Is there any other person I can email or contact about my issues talking to someone at Maritz?

Does anyone else have issues talking to someone about the green shops? I have been doing these shops for years and now their customer service has been changing. I do not like the changes.
1. They DO NOT respond to email - very frustrating. when I am at my job I cannot answer the phone.
2. When I call I get a person who cannot answer my questions, but will gladly leave a message for someone to call me back... This never used to happen. I used to be able to talk to someone most of the time.
3. When I do leave a DETAILED message explaining my issue, I will get a phone call back, while I am at work, and the message is simply, "if you have any other questions please call us back". Why can they not answer the questions on the message I specifically asked. I do let the person leaving the message know I am calling on my lunch break and I am not able to answer the phone again when they call back.
4. The editors have been over-editing lately. This has happened in the past and everything worked out in the end, but if I cannot talk to anyone I cannot fix the issue!

I have been working full time and trying to manage MS on the side. I think I am going to have to fire Martiz as they are not accessible when I need assistance.

The people at Maritz come off as very unprofessional by failing to communicate via e-mail. Some speculate that the workers are only following the un-wise direction of their management while others speculate that the staff at Maritz have never been trained on how to use e-mail. Whichever the case, it is a failing of management just as is their arcane website.

There does indeed come a time when one must decide not to do work for a particular firm. Perhaps if Maritz learned how to e-mail they wouldn't have all those open shops. There are plenty of other MSCs ought there, good luck finding the ones which are right for you.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2016 03:12AM by Rousseau.

Maritz is one of the first MSC's I worked with and most of my income is derived from them. I am relatively new doing this, about 2 1/2 years. I enjoy talking with the schedulers and find that some are very good and some are not so good. I also feel that all of them are on my side and have empathy with my frustrations and problems. Unfortunately they do not always have solutions as their knowledge, influence and power is limited. If a supervisor has to get involved to find a solution they will eventually get back to me, usually by email. If I have a response to the supervisor it is by return email. We have now stretched this into days and not hours. I can pick up a phone and speak with a scheduler but not true with a supervisor. I agree that the editors are a different breed and have different motivations and purpose than the supervisor, scheduler, shopper. We are the team and the editors are the umpires and are simply not on the same page as us. Have you ever known anyone who likes an umpire? I also agree that they have gotten overly picky which wastes some time for me. If I make a mistake, like missing a required photo I will go back and correct the mistake, If an editor doesn't like the angle of my forecourt shot or wants a picture of the food selection when there is no food available I will dispute his/her opinion. I don't think I have ever lost this difference of opinion dispute and had to go back and take another photo just to justify the editors job. It may take submitting a second photo that I've already taken, providing an explanation on the comment section, talking with one or more schedulers or emailing a supervisor, all of which takes time, but the hold eventually disappears and I get paid. It does annoy me that I can not talk directly to an editor to resolve the problem. But they have only initials, not names and can not or will not respond to a phone call.

I know this looks like a long negative diatribe about Maritz but it is not. I like the company, have learned how to get problems solved and learned how to negotiate with them. And I make a lot of money from them.

You have an additional problem, pj, in that you can not take phone calls during the day and I can understand why you would much prefer a prompt email interaction.

I agree with Jake on everything he has commented upon.

I'm assuming that you are venting about Maritz' irritating issues, since you (pjaugustine) have been doing these shops for years (with Maritz, I'm assuming). Obviously, then you must be making enough money from them to overcome your frustrations.
I don't know if there is much a shopper can do but learn to deal with the irritations, take them into account and adjust your shopping methods to reflect the various needs as such. Those are not solutions, I know, but I've found that issues that I cannot "fix", I just try to take a deep breath and move on.
For instance, there is another MSC that has a monthly shop in a nearby city. I've made the decision that for the amount of pay for the amount of work and time involved is just not worth the effort on my part. I've told their scheduler as much.
On a regular basis, I still get the begging e-mails about performing the shop. Nope, not for that pay!

Since refusing the job, I've always felt much better.

Maybe, that's what you should do.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2016 11:57AM by French Farmer.

I would agree that if you must have email contact, Maritz is not the company for you. I disagree that it is unprofessional. It is my opinion that Maritz has made a choice to do things in this particular way. Instead of the schedulers having to be tied to their phones or computers 24/7, they get to go home at night and disconnect. They don't work weekends for the most part. It's a much better way to work, and it shows consideration for the schedulers. I don't personally have a problem with all phone contact. And I make the bulk of my money from this company because they have the most work in my area. They treat me well.

I joined Martiz recently and completed two shops exactly as instructed, submitted the reports on time and sent invoices. It's now been well over a month and I have not been paid. Repeated emails and phone calls asking for payment, or an explanation for non-payment have been totally ignored.

Yet they call me multiple times per week, desperate for me to do shops for them. Finally I told the scheduler that I needed to be paid for my completed shops before discussing accepting any further work from them. She got defensive, then transferred me to "payroll". Which, of course, just dumped my call into some unnamed voicemail box. Big surprise...no one ever returned my call.

I read on here that someone named Helen Stone works in payroll, I emailed her, and a few seconds later got a error message back:
<helen.stone@maritz.com>:
Remote host said:
550 #5.1.0 Address rejected.

Woke up today to more calls begging me to do shops. Um, how 'bout "NO, Martiz"?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2016 05:28PM by BlueMoose.

@BlueMoose wrote:

It's now been well over a month and I have not been paid.

I read on here that someone named Helen Stone works in payroll, I emailed her, and a few seconds later got a error message back:

I agree that Helen Stone was THE BEST when she was at Maritz, but she has retired, so any communications sent to her at Maritz will not get an answer.

How much over a month has it been? I wouldn't think about contacting them about payment unless it had exceeded 45 days. They've never exceeded 45 days, so I've never had to contact them looking for payment.

What date did you do the shops? Maritz processes a payment check between 15 and 30 days after the invoice is accepted and the shop is reviewed. They process the payments around the 15th and the 30th of each month and then mail the checks to the address shoppers have provided. It usually takes me about a week from the processing date to receive my check.

edited because I must have clicked Post twice. This post was a duplicate of my post directly above.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2016 07:08PM by AustinMom.

I never have any issues with Maritz. When there scheduler calls I counter a fair price. 99% of the time they approve my request or counter. To which I explain that there is traffic. I get paid regularly.

I have done half a dozen shops with Maritz (most of them home improvement shops; without a long drive that's all there is in my area). I recently came to the conclusion I do not like working with their reporting platform. I made the decision to drop out of their work pool. This means there is more work for those who really enjoy Maritz. (Just as it should be in my opinion.). It was a stress over the small things that frustrated me so much and I came to the conclusion that unless you really need to get every single mystery shop it is best to work where you enjoy what you are doing. But kudos to those that love Maritz!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2016 02:01AM by kennedykr.

BlueMoose
Did you invoice for those jobs you have not been paid for. That could be the issue right there.