I didn't actually receive an email yet but I got tired of wondering and called and spoke to Emma who said checks will be sent next week

Used to do a ton of shops for them, very easy reports but pay is low. Then they lost a nearby casino and their Cincinnati chili shops have been drastically reduced (only franchised locations). They send multiple emails a day begging for help with no bonuses, and on the rare occasion they might bonus a buck or two. Now I do maybe one shop a month for them.

Rob G. - I know this - that October shops will be paid mid December...but their own policy is to cut the check at the beginning of the month (They have TOLD me this)....and they avoid following their own rules by stating that shoppers will receive an email when the checks go in the mail. Well, I haven't received my notice yet regarding Octgober, have you? Even if they did pay on or about 12/1, as per their stated policy, that is quite a delay/long wait -- which is just a bad business practice. But waiting two or three weeks to even mail the checks speaks ill of this company...and shows that either they are woefully undercapitalized, or just choose to 'milk' the cash flow cow and pay their shoppers late. Cancelling payments on shops to shoppers 6 to 8 weeks after the submission of the shop (remember, they have to be in to SR lickety-split!) after an 'inquiry' is just BS.
To sum it up....SR needs to get their house in order. My advice is to stay away from MSC abusers.

@winemaker While I am not speaking specifically to this MSC, most of these companies ask you to keep all your notes and documents at least 6 months. I keep mine for a calendar year, and rotate them out month over month with the new month coming in. If they ask me about a shop 6 to 8 weeks back it's no issue at all. I also keep all photos backed up with google photos for at least a year for my shops.

As for payment, well, mystery shopping has always been about making money by spending (some/a little) of my own money up front and then waiting. I know that some shops are no purchase, but most are purchase that I take (actually, all of them are) and as long as I get my money back within 2 months (which they normally do at this company) then I am OK with it. I know there is a company that stated they paid 3 months out, I can't remember the name because I deactivated when I realized it would be basically a quarterly pay period.

As for bonuses, just like every other company bonuses are offered where they are needed. You know those burger shops that everyone does for way more then 20 dollars?? In my area they fly off the board for basically reimbursement plus a couple of dollars. As for this company, every shop I have ever done for them was heavily bonused, and they have been good to me so far (and thus I still take jobs from them).

I have had no correspondence of any kind relating to payment for two shops I did for SR the first part of October. They are the slowest payers of any of the many MSPs I shop for. I think that the October shops will be the last ones I do for SR. If it was just payment, I might be more lenient, but not for reimbursement which these two shops include.

Claabe stated in her post about SR: So I took 10 shops on a route, and never did any of them !!! I had to block their emails and change my number. It was well worth it !!!

Bob's opinion: Irrespective of anyone's thoughts on individual MSC's, there is no justification for the above actions of Claabe. Do you, my brother and sister shoppers, agree or disagree with me?

Pretty immature. Msc can be frustrating as can the shoppers from the msc side. Find a company you can work well with and stay away from the ones you can't. Both sides will either survive or they won't.
Move on.

I DISAGREE !!! First off, here is some details. I do this work as a living !!! I had over $210 invested in shops, plus fees were due ($425) Quick math, $635 !!! The fees are one thing. The out of pocket investment to make the $425 is another, and it is big. In this field of work, you NEED CASH to make money. The companies payment practices, which are APPALLING, holds you up for future work, or you are constantly taking money from something else to pay. Then, waiting too long and really NEVER KNOWING when you are going to get your pay !
You can not run a business properly, with never knowing. Let alone paying your home bills. I have cut loose other companies, not for payment issues mind you, But, for fees and what "book" they want written for said pay or fees. What is amazing, is my issues with said company was over 3 years ago !!! They still SUCK at payments, as with this discussion. Two last things... I make a very good living doing this. Last year I topped $35,000 (call it $41,000 with income tax refund) and that is working about 25 hours a week on average and doing work when you want !!! Of course there have been weeks when I have worked 50, but making some big bank when doing so !
Finally, I love my work !!! Most people can't say that about what they do. You really don't have any power in getting satisfaction with a company, so my 10 shop route was just some payback !!!

Claibe, how did you get a refund on your taxes as an IC? I call BS.

I think Claabe is saying that since she is writing off most of her income that it is like making 41,000 if it were a regular job. I shop for Strategic Reflections every month. They are my slowest paying MSC, but I know I have a check each month for the base number of shops I do

I have gotten a refund every year. When I was married, it was over $10,000.
I drive around 30,000 miles a year,which is a huge deduction,
and there are all kinds of other deductions being self employed. Phone, internet, office, etc.
Now, this tax season I will not be claiming one of my children.(have 4, only 1 left for claiming)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2018 01:01AM by claabe.

Shoppers who take 10 shop routes and DON'T DO THEM are the reason I can now only self assign 8 shops at a time. What Claabe did was completely unprofessional. FWIW, I got my email on 12/17 saying October's payment had been mailed on 12/15. It should be here tomorrow.

"10 shop routes and DON'T DO THEM "... this was 3 years ago,
I apologize for nothing !

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2018 12:59AM by claabe.

I still have not received payment or even an e-mail stating that checks were sent for shops completed in October. GigSpot's pay statement says that the checks should be processed the follow month, meaning that they should have been processed at the end of November. This is getting a bit ridiculous. However, the pay statement does not give any contact info for me to follow up.

I did a shop in the middle of October and received a check 2 days ago. Never got the “payment is processing” email, but the check showed up.

The checks did go out, and they might be late to you if the Christmas mail is doing what it always does. I got mine today though.

Gigspot is just a user platform. Payments are based on whatever company you worked for through them.

Hello All! This is Emma with Strategic Reflections. I am seeing a lot of post stating that many of you are not getting my emails about checks. Please be sure to turn on your email notifications with SR to ensure you get this email.

When shops are taken and deliberately not done, the reputation of mystery shoppers in general takes a big hit. Any individual that will deliberately take shops without any intention of doing them is thoroughly unprofessional and should NOT be in this business. Period.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2019 08:16PM by RuralRunner.

@shopperbob wrote:

Claabe stated in her post about SR: So I took 10 shops on a route, and never did any of them !!! I had to block their emails and change my number. It was well worth it !!!

Bob's opinion: Irrespective of anyone's thoughts on individual MSC's, there is no justification for the above actions of Claabe. Do you, my brother and sister shoppers, agree or disagree with me?

TOTALLY agree. I'm quoting you since you said it real good and the best I can do is repeat you.

Hi, Emma, thank you for this update. My email is on, and I have a December 1st pay statement for shops completed in November. I have not gotten an email, nor have I received a check yet for November shops. Is there a time frame for checks for November shops to go out? Thank you.

Hello! I have just been notified that November payment is going in the mail tomorrow. I will be sending an email when I receive notification the checks are in the mail.

Payment goes out around the middle of the month. I do agree it takes a bit to get paid for the shops you complete... about a month and a half.

MY GOODNESS !!!! This topic is getting...just stupid !!! My post was about 3 years ago with company. You guys are still dealing with pay issues and delays (still no direct deposit or pay pal), and still defending them and I'm the evil villian !!! I work for many companies that are GOOD companies and I'm well respected for my work. The personal bashing of "my revenge" plot against the company is fine, if it makes you people feel superior ! Let's remember, the OWNER called me and we emailed back and forth alot, and still nothing has changed ! Where are all the suggestions, of the "PROPER" way I should have handled this, from all you BEST SHOPPERS IN THE WORLD posters ???????????????

@claabe wrote:

MY GOODNESS !!!! This topic is getting...just stupid !!! My post was about 3 years ago with company. You guys are still dealing with pay issues and delays (still no direct deposit or pay pal), and still defending them and I'm the evil villian !!! I work for many companies that are GOOD companies and I'm well respected for my work. The personal bashing of "my revenge" plot against the company is fine, if it makes you people feel superior ! Let's remember, the OWNER called me and we emailed back and forth alot, and still nothing has changed ! Where are all the suggestions, of the "PROPER" way I should have handled this, from all you BEST SHOPPERS IN THE WORLD posters ???????????????

I'm certainly not the best shopper in the world, but the proper way to have handled it was NOT to deliberately schedule shops you had no intention of completing. Even though this was three years ago, you still think that was the right thing to do, so it's still a current problem The proper way to have handled the issue would have been to stop signing up for shops from the MSC in question, allow the time for your compensation to arrive, then deactivate as a shopper with them and share your story if you wish. Now granted, that's not very dramatic, but it is effective. You no longer have to deal with the MSC, and other shoppers do not have to deal with the fallout of your revenge tactic.

Rural Runner replied to Claabe:

I'm certainly not the best shopper in the world, but the proper way to have handled it was NOT to deliberately schedule shops you had no intention of completing. Even though this was three years ago, you still think that was the right thing to do, so it's still a current problem The proper way to have handled the issue would have been to stop signing up for shops from the MSC in question, allow the time for your compensation to arrive, then deactivate as a shopper with them and share your story if you wish. Now granted, that's not very dramatic, but it is effective. You no longer have to deal with the MSC, and other shoppers do not have to deal with the fallout of your revenge tactic.

Bob's borrowing from ROFL:

TOTALLY agree. I'm quoting you since you said it real good and the best I can do is repeat you.

hmm

I'll chime in...I've done my one and only shop for this company. The pay is ridiculously slow in this day and age. 45 days max is acceptable. but then again, any company that displays a glass skyscraper on their website (implying their size/location) but their office is really in a nondescript brick office block far from downtown, you've got to wonder...

Emma...SR pays late, period...do something about it by telling the executives in your company how we, the shoppers, are feeling...pay sooner, and cut the BS about checks being cut and emails notifying shoppers being sent. That is a very thin veil to avoid prompt payment. People get their checks over 2 months after doing the work. And now you want us to post our ID's with shops...really? SR is starting to get 'shadier'....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2019 06:31PM by winemaker.

Wine,

In my nearly 16 years in this business, I have fired many, I do not recall the exact number, MSC's; this due to being dissatisfied with the relationship. As you seem to be unhappy with SR, why not simply deactivate your account and save yourself the aggravation of being in business with a company whose actions you deem unacceptable. My query was neither sarcastic nor factious, merely logical.

I did that already...I was just commenting on SR.
I just don't believe what they are doing is ethical....that's all.