I’ve been reading that they don’t pay their shoppers. It’s been 3 months since I completed an assignment for them and every time I ask about my paycheck they have an excuse as to why they can’t pay me.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2019 06:37AM by nfrancisco6.

What are the excuses? I’ve always been paid but it usually takes longer than expected.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2019 03:19PM by kenasch.

I didn't used to have a problem with them, but I was paid for my December shops 2 weeks ago, and I'm still waiting on my January shops to be paid. In the past, I was paid within 2 months without issue.

I usually am a read-only here. But I have to speak this time.

1. My payments, like others, have been late as well. The funny thing was GBW claimed PayPal is the culprit of the issue while I was paid by GBW a month before via PayPal. I have to push them for payment. Eventually, GBW paid everything to me to bring everything current.

2. Not related to payment issue - GBW has an unacceptable way of editing reports. I had 2 shops rejected because of their make-up reasons.

Trust me - if I could sue GBW, I definitely would. The problem is GBW's HQ is in Melbourne, Australia. U.S. shoppers seem to be working with those problematic people from Malaysia. And GBW does not have an agent for service on file with any of the states (Note - based on the location of GBW's clients, I believe that GBW should at least have a registered agent in California. But it is not the case).

Although I still have an active ICA with GBW, I practically drop this MSC. It is not worth the trouble even with the good pay.

I am free of GBW. I cancelled a shop with a massive bonus because I was sick. Next day Farah called and asked me to do it another day and upped the offer to $150 and a promise to pay for a denied shop from last year due to ambiguous questions that I could not answer properly. At that point my employer called me on the phone and I told Farah I would complete it but must take the call NOW. Thursday morning of the shop , went to review the instructions and MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED.

GBW Finally paid me and I'm so thankful because I was really worried about not getting paid especially since the only way I could contact them was through their online form, and I was reading all the reviews on Trustpilot which of course didn't help my anxiety. It looks like they are in another country so I couldn't just call someone. What I did was, I emailed MSPA and contacted them about my issue, I then contacted the scheduler that had assigned me the smartphone shops, and Cc'd MSPA as well on that email. On the same day of that email, the money was on my account even though there was an external fee. At the end of the day, the important thing is that I finally received payment. I personally, won't be working for them after this anymore after that big scare, but I'll take it as a learning experience, and it does make me appreciate the other companies that make payments on time.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2019 06:37AM by nfrancisco6.

I’m once again chasing a payment for a job completed Feb 1st. In the past they have always paid me but it took several enquiries. I only take heavily bonused shops from them knowing what I have to do to get paid.

I am new to mystery shopping, I just received instructions and a check, I'm supposed to go to the bank and open an account and use the money from this check, is this a scam or is this the real thing, someone please help before I make myself look stupid, the checks look like real paycheck checks.

@Melonier.reynolds wrote:

I am new to mystery shopping, I just received instructions and a check, I'm supposed to go to the bank and open an account and use the money from this check, is this a scam or is this the real thing, someone please help before I make myself look stupid, the checks look like real paycheck checks.

It is definitely a scam. Do not deposit this bogus check. It looks real but isn’t. It will eventually bounce and you will be out what you send to this scam company plus bank fees etc. GBW is real but scammers often pose as a legitimate company like this.

What is a good legit company to do this as I am very interested in doing this as a side income.

Check out the link at the bottom of this page for a list of companies. Mystery Shop Companies will almost never pay you in advance (there are some very rare exceptions). It’s a scam when they tell you to deposit a check, keep part of it and then send them the balance via a wire, ITunes cards, etc. I’m guessing that was what they wanted you to do.

Yeah they wanted apple cards and when I told them I don't have an apple store in my area they told me to get iTunes, and send them a picture of the numbers on the card, they keep sending me text messages hounding me about doing the assignment.

You should be able to block the number they are using to send you texts. You can also report them to your local PD, post office etc but unfortunately others have reported that not much is done.

Big scam, glad you came here first.
DON'T DO IT.

@Melonier.reynolds wrote:

Yeah they wanted apple cards and when I told them I don't have an apple store in my area they told me to get iTunes, and send them a picture of the numbers on the card, they keep sending me text messages hounding me about doing the assignment.

Back to the original post. I’m still waiting for payment for a job completed Feb 1st. They just keep putting me off.

They had the nerve to answer my latest “enquiry” asking if I have received payment. Their own system still says the payment is “processing”. I am still getting emails asking to perform shops but refuse to accept anything until I’m paid.

Tell them that you have contacted the police and the US Postal Inspectors and that you are forwarding all of their messages directly to the police. i bet that will stop them from bothering you.

@Melonier.reynolds wrote:

Yeah they wanted apple cards and when I told them I don't have an apple store in my area they told me to get iTunes, and send them a picture of the numbers on the card, they keep sending me text messages hounding me about doing the assignment.

Us here in Aus have had serious issues with Gap pay as well. Interesting that the HQ is in Melbourne! All our communication here is via Malaysia as well, which is ridiculous because they have NFI about the distances in this country - yours too in all likelihood.

BTW, we aren’t paid into PayPal, were paid directly to our bank accounts, so the PP excuse is bogus as hell.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2019 04:26AM by PandyFackler.

This is the response I received from GBW this morning:

“Good day to you.
Most of shopper had received theirs.
We're facing some internal issues with the system.
We might not be able to view the status from our end at the moment.
Our IT team in a middle fixing it.
We will check back with the finance and let you know as soon as possible.
Thank you.”

Not exactly a Red Quanta situation, but frustrating when they can’t pay according to their own schedule and they still bother me to accept new jobs.

Finally received payment today for Feb 1st shop.

I sent a polite inquiry about “processing” status on 2 shops done in February. Received DD today.

Odd I got paid today for March shops. Didn't have to ask.

I recently had my first experience with this MSC and I'm torn on how I feel about them. My shops were completed this month so I can't comment yet on whether I'm being paid on time. However, I will say that my concerns stem mostly around communication. I had some initial scheduling bumps with them that had to be ironed out as they randomly assigned shops to me after I'd replied to an auto email indicating my interest. I didn't consent to sign up for the shops and only expressed interest as I said I had to check my work schedule, but a few days later, I had 20+ shops in my queue! Needless to say, that one made me a little anxious about what the future was to hold. However, I worked it out with the scheduler and I moved on.

The next issue occurred when they wanted me to consider taking a job that would've required a substantial time and travel commitment. They tried negotiating with me, we went back and forth, but ultimately we couldn't come to an arrangement as they weren't understanding the cost and commitment on my part. I was fine with this, moved on, and thanked them for the opportunity. However, the same day this occurred, there was a shop I had to cancel due to an unexpected conflict I couldn't negate on. I profusely apologized, asked to reschedule for any day/time that worked for them, and the scheduler indicated it wasn't feasible. I then see the assignment post an hour later with a large bonus tied to it within the time frame I'd inquired about. What the heck?! Why pay someone a giant bonus when I could've taken it at the original base pay with no other expectations? I guess what also irked me was that they were willing to pay such a large bonus on a shop that was 5 minutes away from me, but wouldn't work with me on a shop that was 2+ hours away.

Oh well... I'm not going to let this eat me up. I've just learned to be a bit more cautious in how I communicate with their schedulers and ensure that my emails can't be misinterpreted in any way. I don't want to make this out to sound too negative as the shops themselves worked out fine and I didn't have issues with the instructions or completing the online surveys. For any new shoppers out there, I will say that they have some easier assignments so for anyone just starting out, you could grab some shops that aren't too difficult and will help ease you into mystery shopping.

Thanks for letting me add my commentary!

I just completed my first route of assignments for this them past weekend. The bonuses seemed generous and as another poster mentioned, they are some of the easiest shops in the business to complete. I've received their emails for years, but never replied or accepted their shops until this weekend. Here's to positive thoughts on receiving payment

Tim- be ready for follow up questions and clarifications. They almost always need them.

Almost always hasn't been my experience. You either hear nothing or 873 questions. I get that less than 1/3rd of the time though.

I just received a $100 bonus for shops I did in January. I got paid for the shops themselves in April, but the bonus took even longer.

They are texting me non-stop lately. I’m at work and it’s really annoying. Hard to imagine I’m sure, but I’m being really bitchy in hopes that they’ll stop.

@SoCalMama wrote:

I’m being really bitchy in hopes that they’ll stop.

No?!?!?! Say it isn't so!

They once called me 6 times in the span of 10 minutes. I answered the 6th one and really told them off. They played dumb and acted like they were unaware of the other calls.