Big problem with Market Force
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If the guidelines said that you needed to buy a soft drink then why didn't you buy the soft drink? I know lots of people will drink a soft drink with their meal and drink the milkshake as dessert. Or you could have bought the milkshake as a separate purchase after eating your food and drinking your soft drink and completing the shop.@bstaller wrote:
I bought a milkshake o instead of a soft drink and they disqualified my shop as the shake was okay as long as i bought the soft drink too. I was alone on the shop and thought getting two drinks would look odd. I was not a happy camper since it cost me a lot to drive there and i was planning on the bonus to cover the cost.
It amazes me that some shoppers are "not a happy camper" when they don't get paid for incorrectly performing a shop and not following the guidelines.
i have heard that the irs will let you give them hand written statements of earnings... as long as those hand written statements confirm what you paid...
the design of taxes is to make sure their records allign with yours... as long as your records agree with theirs its not a problem (so if you are audited you can just hand write your earnings after the audit or just agree with their judgement as I did the only time I was audited as i didnt understand what head of household was when I was filing my own taxes for only the third time)...
as per turbo tax they really dont care if you are claiming profits as they earn money on them, and you are telling them as such and paying them... the real problems start when you start claiming losses or expenses on your business because they are losing money ...losses and expenses need to be meticulously kept and maintained IE not hand written
the design of taxes is to make sure their records allign with yours... as long as your records agree with theirs its not a problem (so if you are audited you can just hand write your earnings after the audit or just agree with their judgement as I did the only time I was audited as i didnt understand what head of household was when I was filing my own taxes for only the third time)...
as per turbo tax they really dont care if you are claiming profits as they earn money on them, and you are telling them as such and paying them... the real problems start when you start claiming losses or expenses on your business because they are losing money ...losses and expenses need to be meticulously kept and maintained IE not hand written
shopping north west PA and south west ny
as most people drink milkshakes from the straw it was an understandable mistake... but the thing is i am sure you will learn to be very meticulous about the shop next time... routes are very hard as you cannot cheaply go back and correct mistakes
shopping north west PA and south west ny
I am amazed at how many people complain about not getting paid by MF. I have been doing work for them for over six years, and earn $300 or $400 a month from them alone. I have not been paid for two shops. I turned in two gas station reports that I did on the same day, and inadvertently used the same timings for both. They rejected both shops for "overlapping times". Well, I had read my own notes wrong during input. They were right! In this case I did not have an accurate product that my client wanted to purchase, so they declined buying the reports from me.......and rightfully so! You are in business for yourself. You have to follow their rules and produce a product that your client wants to buy. It's not like being an employee where you get paid to "try hard and come close to acceptable"
@bstaller wrote:
I bought a milkshake o instead of a soft drink and they disqualified my shop as the shake was okay as long as i bought the soft drink too. I was alone on the shop and thought getting two drinks would look odd. I was not a happy camper since it cost me a lot to drive there and i was planning on the bonus to cover the cost.
Sorry to hear you won't be paid for your work. That's always a shock and a disappointment. I understand the thought process, but you may be over-thinking a bit. The object of mystery shopping is to follow the guidelines. If you are allowed to get another item AFTER following the ordering requirements, that's great. But there can't be any changes in the requirements.
Thinking "OK, I really want a shake, not a soft drink. As long as I order the soft drink, I could order the shake, too. But since I'm alone, it would look odd to get two drinks, so I'll just order one and I'll order the one I want. Even though I am not following the guidelines and did not order the required drink item, it makes sense to me."
Understandable, but wrong. When I eat on my own dime, I can order whatever I want. When I am on an assignment, I eat and drink what the company requires. It's a learning experience.
100% agree with AM. If you don't like the food and/or drink requirements of a specific shop then don't accept the shop. It is as easy as that!@AustinMom wrote:
Understandable, but wrong. When I eat on my own dime, I can order whatever I want. When I am on an assignment, I eat and drink what the company requires. It's a learning experience.
I agree with AustinMom about the shakes. 
Speaking of shakes.... I have yet to see a "required one" in my guidelines (yet). I would have thought there would be more shakes in the assignments but so far ....no requirement to order one.
Has anyone had a report where you were required to order a shake?
Speaking of shakes.... I have yet to see a "required one" in my guidelines (yet). I would have thought there would be more shakes in the assignments but so far ....no requirement to order one.
Has anyone had a report where you were required to order a shake?
@SunnyDays2 wrote:
Has anyone had a report where you were required to order a shake?
I had one; thankfully, it was for a shop my husband was already scheduled to go on with me. That way, I wouldn't feel weird ordering both a soft drink and a shake. I ordered both, and he got water, then had the shake (which I tasted, of course, so I could evaluate it).
I've never in my entire life ordered both a fountain drink and a shake for myself. I think I'd feel so odd doing a "shake-required" shop for MF when by myself.
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
... i think we can all agree that a milkshake doesnt bring marketforce to the bar.
shopping north west PA and south west ny
@Spanishtulip wrote:
@Sybil2 wrote:
What are some of you going to do if/when the IRS comes a calling?
Cry a little?
In all honesty though I fully agree that good record keeping is vital. I would be lost without my spreadsheets.
OMG--my computer imploded in December, and I lost my spreadsheet and all my files.
I convert the guidelines and finalized report for every shop to a PDF and file in Documents according to company and client. I had to reconstruct through PayPal and bank statements. A few of the MSCs have good summaries of your work on their sites, but for others, you're in a black hole once you've completed the submission.
You'd better believe that the spreadsheet is now uploaded to GoogleDrive, a thumb drive, and an external hard drive.
Worst company ever to work for.. The website is not friendly at all.. They do not even display the payments made right, not to mention the amount of time it takes for them to pay.. a total waste of my time.
Per IRS and expenses...
I scan all my receipts to upload...I keep a log of gas mileage.....not that difficult to prove expenses on that aspect. then deposit is with my bank statements and paypal which I keep as .pdfs and upload to cloud as well as save on my HD.
I scan all my receipts to upload...I keep a log of gas mileage.....not that difficult to prove expenses on that aspect. then deposit is with my bank statements and paypal which I keep as .pdfs and upload to cloud as well as save on my HD.
I have clients and customers from whom I don't receive 1099s because my earnings with them don't exceed $600. But I claim that income on my taxes, of course. I have some who pay via PayPal and some who pay by check, and sometimes I cash the checks instead of depositing them. If I'm claiming expenses against those earnings, then I'm pretty sure I need to be able to show, if I'm audited, that I had those earnings, where they came from, etc. The only way I can do that is to keep copies of my invoices.
PayPal does not send out earnings statements for anything less than $20,000 (that was the number last I checked), and I never am paid that much or more via PayPal in my other businesses. All I have to "prove" that income against which I have expenses are those invoices. Mystery shopping may be different in that it's easier to show income through other methods. Invoices are also how I show my cost of goods sold (I note the cost on each invoice for each item), which is a figure I need to report when I do my taxes. Without copies of my invoices, I'd be SOL on an audit. I could do it in other ways, but it would be a lot more time consuming and probably less precise.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2016 01:58PM by BirdyC.
PayPal does not send out earnings statements for anything less than $20,000 (that was the number last I checked), and I never am paid that much or more via PayPal in my other businesses. All I have to "prove" that income against which I have expenses are those invoices. Mystery shopping may be different in that it's easier to show income through other methods. Invoices are also how I show my cost of goods sold (I note the cost on each invoice for each item), which is a figure I need to report when I do my taxes. Without copies of my invoices, I'd be SOL on an audit. I could do it in other ways, but it would be a lot more time consuming and probably less precise.
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2016 01:58PM by BirdyC.
I disputed an over lapping time invalidation. I copied exactly what I had in my notes for both shops and told them that the shops are literally two blocks down the same street from each other. They got back and said that the shop had already been filled and completed by another shopper! I went back and told them that I should not be punished because their editor did not check my timings closely. Finally, they said that as a 'good will gesture', they would pay me for my shop... You just have to stay with them and have proof. If what some of the other posters are saying is correct, go get a copy of your CPI before it goes away at month-end. If it says 'no shake', then go back to them with their own proof...
[! I have no proof the shop did not tell me to order a shake, and I suspect the other shopper they mixed me up with was supposed to order a shake and not me.
If you did this shop in June of 2016 you might still be able to see the CPI. It tells you whether or not you must order a milkshake. Click on "Submit CPI/Receipts," and then click "Submit CPI." You should be able to see it even if it has already been submitted and verified.
If you did this shop in June of 2016 you might still be able to see the CPI. It tells you whether or not you must order a milkshake. Click on "Submit CPI/Receipts," and then click "Submit CPI." You should be able to see it even if it has already been submitted and verified.
"Evolve thyself and lose all hate...." Orphaned Land
Isn't this June 2016?@alannajm wrote:
If you did this shop in June of 2016 you might still be able to see the CPI. It tells you whether or not you must order a milkshake. Click on "Submit CPI/Receipts," and then click "Submit CPI." You should be able to see it even if it has already been submitted and verified.
Yes, of course. I included the year in the date because I thought there was remote chance the shopper could be talking about something that happened some time ago. He or she would only be able to see the CPI for the disputed shop if the shop had been completed this month, i.e. June of 2016.
"Evolve thyself and lose all hate...." Orphaned Land
Yes, last one I did required both and I order both as per the requirements. I was only offered a drink by the cashier after ordering the burger only. As the cashier started to total my order I said "Oh I see that you now have milkshakes", at that point the cashier offer me the shake instead of the drink but I said that my sugar levels were down and I needed to get my sugar levels back up.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2016 03:17AM by wendy84.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2016 03:17AM by wendy84.
I wanted to let you know that, as what they called a "good will gesture," MF is paying me half the fee of the shop in dispute. Since I didn't have the proof of the milkshake and they did, I gratefully accepted. I'm pleased with this compromise. Thanks again, everyone, for your input and insight on this topic.
I believe I just did a similar shop. My CPI states NO milkshake required. I'm new to this site but I've done many of these shops, I wish the shakes were available where I live, but none so far, so I'm not sure if your paperwork would be the same as mine, but I thought I'd just let you know to check the CPI again maybe it will prove your case.
I did one awhile back that required a shake and when payment came, it was not included in the reimbursement. So, MF makes errors with these requirements as well. After contacting them, I received an apology and payment came in the next cycle.
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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..
Mark Twain
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..
Mark Twain
I did one last week after many and finally had to order a shake!
@MsJudi wrote:
I did one awhile back that required a shake and when payment came, it was not included in the reimbursement. So, MF makes errors with these requirements as well. After contacting them, I received an apology and payment came in the next cycle.
Wow, really? I can't believe it. I don't usually check to make sure Market Force has paid me correctly for my shops, but I sure will double check from now on. Has anyone else experienced incorrect payments like this shopper from MF? Or any other MSC, for that matter/
@Tarantado wrote:
@cooldude581 wrote:
Keeping cpi has nothing to do with the irs. Its directions and agreements for said shop.
And as noted before they reserve the right to do as they please with anything.
As i get my payments direct deposited all i have to do is print out the bank statements which they allow access to online for about 2 years through my banks website.
I disagree.... You need documentation on what you were paid for and why, in case you were ever audited by the IRS. But I guess, as long as you aren't audited, you'll probably be fine?
I print out the MFI CPI and attach the receipt to it. I also log it on my spreadsheet and check off when it is paid. At the end of the year, I print out the payment log (which details each shop, date and pay month-by-month for the year. I put it all in a big envelope.) If the devil is in the details, so is the IRS. The more you can substantiate, the better. Frankly, I think I make more in the mileage write-offs than I do for the shops.
By the way, best practice is to circle or boldface the "milkshake" requirement just to be safe.
Shopping SoCal and Maui.
Does anyone know of any other number to call market force besides the one on their website in regards to payments? I havent been paid in close to 2 months, i have shops completed from 3 months ago. I put in my payment request and it says payment processing dated for 6/1/2016. I responded with how long it will take and i get no response back. I know paynperoids are around the 5th and 20th and i cant afford to keep on checking to see if i get paid or not then resubmitting a payment request that takes them about the max 10 days to respond. Its now coming up on more assignments i have yet to receive payment on and its kind of odd because ive been with them for a little over a year and i have never had to put a payment request in nor have they ever been this late in paying me for any assignments. All information will be much appreciated
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