I am an experienced shopper, and it seems to me that Intelli-Shop mystery shopping company is looking for an opportunity not to pay the shopper or to keep a deposit $100 you give them as (a security for tickets) and not return it back to the shopper after the shop was successfully performed.

I had to beg to my $100 security deposits twice scheduler Matt Liasse and Michael Rody for up to 10 days, emailing them daily. Even once I had to send email-request from the website's general form because the scheduler did not reply to a few of my emails. Eventually I got the deposits of $100 for tickets back, but I did not want deal with these two schedulers Matt Liasse and Michael Rody again any more.

After a few months, I forgot about my bad experience and I again accepted mystery shop assignment from Michael Rody. After I performed the shop correctly, he did not pay for the shop; he used as an excuse: You did not submit the readable copy of the receipt.

It was false, the copy was emailed to him and I proved it to him. And they eventually paid me for this shop, but I had to spend my valuable time on the stupid several days email conversing with this person. It was in June 2016.

I again forgot about the bad experience and again accepted a mystery shop in October of 2016 from the scheduler shannon.scarberry@intelli-shop.com. And it was a mistake. Now I quit with Intelli-Shop totally. I performed the shop on October 27 and as they recommend, I had to check my emails for a few days in case they had any questions. They did not ask me any questions and did not send the shop review as they should do. Everything was dead and I got curious after a few days. I checked my shop log and see a note: "Shopper did not perform scenario correctly."

It was a very simple shop and only a total idiot would not perform this shop correctly. I performed it correctly. I emailed a question "What was wrong?" to Shannon Scarberry - shannon.scarberry@intelli-shop.com and she replied that I did not say a particular phrase correctly to the employee as I should. Actually, it was a simple phrase and I said it to employee as I should, correctly. I said to scheduler Shannon Scatberry about it. She said in email that in my report I wrote it in different words. I was filling report in a hurry one hour before deadline for submitting this report, and how would I know that I had again repeat in this report exact same words I said in a real life? I used just general words with the same meaning and I thought it would be enough for them to comprehend.

I can see that they again found a reason not to pay for the correctly performed shop. They did not contact me as they should if there was something wrong with the shop report.

I am quitting with this Intelly-Shop company because you never know what to expect from them. I simply do not trust them.

But for those who still work for them, learn this: I noticed how non-payment system works: they seem simply expect that you would be busy with something else and would forget about the shop you performed. They keep silent after you submitted the shop, they do not send you no questions, no final review. You think that everything is Okay, and after days or weeks you accidentally learn that you won't be paid for no reason or shady reason.

Good luck, there are many more other quite normal companies out there!
NM

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2016 11:30AM by mystyshopping.

@mystyshopping wrote:

I am an experienced shopper, ....

When a new poster starts out with "I am an experienced shopper...." I am always curious to know how experienced? How long have you been shopping and how many companies do you shop with, mysty? I notice you registered immediately before posting, so I'm guessing you registered here so you could share your story.

Thanks for sharing . I'm sorry to hear you had three bad experiences working for a company that obviously doesn't meet your taste. One experience, although corrected, sounds like the company's bad that they corrected. The other two sound like you goofed and can't accept responsibility. While I find that Intellishop doesn't pay enough to bother with most of the time, I've never had any difficulty when I do work for them. I've been paid for all my shops since 2009 with no unpleasant issues.

You did not get some deposits back, but the problem was corrected and you got your money. Then you forgot and took another shop and had another problem, which was corrected when you provided a readable receipt. Then you forgot AGAIN and took a shop that required you to use a particular phrase. When you wrote your report, you used different words. You say "I was filling report in a hurry one hour before deadline for submitting this report, and how would I know that I had again repeat in this report exact same words I said in a real life?" If the particular phrase was important, an experienced shopper would understand that the phrase should be repeated in the exact same words. So you were in a hurry and you made a mistake. Lack of memory might be causing problems here.

Great that you will not work for Intellishop anymore. It sounds like you will be better off and so will they.


edited because I think spell check and my computer are messing with me.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2016 01:44PM by roflwofl.

[Removed]

Please, no personal insults. – Mod

I haven't had many negative experiences with Intellishop. I had a problem where they said I got the wrong comic book which was very confusing because it was the same comic book with a different picture and so how are you supposed to ask for the book by number and know to get the CORRECT book when it is the number you want? SO I quit doing the comic book shops. I also agree that if you are supposed to say a specific phrase and you word it incorrectly in your report-it is on you-it doesn't matter that you were in a hurry. You wrote the wrong thing and are unlikely to be able to correct it when they point it out to you when you inquire weeks later.

I had a hotel shop this summer rejected. It was mostly my fault, as I was not able to get names of employee phone calls. The frustrating part was that they requested edits and information like three separate times, then came back and said it was rejected. Not the end of the world since it was my fault and I was using the room as part of a trip, but still a little frustrating.

All my other shops with them were okay. I applied for a couple with the deposits but never got accepted. Maybe a good thing?

After reading your post it seems to me that you are fully qualified to perform the Shannon Scarberry shop.

They sent me on a shop to audit a book. The location they sent me to didn't even sell books! Totally wasted my time!!

Hey btemps, why were you unable to get names on the phone? Did the employees refuse to give you their names? Or you do mean that you forgot to ask? I get it, it happens to everybody at some point. It's best to have a piece of paper on the desk or table in front of you to cue you on important points. It would have been best if they would have just decided to reject it from the getgo, but maybe they were hoping you had the names written down somewhere and had just omitted them on accident.

They aren't a horrible company, really, but not one of my favorites. I do love their casino shops. I say to everyone, don't deactivate, you never know if they might have something you really want to do in the future.

@roflwofl, thanks for paraphrasing the OP. I was having trouble trying to read that post due to all the grammatical errors.

@messysoprano wrote:

I also agree that if you are supposed to say a specific phrase and you word it incorrectly in your report-it is on you-it doesn't matter that you were in a hurry. You wrote the wrong thing and are unlikely to be able to correct it when they point it out to you when you inquire weeks later.

I agree 100%.

I work with them often and rarely have issues. I've found that generally, when shops are rejected, it is almost always the fault of the shopper. They want you to read and re-read the guidelines and reports so that you get it right. That is our job... We cannot expect to be paid if we aren't doing our job correctly.

@mystyshopping wrote:

[...]I had to beg to my $100 security deposits twice scheduler Matt Liasse and Michael Rody for up to 10 days, emailing them daily.[...]

IMO, contacting anyone daily, for the same reason, is bad form and can only lead to further communications problems.

It is not atypical for a person to receive several hundred e-mails in a day. One should respect that the reader has multiple responsibilities. Just because an e-mail travels nearly instantaneously does not mean that one should expect an instantaneous response. Allowing several days, at a minimum, between contact attempts is both reasonable and respectful. Inundating a person's inbox may paint one as a nuisance. One can catch more with honey than vinegar.

@Jtack wrote:

I've found that generally, when shops are rejected, it is almost always the fault of the shopper.

Not always. I went round and round with them a few years ago on a shop that was completed correctly and not paid. Their current shops don't pay enough to risk it again. YMMV.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Ive done several shops for intelli with no issues . So far. Ive also dealt with liase and rody and i think they are great. They are prompt with emails. Just my experience. Ymmv big time i guess.

You've been shopping for four months. Yes, my mileage may vary "big time." Probably not enough for a condescending comment from someone with 5% of my experience, though. I'm glad you're getting paid. I hope it always stays that way. My comment was that even great shoppers sometimes get stiffed. There is not always a meeting of the minds and we shouldn't automatically assume it's the shopper's fault. It often is, especially when it's a hit and run post, but it's not always the case.

Inteli Shop has some great shops. They also have some very picky editors and they can even make a shop more trouble than it is worth sometimes. It does indeed suck to drive an hour away to do a shop, spend your time doing it, and then more time completing the report when you get home only have them expect you to go back and retake a photo. Sometimes you just have to say it isn't worth it.

I have had great experiences with them and I have had very poor experiences with them. It's about 50/50 in my experience.

Not a fan of intellishop either. That's one of the companies I learned early on to avoid. There's lots of good companies out there that are much better than this one to spend your time and effort on.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Hey btemps, why were you unable to get names on the phone? Did the employees refuse to give you their names? Or you do mean that you forgot to ask? I get it, it happens to everybody at some point. It's best to have a piece of paper on the desk or table in front of you to cue you on important points. It would have been best if they would have just decided to reject it from the getgo, but maybe they were hoping you had the names written down somewhere and had just omitted them on accident.

Totally my fault. They didn't use their name and I forgot to ask. It was the same person that answered housekeeping and room service.

I have done others with them. The mouse company (please delete if too obvious) shops are a pain and I won't do them again, but the rest have been good.

My only complaints with Intelli-Shop is that their pay is getting low to the point of being insulting, and some of their schedulers are hard to get in touch with when you need them.
Before I stopped shopping for them due to the low fees, I did not have any problems with getting paid or editor follow up. I've worked with Matt, Mike, and Shannon. Good experiences with all three. I'd say Shannon is one of their best schedulers. I really like her. She's more responsive than most and usually willing to work with the shopper on time or money.
I never did the ticket shop, I don't think I'd do any shop where I had to put a deposit down with the MSC.
I'm sorry you had such a hard time with them multiple times. They can be picky, and if you don't follow their guidelines, they won't pay and they're within their rights not to. I agree they should be more responsive but you should have also been more careful in writing your report. Sounds like a hard lesson learned.

@N-TownShopper wrote:

I'm sorry you had such a hard time with them multiple times. They can be picky, and if you don't follow their guidelines, they won't pay and they're within their rights not to. I agree they should be more responsive but you should have also been more careful in writing your report. Sounds like a hard lesson learned.

You are right on target with your comments. The sad thing is that I don't think mystyshopping learned the lesson and she simply blames Intellishop and laments that she has such a bad memory.

By the way, I don't like Intellishop and I don't work for them, so I am not defending Intellishop. But if you are going to work for Intellishop, or for any company, do the shops right so you get paid. If you don't do them right, at least accept responsiibility for your own mistakes. If there's a lesson to be learned, it might be that a bad memory could cause mistakes and that being in a hurry is not an excuse.

Can you give names of some of the better ones? Intellishop complains too much. I liked Bestmark and Marketforce so far. I am in WI. Thanks!

Here is a link to a great post.

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

If you read the forum you will find one thing is consistent, what is a good company for one is not for another. Personally, I have had few problems with Intellishop. By waiting or asking for a higher fee I don't often feel like their assignments are too much work for the money. On the other hand, Bestmark and Marketforce are so low on my list I've gone several years without accepting a single assignment from either.

The best thing to do is register with a lot of companies, try different shops and create your own favorites list. The only thing I avoid are those reported to have a lot of payment issues. I ignore one off posts like this thread and focus on multiple posts from reliable members who are professional shoppers. If they are having problems, so will you.

I've only had positive experiences with Intelli- Knocks on wood!

All my ratings have been a 10 except the first one which was a shop where I had to pretend to send fake goods to my buyer. I didn't get the name of the associate who helped me so they docked one point.

IME if you follow the shop instructions, submit on time, and proof read, you won't have any problems. They pay on time too.

whoa whoa whoa, did I read that correctly? You gave them a $100 deposit?

@jlovesnyc wrote:

whoa whoa whoa, did I read that correctly? You gave them a $100 deposit?

I'm guessing it wasn't to Intelli-Shop. It was probably to the company they were mystery shopping. People seem to think the mystery shop company has that money in their hands ready to redistribute back out, but often times it's the client and company who have the money and we must wait for it to come back to our credit card. Everyone's experience is situational, but I've had a lot of fun for Intelli-Shop. Always paid, usually pick up easy assignments. Even gotten paid for closed locations.

@LisaSTL wrote:

On the other hand, Bestmark and Marketforce are so low on my list I've gone several years without accepting a single assignment from either.

Must be my area... Both of those are great for me. I probably do 20-30 shops each month for Market Force and 5-10 a month for Bestmark. It's been pretty good the last couple years but there's always room for another shopper to pop in and snag up the precious little money I make shopping in farm and coal country.

They must have to bonus in your area. When an assignment is appropriately bonused I am fine with both. Once in a while Market Force will even have something with a good base fee. It's just very rare.

@jlovesnyc wrote:

whoa whoa whoa, did I read that correctly? You gave them a $100 deposit?

Yes, it is to Intelli. I did that eight times last year (and would have done it at least ten more if they would have given me the shops) only once did I have to ask for my deposit back & I only had to ask once.

I've had good experiences with Matt Liasse, even calling him directly when I was on site and the venue had changed but guidelines didn't so I was unsure how to proceed. He answered when I called and we worked out a solution then he told me if the editor had any issues to contact him. No issues with that shop at all.

I've never had a shop rejected.