Has anyone tried logging on to this site this morning? I tried and it said that service was unavailable. I hope to site is just down for the day. I have 4 shops with them next week. I would be just my luck that they are gone......lol.

No problem here at 8:58AM EST

Just tried it again and it worked fine. Sorry, I jumped the gun on that one. I should have waited instead of going crazy......lol.

Never worth going crazy When I find a site that doesn't work I try another site or two to see if it is my internet connection. If 'it ain't me' then I usually go do something else for a while. It is only critical when you are trying to put in a shop (which is why I try, not always successfully, to put them in before the last minute) or pull materials to do a shop I am about to head out for (which is why I try, not always successfully, to pull instructions and such at least the day before). We don't always have the luxury of waiting, but I keep a pad next to my computer to write down what I need to check on later.

Maritz is a sometimey company that has the rudest staff I have ever comein contact with. I have been Mystery Shopping since 1988 back when were known as Shopper Security and I have never been mistreated by ANY company EXCEPT Martiz. With any luck they will be gone soon.

My experience with them has been terribly different than that overall. Their shops are low paying generally for expectations, but I have always found everybody there pleasant and helpful with the exception of one photo editor. I steer away from their gas station photo shoots because I have never been able to get them to work quickly and reliably enough to be profitable and just don't feel like dealing with their photo editor further. Whenever I have had a problem in the field (which is rare but it happens), they are available and all on-the-fly shop modifications agreed to have been honored and paid.

My dealings with them have been great. Very nice schedulers.

Wish I could say the same. In the beginning it was the same for me I had more calls than I could handle and wehn my brother and Grandmother died and I chose them over Maritz, they flipped and have been there every since. I have since written them off and I no longer refer there services to my business contacts nor do I advise my friends who are seeking to get into the business.

I have found that Maritz has some of the best reps that I have talked to. If there is a problem, they work with you to get it resolved. The photo jobs are a joke for the amount you are paid and the number of photos they require just so they can throw out the extra they do not need. But there again, they do work with you when there is a problem. I was having problems with the website and took 3 days to download 24 photos. Since I told them of the problem, I did not have any hassle and got paid for the job. I have talked to the photo editors a few times and we worked out problems. I have yet to get stiffed on any jobs.

I agree with both sides. I have run into rude, nasty schedulers on occasion but some are very nice. Their software tends to hand up on occasion. They pay well
and promptly. They are one of the companies I like to work for.

Their software is not the best, but they will take your report on the phone
when it messes up. I found one nasty scheduler, but most are friendly
and helpful.They are willing to negotiate for gas money when they ask you
to do them a favor and it is not in you home area. I like them and want to
do more with them.They pay the month following and are reliable.

Maritz is one of my mainstay companies. I've never met a rude person during any of my dealings with this company, although they do expect you to get your jobs done within the timeframe when at all possible.

And I've got the gas stations (I only do one now - love the free gas!) down to a science. 5 minutes for the shop, 15 minutes on the site taking photos, 15 minutes to resize/rename/organize the photos, and 10 minutes to report/upload (when satellite broadband is working, otherwise 2 minutes per photo).

I do wish, however, they'd finally update the site so that it's not necessary to mail in invoices and receipts. It seems they must be worried about the disclaimer they show at the bottom of the invoice. I'd be happy to electronically sign such a statement when I input my work. And it's easy to upload a copy of the receipt with the photos. So why must we mail in materials we could so easily upload in order to be paid?

Jeanne

They are on their way out of the dark ages, just not to the 21st century yet

Service Intelligence gave up having receipts mailed as a requirement only a year or two ago.

While some companies still require mail in of materials you collect on shops, my guess is that at some point you will be able to just give them the code numbers on brochures and scan and email or upload with the report the single page handouts etc.

I still have one company that has handwritten forms, but by now they offer you the choice of mailing or scanning and emailing. While it is a PITA to scan 10 pages of forms and another 3-9 pages of handouts and business cards etc., it makes me secure to have a copy of the email that proves it was submitted in a timely fashion.

Anyone who's done a lot of Maritz shops--

I noticed they have no email notices. Are the shops posted on their board a certain time of the month, or throughout the month?

Maritz will call YOU, and offer a shop. Then it's your choice to accept or decline. They're great about sending you manuals and any other gas company items you might need. Have only done 3 shops for them.

Then why do they have aboard where you can sign up? Saw it this week.

When you first start with Maritz you need to go to their website fairly frequently and look for jobs to request. They are not self-assign at first. The ladies of Maritz will call you to offer you a job you have requested if they are willing to assign it to you.

When you have done a couple of jobs successfully for them they will begin calling you whether you requested the shop or not if it is a client you have done already.

When you have done a bunch of shops for them you will get self-assign privileges and sometimes emails that on a certain day a certain type of shops will be posted so that you can go claim them if you want them. I don't remember how long I had been doing shops for them before I got self-assign privileges, but by the time I got the privilege I was already doing better paying jobs regularly elsewhere so not much interested in their shops.

Shops are posted throughout the month when they are ready. They seem to be posted all across the country on the same day for a particular Wave of visits. Increasingly you are able to download instructions, though for some clients you will still need to wait and receive materials or instructions by mail. This is not generally a company for last minute shops. I have had stuff scheduled as much as 6 weeks in advance with them only to discover that the $9.50 job with a $6 reimburseable expense of no benefit to me is an orphan shop 16 miles away because I can find no shops to go with it.

Thanks.

I have noticed that quite a lot of their shops require a camera and/or stop watch. The ones that I have seen in my area are low pay.

Thinking back I think only their drugstores don't require one or the other. But then most customer service shops require timing. I just routinely strap on the digital/stop watch for any shops. It seems to me, though, that their camera shops are all reveals so it isn't like you are lurking around "playing with your new toy" or trying to hide while taking pictures.

I was looking at the gas shops, but it was too late in the month.

The gas shops often get a "second life" as shoppers faint when the see what all they actually have to do and decide to take up ditch digging instead. I don't think they come back to the board but I get phone calls for them from time to time with bonuses that give them an edge over ditch digging.

What do they pay for their rather-be-ditch-digging gas shops?

They pay I think $11 and reimburse $5 total for gas and inside purchase. They require a whole lot of photos plus photos for "No" answers plus drop off a copy of the audit (this is revealed) and get signatures. It is not unusual for these shops to take an hour at the station and then you still need to spend time working the photos to upload and put in the report. And of course you have to study up, take the quiz and take the manual with you to do the shops so you can make sure things meet the particular standard. With all the nonsense I figure the first one of these I did took around 4 hours total for my $16 fee + reimbursement. After that they probably averaged around 2 hours each between the on site visit and the reporting. Could have been less if I didn't care about the quality of the photos being submitted.

Some of the stations pay $11 *plus* reimburse you for 1-2 gallons of gas and/or a small inside purchase. Once you establish a feasible routine to process photos (love FastStone!), they aren't bad at all. It also helps if you develop your own checklist to help you make sure you don't overlook anything at the site. And timings at gas stations are minimal. To me, $18.50+ for 45-50 total minutes' work including reporting and uploading isn't too bad for a rural area.

Once you're established with them, they will also occasionally send you an email with jobs in your area. You decide whether you want those jobs or not, and one click from the email will set you up.

And, of course, there are the jobs that someone flakes on that they'll ask for help with.

It doesn't sound like much more work than the Ritter ones. I already have my own cheatsheet for Ritter, and I love doing photos.