Kelly, I get you had problems due to receiving checks in the mail. I don't agree about anyone having to beware, however. I'd say that your circumstances are unusual. I have been shopping for them since about 2004 (when they were Ritter and Associates) and have NEVER had any payment issues for them. If new shoppers decide to sign up with them, make sure you sign up for direct deposit to avoid any problems.
For those who say that Alta doesn't pay well, I say just pick and choose your assignments. I do some convenience store assignments for them that pay $7 each and reimburse up to $4, which may not seem like much, but in my area these stores are clustered together, often with locations being within a couple of miles from each other, and I can do 4-5 locations quite easily in an hour, including report time (I do them on the Mobi Audit app). That comes out to $28-$35 per hour (not including reimbursement), and I can easily do 40-50 of these stores in my area within 10-14 days...and these stores are all within about 20 miles of my house. I do agree there are other assignments that don't pay well for the amount of time spent completing them, but I just wait for those to get bonused.