atlash

If you believe I lectured leverly, so be it. You are entitled to your opinion. I don't believe leverly took my comments in the manner in which you are describing.

The rest of your comments aren't worth responding to. It's nothing more than a bunch of garbage posted by a bully who cowers behind their anonymous online persona.

Dave

See what fun this is!!! It's up to four pages and been at the top of the list for a full month/1 Way to go Dave !

Name calling and disrespect will get an MSC nowhere. Anonymity has always been a right afforded to members of this forum, for reason. It does not equate to garbage, bully or cowering.

Bah-humbug.

Mert,

You may not like my opinion, however, I am just calling it as I set it. I think atlash's, and several other comments in this thread, are just garbage. The actions of several forum members, including yours, are completely consistent will bullying. The fact that you are not interested in resolving whatever issue you have with my company and/or I is a perfect example of my point.

Happy Holidays.

Dave

I can't believe this is still going. Happy Holidays, Dave and everyone on this thread.

As for if i felt lectured by Dave, maybe. I don't know. He did finally pay. If i do work for Sentry again, hopefully i will go better.

This has got to be one of the sadder threads I have seen .. not this thread specifically, but that this issue keeps coming up. I shopped with Sentry five years ago,and did a few shops with them. The first shop I did I was paid very late. Dave and I had a discussion over the phone and it ended up very amicable and there was an agreement that the payment would be done quickly. He made sure of that and it was taken care of. The final shop I did I also had an issue with the payment and it also came late. This was when the payment was due to the shopper 60 days after the shop was accepted (which took some time as well), and had been extended to 90 because of all the payment issues that were happening. Now whether or not that has gone back to 60 as of late I am not sure; though I do see some posts that people have been paid in 60. We then parted ways. My concern then was that Dave had this penalty schedule of fees if (among other things like grammar, spelling, etc) we turned in a shop late, and if we answered the editors' questions later than a certain amount of time; yet it was okay for a payment to come in later than the deadlines that his company set.

A few years later some weirdo posted that he was due $2,000 from Sentry for work that he had done, and I went to bat on this forum for Dave saying that this poster was out of his gourd to expect us to believe him on that.

Although there are some shops Sentry has that I would love to do, I would not re-apply solely based on the 90 day payment schedule. My concern here is for those shoppers that still have issues getting paid on time; especially when many of the payments are small amounts. The companies I work with have people and systems in place to make sure their shoppers get paid properly and on time because they know that not paying shoppers as such will create a great outflux of shoppers, which will cause them to have their shops not be completed, and possibly lose the client(s). Have I seen posts on here about companies that don't pay on time? Of course, but when those happen t hey are usually counted on one hand on a single thread. Have I also seen threads about companies that don't pay at all and close down because they are fraudulent? Yes, and we've all seen those.

I am in no way saying the Sentry is a fraudulent company, because it is not. What I am saying is that Dave HAS to come up with systems which will guarantee on-time payment for ALL shoppers that do shops that are accepted. Shoppers feel very disrespected by companies that don't pay on time when they themselves are expected to turn in shops in a certain way on time and no later than on time. This seems to be the only major beef about the company, and it has been so at least since I shopped with them five years ago. Wouldn't it be nice for all these posts to stop? The only way this will happen is if Sentry comes up with systems which will guarantee on-time payment for ALL shoppers that do shops that are accepted.

I have been following this thread and I have to say, I am a little shocked. I have never seen an MSC representative show up in the forum so much consistently arguing with shoppers, and it is quite appalling. This behavior seems quite unprofessional and if the MSC owner would stop, this thread would stop. It really just needs to stop. Happy New Year, everyone.

Jas, it's not unprofessional for him to be on a site like this because he has the right to defend himself and his company. The problem here is that he shows up because so many people are on here complaining about the same issue that has plagued his company for years. Bottom line is that he won't have to patrol this site and defend himself and his company if he would just create the systems necessary to get ALL of his shoppers paid correctly and on time ALL of the time. Once this happens, he will not need to be on this site.

sethd85

You posted that "The problem here is that he shows up because so many people are on here complaining about the same issue that has plagued his company for years.". I was curious to see how accurate this comment was so I did a search on Sentry going back one year to review the various posts about our company.

There are been 27 threads started about Sentry over the last 12 months. Four of those threads are related to late payments. There are actually more threads about our company being difficult to work with (5) and general questions about completing assignments for us (4) than threads about late payments. The various threads contain a mix criticism and compliments and the following thread is a good example:

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

If it is your opinion that Sentry has more comments about late payments than other companies, than I respect your opinion even if I don't agree with it. I don't believe the facts support the assertion. Although I've been told differently on this forum, I believe that facts matter.

I have not worked for this company yet but I think I will register. I like the fact that the owner actually comes here and responds. It seems most companies don't bother to reply to our concerns. I don't know about everyone else but it seems some people definitely have a personal vendetta against this owner.

There are shops in my area for Sentry Marketing. I read this informative thread and decided against shopping for them. Shoppers are giving their perspective and experience, which is highly valued by others on this forum. The MSC defensively responds to every negative comment, with a highly narcissistic attitude. The MSC certainly posts frequently, making vain attempts to "protect" it's reputation. I will not use my valuable time to make money for a MSC who disparages shoppers. The MSC may have the big client, but the MSC cannot deliver results or make money without shoppers. The MSC should exit this thread, do an attitude check, make clearly needed business improvements, and start valuing shoppers.

I had a lot of trouble with payments from Sentry and told them so and then the blocked me as a shopper which is fine because I don't shop for companies who don't pay. Even though the shops were accepted and I was eventually paid for all of them, they are not a good company to work for and don't respond in a timely manner.

*Please note that I have made corrections to this post based on new information.

I wanted to chime in and add some information from the Sentry website. They are the last MSC I am waiting for full payment on from November and so I read this thread with some interest.

Here's a post I found on the site:

"Assignment Payment Policy

Invoices are generated on the 16th of month and include all assignments that are validated and released to the client. This means if you compelled an assignment on the 10th of the month, submitted it on the 11th and we released to the client on the 14th, it would be included on the current invoice. Using the same example, if we did not release the shop to our client until the 17th, the shop would appear on the next invoice.

SHOPPER REVIEW PERIOD - We email shoppers after the invoices are created and allow them 14 days to review their invoices for accuracy and notify us via ticket if an issues exits.

COMPANY REVIEW PERIOD - We allow ourselves 10 days to review and address/correct issues submitted by shoppers

Invoices are then locked during which all information is sent from Shop Metrics to Bill.com[http://Bill.com>. We begin paying shoppers once all of the information had been sent to bill.com[http://bill.com> with a goal of having all shoppers paid by then of the month.

We are reviewing the new process and it is likely some changes will be made to the timing for creating invoices - we are thinking of having invoices created on the first of the month, rather than the 15th. The process is still new to us and we are trying to determine the best way to handle shopper payment."

I'm new to mystery shopping as well as Sentry but I did have an invoice on 11/16/15*. I did not have any issues with it so I didn't reply. Based on the above I believe I should have been paid at the end of the month. At least I think that is what this means "having all shoppers paid by then of the month." "Then of the month," I assumed to be a typo for "the end of the month."

*correction, I have now learned that my invoice was for the period of 11/16/15-12/16/15. I was confused by the formatting on the site where 11/16/15 was listed in a message "Start Date" and I thought that meant that was the date the invoice was sent.

I wasn't following any of my payments that closely; I had just decided to wait until there were stragglers to check on those individually. But now that I have been paid for most of November's shops, I decided to research the ones that I have left. One is from an MSC that promises payment in 45 days, has already paid me for jobs in early November, and the unpaid job was in late November so I am waiting for that one. The other invoice is from Sentry and based on the above that I copied from their website, it appears that it is a month late*.

*Correction- It is not a month late now that I know that the invoice was dated 12/16/15. However the fact remains that it is still the only company I worked for in November that as of 1/1/16 I haven't been paid anything for any of my shops yet.

I'm not trying to start drama, but since it is already ongoing, I thought I would chime in. I actually did a couple of jobs for Sentry when I was in my first weeks of shopping and then put it on pause until I got paid, directly as a result of this thread.

I've also emailed Sentry directly to resolve this issue and I will let you know what happens.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2016 04:01AM by CeciliaM.

My experience with Sentry is that it just takes them so long to pay. In my opinion 60 days from completion is too long.The solution to the problem is simple. Don't take any of their shops. They will soon get the message.

Was this copied directly from the website. I ask because it jumped out at me How does one compel an assignment and does it impact the eventual payment date (which is confusing as all hell). LOL!

"if you compelled an assignment"

LOL, Lisa...that's a very compelling thought.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2016 02:25AM by JASFLALMT.

@LisaSTL wrote:

Was this copied directly from the website. I ask because it jumped out at me How does one compel an assignment and does it impact the eventual payment date (which is confusing as all hell). LOL!

"if you compelled an assignment"

Yes, there were several typos in that statement. I assumed that one meant "complete" an assignment.

If you are logged in on Sentry's website, this statement is in the right sidebar under "Messages"- you click a link that says "Assignment Payment Policy (more)" - the "more" is the link.

@catkins wrote:

My experience with Sentry is that it just takes them so long to pay. In my opinion 60 days from completion is too long.The solution to the problem is simple. Don't take any of their shops. They will soon get the message.

It seems to me that most MSCs promise to pay within 45 days, but if they had a policy that said 60 days, I would be OK with it. It appears to me that their policy states you will be paid at the end of the month that the invoice is generated in, and invoices are generated on the 16th for anything that's been completed and edited since the past invoice, which seems to indicate a promise to pay in some timeframe of 31-46 days.

It doesn't matter all that much to me how fast MSCs promise to pay as long as they stick to what they promise. I have a full time job so I don't rely on mystery shopping for major bills but I do have to plan ahead if I need to buy anything on the shop, especially if it's pricey like a fine dining shop. If I need to worry about when I am going to be reimbursed, I would like to be able to check a policy that is stuck to consistently before I make the decision to apply for the job.

CeciliaM

If you would like to contact me directly, I would be happy to review your situation. November assignments that were included on Invoice #9 have been paid. Invoice #10 is still in the review period.

Thanks

Dave
dave@sentrymarketing.com

@Sentry Marketing wrote:

CeciliaM

If you would like to contact me directly, I would be happy to review your situation. November assignments that were included on Invoice #9 have been paid. Invoice #10 is still in the review period.

Thanks

Dave
dave@sentrymarketing.com

Thanks Dave,
I am trying to remain incognito for the time being (Cecelia is not my real name), but I did put in a ticket to your customer service.

However now that you say that, I am reviewing my invoice again and I see that it is Invoice 10 and while I was thinking that 11/16/15 was the invoice date, it seems to be the beginning date of the invoice period and 12/16/15 is the end date. So when I say above that it seems to be over a month late, that is incorrect and I will edit that post.

That still remains though that you say the review period is 14 days. I didn't question anything on that invoice so it seems the review period is up (Dec 16+14=30). Then you also say you try to pay by "then of the month" which I assume means "the end of the month." The end of December was yesterday but I don't see anything in Bill.com.

Without knowing my specific account information can you comment on the general details of that policy I quoted above, and the dates I have quoted here?

Thanks, CeciliaM

I just wanted to add- I was thinking the invoice was dated 11/16/15 because I was seeing that invoicing interface as sort of an inbox and I thought the date of the "message" was 11/16/15. I see now where that was incorrect.

While I hold alot of respect for Dave in how he responds to people here, there is one simple reason why I have not completed a shop for Sentry: Shop fees are too low for the perceived amount of time it will take to complete.

@Sentry Marketing wrote:

Mert,

Would you please elaborate on how my actions were unprofessional? I'd really like to understand if you have some rationale, other than your dislike for my company and I, for your point of view.

Thanks

Dave

Dave! Dave! Dave! "Me." "My company and me," Dave.

Thank you so much for correcting my grammar. You are 100% correct.

CeciliaM,

I respect your desire to remain anonymous. If/when you feel comfortable reaching out to me, I will be able to research your specific situation and address it in the appropriate manner, Otherwise, I am not going to comment further.

Thanks

Dave

@Sentry Marketing wrote:

CeciliaM,

I respect your desire to remain anonymous. If/when you feel comfortable reaching out to me, I will be able to research your specific situation and address it in the appropriate manner, Otherwise, I am not going to comment further.

Thanks

Dave

I will post here when I get the information or payment. I'm not as concerned any more now that I realize I was reading the dates in the website wrong. I'm still concerned that Sentry is the last company to pay me for November (I did shops for 17 MSCs in November) and that there is a perception of slow payment that seems to be bearing out, but if I am paid soon enough to still be considered within the terms set out above, and get a good response from the ticket I put in, I will be satisfied.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2016 07:08PM by CeciliaM.

I signed up last fall, and did a shop in early October. I thought, I'll do one shop and see how well they pay before I do another. Well, I finally got my payment for the October shop on December 31st, (but of course I had to send an email the first of December asking if I was going to get my payment). Long time to wait for a little payment of $17. Sorry, but I won't be doing any more Sentry shops.

barbk913

We show that you completed the assignment on 11/2 and were paid on 12/29. This was a November assignment that was paid in December.

Thanks

Dave

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2016 10:26PM by Sentry Marketing.

I wanted to share an update. I did hear back from Sentry. Without getting into the specifics of the conversation in case I have still managed to stay anonymous, they explained that invoice 10 was in the review period right now (for all shoppers, not just me) and I would be paid at the end of the FOLLOWING month from the invoice.

I went back to the policy to see if that's what it said because that's not what I remembered. It appears the policy has been changed, but has the old date still.

Now it says:

"Invoices are generated on the 16th of the month and include all assignments that are validated and released to the client.

For example, if you completed an assignment on the 10th of the month, submitted it on the 11th and we released to the client on the 14th, it would be included on the current invoice. Using the same example, if we did not release the shop to our client until the 17th, the shop would appear on the next invoice.

Payment will be processed by the last day of the month following the invoice date."

(I had copied and pasted the previous policy in a post above).

I do think this policy is more clear, although I didn't really have a hard time reading through the typos of the other one, but I don't think policies should be changed and reposted with an old date. If a policy is changed, it should be posted with a new date.

I'm going to wait some more for my payment because now it appears per the new policy that it will be paid at the end of January. I will update this thread when/if I receive my payment.

Are you saying according the policy in place at the time of your shop it should have been paid at the end of December and the policy changed in the interim?