges

elijahboy, I saw your post on another feed about this issue. The main issue is because you accepted the shop after the deadline had passed and sent an email expecting to receive an answer within 10 minutes. You must keep in mind that each scheduler deals with thousands of shops and thousands of shoppers per day. As stated previously, on average our schedulers each receive about 400 emails per day. Because this set of shops' deadline was on the 25th, they were bombarded by emails from people asking to reschedule and cancel. If you ever need to know an answer to a question immediately, you need to call us. We will be more than happy to take your call.

When you accepted the shop, it looked like you had already completed it. Not to mention you sent multiple emails from multiple different email threads, so it was very confusing to the scheduler who was trying to juggle hundreds of other shoppers with your same issue. That is why you were asked if you completed it. When it was clear you did not complete it, that is when it was removed from you. I apologize for the emails with the flake citation reference. Our deadline to the client was the 25th, and since you had accepted the shop, we assumed that you had completed it and we needed the report in ASAP because the client expects to have them in hand within 12 hours after the shop was completed.

As for the bonus money, you asked to complete the shop after the deadline had already passed. The conditions of the bonus came with the expectation to complete and report on the shop before the deadline, and you asked after the deadline had already passed to reschedule. We lost our bonus money for the period and did not have $35 to offer you for the new period.

Please email or call your scheduler if you would like to continue to professionally sort this out.

IntelliSara Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> bgriffin--Always read the shop comments for the
> shops you're looking at. For this type of shop,
> you must already be a customer. This is listed in
> the shop comments. Also, please remember that each
> scheduler receives about 400 emails PER DAY. One
> email may have easily gotten lost.


IntelliSara,

I brought that email up simply because you stressed that your schedulers always reply to emails, putting always in all caps twice in the sentence, which seemed to me to stress that indeed, emails do not fall through the cracks. I was merely pointing out one that in fact did.

This, however, brings up a question for me. I just took another look at the shop notes. I agree that in the past the shop notes stated that the shops were for customers only. That is what prompted my question as I thought it was possible the client had become interested in what experience non-customers were having. I would love to quote the entire shop notes here but I'm concerned that would be an ICA violation, however, I would appreciate it if you would take another look and quote to me, via PM if necessary, the exact line that says "shopper must be a current customer." It is not listed anywhere in the shop I currently have open to look at the shop notes.

Sara, is your closed location policy clearly stated? Every other MSC I've worked with says if the business has moved, do not shop the new location and get in contact with the scheduler. I did not know it is IntelliShop policy to shop the new location prior to receiving explicit instructions from the scheduler.

And you say you check every single email, but you also get hundreds of emails a day and one might slip through the cracks. And you say that we are anonymous to you on this forum, but you were able to ascertain that elijahboy sent multiple email threads even though he did not say so in his post (not sure if you two had private communication though). Not to be rude, but I feel like you're making opposing statements and it's making me concerned.

Sarah is trying to fudge a story in regards to me.... My initial email was from their OWN HELP LINK ON THE SHOP.....then when they did reply after 10 minutes PLUS AN ADDITIONAL 24 hours, so 24 hours and 10 minutes later.....it was MY EMAIL LISTED ON MY ACCOUNT....how confusing can that be?


MSmichelle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sara, is your closed location policy clearly
> stated? Every other MSC I've worked with says if
> the business has moved, do not shop the new
> location and get in contact with the scheduler. I
> did not know it is IntelliShop policy to shop the
> new location prior to receiving explicit
> instructions from the scheduler.
>
> And you say you check every single email, but you
> also get hundreds of emails a day and one might
> slip through the cracks. And you say that we are
> anonymous to you on this forum, but you were able
> to ascertain that elijahboy sent multiple email
> threads even though he did not say so in his post
> (not sure if you two had private communication
> though). Not to be rude, but I feel like you're
> making opposing statements and it's making me
> concerned.

said the cat that swallowed the canary!!!

bgriffin, please check your inbox. I sent you a PM so we wouldn't be breaking any confidentiality agreements. Hopefully that helps out with your question.

MSmichelle, with your concerns regarding anonymity on here, when I saw elijahboy's posts, I asked the particular schedulers to look out for an email from a shopper with those concerns and to help in case he were to contact us directly. When elijahboy used the exact same wording, phrasing and language in both his emails to us, and the posts on the forum, it's really difficult to not put two and two together and realize that the shopper and the forum poster is the same person.

On that same note, we still do not "retaliate" against shoppers who post negative reviews about us. We are a professional business. We do not maliciously withhold payments or remove someone from our database simply because of a negative review on a shop forum. We do remove people from our database if they have broken confidentiality agreements, revealed themselves as a mystery shopper, contacted the clients, done mystery shops incorrectly many times in a row, flaked on us many times in a row, screamed profanities at us over the phone or behaved in an extremely unprofessional way towards us or the client. If a shop is done successfully and we send it to the client, then that shopper will be paid for the shop, always.

As I have stated previously, we respond to every email *we receive.* If we do not receive an email, which happens more often than we like, then it is very difficult for us to respond to it. Due to the nature of the business, we receive A LOT of spam emails. Whether it's a chain mail or an old email account from a shopper that got hacked--we have to have a heavy spam filter. If you don't hear from us within 24 hours, or you have a question that you need to know RIGHT NOW. ALWAYS call us. Our toll-free number is 866-234-1423. There is a directory so you can get to the specific person you're trying to get a hold of, or you can press 0 and it will ring until someone picks it up in the office.

Lastly, we do not have it listed that we will pay if a location is closed down, I'll see if I can add that to our FAQs. However, it is our policy that if you can prove that you were there by a time stamped picture and it was shut down, then we will pay for the shop.

IntelliSara,

Seems to me a lot of the posters on this forum have major issues with Intelli-Shop. My biggest issue is the editors who seem to nickel and dime reports, and find any reason to dock a shopper, no matter how minor it may be.

Intelli(?)-Shop is just about the only MSC that I haven't received all 10 ratings with. Sometimes, there's not even a reason I received a "9" for my shop, just a "thank you for submitting all required information on time" message. How does that tell me how I can improve my shop. I bet your editors would give War and Peace a crappy rating.

Too much negativity from editors and low, slow payments keeps you on my "less than ideal" MSC list. Do you realize that my wife gets paid $35- $65 (reg shopper pay w/o bonus) per test drive with other MSC's and their reports require a lot less detail (and she gets 10 ratings on her shops)? In addition, these other MSC's pay in 2 weeks usually. Just wanted to throw that out there.

Hey DanteInPA,

At IntelliShop, we are very proud that we have the "hardest" grading scale in terms of shopper reports. Our clients love that every report sent to them is perfect in terms of spelling, grammar, and most importantly, consistency in the reporting. With that being said, we do know that our proofers are sometimes unnecessarily tough and we've been working with them to include feedback on the evaluations, what you can do to improve, etc. It is something that is taking time, but your patience with us in that regard is much appreciated.

As for payment, we have changed all of our shops to pay out on the 20th of the following month. Also, our shopper fees are currently set because of the contract negotiated with the client--we pay you as much as we can.

If you have any other questions regarding payment, please contact me directly either through here or by sending me an email at sara.petersen@intelli-shop.com.

Sara –
I appreciate your open presence on the Forum. I think it shows a lot of moxie on your part to open yourself to the questions, challenges, and criticisms of shoppers. I hope IS appreciates your efforts, and I hope you can retain sufficient emotional strength to differentiate between those postings that constructively engage you, your work and your words, and those postings that erroneously conflate “you” and “IntelliShop.” Your loyalty to your employer is admirable, and while I would certainly not cast all of IS’s processes in as favorable a light as you have, I trust that you are at least truthfully benevolent in your perspective. In this, the Forum is enriched by your sharing.

Apparently, I owe you and Intelli-Shop an apology about the harsh grading by the editors. I researched my shop ratings and my wife's shop ratings and we have more 10 overall grades than 9's... So I admit I'm wrong about that.

IntelliSara Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey DanteInPA,
>
> At IntelliShop, we are very proud that we have the
> "hardest" grading scale in terms of shopper
> reports. Our clients love that every report sent
> to them is perfect in terms of spelling, grammar,
> and most importantly, consistency in the
> reporting. With that being said, we do know that
> our proofers are sometimes unnecessarily tough and
> we've been working with them to include feedback
> on the evaluations, what you can do to improve,
> etc. It is something that is taking time, but your
> patience with us in that regard is much
> appreciated.
>
> As for payment, we have changed all of our shops
> to pay out on the 20th of the following month.
> Also, our shopper fees are currently set because
> of the contract negotiated with the client--we pay
> you as much as we can.
>
> If you have any other questions regarding payment,
> please contact me directly either through here or
> by sending me an email at
> sara.petersen@intelli-shop.com.

elcarev68 and DanteInPA, Thank you very much for your kind words! I want to be a resource on here for our shoppers and try to answer any questions as best as I can in a public forum. Thanks again, and if you have any questions, you know where to find me

This is not something I'm proud of just the facts. I did 3 retail shops yesterday for 3 MSC's. All 3 of them came back for clarification, or more details. One of them was Intellishop.
Intellishop's wording was the harshest and if I was a sensitive type my feelings could be hurt. But, if I was that sensitive why would I be a mystery shopper?
My takeway is for me not to do retail anymore b/c it doesn't pay enough for my time.

# 2450360. This shop ID out of dozens was my only frustration. Requirements were to shop after 4 PM. I shopped at 4:30 and had time stamped photos to prove timing. I goofed and input the wrong time as 1:30. Got a score of 1, wasn't paid and got a terse message, "you shopped before 4:00 PM. I sent corrected info to the editor and got no response, period. I've moved on, but this was the only problem I've encountered. BTW when visiting NY you gotta shop the tall building, great view and great value.

The more I read about this company, the more I stay away from it.