{done}

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 10:14PM by m00nsafari.

@flyer92192 wrote:

Invalid shop now (but valid in the past)..
Did their Chinese fast food shop with a major chain this week. MF returned as invalid, due to the photo of the self serve soda cup being in a separate photo from my entrée. The guidelines emphasized the entrée photo must be "good and clear". That being said I took a clear photo of entrée and a clear photo of the self serve soda cup.
MF now says they must all be in one photo, even though it was obvious they were on same table at restaurant.
The photos were spot on good and I feel my report was as well.
With the other noticeable changes at MF, makes me wonder if they are submitting reports to clients and not paying shoppers. Yes that's being cynical and MF is one of the biggest mystery shop companies, but it's not the same company it was 2-3 years ago.

The guidelines to my scheduled Chinese shop say in very large font at the top of the photo instructions:

"Take great photos! Be sure your pictures include EVERYTHING
you received, including beverage (this includes free water),
appetizer, and any other item you ordered with your plate!"

I looked back a year and the instructions said the same a year ago. Of course,, if it has been a year or so since you did the shop, maybe the directions were different. Or, maybe there is a different sent of directions in different areas of the country? Or maybe someone at MF was just careless in the past and approved pictures that didn't meet the guidelines?

Last week, I was filling out two shops for MF simultaneously. Big mistake! I was a bit confused as the shops were within a mile of each other. The address looked identical (on the same road) and I was trying to fill out the evaluation while battling a headache. I submitted the first shop and started working on the second report. I saw that within seconds, my first shop was rejected. I emailed helpdesk and they said that the timing was overlapping with the second shop. Here is what surprised me. I hadn't even submitted the second shop. It was in incomplete status!! I am never doing that again. But their system is full of nasty surprises for sure.

{done}

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 10:14PM by m00nsafari.

@m00nsafari
MarketForce is a reputable company and not at all shady. The company (like all companies) has its detractors as well as its fans.

From what I can tell from your description, you submitted a report with a very incorrect date. Yes, this will get you into trouble. Most MSC's are able to have you correct such a blunder, but one of Market Force's quirks may be that such corrections can be more difficult. Either way, the date error is your mistake.

I've made blunders on reports - we all do. MSC's tend to be pretty reasonable. However, this seems to have escalated pretty quickly. Is it possible that you pushed a little too hard? If you are planning to work with other companies, I would suggest not making hay. You have your money. You likely would not want to work with Market Force again anyhow. You have nothing to gain. However, you might turn other companies off to you.

As others have said, MF is very finicky with their reports. They usually have to be completed in a certain way or flags could be raised right after submission that invalidates the shop. Then it becomes whether it's worth it to raise the issue with MF. If it is a small amount of $ then it may be worthwhile to let it go to continue shopping with them. That is a choice one makes.

@m00nsafari wrote:

However the snooty supervisor has to get the last word in by closing my account. I have more reputable providers I work with, Market Force Information has no corporate office, everything is voicemail, it is shady. I will be reporting them to MSPA.[/quote

It's good that MF has closed your account since it doesn't sound like you and MF are a good fit.

And, yes, MFJohnston is right, MF is a reputable company and not at all shady. But go ahead and report them to MSPA. MSPA will get a good laugh out of it. Most experienced shoppers are probably rolling on the floor laughing at the idea of a shopper threatening to report a mystery shopping company to MSPA. MSPA is a professional club made up of mystery shopping companies, not a shopper protection organization.

Their computer system only validates that a receipt was uploaded, not the shop itself. But imagine that!

If people get a good laugh, thats fine, I'm glad I could bring enjoyment to someone's day.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 03:43AM by m00nsafari.

{done}

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 10:15PM by m00nsafari.

@m00nsafari
You do know that most of the folks on this forum have worked for Market Force and many do on a very regular basis? This crowd would have chimed in immediately if there were regular problems with getting their reports accepted or receiving payment.

Here is a link that will provide contact information for them for the offices all over the world: [www.marketforce.com] . They have offices in Georgia, Colorado, New York, Canada, the U.K., France, and Spain. Their global headquarters are in Colorado.

They are not attempting to cheat you out of $24. You blundered on the report (to your own admission) and it got rejected. Perhaps it was a blunder that could have easily been resolved. I do wonder, however, did you have the same vitriol as you first approached them as you did when you first posted here? If so, you shot yourself in the foot. If not, there must be some reason that you have so many misconceptions about the company?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 03:59AM by MFJohnston.

I have been following this topic since I started it several weeks ago and see that many shoppers have experienced unflexible error correction issues with MF and are very frustrated with their inability to allow a cure when of an honest mistake occurs. I have felt the same frustration and have simply moved on to continue to work with those companies that are easier to work with and are more professional. I work a lot with Maritz CX because they partner with their shoppers and communicate well when their auditor sees an issue so you can correct it. They are not arrogant like MF and they don’t look for ways to reject your shops but to work with their shoppers to insure that their clients get thorough and accurate reports. This is the difference between a good MSO and a poor one. Eventually companies like MF will be gone from the mystery shopping field because they will not work with them anymore and their clients will decide to work with the more professional MSO’s like Maritz CX.

@daveg43 wrote:

I have been following this topic since I started it several weeks ago and see that many shoppers have experienced unflexible error correction issues with MF and are very frustrated with their inability to allow a cure when of an honest mistake occurs. I have felt the same frustration and have simply moved on to continue to work with those companies that are easier to work with and are more professional. I work a lot with Maritz CX because they partner with their shoppers and communicate well when their auditor sees an issue so you can correct it. They are not arrogant like MF and they don’t look for ways to reject your shops but to work with their shoppers to insure that their clients get thorough and accurate reports. This is the difference between a good MSO and a poor one. Eventually companies like MF will be gone from the mystery shopping field because they will not work with them anymore and their clients will decide to work with the more professional MSO’s like Maritz CX.

I agree with you, but my take is a little different. I work very little with MarixCX because of their inability to use email to communicate and because of the constant phone calls "begging" shoppers to take low-paying shops that they aren't able to fill with very small bonuses - saying "oh, please, most of our shoppers just do it to help us out" and "that's really not so far from you." To me, Maritz is unpleasant to work with because of their viewpoint of shoppers, although I would never call them arrogant or unprofessional. I simply recognize that is the way Maritz is and their behavior is unpleasant to me. I choose not to work with Maritz very often because of it.

Recognize that MF does not look for ways to reject a shop, but MF is "assembly-line" in their organization and work, and they are somewhat inflexible when a shopper makes an error. I have had great experiences with several of the MF Help Desk, who go out of their way to help when they can. I'm thinking of Simone, Karen, Debbie, Susan, and Billie in particular.

Different companies appeal to different shoppers. If you don't like the way a particular company works, don't work for them, but a shopper's personal preferences do not make a company unprofessional or arrogant, nor do the preferences necessarily make the shopper unprofessional or arrogant.

All of these reasons are the reasons that I work for mf and make a lot of $ with them. I don't upload a photo that belongs to another shop and expect to get paid. I don't put 2017 when it's 2018 and expect to get paid. I don't go ahead and order when I missed the fact that the guidelines said not to order in "this case.....". imho, mf actually helps to prep you for the better shops that do not tolerate excuses. Uploading a photo that does not belong to that shop or does not have the drink in it is a very big blunder. It's not a small mistake that can be easily corrected. All of the cases I've heard above are looking at the picture from their side only.

{done}

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 10:16PM by m00nsafari.

@m00nsafari
1. "MF" are my initials. I had them long before MarketForce was incorporated and did not choose them for myself. I chose the username before I knew they existed.
2. I do not work for Market Force. I have contracted for exactly two jobs from them. I was paid in full and on time.
3. I don't "claim" they have offices worldwide. I know they do - as does every regular member of the forum. I simply did the leg work you should have done and Googled the company name.
4. If you have called every number on that list, you did so today because, as of yesterday, you said that they had no corporate offices. You do realize that today is Saturday and nobody at a corporate office is likely to answer the phone over the weekend? Did you really call all the numbers without realizing that? You called France and Spain?
5. The many, many shoppers on this forum who have been regularly paid by Market Force refute your ridiculous claim that it is not a real MSC.
6. If you dislike the pay so much, why did you work for them in the first place? We all have choices.
7. Their CEO is a fellow by the name of Ray Walsh - also on the website I linked. They do not have a company president listed, but they have some vice presidents.
8. Your Blunder: Perhaps I misread your statement the first time... You blamed their systems for your report being off by a year. If they had a systemic problem along those lines, it would have come up here. One of the regular MF shoppers on this forum would have chimed in and stated that they had had the same issue. You did not admit any error. However, I strongly suspect that you did make such a mistake.
9. MarketForce deals with thousands upon thousands of shoppers. Some of whom make significant mistakes, but do not get themselves deactivated. There was something in your approach that they found objectionable.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 07:43PM by MFJohnston.

The only thing is there does not have to be "something in her/his approach". I get all pissy and hiss on here and I wouldn't call the company in that vein, obviously. However, if you insist on being paid for an assignment, with most companies, even though you made the mistake that renders a report unable to be submitted to the client, they will pay you, sometimes, but they will then deactivate your account and you won't be able to shop with them anymore.. Dems' da rules.

Roflwofl, your reply is rejected because you spelled Maritz CX wrong. Sorry, don’t give me any excuses that you were replying to two forum subjects at the same time or you might have been responding after a long day of shopping and it is past midnight when you are trying to respond quickly to get your point across. YOU CAN NOT CORRECT YOUR MISSPELLING OF MARITZ, you are done! How does that feel Roflwofl?

I also agree that many of the MF supporters like MFJohnson are MF employees because there are too many dissatisfied former MF shoppers on this forum thread.

5 among 500,000

There should be a #metoo movement for frustrated MF shoppers.

{done}

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 10:13PM by m00nsafari.

{done}

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 10:11PM by m00nsafari.

You're funny. If I made 6 figures this is exactly what I would be doing with my time; hunting down $4 fee shops and a greasy burger that costs me 1.5 hours! Ohhhh yeah.

With pasteurized processed cheese food product instead of cheddar; that is my end-goal for sure.

Every MF shop I have done required me to physically type in the date I performed the shop. The way this looks to me, you made a simple mistake because of the new year switch. Their computer system (probably) didn’t change the date you submitted. If that had happened, it would have happened to other shoppers as well. I personally have been extra careful when entering dates for the same reason.

Was it a simple and easily made mistake? Yes. But MF as a company has so many shops running through that they don’t mess around. It’s something I have accepted about them and keep in mind with every shop I accept & submit.

@daveg43 wrote:

Roflwofl, your reply is rejected because you spelled Maritz CX wrong. Sorry, don’t give me any excuses that you were replying to two forum subjects at the same time or you might have been responding after a long day of shopping and it is past midnight when you are trying to respond quickly to get your point across. YOU CAN NOT CORRECT YOUR MISSPELLING OF MARITZ, you are done! How does that feel Roflwofl?

You are absolutely right, dave. No excuses. Since I don't get paid for my posts here, I don't proofread as well as I should. When I make a mistake, I own up to it and accept responsibility. I mis-typed Maritz CX's name, and that invalidates my right to be paid for my post here on the forum. I'm a little more careful when I'm getting paid for it, but if I make a mistake, I acknowledge that I will not be paid.

{done}

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2018 10:09PM by m00nsafari.

@spicy1
Give it up: We've been outed.
Yes, it's true: Market Force is a completely fake company that was created to defraud unsuspecting shoppers by coaxing them to buy greasy burgers and fries -and then not paying them for their write-ups. Every shopper on this forum who has ever said anything positive about Market Force is simply one of our alternative online identities that we use to create the illusion of a large number of successful and satisfied Market Force shoppers. Their website is a sham and the photographs of their executives are simply cutouts from magazines. The shopper website is nothing more than a lure tempting unsuspecting folks to hand all of their personal information over to us. Our real game: Identify Theft! It's time for us to give it up and create a new fake company so that we can begin our game all over again. We topped over $3M each with this Market Force farce. Do you think we can do better this time?

Thank you everyone, I received what I needed out of this. I hope everyone stays safe and most importantly, love each other with the utmost respect to humanity - It is all we have.