MSPA changed their certification system many months ago. It appeared that they were trying to eliminate Silver certification and replace it with a certificate called something like Basic Mystery Shopping. That change has prevented my certification code from being accepted into my profile by most if not all MSC's I have registered with since MSPA's system change.
I have contacted MSPA for months about this problem. Based upon the results to date, it is ridiculous for them to say that "We appreciate your feedback and are aware of the issue with certification validation across several platforms and are working diligently to correct it." It seems to me that they either lack the resources or do not care about correcting this annoying problem. Results would show a commitment to fix the issue. Boilerplate responses to members do not.
I experienced this months-old problem again tonight and, against my better judgement, thought I would ask MSPA one final time (my email is shown below) to address this issue. MSPA's certification has probably not been worth the time I have spent on this matter.
Is anyone else having trouble getting your Silver Certification code accepted into your profile at the MSC's?
"Dear MSPA,
Since changes involving Silver certification were made several months ago, I and MSC's' that I have registered with since that time continue having trouble getting my Silver certification number (CERT #) accepted into my profiles. The current instance of this ongoing problem is with my profile at **MSC**. Even though my profile on your website shows that I am Silver certified, **MSC**'s profile for me will not accept my (CERT #) entry. I get referred to a document that describes a process for correcting this problem. I have completed your process and it fails to resolve the issue.
I have contacted you multiple times in the past about this issue. So far, you have failed to correct this problem for me and the several MSC's that have been involved. You have stated that it is the responsibility of companies such as **MSC** to modify their systems to be compatible with your changes.
Please take the steps necessary to repair your system so that it works as smoothly as it did not too many months ago.
Best,
Sherm Benson
Dear **MSC** support,
Would you please manually enter my MSPA Silver Certification number, (CERT #), into my profile. I have no experience with MSPA that gives me confidence that this problem will be corrected. Thank you.
Best regards,
**MSPA Silver Certified Shopper**"