Think Twice...

I completed shops for KSS International this summer. Their pay schedule is said to be 45 to 60 days. Long story short and several emails later, I received payment 95 days after completing the shop. The email I feel prompted payment simply said...When I began looking for companies to shop for, I always read what other shoppers said about them. If they received poor reviews, I wouldn't sign up with them. Just something to think about. The next day I had the money in my account.

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KSS did not pay you. The mystery shopping company paid you. They simply scheduled the shop.
@DiannaL wrote:

I completed shops for KSS International this summer. Their pay schedule is said to be 45 to 60 days. Long story short and several emails later, I received payment 95 days after completing the shop. The email I feel prompted payment simply said...When I began looking for companies to shop for, I always read what other shoppers said about them. If they received poor reviews, I wouldn't sign up with them. Just something to think about. The next day I had the money in my account.

It's a really good idea to research the companies you work with before accepting assignments, Diana. An even better idea is to understand exactly who you are working for and who will pay you. If you read good reviews about a company but then the company you accept the job with is NOT the company you researched, you've pretty much negated the value of your research. KSS is a scheduling company that schedules shops for numerous companies. They have a very good reputation BUT they only SCHEDULE shops. The company you worked for was not KSS. Did you not realize when you submitted the report on the company's website that you were working for a different company than KSS? If not, surely when you received payment you realized it came from a different company than KSS. What company did you actually perform the shop for and what company paid you? Due to the payment time, I'm guessing you are talking about HS Brands, or Service Sleuth.

And when a forum member posts complaints about payment from a company she didn't work for, showing confusion, other shoppers may not take her posts serious. Just something to think about.
Do the scheduling companies make sure shoppers can clearly see the pay schedule for their clients?
MSaddict,
No, they refer shoppers to the MSC site for all such information. Why would they want to be responsible for always having correct info when it is not guaranteed that the MSC will update them

We ate ICs and business owners. Finding out what the pay schedule is for our work is OUR job.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Does it make sense to go directly to the MSC instead of a scheduler? Perhaps this would alleviate any confusion for the shopper.
@QuackyBaby_61 wrote:

Does it make sense to go directly to the MSC instead of a scheduler? Perhaps this would alleviate any confusion for the shopper.[/quote

In questions of when a shopper will be paid or about shop guidelines and report editing, it makes perfect sense to go straight to the MSC one is working with rather than an independent scheduler like KSS. For scheduling purposes, some MSCs do not have a job board and do not schedule their own shops: for example, Kinesis. Service Sleuth, who I believe the OP actually worked with, does some of its own scheduling for relies heavily on KSS to schedule many of their projects. However, the Shop Guidelines for companies scheduled by KSS are provided by the MSC, the shop is reported on the MSC's website, and the shopper must be signed up with the MSC, which notes its payment term. The shopper is then paid by the MSC. Except for the scheduling, KSS is not involved. Having reported her shop on the MSC's website, and then having been paid by the MSC, I'm not sure why the OP is confused.

But this makes a good point about reading the reviews on this forum. THINK TWICE. You can't rely on all the reviews you read here. Some people are confused and make posts that are incorrect. If you sign up with a company or you decide not to sign up with a company because of the reviews, be sure the reviews you base your decision on are from experienced, long-term and successful shoppers. Incorrect reviews may cause poor decisions.
Quacky,

Rely on the MSC for payment schedules, of course.

BUT, ignoring KSS and other reliable scheduling services may severely limit the number of job options that you see. Especially as a new shopper, trying to find a variety of shops, it would be silly to avoid KSS, for instance. Note that some MSCs make it VERY clear that for all communications about an assigned shop (guidelines, deadlines, etc) the shopper need to connect with the scheduler, NOT the MSC. The MSC just wants to market to clients, edit (or contract the editing of) reports, convey those to the client, collect client fees, and pay the shoppers.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
I apologize for not conveying what I've said properly. I was dealing with HS Brands when attempting to get my money not KSS.

I have requested help from the wrong person to resolve issues in the past. Fortunately, they were kind enough to send me information to contact the person I should be talking to. It isn't always an easy thing to find contact information as I personally have had difficulty doing so on a few Shopper websites.

I will chalk it up to inexperience as I've only been a Shopper since March. I've got a great deal to learn and really appreciate all of you who submit your knowledge and take time to give well received advice!

Thanks to each of you!!!!
There is another thread about HS Brands and the slow payment issue lately, you are not alone. I hope you get everything resolved.
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