I agree with much of what JennyG says in that I accept only the jobs that I have predetermined to be worth my time and frankly, the expertise I bring to the table. I have a unique understanding of the entire industry because the first three decades of my career were spent on the other side of the table, so to speak, working eventually in executive level positions within some very well-known Consumer Market Research firms with whom mystery shopping was only a very small portion of the overall services we provided to our clients.
Further, I have worked as a scheduler (both as an employee and a contractor) and project manager for some mystery shopping services with both of those positions giving me a better understanding of the conduct, ethics and report quality of mystery shoppers at large. The single biggest shocker for me, however, was when I worked as an editor. Mind you, this is a position I only held for 23 days before I nearly left the business altogether. I am admittedly one of those super-annoying people that will correct the grammar of my friends, my family, the pastor during his sermon, you name it. Editing reports was, much to my horror, an experience that opened my eyes to just how clueless so many people are to the poor quality of their writing ability, and who astoundingly are under the misguided belief that they are some of the best at their craft.
I have only ever really had problems with one company that I can recall. It was not because of payment because as a business owner that understands the cost of my doing business and the expenses required to do it, I am very good at scheduling routes with multiple stops on specific days that yield several hundred dollars per day I work. And I do not complain about this company taking two months to pay or that company taking three months--as long as that's what was disclosed in our original negotiations, then it is what I chose to agree to. If they go beyond the terms of our agreement, I approach it as any other business would do, and therefore do not go off the deep end if they're a week or two late. I am not their employee, I am their vendor and in the real world companies sometimes run behind on paying their bills. Do I wish this weren't the case, yes. Is it unrealistic of me to think it's not going to be that way? Yes! Think of any of the bills that YOU get each month and the course of events that transpires if you're short on money and miss a payment or are late, etc. If your phone bill is due on the 20th, do you think the phone company is going to call you on the 21st? In most cases, as is the case within all businesses (and remember, you are a BUSINESS, you are not an employee), what happens is..NOTHING...you get the new bill next month that lists last month's balance, possibly a late charge, and maybe it half-jokingly says something like, "Hey, we missed your payment, is that an oversight?"
The point is, they're not going to turn your phone off for several more weeks or more--and that's if you just didn't pay anything at all. People need to remember, we are not employees. We are self-employed individuals, we negotiate the price of our services and the terms with which we are comfortable getting paid. When things go wrong we cannot suddenly jump up and down screaming for the rights of employees, instead we need to conduct ourselves professionally, as business people, in observance of what is traditionally accepted decorum for similar situations, most notably not publically posting negative opinions about the very clients for whom we work. It's just not cool.
If you have a problem with a company, do not work for them. I think we all have a tendency to be just a little too free with the details we share with others in situations where it's really not professional or ethical to do so.