In your initial statement, you said that you had sent a reply to her initial inquiry and they she came back unprofessionally. In your last statement, you said that she was out-of-line before you had a chance to reply.

@AuburnHarleyMama

My reply to @MFJohnston:

1) We did not have the opportunity to offer a solution because Isabella3's tone and content were confrontational from her second communication ( the first response to our reply). By the time my team had informed me of the situation, Isabella3 had sent in five separate emails in an hour. Her emails included demands to be paid immediately (despite the fact that her payment was not overdue), threats to submit complaints to the BBB, Gigspot and the state AG, notification that she had submitted complaints to the BBB and comments that our schedulers are "obnoxious".

I wonder how many of you would tolerate being treated in this manner by an MSC.

2) I never said my reply was less than professional. I said my reply was candid and direct. I informed the shopper that the tone and content of her communication were not acceptable and her account was deactivated.

3) We are waiting to see if complaints have actually been filed with the BBB and AGs office. If so, we will have to respond to each complaint. Of course, this will take time and money.

4) No member of my staff spoke to this shopper and we did communicate in a manner that any reasonable person would remotely describe as hostile or threatening.

This situation comes down to basic civility and professionalism. If we interacted with one of our clients in the same manner this shopper chose to interact with us, my bet is the client would find a new mystery shopping company. I can understand a shopper's frustration when they have asked for help and our team has failed to provide good service. In those situations, I agree that a kind word and patience is called for. That's not the case here. This is a shopper going off the deep end for no apparent reason, breaching the ICA and disparaging our company without justification. The decision to conduct oneself in a professional manner is a conscious one.

This entire thread is such a train wreck.

Even though there aren’t many people commenting, I am sure plenty of others are reading and following along.

Every company deals with people “going off the deep end” on the internet. Sometimes justified, often not. The important piece of the puzzle is how the targeted business chooses to respond.

I would have barely noticed to complaint by this person. However, what majorly did catch my attention is the way this business have chosen to respond.

The conclusion I personally take away is that “Dave” feels he is in the right here, Dave has run out of patience dealing with complaints, and Dave would rather flex his muscles on a public forum because he’s annoyed and feels justified. But that is terrible business practice. Awful.

I understand why Dave feels this way. I too would be irked to receive multiple pissy messages, etc. That’s just business though. These things will happen. They have happened before, they will happen again.

How they are dealt with is what matters, and that is the problem here.

Dave would probably be better off hiring someone to deal with these things if they strike such a personal nerve in him.

Even if one feels “justified” in their position, it is sometimes (almost always) good business to deal with the offending/annoying/obnoxious/just plain wrong person and move on. Offer to send her the check, do it immediately, and then be done with this chick for good and move on. Doing so would have saved Dave (and Sentry Marketing) a whole lot of aggravation.

Just my 2 cents.

@megs7521

You may be right about my participation in this thread. Despite the best of intentions with regard to our participation in this forum, we may be better off following the lead of other companies who simply ignore the mysteryshopforum community.

My goal was not to "flex my muscle", but rather to post our side of the issue so that readers of the thread would know that a) we care enough about our reputation to respond and b) readers would have both sides of the issue. As I have said before, mysteryshopforum is a public website and easily accessible to anyone.

For more than eight years, I have attempted to a productive contributor to the forum. I’m the first to admit that I haven’t always met that goal, however, I feel that my heart has always been in the right place. Over the years I’ve regularly reviewed mysteryshopforum so that I could:

- Understand what is being said about my company
- Understand current issues from the shopper’s point-of-view
- Offer assistance to shoppers who post issues related to Sentry

We've changed several policies and practices as a direct result of shopper comments on this forum. In general, I think a lot of good things happen when shoppers and MSC representative interact. It promotes transparency and an understanding of the industry from other points of view. Sadly, it seems that our participation always ends in controversy and criticism from a small group of shoppers who don't welcome our participation.

Mysteryshopforum is a public site accessible by any person performing a Google search of a mystery shopping company. As such, I believe that any company should be welcome to comment on information posted about their organization, particularly if the company believes that any issue raised is being reported in a biased or incomplete manner. That may be the case for some companies, however, its pretty clear that Sentry is not welcome on mysteryshopforum.

Based in part on this thread, I have decided to suspend Sentry's participation in mysteryshopforum. This is unfortunate because, over the years, we have been able to help many shoppers who reached out to us via this forum. Any forum member who needs assistance can contact us by email help@sentrymarketing.com.

So how does one go about getting Sentry to stop sending them private messages when stating so in writing on the public portion of the forum does not seem to work?

I thought he had withdrawn. He's still sending you messages?

At 8:06 PM and again at 8:18 PM AFTER being told to stop, which was not the first time. He was also told they were being reported to Jacob.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2018 04:25AM by LisaSTL.

Yes, I sent LisaSTL a short PM regarding a long-running disagreement. I felt the point was better made offline.

Her reaction reinforces my earlier point about this forum, the mob-mentality of a few forum members and the hypocrisy of some members when it comes to Sentry.

Adieu

@MFJohnston wrote:

I thought he had withdrawn. He's still sending you messages?

I'm sorry. I know that you and he do not see eye to eye. I'm not sure what he would hope to gain by sending you private messages. Once you told him to stop, he really needed to do so.

Dave -
As I said before, opinions and perceptions can change with time.... I don't think your post above helps.

I got a PM from Dave too. Needling me to respond to him. I ignored it.

Because you asked a question and when I responded asking for some clarification, you didn't respond. Perhaps the purpose of your question was to try to make some point.

@BlueMoose wrote:

I got a PM from Dave too. Needling me to respond to him. I ignored it.

Megs,

Over the years, veteran forum members have responded to the owner of Sentry. Some are positive, some are not. From my experience, the typical feedback to him is that his approach does not fare well for his company. I've provided this feedback as well.

It seems to me, if you do not appreciate a forum where members are not required to reveal their identifies, then perhaps this forum is not for you. Time and time again we have watched him use predictable and tired methods to attempt to 'out' members. A simple search will show this history.

So you are correct, while few may comment it is likely many read. To me it's the same ole sorry story of Sentry claiming he is 'right' to protect his reputation, while attempting to destroy others. The forum has rules, most follow them.

When people are owed money, you must pay them. Whether its a contractor or employee, the outcome is always the same: if companies are aware payment is owed, and still refuse to send payment they are wrong. Just send the damn check.

Before reading- My statements are my own and reflect nothing upon any companies on this board. I find the information to be helpful to new independent contractors desiring to understand the nature of becoming a Mystery Shopper, Field Rep, Agent, MS, "Doer's" (my sites designation) are Trade, Brand classifications of Independent Contractor. The major expectation of an Independent Contractor. Is your a business and have procedures in place to conduct business. Receivables, Payables and Collections are a major part of that . Even if your a one man! one woman! Army. Don't be afraid to conduct the activities in your contracts the way your asked. It's all part of the contract.

Make a swift determination to your classification as a worker.

If you are an employee dependent on the resources provided by a company then follow the required procedure.

If your an Independent Contractor acting in a workman-line manner defined in the rules of your contract then review your contract and proceed with the terms of your contract. Important: Determine if you accepted new terms prior to the current contract via internet , internet tos or received mail/email of an update. Important: check if your current contract says "may change terms without expressed prior consent"

If you did approve ! sign-up and get paid but be aware that you may be accepting additional terms with Diwolla and it may have additional cost. (pretty good payment system my personal opinion)

If your dissolving your relationship with any company. Expect contract terms to be met. There is no such thing as a series of unfortunate of events when it comes to the management of vendor's./independent contractors. When a party of a contract chooses not to honor a portion of their contract. They are breaching it and a court/magistrate in the jurisdiction stated in your contract will decide. In some places the outcome may be your early retirement. Companies no the underdog, the person dependent , the independent contractor, the small business see's court as cost heavy and the likely response is you will just disappear. Grit your teeth! and Do not be Deterred, locate the billing department and send an invoice with your attached contract, late fees , and terms. Any company with the willingness to pay for service's rendered to their customers would just pay right? answer is yes might be because we mark it up and apply it to the customer. Be Strong ! Stay the Course and Good Luck

@Sentry Marketing I don't think you should do that. As the operator of your business that's an executive decision. I'm supportive of that decision because you have employees to support and bottom-line to protect. Many folks get their moral compass and passion for writing mixed into the game. When the game is to secure more business win more contracts, create more jobs and employ more people. While building a stable account that is winning. I find the mob statement totally accurate having experienced it from day one. There is a difference from running your own part time job and running a business. One of those key differences is "are you doing all the work yourself?" and do you "expect customer service from the company you contract with?" If you do! your have the same expectation as employees sitting at the human resource department of their employer and weeding you out should be a primary objective. Yes some will retort with I'm narcissistic with an objective analysis of my character as a person. Perhaps they will even find pictures of me on every social media account I own and discuss the beauty of my children while applying that to some grandiose intellectual merit. Question is who are you? behind the anonymous carefully articulated report posted in general forum.

The answer:

1. If your posting 5000 plus comments a year. Your a blogger, affiliate, moderator, OR find articulating behind closed doors as satisfactory source of healthy entertainment (all encouraged) Likely not a shopper or a company and your vetting is as good as a public background check.

2. If your heading to people site's and threatening BBB report's. Your an antagonist or a company that fear's healthy competition and considers this forum as some what of a life line. If your really an akin supporter of the forum realize you not doing any good by being a anonymous gate keeper of who's a scam and who's not. The sites is supported by ad's which makes it free and keeps it free. My site is paid period and expect no changes to that because it buffers the pro's from the the eventual pro's.

3. If you have been burned - hold your chin up and leave it at the door. As a self managed business ( the independent contractor) looking to acquire new business and touting I have been scammed says nothing accept your a not a pro. To that degree you personally devaluing your industry of needed revenue by making your craft a dime dozen.

4. Don't put any value on my opinion! put the value into your pocket. Know your worth and say no, without burning bridges. If you say yes! to a task! follow up and get is done. If your on the path as an entrepreneur do what real entrepreneurs do swim through the traffic of failures and find those who are successful to meet the objective. Don't just take their word for it during the articulated vetting process.

5. Put this in your pocket. Scams are an intricate part of this business. The logistics of people is difficult. Territories are hard to fill. Even harder is finding real pro's who are willing to put in work within margins. Don't for second think that the biggest scam of them all is the scam itself. Long practiced by the industry to keep people believing the are the creditable resource for the work you seek. I'm capitalizing this because I want Noobs like me to here it. CAPITALIZE ON DIFFERENT VERTICALS and Attack them DON'T GET STUCK BEING JUST THE BELIEVER

6 Defend your brand at all times. You work hard to build a reputation for your company and create employment for those underneath it. Who is anonymous to fault you for it? consumers do that enough, Keep driving on!

@RobinMarie wrote:

Megs,

Over the years, veteran forum members have responded to the owner of Sentry. Some are positive, some are not. From my experience, the typical feedback to him is that his approach does not fare well for his company. I've provided this feedback as well.

It seems to me, if you do not appreciate a forum where members are not required to reveal their identifies, then perhaps this forum is not for you. Time and time again we have watched him use predictable and tired methods to attempt to 'out' members. A simple search will show this history.

So you are correct, while few may comment it is likely many read. To me it's the same ole sorry story of Sentry claiming he is 'right' to protect his reputation, while attempting to destroy others. The forum has rules, most follow them.

When people are owed money, you must pay them. Whether its a contractor or employee, the outcome is always the same: if companies are aware payment is owed, and still refuse to send payment they are wrong. Just send the damn check.

Very well said.

@RobinMarie
I'm curious about your statement that "it's the same ole sorry story of Sentry claiming he is "right" to protect his reputation while attempting to destroy others". Is this your opinion or are you asserting this as fact? I ask because in this thread (https://www.mysteryshopforum.com/read/6/630785):

- I responded to @MikiNV's post by offering to look into her situation and ultimately fulfilling her request to be paid for the assignments in question
- @isaiah58 states that he posted negative information about our company and was ultimately satisfied with the outcome after I reached out to him
- several forum posted about their positive experiences and views of Sentry

If my m.o. is a scorched earth policy involving discrediting anyone who posts negative information about Sentry, why didn't I do that to @MikiNV, @isaiah58 and the countless other forum members for whom we have corrected an issue reported on this forum?

Could it be that those forum members and shoppers who report a positive experience with Sentry all communicated in a professional manner?

You also wrote that "Time and time again we have watched him use predicate and tire methods to attempt to out members". You are entitled to your opinion, however, I think the facts would show this statement to be demonstrably false. When we've asked a forum member to contact us, it is so we can research the issue and provide some type of resolution. It's interesting that two days ago, another company representative offered to help a forum member by asking them to message them. That post has not received one bit of criticism. I guess standards and rules vary by MSC.

Lastly, you wrote: "When people are owed money, you must pay them." Well, we never refused to pay Isabella3. She demanded payment early before it was due and file complaints about nonpayment for a payment that is not late. The decision to file multiple unsubstantiated complaints may, in fact, delay payment.

I do agree with you that few may comment but many reads. Included in those readers are shoppers, forum members, schedulers, editors operations managers and MSC owners.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2018 02:17PM by Sentry Marketing.

Oh Sentry, you have proved all of my points in your response. Thank you.

Well, that lasted all of 28 hours.

Sentry wrote:
Based in part on this thread, I have decided to suspend Sentry's participation in mysteryshopforum.

When I sign up with MSCs, there are payment stipulations e.g. You must have a PayPal account. How does this differ? I would not agree to the terms and then demand to be paid by check or otherwise.

So funny, Dave complains of a shopper sending 5 emails within an hour's time, but sends two PM's to a forum member in 12 minutes.

@LisaSTL.
So how does one go about getting Sentry to stop sending them private messages when stating so in writing on the public portion of the forum does not seem to work?

@LisaSTL.
At 8:06 PM and again at 8:18 PM AFTER being told to stop, which was not the first time.

@Madetoshop good business on your part keeping your agreements. This differs because "You must have a paypal account" is a clear message from a company laying out it's preferred method of rendering payment for it's contracted service. It likely comes across to anyone as "sign this if you want work". Essentially that's exactly what it means.

Beyond the noise of this thread. I found a little value between the lines. Here are my take aways!

1. What are some things a independent contractors can do when payment methods change?

Understand the billing/payment cycles of the company you contract with prior to steam rolling them on the net. If you steam roll them be aware that there can be a negative impact on your business.

Update your contract to reflect the new method if you want to continue working with the organization.

If you do not want to continue doing business then expect payment in the method on your contract. If a company offers an alternative method. Take a moment to consider you business. A stalemate can cause delay in payment. However if you deem it unnecessary for your business then kindly decline, make your request and send an invoice. Be professional and run your business.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2018 06:38AM by zoomchek.

@Madetoshop

I think the problem is the OP did a shop under one set of guidelines, payment structure. After the job was completed and accepted, the company changed the way it would be issuing payments. So the OP did what they were supposed to be according to the contract for that job.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2018 05:07PM by soccermom.

I got paid weakly, very weakly