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This was her response

Due to cov-19 we are trying to pay your shops as soon as possible. February shops will be paid by June 30th or sooner.

Sorry for the delay.

Thank you

@SupaPeck wrote:

This was her response

Due to cov-19 we are trying to pay your shops as soon as possible. February shops will be paid by June 30th or sooner.

Ditto. If someone responds and asks her why others got paid in May, please post her response.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2020 10:40PM by MisterBill.

Yikes. My guess is that Lisa made individual payments to the first few shoppers who contacted her and will do a batch payment to everyone else later. I take issue with the lack of communication even more than with the lateness of payment. Tom e-mailed his entire shopper database about an opportunity to earn $ shopping for and delivering groceries in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. He could have easily taken a couple of minutes to e-mail shoppers about the payment delay. Tom is taking his shoppers for granted.

@MisterBill wrote:

@SupaPeck wrote:

This was her response

Due to cov-19 we are trying to pay your shops as soon as possible. February shops will be paid by June 30th or sooner.
Ditto. If someone responds and ask her why others got paid in May, please post her response.

I'm wondering if the late payment has more to do with the client for whom the shop was done rather than whether the shopper contacted Lisa for payment. I got paid in May for my February shop without contacting Service Sleuth. I agree that communication about the delayed payment to some shoppers should have been a priority to the MSC.

@roflwofl wrote:

I'm wondering if the late payment has more to do with the client for whom the shop was done rather than whether the shopper contacted Lisa for payment. I got paid in May for my February shop without contacting Service Sleuth. I agree that communication about the delayed payment to some shoppers should have been a priority to the MSC.

Or maybe they prioritized paying the people who were due reimbursement. None of mine were reimbursement.

And yes, letting shoppers know what was going on would have gone a long way towards forgiving the late payment.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2020 11:06PM by MisterBill.

Mine is only a $80 reimbursement done in the latter end of Feb. So not much by some standards, but still could do with getting it back!

The tax preparer didn't take the fee out of your required refund?

@Devena50 wrote:

I’m out of pocket $399.95. That’s how much the client charged me to do my taxes.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Yes, but I was still out that much money even if it was taken out of my refund.

I am waiting payments for 2 shops in February one day apart from each other. A tax shop with reimbursement and an AT&T Shop. I doubt it was the client the shop was done for as they are two separate companies. It really is absurd and unprofessional that we had to send requests to receive any type of communication.

Furthermore, Ipsos pays the next week. HS Brands are taking several months- they are out of control.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2020 03:50PM by SupaPeck.

Lisa paid a few shoppers who contacted HSB, for all of their shops (multiple clients). That probably took just as much time as it will take for her to do batch PayPal and DD payments for everyone else by the end of June. The repeated payment delays and the continued lack of communication from Tom make me wonder if HSB has insufficient cash flow.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2020 04:11PM by MSF.

@SoCalMama wrote:

I think that they are paid up for all jobs from February 15 and earlier.

@kenasch wrote:

I received payment for one of two jobs done in Feb. The unpaid job was near the end of Feb So waiting to see if I get paid for that one by the 15th of this month, which is their stated policy.

I'm pretty certain that this is still true. I expect the next round of checks to cover Feb 16-March 15 or Feb 16- Feb 29.

Obviously, they are behind, more so than usual.

Lisa wrote back again-
Hi,

February shops will be paid by this Friday.

Thank you
Lisa Malkowski

Accounting Manager

Crossing my fingers

@MSF wrote:

KSS scheduled these shops in advance of when we completed them, so my guess is that she has already been paid.

I would expect Lorri to reach out to Tom and let us know what he says, like she did here: [www.mysteryshopforum.com].

At the very least, an update on the payment situation would be appreciated. Remaining silent is extremely inconsiderate and a terrible way to run a business.

@MisterBill wrote:

She is likely waiting to be paid as well for scheduling services they performed (unless they get paid faster than shoppers). I'm not sure what you expect her to do beyond forwarding the email. Do you think he'll decide to pay people because she told him to? Or maybe if she asks him nicely?

MSF - you are incorrect. I have not been paid for February, March, or April. I'm in the same boat with you guys. However, I do know that we will ALL be paid.

I also DID forward the payment inquiries to Tom Mills (As I told the OP, I forwarded her/his email to EVERYONE I KNOW at HS Brands (most are furloughed, but Patty, Tom and Lisa are still there) and asked them to please respond and assist the shopper. I've done that on every single payment inquiry I've gotten.

I am doing everything I can to help you guys. They have no revenue coming in (although a lot is restarting this month) and they are waiting on payments from clients.

In 22 years of working with HS Brands, they've never stiffed a shopper. They are not going to start now.

@Lorri Kern KSS, I appreciate your response. I am disappointed that Tom (or someone else from HSB on his behalf) has not been communicating with shoppers. Also, it is concerning that HSB has not been able to stick to their payment schedule due to cashflow.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2020 01:26AM by MSF.

She said the same for my March tax shop. The fee and reimbursement are close to $700.

@SupaPeck wrote:

This was her response

Due to cov-19 we are trying to pay your shops as soon as possible. February shops will be paid by June 30th or sooner.

Sorry for the delay.

Thank you

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@SupaPeck wrote:

Lisa wrote back again-
Hi,

February shops will be paid by this Friday.

Thank you
Lisa Malkowski

Accounting Manager

Crossing my fingers

Interesting, she did not follow up with me. And I just got email from Tom, who said

"I assume we have you caught up?
Sorry for the delay."

I told him that they had not and what Lisa told me (end of June). I had not seen your post until now.

@MSF, I appreciate that you have now apparently stopped alleging that Lorri behaved inappropriately. I am disappointed that you have not admitted that you erred or apologized for the false accusations. I am disappointed that you have not acknowledged that at least one shopper got paid because Lorri suggested that the shopper contact Lisa. Also, it is concerning that you took it for granted that someone who extended a courtesy previously must continue to extend courtesies.

@MSF wrote:

@Lorri Kern KSS, I appreciate your response. I am disappointed that Tom (or someone else from HSB on his behalf) has not been communicating with shoppers. Also, it is concerning that HSB has not been able to stick to their payment schedule due to cashflow.

@MisterBill wrote:

@SupaPeck wrote:

Lisa wrote back again-
Hi,

February shops will be paid by this Friday.

Thank you
Lisa Malkowski

Accounting Manager

Crossing my fingers
Interesting, she did not follow up with me. And I just got email from Tom, who said

"I assume we have you caught up?
Sorry for the delay."

I told him that they had not and what Lisa told me (end of June). I had not seen your post until now.

Yes- it is kind of funny. I got 3 emails (from Lisa, Payments and someone else) all saying that the Feb shops are being paid this week. My shops also show "payment pending" so it looks like it is happening.

@SupaPeck wrote:

Yes- it is kind of funny. I got 3 emails (from Lisa, Payments and someone else) all saying that the Feb shops are being paid this week. My shops also show "payment pending" so it looks like it is happening.

I did not check yesterday, but since you mentioned it I just checked and my shops are also showing "payment pending".

@MisterBill wrote:

Or maybe they prioritized paying the people who were due reimbursement. None of mine were reimbursement.

No, that's not it. I am owed over $500 in reimbursement from the sole shop I did in mid-March. I should be paid for the shop by June 15, according to their stated pay schedule. I will contact them if I have not received payment by then.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz, you may want to carefully reread my comments. I stand behind everything I said. I said that I would have expected Lorri to intervene more directly based on her relationship with both Tom and shoppers. Her initial statement was that she "e-mailed everyone she knew," which made it seem as though she took a hands-off approach in dealing with the situation. I also said that it was my GUESS that KSS had already been paid. I did not make false accusations.

Over the past year, shoppers have agreed to do shops for KSS and HSB in exchange for reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses and/or shopper fees. For the past year, shoppers have routinely been paid late and inconsistently, with no communication from KSS or HSB. This shows a complete disregard for shoppers and is a terrible way to do business. You and other shoppers are very accepting of this behavior. I'm sorry you have a problem with me calling it out and expressing the need for accountability.

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz wrote:

@MSF, I appreciate that you have now apparently stopped alleging that Lorri behaved inappropriately. I am disappointed that you have not admitted that you erred or apologized for the false accusations. I am disappointed that you have not acknowledged that at least one shopper got paid because Lorri suggested that the shopper contact Lisa. Also, it is concerning that you took it for granted that someone who extended a courtesy previously must continue to extend courtesies.

@MSF wrote:

@Lorri Kern KSS, I appreciate your response. I am disappointed that Tom (or someone else from HSB on his behalf) has not been communicating with shoppers. Also, it is concerning that HSB has not been able to stick to their payment schedule due to cashflow.

@AZwolfman wrote:

@MisterBill wrote:

Or maybe they prioritized paying the people who were due reimbursement. None of mine were reimbursement.

No, that's not it. I am owed over $500 in reimbursement from the sole shop I did in mid-March. I should be paid for the shop by June 15, according to their stated pay schedule. I will contact them if I have not received payment by then.

I was referring to people (like me) who had done February shops. Your payment isn't even due yet so I'm not sure how you can be telling me that I'm wrong.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2020 05:25PM by MisterBill.

@MSF wrote:

@BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz, you may want to carefully reread my comments. I stand behind everything I said. I said that I would have expected Lorri to intervene more directly based on her relationship with both Tom and shoppers. Her initial statement was that she "e-mailed everyone she knew," which made it seem as though she took a hands-off approach in dealing with the situation. I also said that it was my GUESS that KSS had already been paid. I did not make false accusations.

You're being awfully fine in your justifying what you said and failing to take responsibility for it now that you've been proven to be wrong.

@MisterBill, do you not understand the difference between the following?

"I think it is going to rain this afternoon."

"It is going to rain this afternoon."

I was paid today for a shop I did in April.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@MSF wrote:

@MisterBill, do you not understand the difference between the following?

"I think it is going to rain this afternoon."

"It is going to rain this afternoon."

Yes and in both cases I would say "Oops I guess I was wrong" when it didn't.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I was paid today for a shop I did in April.

Wow, nice! I got paid for my February shops.

@MisterBill wrote:

@AZwolfman wrote:

@MisterBill wrote:

Or maybe they prioritized paying the people who were due reimbursement. None of mine were reimbursement.

No, that's not it. I am owed over $500 in reimbursement from the sole shop I did in mid-March. I should be paid for the shop by June 15, according to their stated pay schedule. I will contact them if I have not received payment by then.
I was referring to people (like me) who had done February shops. Your payment isn't even due yet so I'm not sure how you can be telling me that I'm wrong.

Please calm down; you said "MAYBE they prioritized..." Therefore I did not accuse you of being wrong. I merely said that they were apparently not paying shoppers owed reimbursements first, since they still owed me more than $500 reimbursement for my mid-March shop.

MSF responds--Lorri recruits people for Tom, her friend of 23 years.

Bob's take--While I have neither personal knowledge nor have I read this in the past, it seems logical she would attempt to assist a friend.

MSF continues--She is not in charge of running Tom's business. As a courtesy though, she could contact her friend Tom about the situation, rather than just forwarding e-mails.

Bob's agreement--Yes, she had the ability, but obviously chose, which was her prerogative, to forward.

MSF further states--Simply forwarding e-mails is a very hands-off approach.

Bob's agrees--Yes, but one I also would have taken for expedience.

MSF closes-- KSS partnered with HSB on these shops. So Lorri has the obligation to make a decent effort to see that the shoppers she recruited get paid.

Bob disagrees--An independent scheduler's obligation is to their client, in this case SS.

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