(I am not going to criticize Market Force. I had a good experience with them while it lasted. My post is meant to inform other MF shoppers about my experience.)

I performed many shops for Market Force. Last month I performed 30+ fast food shops. During my 3 years at Market Force, I had never performed more than 5-10 shops per month for them, and I almost always avoided their fast food shops.

Back to last month. I reported everything that I saw and overheard, and all of my timings and observations were documented. During that month, I gave very poor marks to 8 of the arches shops that I visited. The day before my deactivation, I gave an arches shop the lowest grade possible, because I had to wait at the walk-in counter more than 7 minutes.

I was deactivated, by having the select new shops link removed from my shopper page, but was told that they would appreciate it if I would complete the remaining FF shops that I had already scheduled with them (12 shops in total). I declined their offer to complete their shops.

I found it puzzling that I could be deactivated but still be allowed to complete future shops for all of their FF clients (I had future shops booked with all of the FF clients).

As an IC, I accept that the client can do this. It isn't fun, but I accepted it and went shopping for some clothes for myself, which allowed me to feel good again.

@Deactivated Shopper wrote:

As an IC, I accept that the client can do this. It isn't fun, but I accepted it and went shopping for some clothes for myself, which allowed me to feel good again.

Now that you won't be doing all those FF shops, you will probably lose weight and then you will have to go shopping again for new clothes. Not a bad trade-off at all.

I'm sorry for your experience. I think that it happens to all of us eventually. I'm just waiting until it's my turn. I don't even count on them for my revenue.

Sorry that happened to you. Haven't met my Waterloo with them yet.

Yea im still in the new stages but with everything I have read about them just deactivating you, I only count on them really for my free lunches when I have a busy day and dont want to pay for lunch.. that sucks that that happened to you though :/

The real losers here are the boys at the arches and their steadily falling profits. Some people just don't want to hear the truth, no matter what.

FWIW, e-mail QC and/or respond to the deactivation e-mail and you may be able to get reinstated. I think it's some kind of test they do or something. I got back in pretty easily.

How did you get back in. I was also deactived for quality infractions. They said I had duplicate pictures.

The [fast-food] are not with MF force anymore.

@jillsmith1816 wrote:

The arches are not with MF force anymore.

They are still with the same MSC. I did several this month and have one more still do do.

I just e-mail Quality Control and the person who first e-mailed me to say my acount had been dropped. By the end o the day I was reinstated. I really do think it's some kind of bizzare test.

And they do still have the [fast-food client],

I was deactivated and was not given any explanation

I guess they do not in my area. I am in South Louisiana.

@af517 wrote:

The real losers here are the boys at the arches and their steadily falling profits. Some people just don't want to hear the truth, no matter what.

LOL. People are getting wise about the health horrors of [fast] food. Pretty soon the only customers they'll have will be mystery shoppers!

@weatherman2111 wrote:

I just e-mail Quality Control and the person who first e-mailed me to say my acount had been dropped. By the end o the day I was reinstated. I really do think it's some kind of bizzare test.

Must be. Maybe the editor that rejected the shop I canned MF over got canned herself. Most of my "Hedgehog" shops since I came back have had pretty lousy service times and no peeps yet. Then again, I didn't get deactivated last summer, I deactivated them. Who knows. Maybe it's some good natured trolling by the genteel southern folks over in the ATL to pass time while the temps get warmer.

Anyway, I knocked out a Cinco Hombres shop in between trailer checks yesterday. I'll try to negate my other food shops this weekend by doing a bunch of theater standee installs this coming midweek.

I wonder if periodically they purge the list of anyone who hasn't shopped for them in a year, figuring they're probably not mystery shoppers any more, and if they ask to be reinstated, they just reinstate them. Some people get out of mystery shopping and probably don't bother deactivating themselves when they do. I don't think i would take the time, I'd just shop retrieving emails from my shopping address any more.

Deactivations due to problems with shops are another matter but it sounds like some people just get dropped for no reason so maybe it has to do with how long it's been since they did a shop or even signed in to look at the job board.

I'm just guessing here.

@jillsmith1816 wrote:

I guess they do not in my area. I am in South Louisiana.

jillsmith, the [fast-food] still shopped by that company. I visit family members in South Louisiana frequently and usually do a couple on the way to and the way back. Arches shops are posted right now. It could be that you have been blocked from that client and that is why you are unable to see them.

I have always felt that they preferred good reviews and disliked poor ones. One [client name deleted] that I hit very hard no longer shows up on my job list. But it is there for a local friend.

I am very careful how I word any narrative when doing a [fast-food] shop. I now report something negative in the softest language possible.

If I have a long wait time, I explain the exact reason in the narrative. Especially if it's a customer ahead of me caused delay while a stoner spaces out like they never saw the menu before or there are three kids trying to pick out happy meals.

They do seem to like to know if it was due to waiting on fries or the sandwich being prepared. Those type of details are great. As long as it's a minimum wage employee error and the timing is 100% accurate.

What they do not ever want to hear is that the manager was sitting in the dining room in a booth doing paperwork during lunch hour or that the crew members were doing something stupid and the manager was ignoring it.

If it's not a question on the survey, then they don't want to read about it in the narrative.

I did a non shop today, drive through 10 minutes for a soda. Reports do not seem to help them improve.

There are always reasons for a long wait and if you are accustomed to using the drive-thru your standards are different. I am not with MF (they got confused by my EIN and seem to be an employer) but in general as a former fast food worker can say that giving the lowest grade because of a time is non-information and non-productive. It depends on when you come in. The cashier may for example, have bitten off more than they can chew (sic) by taking too many orders at a time. Or the preparation had to catch up to the demand, all items on the tray before serving.

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

I did a non shop today, drive through 10 minutes for a soda. Reports do not seem to help them improve.

There is no excuse for that on a drive-thru for a soda unless they had to refill the machine.

No excuse? Maybe three other cars in line ahead of the soda order?

Maybe you should let the [fast-food] company worry about that. If you don't want to (or no longer can) work for Market Force -- don't!

Half my [fast-food] reports indicate issues. I still get calls and bonus offers.

The opinions that negative reports result in being cut or restricted are just that, opinions.

My two rejects over two years were my fault.

I'd venture to speculate that it is quite possible that anyone that always provides 100% positive reports is more apt to have the videotapes reviewed.

You can not count cars ahead of you as "waiting" time. Waiting time is the time you spend at the window.

I get the impression this company doesn't appreciate a perfect report, but nothing too terrible either.