Are other shoppers tired of getting cheated out of pay from ATH power?
I'm personally tired of it. They keep doing things like requesting photos of receipts that are perfectly clear or asking for additional information on shops that were already approved weeks earlier.
Then they come back and claim you didn't respond when you can prove that you did and tell you that it's just an unfortunate situation but they can't reverse their decision on the excluded shop after you've already proved you provided every thing they asked for earlier.
Or another trick that they keep using is sending an email saying they excluded the shop because you did not respond to previous email when they sent no other emails.
Mostly this happens with current credit card shops but since I can't name clients, I'm sure the other shoppers know of this issue.
I encourage other shoppers to report this fraud to agencies like the Better Business Bureau or the FTC. You can do it somewhat anonymously.
I'm heading there now to file a complaint.

I have never had a problem with ATH. I have found them to be a great MSC, respectful, responsive, and they pay promptly.They do, however, expect the shop instructions to be followed. Sometime they will ask for clarification, too.

I don't have problems with Ath paying. They sometimes have questions about shops, but no more than other companies, and the questions generally ask me to clarify something that I said. For a period of time, I took photos of my teller receipts with my phone, and some branches print light receipts. I am back to almost always using my scanner, and the occasional light receipt issues are gone. i have shopped a variety of clients for them over the years, and all have been fine. One current client has account openings which end up with lots of things to be scanned, but after the first shop like that a few years ago, I understand that. Once in awhile, I miss a disclosure, Ath asks, I respond, they thank me.

Ath is my favorite MSC.

Do the rest of you work for ATH? I have never once gotten paid on time. EVER. They are supposed to pay on the 1st and 15th of the month. I got paid 2/20 this month for the 15th payment. Do you want to see a screen shot of my checking account?Im looking right at it, 5 days late.
Everybody gets paid at the same time. No one got special treatment or paid early or at least on time. October in 2018 they actually paid 9 days late. Every shopper did.

@shoppertiredofmscheating wrote:

Do the rest of you work for ATH?

I do and I have never had a problem with them. I don't complete as much work with them, but the work that I have completed were without any issues and paid on time.

I am sorry you are going through this.

Well. Ath screwed me out of pay for a shop that had conflicting WRITTEN guidelines. I tried to clarify them.
I didn't get paid. I did 3 shops and got paid for 2. So, I quit working for them.

I generally get paid (via Bill.com) twice a month (depending upon when I do shops for them) by direct deposit. The dates vary slightly each month due to weekends, holidays, etc., but the first payment each month in 2018 varied from the 4th to the 6th, and the second payment varied from the 17th to the 26th. Those are the dates the funds were fully available in my bank account. If you are making an issue because your got paid on the 20th instead of the 15th, then you are going to have much greater issues with some other MSCs. I know that Ath will pay me. I have no issue with the variability. I think that the dates Ath shows are the dates that they send money to Bill.com and then the payment has to work its way through the banking system. Some banks credit electronic deposit more quickly than others. That has nothing to do with Ath or with Bill.com

I haven't had any problems with them. If it weren't for the rotations I would shop for them more often.

@shoppertiredofmscheating wrote:

No need to repeat your sob story.

I too have been a Shopper to Ath for a few years. I have yet to experience any of the problems you have subscribe to. My payment for October 2018 was on time. Not early not late. On time according to Ath policy.

The complaint you are insisting on seems to be more yours than Ath.

We are Independent Contractors or as will Shoppers. We can walk away. Walking away may not be a bad idea for you. BBB do not handle IC complaints.

Walk away while your face/or ego is still intact. This is not the forum to air your dirty laundry or wash them.

I think that it is important to hear all perspectives, positive and negative. Plus there are many IC complaints or kudos on the BBB for mystery shop companies. I go there to research MSC before applying.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2019 11:30PM by Whatfun14LF.

Hi there, I'm going to be honest with you regarding your post and concerns you're having. I've been there but realized a lot of the problems I was having with them was on me and not them. Please don't take this wrong. I was new to mystery shopping when I first started doing assignments with them. I honestly believe out of the two shops they wouldn't pay me for back then (this is about a year and a half ago) that one of them I should have been paid because I followed all of the guidelines/instructions /requirements carefully (the guidelines changed like a month later so I guess I wasn't the only one who this happened to). The second one I definitely missed some of their questions and didn't read their guidelines in depth and just skimmed over it. I didn't realize they commented on my report a second time where they asked for additional details. I didn't know because I assumed the notification I received via email was for a prior issue I took care of already. I figured I gave them everything they needed. I also thought at the time what I missed was very tiny but now I realize that no matter how small I may think something is it may be the most important part of a shop for them. As far as their payments go I always received a check from them, but a couple payments were very late after my payment was due. A couple times it took a month and a half to two months to get paid, but I know in mystery shopping we get paid when they get paid... Usually. So I wasn't too upset and I never inquired about the status. I would recommend reading everyone else's advice here who does work for them regularly because I believe they have a specific way of wanting things done. I honestly have heard a ton of positive feedback from them, but the feedback I've received was all from very experienced shoppers. I don't know what else to tell you except you have the choice to work for someone or not. We all do. If you don't like their way of doing things or don't get why they aren't approving your reports consistently, ask. They'll probably appreciate your inquiry rather than just complaining here, where you'll probably get more unhelpful replies than if you contact them directly. I'm not trying to be mean please believe me. It's just that I've been exposed to different companies now and they pretty much all have their own little quirks and you just have stick with the ones you jive with and the ones you don't, either connect with them privately and see how it can get better on your end, or move on to another company. Good luck!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2019 12:15AM by Fidobaxter.

It's been a while since I've worked for them, but I've never had a real problem and have always been paid. I've done quite a few account opening shops and even been paid when the banker refused to help me because I didn't speak English. (They did ask me to write a pretty good narrative on that one.)

They are very picky about a few things - one being pictures. (I did not understand this at first, so I had a couple of discussions with the editors.). ALWAYS save your pictures as a PDF. For whatever reason, their software does not do well with JPEG or other standard formats and the editors have blurry pictures. Other than that, they do a lot of compliance shops where banks are verifying that legal procedures are being followed, so they try to make sure that our reports are very precise.

As I was trying to figure them out, I simply admitted my rookie status as a shopper asked questions out of ignorance. It worked out well enough that I kept shopping for them. They were a favorite company before I started doing a lot of video work.

Ath did not pay me for two shops. One shop I followed the guidelines but the credit card company could not complete the application. I sent all the letters etc to Ath and my shop was denied. The second shop was denied because I did not get the business card. A bank employee stopped me at the foyer and asked me what I needed. After telling them, the bank employee told me that I since I was not a customer, I could not be helped. My choice was to demand a business card or go home. Ath denied the shop.

What will filing a complaint with the BBB do?

ATH pays bill.com on the date shown on your web portal. Usually within 5 days, bill.com deposits the $ into your account. Never had an issue.

From 2005 until 2010, I completed 118 assignments for ATH. In 2010, I accepted a shop requiring the opening of an account, with the permissible types provided by the independent scheduler. When, though, my payment was not sent, I inquired and learned the scheduler had erred and listed CD's as being acceptable; I was refused my fee. My position was either I would be paid or I would seek the assistance of my new bank, their client; my money quickly arrived AND my status was changed to shopper limbo; not deactivated but not in consideration for additional work. That was the only problem I ever encountered with those folks, but I in no way regret my decision not to permit myself to lose my cash due to their error.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

What will filing a complaint with the BBB do?

It will let others know about complaints and if BBB finds is to be legitimate they try to foster a resolution.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

What will filing a complaint with the BBB do?

It does absolutely nothing. It's a complete waste of time.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

What will filing a complaint with the BBB do?

It does absolutely nothing. It's a complete waste of time.

That is simply not accurate.

@Whatfun14LF wrote:

@SoCalMama wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

What will filing a complaint with the BBB do?

It does absolutely nothing. It's a complete waste of time.

That is simply not accurate.

Go do a search on HDE then.

Whatfun, did you check with the BBB before signing up for any companies? I didn't. I suspect most shoppers didn't. As SoCal stated, it's useless.

@Whatfun14LF wrote:

@SoCalMama wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

What will filing a complaint with the BBB do?

It does absolutely nothing. It's a complete waste of time.

That is simply not accurate.

All of the time, yes, and it is not useless, for me, anyway. Each person has to do what works for them. I use as many resources as possible including BBB.

Whatfun14LF stated: Each person has to do what works for them.

Bob's Opinion: Nine great words, to which I totally agree. While I have never filed a complaint with the BBB, if a shopper fells they should, then by all means take that action. A positive facet of the issue, is that there is pride in at least doing one's part to mentally satisfy a wrong.

I reguluarly do work for ath. Wholly professional group. Never once a payment issue.

People will go to the BBB if they have a bad experience with a company. People who have good experiences don't go to the BBB, they just keep shopping with that company.

Just like reviews on any website, they are going to be skewed. Case in point, 5 years ago (from 2018), I was the first person to review a product on a beauty website. My review was 5 stars. I looked at the review recently, and it was 7 years old.

If eBay buyers have a bad experience, they can't leave negative feedback. They have to return the item and review shipping only.

@Whatfun14LF wrote:

All of the time, yes, and it is not useless, for me, anyway. Each person has to do what works for them. I use as many resources as possible including BBB.

I have read many positive reviews on BBB also. It is also good to see when there are negative reviews, how a company responds.