Can anyone confirm for me that they are paid via PayPal from About Face? I noticed I have not been paid for July shops as of yet. I am signed up to receive PayPal payments in my profile, but I want to make sure they actually pay via PP first.

Thanks guys!

Yeah, Paypal. I sent an email mid-Sept. inquiring about payment for early July shops. My reply from Heather Stokes - "We are currently undergoing a change in our financial system, and this is causing a delay in the processing of shop payments". Payment was made 3 days later.

I got paid for a July shop via check. Off the top of my head I cannot remember when, late August or early Sept.

I was paid for the first week in September for shops that I completed in July. I also had received and email explaining the change in the system.

I sent an email and received the same response, then recevied payment 90 minutes later. Hmmmm.

Hmmm indeed.

They were two days late in paying me for shops I did in July and I jumped right on them. Got paid that day.

We should all do this every time someone is late. We can;t tell the bank, "Oh, such and such MSC didn;t pay me, so I can't pay you..." unless we are prepared to face fines and penalties. Why give an interest free loan to a business?

I'm still waiting for Melissa Benson's $30 payment. Gee, should I call? LOL

Yes, don't you want to be abused and sworn at more? :-)

I have done two shops in early August. I think I will give them a reminder email. How does everyone keep track of all these different companies?

I made a shop log for record-keeping. Date applied/date of shop/MSP/Client & Address/Fee/Reimbursement/Mileage/Payment date & method/Notes. Input can be handwritten or done on the computer.

I have a date book that I use. I am a computer nerd so normally I use my Outlook calendar for everything, but for MS for some reason I like a book. I can take it with me and pack it away at the end of the year after taxes.

I write on the day I have a shop scheduled the MS company, fee, store name and due date. After my shops for the day I write in my mileage on that day and any other unreimbursed expenses. At the end of the week I make a note of those totals on the top. In the back of the book by month I write the MS Company and shop name, then the fee. That is where I check off when I get paid. When a month is completely paid I tally everything up including the miles, etc. and "close out" the month. The only tricky months are Nov Dec really, when the payments for some shops arrive in January of the following year, so fo tax purposes I have to move them over to the first page of my new datebook for the new year.

They just paid me for a cluster of emergency deadline shops that were done in July and neatly trimmed $35 worth of the bonus out of my payment. When I asked what gives the response was tough noogies.

Do you have the bonus data in writing? I would go after it, were it me.

Cettie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They just paid me for a cluster of emergency
> deadline shops that were done in July and neatly
> trimmed $35 worth of the bonus out of my payment.
> When I asked what gives the response was tough
> noogies.


Just paid for shops done in July?! Payments from them in the past few months have been slow. A new financial system was the reason given. Some shoppers whose payments were running late got paid quickly, but only after asking AF. Was the bonus for a good report or for a quick turnaround?

Its strange. I have only done one shop for them during the past 9 months; it was this summer, in July. I was paid within 30 days.

I did my last shop for them March 1. I had accepted a low-pay book store shop with a $3 bonus and figured the bonus would make the shop worth it. Well, although I got the 5/5, no $3 bonus. I thought at first it must be a mistake and I e-mailed, forwarding my 5/5 score e-mail received from the scheduler, and I got the response that AF made the decision to eliminate the bonuses on all shops performed after 3/1 and that they were very proud that they were paying shoppers ..... so when I accepted the shop it had a bonus but by the time I performed it, it did not. (But they were proud that they were paying me.) I still had my paperwork showing the $3 bonus. I e-mailed back and thanked the scheduler for letting me know AF's decision and told her I respected that AF had made a management decision, but that I felt it was blatantly unfair to shoppers to not honor a bonus that was promised when the shopper accepted the shop. I never got a response. And I've never accepted another AF shop. $3 is not a lot but to me it's a question of integrity. I've lost the desire to work for AF.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2009 05:44AM by AustinMom.

AustinMom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I did my last shop for them March 1. I had
> accepted a low-pay book store shop with a $3 bonus
> and figured the bonus would make the shop worth
> it. Well, although I got the 5/5, no $3 bonus. I
> thought at first it must be a mistake and I
> e-mailed, forwarding my 5/5 score e-mail received
> from the scheduler, and I got the response that AF
> made the decision to eliminate the bonuses on all
> shops performed after 3/1 and that they were very
> proud that they were paying shoppers ..... so when
> I accepted the shop it had a bonus but by the time
> I performed it, it did not. (But they were proud
> that they were paying me.) I still had my
> paperwork showing the $3 bonus. I e-mailed back
> and thanked the scheduler for letting me know AF's
> decision and told her I respected that AF had made
> a management decision, but that I felt it was
> blatantly unfair to shoppers to not honor a bonus
> that was promised when the shopper accepted the
> shop. I never got a response. And I've never
> accepted another AF shop. $3 is not a lot but to
> me it's a question of integrity. I've lost the
> desire to work for AF.


I totally agree with your decision on this. I remember this situation at the time it came up; I also disagree with it. When something is set in stone at some date, it should be set in stone. Anything agreed to once the the policy is in place should reflect the new terms - shoppers that accepted shops under pre-existing terms should have their terms honored. Many MSC's work this way.
AF should have honored it's agreements.

That said, I know that the shopper advocate for them frequently reads and sometimes contributes to this forum. I wonder if she might comment on why AF decided to retroactively revise agreements already in process.

Definitely what you are contracted for is what you should be paid. To do otherwise is a breech of contract unless you have signed off to the new terms.

My attitude toward Bestmark changed dramatically when I signed up for an on site job at $X and by the time I could see the specific instructions, it had turned into a phone shop at $Y that I would not have taken in the first place.

My attitude toward JC&Associates changed when I signed up for a job at $34, a month later they changed the job to $30 and I got paid the new $30 rate with no response to my email. And luckily I stopped working for JC & Associates right then and there because subsequently they kicked out their pay cycle further and even those terms I gather are not being met.

> dee shops Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That said, I know that the shopper advocate for
> them frequently reads and sometimes contributes to
> this forum. I wonder if she might comment on why
> AF decided to retroactively revise agreements
> already in process.

I'd be interested to see if the shopper advocate has a comment. She answered me very quickly by e-mail when I asked if it was a mistake that I had not been paid but did not respond to me when I answered her e-mail, telling her I thought it was unfair to shoppers to not honor the terms in place when the shop was accepted. I explained the discontinued bonus situation on the AF thread of Volition last June, and although the shopper advocate posted on the thread not long after I posted, she chose not to comment.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2009 02:41AM by AustinMom.