what kind of company goes out of business justcause the owner died?

The President of NSS is Matthew Stephen Wozniak of Auburn, California. From what I can tell after a short search, he is alive.... I think I found personal contact information for him. I'll try to call and/or email him in a week or so if there are not any developments....

It happens everday, many small businesses do. If the family cannot or does not want to run it or selling isn't a viable option. As shoppers, most of us a sole propiators. If something happened to us, our business would close!

@MFJohnston wrote:

The President of NSS is Matthew Stephen Wozniak of Auburn, California. From what I can tell after a short search, he is alive.... I think I found personal contact information for him. I'll try to call and/or email him in a week or so if there are not any developments....

Pretty sure he is dead. You might want to read the link on the previous page.

@foodluvr wrote:

It happens everday, many small businesses do. If the family cannot or does not want to run it or selling isn't a viable option. As shoppers, most of us a sole propiators. If something happened to us, our business would close!

you would expect some notice then
the schedulers and everyone just vanished in Mid May...

@anng123 wrote:

@foodluvr wrote:

It happens everday, many small businesses do. If the family cannot or does not want to run it or selling isn't a viable option. As shoppers, most of us a sole propiators. If something happened to us, our business would close!

you would expect some notice then
the schedulers and everyone just vanished in Mid May...

It is possible they had no idea. It is also possible there is a buyout in the works and are not permitted to discuss it.

Hmmmm.... me thinks the background check service has some shortcomings... I have the cell phone number for a corpse...

@SoCalMama wrote:

@MFJohnston wrote:

The President of NSS is Matthew Stephen Wozniak of Auburn, California. From what I can tell after a short search, he is alive.... I think I found personal contact information for him. I'll try to call and/or email him in a week or so if there are not any developments....

Pretty sure he is dead. You might want to read the link on the previous page.

Odd... That background checking service usually doesn't miss like that... So, I have a dead fellow's contact information.

@foodluvr wrote:

@anng123 wrote:

@foodluvr wrote:

It happens everday, many small businesses do. If the family cannot or does not want to run it or selling isn't a viable option. As shoppers, most of us a sole propiators. If something happened to us, our business would close!

you would expect some notice then
the schedulers and everyone just vanished in Mid May...

It is possible they had no idea. It is also possible there is a buyout in the works and are not permitted to discuss it.

if there was a buyout in the works why did all of the staff disappear

I believe NSS was a relatively small company compared to some others. In my market they seemed to have only two or three clients lately and if they lost one that would be a blow financially. Sometimes the person at the helm is the one who makes the company and without that leadership there is no one as strong or visionary etc to take over. There have been several instances in the last years of the founder of a large well known company leaving for various reasons and then the company floundered. And Mr Wozniak may have not named or groomed a successor since he was not elderly yet. It is possible they have not closed down but are regrouping especially if there is a possibility of a buy out and if they also lost their other big client. They may have asked their employees to take some time off or they may have laid them off. It would have been nice if someone had contacted the shopper force to let us know, even briefly, what is going on.
I did send a note to Mr Wozniak's linked in account a few days ago and never heard back but now with the announcement of his death confirmed I know why. It has only been a few weeks for us and may seem like a lifetime but think about if someone close to you has died how weeks may pass before you get things together. This was perhaps a shock to the family and leadership at the company and they are still trying to figure things out.

100% agree. Also, if someone died unexpectedly, funds could be tied up or frozen until proper documentation/wills are received. Add to it if there was no redundancy or sharing of logins/acct info. Accts get frozen until probate/wills etc.

Their employees are likely in a similar situation and may not have been paid yet for the same reasons.

I am also owed $ but it is not significant in the grand scheme of things. I am willing to give them some time to get their paperwork aligned and hope it works out. If not, I will write it off.

Having lost my father unexpectedly in Dec and realizing how many weeks it took to figure out passwords/financials just for my parent's personal expenses, I have empathy to the situation. I and am greatful my parents sold their business and retired or I would be in a similar situation of trying to figure out financials, gain access, pay creditors, run day to day and do it with no first hand knowledge of the business.

I really don't think NSS is willfully not paying, I would like to believe they are trying to figure out next steps and follow legal process to move fwd without their leader.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2017 03:56AM by foodluvr.

Note that the owner passed away in early march
NSS was still functional for 2 and a half months beyond his death
All of a sudden it falls off a cliff
A bit strange?

March's shops fwd are where folks are waiting for payment. Not strange at all.

@bgriffin wrote:

There are about half a dozen violations in this thread. Lol

Totally spaced on my initials in my post. Thanks for the reminder!

The owner passed away in late February. I assume it took sometime until the heirs decided what to do, find byers, etc. The bar that he owned also functioned until late April and it is currently closed. So we will see if the privately held company has been sold and what will happen. His wife Susan Meyrs Wozniak seem to be the HR for Bill Tacos, inc.

The owner's death could be the problem. I started having trouble right about that time. I'm wondering about contacting the pizza company and seeing if they will respond.

@plmccut wrote:

The owner's death could be the problem. I started having trouble right about that time. I'm wondering about contacting the pizza company and seeing if they will respond.

i can't find contact info for the people at bbq company or pizza company...

@SoCalMama wrote:

@MFJohnston wrote:

The President of NSS is Matthew Stephen Wozniak of Auburn, California. From what I can tell after a short search, he is alive.... I think I found personal contact information for him. I'll try to call and/or email him in a week or so if there are not any developments....

Pretty sure he is dead. You might want to read the link on the previous page.

A friend of Wozniak put a message on her fb page saying he passed away in March. Other than that, there is nothing to indicate he died. There is no obit notice anywhere. Unrelated to the NSS Matt Wozniak, a different Matt Wozniak in Connecticut died recently. You don't think the owner is pulling a Patrick McDermott, do you? [en.wikipedia.org]

@ChrisCooper wrote:

@SoCalMama wrote:

@MFJohnston wrote:

The President of NSS is Matthew Stephen Wozniak of Auburn, California. From what I can tell after a short search, he is alive.... I think I found personal contact information for him. I'll try to call and/or email him in a week or so if there are not any developments....

Pretty sure he is dead. You might want to read the link on the previous page.

A friend of Wozniak put a message on her fb page saying he passed away in March. Other than that, there is nothing to indicate he died. There is no obit notice anywhere. Unrelated to the NSS Matt Wozniak, a different Matt Wozniak in Connecticut died recently. You don't think the owner is pulling a Patrick McDermott, do you? [en.wikipedia.org]

Sometimes I question how clueless people can be.
I am currently out $400 because of this company.

[www.facebook.com]


Now look at NSS Matt Wozniak LinkedIn

Is that not the same person or perhaps I'm just blind Chris?


[www.linkedin.com]

I think it's odd, too. The facebook post from Feb. 28 says he unexpectedly passed away. I completed jobs in March, April and May, so the company was operational until just a couple of weeks ago. What changed between the end of Feb and late May?

There are more than one person with each name even if to you it sounds like an uncommon name but the Wozniak family may have layers of family going back generations. The one in Connecticut died in Dec 2016. He was older than the one who owned NSS and lived on the other side of the country. It is likely that both of them had a linked in account...you really need to dig deeper folks before deciding you have hit the jackpot on info...Check the person out carefully. I did check on the one in Connecticut for no more than 2 seconds when his bio said nothing that even was closely related to someone owning a market research company and a pub on the west coast.
The same goes imho for those who out the door want to sue or get in touch with the client and even those who start badmouthing the company which sometimes happens when a check is one day late or the writer has messed up themselves in some way. We need to give it some time to see how it plays out. There is nothing the client can do that I can think of especially if they are no longer a client as it seems and you are breaking your contract by contacting them. If you have some insight into how you think the client might help let us know. You might want to continue to mystery shop in the future. If you are tempted to contact the client think carefully about what ramifications that will have on you. Word gets out about these things. People jump companies and it will not just be NSS but perhaps connections to other msc that you shop with that that move might have consequences for.

I'm being patient. I have been with them for very long time (10 years or so) and I have always been treated fairly.

I am being patient, as I figure I really don't have any other choice. $30 for March and $60 for April....

I'm owed $700 and have been patient since May when my March shops were due to be paid. How long does one stay "patient" before one takes action?

sandyf - How much do they owe you?

I hear ya, plmccut. That's a lot of money. To those of you who are thinking about contacting their clients, don't do it. At least not until you are positive you are not going to get paid. At this point we just don't know.

I threw that out there as a suggestion and not something I plan to do at this point. I think my first move will probably be filing with the BBB but I don't think they have any teeth and it would probably not do anything. I have sent an email to their accounting dept. but like all our calls and other messages to other people at NSS, I have not receied a reply. My personal feeling is that since no one has responded to date, they are not going to respond!

I feel terrible for those owed more than the (relatively speaking) small amount I am 'out.' I am only oop the cost of 3 pizzas and the time it took to do reports, so I am lucky. To think how lucky I felt when I first got that 'bonused' opportunity!

I could deal with the loss of the compensation but I am sorely ticked about the loss of the reimbursement fees. If they would just pay the reimbursements, I'd be satisfied to write off the fees. We are not in the business of providing charity to the MSCs and I don't believe the contract I signed precludes me from contacting the pizza company. In the meantime, any of you who have watched bankruptcies will usually see that the top adm. folks come out smelling like a rose, while the litle people stand by and watch the assets get used by the lawyers.

@sandyf wrote:

There are more than one person with each name even if to you it sounds like an uncommon name but the Wozniak family may have layers of family going back generations. The one in Connecticut died in Dec 2016. He was older than the one who owned NSS and lived on the other side of the country. It is likely that both of them had a linked in account...you really need to dig deeper folks before deciding you have hit the jackpot on info...Check the person out carefully. I did check on the one in Connecticut for no more than 2 seconds when his bio said nothing that even was closely related to someone owning a market research company and a pub on the west coast.
The same goes imho for those who out the door want to sue or get in touch with the client and even those who start badmouthing the company which sometimes happens when a check is one day late or the writer has messed up themselves in some way. We need to give it some time to see how it plays out. There is nothing the client can do that I can think of especially if they are no longer a client as it seems and you are breaking your contract by contacting them. If you have some insight into how you think the client might help let us know. You might want to continue to mystery shop in the future. If you are tempted to contact the client think carefully about what ramifications that will have on you. Word gets out about these things. People jump companies and it will not just be NSS but perhaps connections to other msc that you shop with that that move might have consequences for.

NSS already broke their contract with us with not paying and running away... what company functions without no one in the office for 2 weeks or no email responding?

The wozinak that died has the same face as the one on linkedin that owns NSS.

Now unless you want to tell me two people are dopplegangers....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2017 09:18PM by anng123.