Removed

@Hihi wrote:

I’m tired of ipsos doing what they want like not paying shoppers at all for no reason or paying late and just saying sorry. No one ever gets back. They cheat shoppers out of pay regularly for shops done correctly.

Facts not in evidence.

40 hours a week? I do that in 2 days most of the time. I range 80-120 a week. If I’m awake, I’m working. I’m only checking this post because I’m taking a break.

@Hihi wrote:

40 hours a week? I do that in 2 days most of the time. I range 80-120 a week. If I’m awake, I’m working. I’m only checking this post because I’m taking a break.

When I studied mathematics, I learned that 80 to 100 is indeed well over 40.

@Rousseau wrote:

@ColoKate63 wrote:

“If you’re in a situation where you don’t even blink if you’re paid a month late, well, nice for you but pretty cruel to be so cavalier about others.”

EXACTLY.

Not only does it belie a callousness, it also demonstrates a lack of knowledge regarding how big routes can quickly limit finances. (It must be nice to be a hobbyist who collects a pension and only does shops “for fun” and “to get out of the house.”)

I do not collect a pension. I operate a business. I am a professional, not a hobbyist. Like any business owner, I devote well over 40 hours per week to my business. I typically shop a two-state area, but regularly do shops across a ten state swat.

It is presumptuous to think that people are lacking knowledge or hobbyists. And I am hardly callous. It would be proper to remove your insinuations.

Why, yes, and I’m a 6’2” supermodel married to a famous rock star. I have a MD, a Ph.D., MBA, and two Ferraris. And a Lear jet.

<<massive eyeroll>>

On an anonymized Internet forum, you can play-pretend to be anything you like. (Going back through posting history is VERY interesting to see who someone REALLY is.)

Payments are one day late. Last time this happened, they paid Friday. I'm expecting a couple of thousand, and yes I need the money now. But it's not time to panic and throw aspersions at those who dont.

What? The only reason for the “aspersions” was the implication that anyone who needs the money when promised should be in another BUSINESS. Plenty of people don’t need the money ASAP, but they don’t tell people who do that they’re incompetent and stupid if they can’t wait 30 days or more. Particularly since there are historic health, social, and financial pressures on some people.
And last time they were late, some of us didn’t receive our pay on Friday as promised, btw.
I’m not panicked either, just worried it will be a trend related to other trends. But I sure hope it won’t be.

@mystery2me wrote:

Payments are one day late. Last time this happened, they paid Friday. I'm expecting a couple of thousand, and yes I need the money now. But it's not time to panic and throw aspersions at those who dont.

An observation:

Many times here in this forum, I’ve come across payment issues involving companies that I don’t perform work for. BestMark and Cirrus are some recent examples.

It’s a jerk move to jump in, keyboard blazing, and start blaming the shoppers who aren’t getting paid as “panicking” or “not businesslike.” Double jerk move to start pontificating about how You Alone are the consummate businessperson.

There are mystery shoppers who now can’t pay daycare bills, who have overdue rent, and who counted on IPSOS’ reputation and massive size to reimburse them according to the contract they mutually agreed upon.

The Jerk Move is a 100% unnecessary response that only serves one purpose: to disrupt the thread and to put a spotlight on the Oh-So-Wonderful Know-It-All.

Why not do as 99.9% of the uninvolved do, and scroll on by?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2022 04:48PM by ColoKate63.

I defend Ipsos a lot on this board, maybe too much. After all, I make a lot of money off of them. But, since I got this email, I have done google searches for other paypal issues yesterday. Surely, if it was a Paypal issue, it would not be exclusive to Ipsos, right? I have found nothing in these searches.

Hello all.

This may be a PayPal/Banking issue. My observations and experience concerning this today:

I have several completed evaluations currently set in the Payment Pending status (1:04 P.M. eastern).

I received the Delayed Payment notice yesterday just before 6 P.M eastern time Tuesday the 21st.

Separate from Ipsos and involving two PayPal accounts, several payments on invoices have been received yesterday and earlier today and have been posted to these PayPal accounts. They are marked "available" funds in the PayPal app but a retail purchase attempt made today with the PayPal debit card has been declined, and a fuel purchase attempt failed with the "see cashier" prompt. Immediate transfers from PayPal into both personal and business bank accounts do not complete, and withdraws attempted at two local Bank ATMs from the PayPal debit card were declined due to insufficient funds.

Oddly, a withdrawal from an ATM (not MoneyPass) at the convenience store where the fuel and the in-store retail purchases were declined was funded with no issue, and the balances on the ATM receipt show as available in the correct amount.

Cheers.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2022 05:47PM by merchandiserworkmail.com.

No. Rousseau has been posting on this Forum for years. I do not believe that anyone is paying him. I am not taking sides on what he is or is not saying, but I am sure that no one is paying him to say what he says.

@Hihi wrote:

Does anyone else think Rousseau is getting paid to post positive things about ipsos and be so condescending to others who post anything negative against the company, which in this case is deserved. But God forbid you are the only one with ipsos doing something to you or a few people with that issue.

Removed

My only complaint with Ipsos is their failure to communicate updates. It is now 3:23 PM on Wednesday, one day past due on the agreed payment schedule. I've received no further updates since yesterday's "delayed payment notice", and a page of complete evaluations still shows "payment pending".

I do feel an update today, mid-morning would have been best practice and good business.

Cheers

Well, we never know when it may be a scheduler, editor or company employee on this forum...for any of the MSC's. I know for fact there are several on here and because we post anonymously, we do not what screen name they may be. Not saying this is the reason for this particular person's posts, actually highly doubt it is because I have seen their posts on here for quite sometime but just saying it does happen.

IPSOS just paid me today. 6/22/2022 1:26PM PST

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2022 08:27PM by hbbigdaddy.

When there is an unfortunate event in the world do you find yourself saying “what is going on in the world?”, “when will this stop?” That is how I feel after reading thru the “judgmental” responses to this post and other similar strings.

Going with your theory: I am a professional shopper. I have both cash and credit on hand. My business consists of a high number of assignments with a large base of MS’. So according to your analogy, I am smart too as I do not put all my eggs in one basket. .

I also have common sense. Imagine calling your home lender to say “I’ll be late with my payment this month.” Your home lender asks “when you be making your payment?” Your response: “as soon as I get an update on when I will have resolution, I will let you know. The second I’m able to make my payment, I absolutely will. I am optimistic that this will be sooner rather than later.” Will this fly? No, more like sink.

As a business owner, as a matter of good practice, I keep a close eye on payments. Does it have anything to do with being undercapitalized, foolish, hardly being suited for the business or having my eggs in one basket? No. But it does have to do with being a professional shopper who runs a smart business. I don’t wait until a payment becomes 30-days past due to become at least concerned. Just like the bills we all pay, payment is due when it is due. If I do not, well then I will become complacent. And, we all know where that can lead to.

More than anything I wish posters would refrain from judging others about how they run their business when they are concerned when a MS is paying late. Is it our place to tell other shoppers how to run their business? I believe that decision falls solely on the business owner. And, quite frankly it is no one else's business unless a shopper is asking for tips. We all shop for a different reason. Let each of us walk in our own shoes. The offensive comments just muddle up the conversation. Life is short. Enjoy it. Like the song War sang back in the day “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”

@Rousseau wrote:

Hardly worth either worrying or complaining about. IPSOS proactively notified its suppliers - shoppers - that payment would be late and will be made.Late payments are part of any business' accounts payable. When they get 30 days past due - and they won't - then there will be reason to be concerned.

Its likely just the case that IPSOS forgot that Monday was a holiday and did not transfer funds from their treasury to PayPal in time for PayPal to make the distributions on Tuesday.

Anyone whose business - that of a professional shopper - is so under capitalized that they cannot deal with a late payment from a single customer - IPSOS - a payment which hardly very past due, ought consider whether they are suited to be in business.

Mystery shopping is not a job. Its a business. Every well managed business has stand-by lines of credit with banks to smooth cash flow when one their customers is tardy with payment. And every smart business knows better than to put all its eggs in one business; dependency on a single customer is foolish.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2022 09:42PM by Zek.

Now less than twenty-four hours after IPSOS notified shoppers that they were actively working through the payment situation and would quickly resolve the issue, payments have been made and they have sent out a follow-up e-mail. The sky was not falling despite the whining.

Just got paid!

I got paid. Around $200 between both platforms.

My observations are that too many people have conspiracies' as to what is going on. People often think it is an elaborate scheme to mess with the little man.

Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn't. I take what IPSOS sent at face value. There was a issue with Paypal processing. Who cares beyond that? We can't control it. What we can control is ourselves, the jobs we take and the money we keep on hand.

I am a casual shopper. I empathize with those that do this full time. People are depending on timely payment and it sucks when it doesn't come as promised. It puts people in jams. It causes a trickle effect.

IPSOS has been slipping lately. We all can see it. But they are made up of people who are trying their best. They are working under the exact same circumstances we are. In my opinion, casting blame on IPSOS is short sighted and not the best use of energy.

I am glad I got paid. I used the money to pay a credit card. I moved on and I will still take the ecommerce, mailing shops and home improvement shops. Easy money.

To the Chicken Little club: I went outside and there is some rain but the sky seems OK.

When late payments cause me serious hardship -- whether they be late by one day, one week, one month, or one year -- I would consider whether I was suited to be in this business. This is not a judgement of my competence or intelligence. Just a recognition that running a business entails risks and uncertainties, and that I might be better served with a regular job that provides relative stability.

Switching to the first person doesn’t change the judgment. Payment that’s late by a year should be no biggie to anyone doing this work?
You’re another person who apparently has no idea what the majority of people in this country not to mention the world go through, nor the myriad reasons for which people do this rather than work at McDonald’s or whatever you think anyone who can’t wait for a late check should be doing instead.
It’s also pretty condescending for you and the brilliant philosopher to suggest that people haven’t carefully weighed their options and don’t continue to do so, whether or not checks are late, early or on-time, and that we need you to tell us to think about our options and what would “better serve” us.

@mystery2me wrote:

When late payments cause me serious hardship -- whether they be late by one day, one week, one month, or one year -- I would consider whether I was suited to be in this business. This is not a judgement of my competence or intelligence. Just a recognition that running a business entails risks and uncertainties, and that I might be better served with a regular job that provides relative stability.

I think that there’s a handful of people here who would lean over a dying cancer patient and ask, “But you smoked, right?”

Stunted little humans, completely lacking in empathy.

Katie states--....and to put a spotlight on the Oh-So-Wonderful Know-It-All.

Bob inquires--That comment suggests I am not the only one. Can that be true?

I am glad Ipsos paid, albeit a little late. FWIW, I think you were right to pay attention to trends. There is nothing wrong with being alert as long as you continue to observe and gather more data as time passes and come to a logical conclusion based on the data. I doubt you would have created this thread if Ipsos has not had issues lately.

I have no idea if Paypal or Ipsos caused this delay but, as others have posted, having a relatively new federal holiday might have had something to do with it.

Anyway, let's hope for everyone's sake that Ipsos does better. The proof is in the pudding.

@Notme2021 wrote:

For the two plus years I’ve worked for Ipsos that’s never happened. Lots of holidays are on Mondays. There have only been two payments that I was expecting that didn’t come in on a Tuesday (it’s possible there were others when I hadn’t worked the previous week, but I don’t think so). One came Wednesday and they added extra more recent shops to it to make up for it, and then this year’s issue. Not a terrible average, just worrying that it hasn’t been all that long since the previous time; I just hope it won’t continue to get more frequent. The fact they’re cutting pay at the same time just makes it more concerning. Plus I was counting on it.

@JohnInNC wrote:

@Notme2021 wrote:

They sorta blame it on PayPal but don’t quite say it’s because of a PayPal issue.

Notme2021: I "did" notice Chime sent me an email two/three days ago that yesterday was officially Juneteenth, which is a recognized Federal Holiday.only since last year. Banks closed yesterday "could" cause a domino effect of funds getting to PayPal by today's usual afternoon drop....which usually occurs at 2pm for me.

ok, so I've followed this post from beginning to end and observed the tangents and put-downs and implications. I am basically a career shopper. I don't have multiple income streams yet, but I am working on it. I started investing in the stock market (via stockpile) during COVID and have not stopped. I have not withdrawn ANYTHING, even when I am broke and need money or when prices fall (the value of my stocks drop) I have not panicked and sold off stocks at a low price. (I have 25 shares of a battery(lithium) company that has dropped to a dollar something) I have a rent house that is unfinished because I don't have 8-10 k to do the electrical work. However, I do work with MULTIPLE MSPs on various pay schedules. I do give IPSOS the majority of my IC work because they offer the assignments I like to do for a reasonable price. Occasionally, they pay well. Sometimes they don't and I skip shops that are too grossly underpaid. Considering the MF fiasco about a year ago I keep every CPI now. (I didn't before that). But I still work for them. Why? Because as a whole they tend to "pay as agreed". Do I know exactly what day I will be paid each month? NO! But generally as a rule it is between the 20th -25th. I also work for CI which pays monthly and not weekly. Now back to the IPSOS thing. I do shops every week for IPSOS. As a general rule, I usually make something rather than nothing from IPSOS even when it's slow. Following my shop log, looking at shop date submitted, shop date actually paid, and date edited, there is not a valid prediction from date shop to date paid other than to say I am usually paid within 3 weeks of the original shop date! Have I ever had a shop rejected by IPSOS? Absolutely, Remember the interim when the green and white station was on the USA portal? I lost one of my green and whites out of town. Was I happy about it? absolutely not. But I do keep up with rejected shops and write the cost of doing that shop off as a business loss on my taxes. ( I am not a scheduler) I get paid from IPSOS on Fridays and at the beginning of the week and I don't know which shops get paid when... But what really confuses me is that since I don't know exactly how much /which shops I will be paid for on a given date with IPSOS (until I see "payment pending" how is it that there is so much panicking and driveling over a one-day pay delay (yes, I got paid yesterday too and it was "hundreds" of dollars (over the 5 mark)? It brings to mind the aphorism." in a perfect world"...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2022 06:00PM by F and L TeleComm.

Edited above for grammar and punctuation.

Why does everyone need to show how “responsible” they are in order to comment on this?

Ipsos has a policy for Sassie that all shops approved through Friday are paid the following Tuesday. (It may be 11 PM Friday, or 11:59 PM). This policy has been in writing via emails; I’m not sure if it’s in the contract as some people have said. That’s how we know what we should be paid on Tuesday. I don’t know why you don’t see that pattern, but it’s there. There was a time when sometimes they paid faster (paid for shops that were approved on Saturday), but that’s pretty rare now. It even says in the PayPal note that it was shops approved through X date (the previous Friday).

I don’t do as much work on the Shopmetrics platform but I believe it’s the same timeline, though those shops tend to take longer to be approved.

@F and L TeleComm wrote:

ok, so I've followed this post from beginning to end and observed the tangents and put-downs and implications. I am basically a career shopper. I don't have multiple income streams yet, but I am working on it. I started investing in the stock market (via stockpile) during COVID and have not stopped. I have not withdrawn ANYTHING, even when I am broke and need money or when prices fall (the value of my stocks drop) I have not panicked and sold off stocks at a low price. (I have 25 shares of a battery(lithium) company that has dropped to a dollar something) I have a rent house that is unfinished because I don't have 8-10 k to do the electrical work. However, I do work with MULTIPLE MSPs on various pay schedules. I do give IPSOS the majority of my IC work because they offer the assignments I like to do for a reasonable price. Occasionally, they pay well. Sometimes they don't and I skip shops that are too grossly underpaid. Considering the MF fiasco about a year ago I keep every CPI now. (I didn't before that). But I still work for them. Why? Because as a whole they tend to "pay as agreed". Do I know exactly what day I will be paid each month? NO! But generally as a rule it is between the 20th -25th. I also work for CI which pays monthly and not weekly. Now back to the IPSOS thing. I do shops every week for IPSOS. As a general rule, I usually make something rather than nothing from IPSOS even when it's slow. Following my shop log, looking at shop date submitted, shop date actually paid, and date edited, there is not a valid prediction from date shop to date paid other than to say I am usually paid within 3 weeks of the original shop date! Have I ever had a shop rejected by IPSOS? Absolutely, Remember the interim when the green and white station was on the USA portal? I lost one of my green and whites out of town. Was I happy about it? absolutely not. But I do keep up with rejected shops and write the cost of doing that shop off as a business loss on my taxes. ( I am not a scheduler) I get paid from IPSOS on Fridays and at the beginning of the week and I don't know which shops get paid when... But what really confuses me is that since I don't know exactly how much /which shops I will be paid for on a given date with IPSOS (until I see "payment pending" how is it that there is so much panicking and driveling over a one-day pay delay (yes, I got paid yesterday too and it was "hundreds" of dollars (over the 5 mark)? It brings to mind the aphorism." in a perfect world"...

Point taken. But what about shops that somehow get "stuck" in the system and don't get edited for a period of time? We've had two shops that I distinctly remember having to send an email because they were in "limbo-land". it was promptly fixed and paid but still, it happens. There are editing delays sometimes. Again, "in a perfect world"... I know for a fact, based upon my shop log that shops are sometimes paid on the following week and sometimes not. In some of the shops I get paid within a week, some just over a week, and some have taken longer. I am too busy to sit and analyze it every single week. A few weeks ago I did an overnight route to Augusta (Wednesday evening through Friday) I was paid for some the next week and some 2 weeks later. (On the same route). I'm looking at my shop log right now "shop submitted 6-03 paid 6-7 (4 days turn around) Shop submitted 6- 2, Paid 6-14 (12-day turn around), shop submitted 6-6 paid 6-14 (8 days turn around), Shop submitted 6-13 paid 6-22 (9 days turn around) I have unpaid shops on my board right now that say 6-15 and they are not paid. Granted that normally shops done the same day were normally paid together. However, I have also noticed that the blue gas station that requires every single pump to be photographed is normally paid quicker than the blue and red Indian sign station. Upon reviewing my payment history in PayPal I've shown a payment on a Thursday this year and a payment on a Monday this year. (with an incomplete search) Thus my conclusion is that the system is not 100%.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2022 07:07PM by F and L TeleComm.

I never said it was 100%. I said that the dates are based on approval date, not shop date, and that the policy in Sassie is to pay for all shops approved by sometime Friday night. I said that occasionally they paid faster (a nice surprise which is of course different from late pay). I was paid on the Monday following the last late payment; some were paid on Friday or both days. I’m not aware of any other Friday or Monday pay except that possibly early January was still on the holiday schedule.
(Presto shops are paid on Mondays and Thursdays, but that’s separate).

I don’t really know what you’re arguing. You’re saying we didn’t know how much we should earn, I explained how we did know. I know each and every week, except that occasionally (but not lately) I’m surprised with later shops being included. If shops are stuck in editing then I know I won’t be paid for them yet. I don’t analyze anything. If it has has been edited (which I can see in Sassie), I will be paid.

Yes, the blue stations (until around a month ago) were usually edited within minutes. I never knew if that was Ipsos’ instructions to Wordsmith Pros or that WSP paid a bit better for those, or what. They’ve slowed down, sigh.

@F and L TeleComm wrote:

Point taken. But what about shops that somehow get "stuck" in the system and don't get edited for a period of time? We've had two shops that I distinctly remember having to send an email because they were in "limbo-land". it was promptly fixed and paid but still, it happens. There are editing delays sometimes. Again, "in a perfect world"... I know for a fact, based upon my shop log that shops are sometimes paid on the following week and sometimes not. In some of the shops I get paid within a week, some just over a week, and some have taken longer. I am too busy to sit and analyze it every single week. A few weeks ago I did an overnight route to Augusta (Wednesday evening through Friday) I was paid for some the next week and some 2 weeks later. (On the same route). I'm looking at my shop log right now "shop submitted 6-03 paid 6-7 (4 days turn around) Shop submitted 6- 2, Paid 6-14 (12-day turn around), shop submitted 6-6 paid 6-14 (8 days turn around), Shop submitted 6-13 paid 6-22 (9 days turn around) I have unpaid shops on my board right now that say 6-15 and they are not paid. Granted that normally shops done the same day were normally paid together. However, I have also noticed that the blue gas station that requires every single pump to be photographed is normally paid quicker than the blue and red Indian sign station. Upon reviewing my payment history in PayPal I've shown a payment on a Thursday this year and a payment on a Monday this year. (with an incomplete search) Thus my conclusion is that the system is not 100%.