This is all quite disappointing. I have been shopping for Ath for a while and have found their shops to be a good fit for me. Given the payment issues they had back in March and again recently, I feel like I would be a fool to perform work for them and expect payment without having to chase it down. There are a number of shops that are currently available that I would normally apply for in a heartbeat, but now I just delete the emails.

Is there anyone who still hasn't been paid?

@JennyG wrote:

There are a number of shops that are currently available that I would normally apply for in a heartbeat, but now I just delete the emails.

Same here and it is tough but if they pay me timely in both oct and nov and I hear no further problems on the forum here I may do work for them again in late November.

Credit where credit is due: Ath appears to be trying to correct the problem. I just got an email from Bill.com notifying me that the payment for August shops will be in my bank account Friday 10/6.

I just got the email from Bill.com also saying that the payment for August is on the way. The situation is thus back to normal in terms of timing. Those of you who said you were waiting before deciding to take more shops can relax again.

I also received an email notice from bill.com saying that my August payment would be credited to my checking account on Oct 6th. While I appreciate that ath is making this month's payments in a timely manner, I cannot overlook the manner in which they mismanaged this situation.

Shoppers performed the work and provided services in good faith. Ath accepted our reports. There was an implicit understanding that in accepting the reports, the shops were approved and we would be paid - on time. Reports from others that the payment terms of their shops were changed with regard to the amount owed the shopper by ath after the shop was completed are alarming.

I hate chasing down money owed to me. It is wrong for a company that accepted work from me and agreed to pay me for it to put me in a position where I have to send multiple emails requesting that payment. It creates contention and erodes trust. I was not one of the shoppers that received the notice that September's payments would be delayed. I only learned of that notice through this forum. While notice of delayed payments is interesting, it doesn't pay my bills. Many of us depend upon timely payments from MSCs to pay OUR bills. Since we generally have to wait 60 days or more for payment to begin with, any delay in payment makes a difference.

I understand that ath most likely did not want to announce that they were having an issue meeting payroll if in fact that was the case. I do not buy that September's delay had anything to do with the Labor Day holiday as some have suggested. The July payment was made on time in spite of the July 4th holiday. And this situation had occurred before in March of this year.

What really irks me is the way ath treated it's shoppers with regard to this issue. The lack of response to many shoppers who inquired about their payments is disturbing. ath risks losing really good people because of the way they mismanaged this issue. I am still on the fence, but may be one of them.

@JennyG wrote:

Many of us depend upon timely payments from MSCs to pay OUR bills. Since we generally have to wait 60 days or more for payment to begin with, any delay in payment makes a difference.

Every well-run business, including micro-businesses such as the mystery shopper, is dependent upon good cash flow. That said, smart businesses, including micro-businesses, know that sometimes creditors are late in paying and sometimes creditors default on their obligations, file bankruptcy, and go out of business.

The lessen to take out of ath's late payment is three-fold. First, shop for multiple MSCs so that one doesn't have too many eggs in any single basket. Second, squeeze in another five to ten shops per month and set those revenues aside to cover bad debts. While it is not the case here, one day shoppers will be left holding uncollectable debt from MSCs; pity those who have not established bad debt reserves. Third, secure a line of credit to cover cash flow difficulties. Just as ath should have had a LOC in place to draw upon in order to meet obligations, so should the shopper.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2016 05:29PM by Rousseau.

Agreed, Rousseau. As mystery shoppers we operate as small businesses and need to have reserves upon which to draw should a "creditor" default on payment, whether it's a LOC or a separate savings account . This is a basic sound business practice. I also agree that shoppers should work for multiple companies so as to spread out the risk of non-payment.

However, many of the folks who are mystery shopping are working hard to make ends meet and count on every penny that is due them. This could evolve into a much broader discussion about entrepreneurship and the current barriers to entry for small businesses and start-ups, but that's not really appropriate .

We don't know if ath has an established a LOC to manage cash flow; perhaps they do and it was maxed out making the August payments?

Regardless of how one is managing the financial aspects of their "mystery shopping micro-business", my complaint is with the ath's shoddy treatment of its shoppers. Letting emails and voicemails go unanswered is inconsiderate and rude. ath has an expectation that shoppers will respond to their questions in a timely manner; that should go both ways. Further, there were shoppers that were told they would be paid by a certain date AFTER they had to chase down the payment due them, and they were not paid by that date. ath's communication with it's shopping base was extremely poor.

The beauty of being an IC and the managing partner of your mystery shopping micro-business is that you can pick and choose your clients. Sound business practices also include staying away from clients/creditors that have known issues satisfying their debts.

I also got the email today stating I would be paid tomorrow for AUG shops. So yes they are back on time. This however does not excuse the lack of communication and response with last months delayed payments. I shall see if I am paid in Nov on time as well as others. Then maybe in late Nov I will preform more shops for them or I may need to wait till Dec to see if they have paid on time for what would be 3 straight months. At that point I would ease back doing a few shops and once several months had gone by with timely payments 6 would be key I will go back to doing a good amount of jobs like I used to for them.

I just want to update my earlier posts where I felt there was some needless panic. I don't ever recall getting an email from Bill.com but I did receive on earlier this week wherein they say my August shops were invoiced on 9/26 and should be received via USPS around 10/11. Checking my records, this is standard procedure and consistent with the time of the month I have received past checks. I have accepted the fact that payment is authorized at the end of the month but stretched out another 10 days or so onto the next month.

I did no June shops for Ath so I don't know if there was a glitch in payments for that month causing all the concern. They are not the fastest paying MSC and there are some other issues but I will continue to do a few shops for them. I do find the the schedulers I work with very responsive and easy to work with and can be reached quickly either by email or phone.

Just my opinion.

While I have only been shopping for aTH since June 2016, I haven't really experienced any bad or late check issues. My June check arrived on Aug. 10; my July check arrived on 9/22 instead of 9/09. and I hope my August check arrives on 10/10 as listed. My lateness in September is reasonable and if the check in October arrives late, that to me will be reasonable. Reasonable cause I not getting bent out shape. Now if the check in October does not show up until December then that is not reasonable. But only time will tell.

If aTH is having financial issues then it should let its Shoppers know, if it going to be a continual problem. I did not preform any shops in September based on this post but I want to whether the storm instead of chasing payments. Close attention should be given to any financial issues aTH might be having.

Just want to complete my input to this thread. I received my August payment today. Check dated 10/5. This was consistent with the past checks I have received and I will continue to accept shops from them. I would do more with them as their bonused shops are worthwhile but I can't plan them out more than a few days ahead.