I have been a mystery shopper for many years and I feel it is the lifeblood of this business to pass the word on the good mystery shopping companies as well as the bad ones.

The mystery shopping companies I am mentioning all have facebook pages, so I am not violating any disclosure rules by mentioning them publicly.

Bare International: They have good paying shops and pay quickly. Whatever you do in one month you get paid on by the 20th of the next month. Absolutely responsive to any concerns!

Informars: These guys have several out of the box mystery shops that pay extremely well. The support system and response time is awesome!

Research Services Group: Another one with good paying shops that pays quickly. They will work with you should you have any questions.

Sentry Marketing: Avoid this company at all cost! Did one shop for them and never went back. Expected an 11 page survey, that took an hour and a half to fill out, for a $30 shop. To top it off refused to pay me because my opinion, which they asked for in an opinion portion of the survey, was too mean. Not that it was poorly written, not that it contained any foul language, but that it was too mean. I have been shopping for years, this is the only shop I have ever not been paid for.

Remember, this info is based on my personal experiences with these companies. I do absolutely feel that as mystery shoppers we should share the info with each other as often as possible as long as we are not violating the disclosure rules of the contracts we all signed.

I love to mystery shop and I hope you all do as well.

Good Morning! Multiple posting of the same info is not necessary...

Why don't you just title the thread, "I hate Sentry!" ?

In all fairness, there are shops with many of the above MSCs that are WAY worse than some of the options being offered by Sentry. I can make a list of 20 companies to avoid at all costs because of unfair business practices, and Sentry would not be on it.

I get it that Dave's attitude may turn some folks off, but in my experience, Sentry operates in a professional manner. They offer training and feedback, and will actually respond to you if there's a problem, then pay you relatively close to the due date.

I have no financial stake in this, unless you count the $2.60 in profit I made from my last shop, but that shop consisted of less than 1/2 page of writing and took me all of 12 minutes to complete, and netted me a free lunch. It just depends on the shops you take.

MrComputer101: Sorry new to this board and did not see this forum regarding good and bad shops until after I had posted to the other forum and wanted to put it in the right spot.

SteveSoCal: You are absolutely, 100% entitled to your opinion. The majority of shoppers so far have seen the posting as honest and a positive. I did list three good companies and then one bad so it is not all about Sentry.

Have a good one. Keep shopping.

DGutz: I think your feedback is your honest opinion and respect that, but the multiple postings came across as if you were bashing a particular MSC.

If you have feedback on Bare; Please post it in the Bare thread. Same goes for all of the other MSCs you want to share about. When you start a new thread with a generic topic, it gets confusing and hard to see a appropriate amount of feedback.

When all input for a particular MSC is in one place, readers can see a multitude of responses and make a decision to work with a company based on that.

My opinion is that when a shopper finds this forum and utilizes it they can know more about the shopping industry and some of the great things they can accomplish and make money to. The retail industry has improved customer service a great deal because of the Mystery Shopping industry. I enjoy what I do and suggest it as an alternative income to a lot of people. Once a shopper finds this and other forums they can improve their business a lot. Most companies are honest and easy to work with. The ones that are a pain will be found here quite quickly. If there is enough smoke there has to be a fire somewhere. I have turned down work offered to me because of a company receiving consistently bad reports on this forum. You know if I post a company is good it is my personal opinion but for the most part other people think they are good too. I am taking off the next three days for an overdue vacation. My mystery shopping company is footing the bill for 3 days in Key West Fl. I love my job.

DGutz01 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have been a mystery shopper for many years and I
> feel it is the lifeblood of this business to pass
> the word on the good mystery shopping companies as
> well as the bad ones.
>
> The mystery shopping companies I am mentioning all
> have facebook pages, so I am not violating any
> disclosure rules by mentioning them publicly.
>
> Bare International: They have good paying shops
> and pay quickly. Whatever you do in one month you
> get paid on by the 20th of the next month.
> Absolutely responsive to any concerns!
>
> Informars: These guys have several out of the box
> mystery shops that pay extremely well. The support
> system and response time is awesome!
>
> Research Services Group: Another one with good
> paying shops that pays quickly. They will work
> with you should you have any questions.
>
> Sentry Marketing: Avoid this company at all cost!
> Did one shop for them and never went back.
> Expected an 11 page survey, that took an hour and
> a half to fill out, for a $30 shop. To top it off
> refused to pay me because my opinion, which they
> asked for in an opinion portion of the survey, was
> too mean. Not that it was poorly written, not that
> it contained any foul language, but that it was
> too mean. I have been shopping for years, this is
> the only shop I have ever not been paid for.
>
> Remember, this info is based on my personal
> experiences with these companies. I do absolutely
> feel that as mystery shoppers we should share the
> info with each other as often as possible as long
> as we are not violating the disclosure rules of
> the contracts we all signed.
>
> I love to mystery shop and I hope you all do as
> well.


Payment for this assignment has not been refused. There was a bonus attached to this assignment that was contingent upon the assignment being submitted the same day. The assignment was not submitted the same day. This shopper is scheduled to be paid the fee and reimbursement for this assignment.

The shopper was provided feedback regard comments made in the "In Your Opinion" section of the shop. The comment in question was:

"IF you can get over the absolute filth of the restaurant then you will have an enjoyable experience."

There is a right way and a wrong way to convey subjective feedback and the vast majority of experienced shoppers know the difference.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2011 09:57AM by Sentry Marketing.

Hello one and all, I am the person that made this original post and I absolutely stand by it.

I was asked to state, in the opinion part of the survey, how I would personally describe/recommend the restaurant to a friend. 100% this is how I would have described the restaurant to a friend.

The restaurant in question had chunks of food on the carpet in front of and underneath every table in the place. Additionally there was napkins and crayons under multiple tables. There was dried feces on the diaper changing table in the restroom. And all I have given is the short list of the uncleanliness that I observed.

I had pictures to back up what I had seen, Sentry was not interested in seeing them.

So yes, if I had been asked to recommend this place to a friend that is 100% how I would have described it.

The shop was declined 100% because of my 'mean' opinion.

I truly wish that I had checked this board and others before I did this job.
Repeatedly the name Sentry comes up as a bad company to work for. Had I looked at these boards first I would have never signed up with Sentry.

I have been doing this full time for two years now. First time a shop was declined. No one is perfect, I can mess up two. But to ask me to describe how I would recommend this place to a friend, knowing I had witnessed what I described above, and then getting mad because of the meanness of the response is what I find inappropriate.

DGutz01 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello one and all, I am the person that made this
> original post and I absolutely stand by it.
>
> I was asked to state, in the opinion part of the
> survey, how I would personally describe/recommend
> the restaurant to a friend. 100% this is how I
> would have described the restaurant to a friend.
>
> The restaurant in question had chunks of food on
> the carpet in front of and underneath every table
> in the place. Additionally there was napkins and
> crayons under multiple tables. There was dried
> feces on the diaper changing table in the
> restroom. And all I have given is the short list
> of the uncleanliness that I observed.
>
> I had pictures to back up what I had seen, Sentry
> was not interested in seeing them.
>
> So yes, if I had been asked to recommend this
> place to a friend that is 100% how I would have
> described it.
>
> The shop was declined 100% because of my 'mean'
> opinion.
>
> I truly wish that I had checked this board and
> others before I did this job.
> Repeatedly the name Sentry comes up as a bad
> company to work for. Had I looked at these boards
> first I would have never signed up with Sentry.
>
> I have been doing this full time for two years
> now. First time a shop was declined. No one is
> perfect, I can mess up two. But to ask me to
> describe how I would recommend this place to a
> friend, knowing I had witnessed what I described
> above, and then getting mad because of the
> meanness of the response is what I find
> inappropriate.


At no time was this shopper informed that the fee and reimbursement for this assignment were going to be withheld. In addition, this shopper was not told that this assignment was rejected or declined.

This shopper will be paid the fee and reimbursement for this shop. The bonus for this shop was withheld because the shop was turned in after the deadline specified to receive the bonus. I cannot find any record of a communication to this shopper to indicate otherwise.

The status of this shop is "Accepted". The shop has been published and sent to our client. The shopper will be paid for this shop.

On Tuesday, May 24, 2011 this shopper forwarded a copy of the shop feedback and payment confirmation that we send each shopper upon publication and release of their shop. The email was sent to our shopper support email address and it clearly states the total shopper payment. Moreover, the communication does not state that the assignment was rejected or that payment is being withheld.

We have no record of the shopper stating that she has pictures of the restaurant nor would we have requested to see pictures. The issue that was brought to the shopper's attention in the shop feedback had to do with the manner in which she conveyed her opinion and nothing else. Overall, the shop was well written.

Dgutz, if you have any communication indicating that the shop was rejected and that we do not intend to pay you for this shop, please send me the communication via email so that I may review it.

If anybody has additional questions about this issue, I may be reached at dave@sentrymarketing.com.

Thanks

Dave Agius, President
The Sentry Marketing Group

Anybody want to see the pictures? The name of the restaurant is not visible nor is there any identifying items in the pictures that would identify the restaurant. Provide an email, happy to send them to you.

Reading this thread this is what I am getting:

Shopper signed up to do a report for Sentry. The report was a lot of work. The shopper turned in the report after the deadline. The shopper was informed that because the shop was late, they would not be paid an agreed upon bonus, although they would still receive the base pay and the reimbursement. The shopper was also given feedback that the way they phrased their opinion was too harsh (and/or mean). The shopper was offended by the feedback, as well as by the fact that they were not being paid the bonus and decided to post negative feedback (in multiple places) about Sentry in return.

Let me know if I am misunderstanding anything.

Yup, misunderstood a bunch.

My original post was about good and bad companies in my experience.

Did not get much feedback on the good companies but a whole lot, both pro and con, regarding Sentry.

Posted in two spots on this web site only because I am new to this particular website and thought the posting belonged on one page and then realized it was a posting better fit for a different page. So it's not like the posting was in all sorts of places.

Report was turned in on time.

Report was rejected because they did not like how I would recommend the restaurant to a friend, even though they asked for my honest opinion.

Sentry is now trying to do damage control and is saying on these boards that they will pay me....hope so, however what they told me privately was quite different and they know it.

I usually check multiple boards/forums before I work for a company new to me to see if there is any negative feedback. I did not do that this time and wish that I had. There is a significant amount of negative feed back on Sentry on multiple boards/forums.

Hopefully this clears up the misunderstanding of some people regarding the facts of the situation.

MickeyB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Reading this thread this is what I am getting:
>
> Shopper signed up to do a report for Sentry. The
> report was a lot of work. The shopper turned in
> the report after the deadline. The shopper was
> informed that because the shop was late, they
> would not be paid an agreed upon bonus, although
> they would still receive the base pay and the
> reimbursement. The shopper was also given
> feedback that the way they phrased their opinion
> was too harsh (and/or mean). The shopper was
> offended by the feedback, as well as by the fact
> that they were not being paid the bonus and
> decided to post negative feedback (in multiple
> places) about Sentry in return.
>
> Let me know if I am misunderstanding anything.


Mickey,

Your understanding of the situation is totally accurate.

First, the assignment was never rejected.

I cannot find any outbound communication from our company to the shopper to indicate that the shop was rejected and payment will not be made. I have asked the shopper to send me any communication that led them to believe the shop was being rejected.

I did find an email which was sent to our support email address on 5/24. The email was a forwarded copy of the feedback and payment summary email that we send every shopper after a shop is published. This communication clearly indicates that the Total Payment amount for this assignment is $30.

The assignment was due on 5/20 and not submitted until 5/21. The shop was submitted after 6PM on 5/21.

The pay for this shop was not impacted by the comments referred to in the shopper feedback. The shopper filed a support ticket on 5/23 questioning why the bonus was not visible in the assignment history. We replied on 5/25 and informed the shopper that the assignment was not submitted on 5/20 and the bonus would not be paid because the initial submission was after the stated deadline.

I do not understand why this shopper believes that they will not be paid for this assignment. Despite the fact that this shopper has posted inaccurate information about our company, they will receive a check for this assignment.

The shopper may contact me directly at dave@sentrymarketing.com if there are further questions about this issue.

Dave

David Agius, President
The Sentry Marketing Group
dave@sentrymarketing.com

My understanding of the facts of Sentry is that someone has way too much time on his hands to be lurking here so constantly. Either that or some stoolies are keeping us under observation.

I still liken Sentry to green bean casserole and I say to hell with both of them.

This sounds logical and right on....as long as he is getting paid and report was accepted, this shouldn't be such a big deal...so, they didn't like what you said, learn from it and move on. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Reading this thread this is what I am getting:
>
> Shopper signed up to do a report for Sentry. The
> report was a lot of work. The shopper turned in
> the report after the deadline. The shopper was
> informed that because the shop was late, they
> would not be paid an agreed upon bonus, although
> they would still receive the base pay and the
> reimbursement. The shopper was also given
> feedback that the way they phrased their opinion
> was too harsh (and/or mean). The shopper was
> offended by the feedback, as well as by the fact
> that they were not being paid the bonus and
> decided to post negative feedback (in multiple
> places) about Sentry in return.
>
> Let me know if I am misunderstanding anything.

Irene_L.A. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This sounds logical and right on....as long as he
> is getting paid and report was accepted, this
> shouldn't be such a big deal...so, they didn't
> like what you said, learn from it and move on.

> --------------------------------------------------
But the issue here for the shopper was that the shopper did not believe she was getting paid for the assignment, she was not specifically upset that the editor did not like her opinion. She believed she was NOT GETTING PAID AT ALL because the editor did not like her opinion. Now that Dave has told everyone that the report was submitted to the client and the shopper will be paid, it is a non-issue, but the issue the shopper presented was not that she was asked for an opinion, gave it, and the editor did not approve of her wording, it was that the shopper believed she was not being paid.

I have done 9 shops for Sentry 2 had minor deductions all were published and either have beenpaid or are pending. I also have another shop to do and will continue to work for sentry as I have no problems dealing with them.

Would it be possible for the OP to share what exactly they were told/what communication they were given that led he/she to believe they were not getting paid for their work?

I agree, the shopper's belief that they were not going to get paid appears to be the crux of the issue, and there is a lot of he said/she said going on right now.

The shopper says they were told they would not be paid. Dave says they were not told this. It seems that this might get cleared up if the shopper shares with us what exactly was said to them that made them believe they would not be paid. I understand that this might be a confidential matter, although it seems it would not be since Dave posted what the shopper wrote as the "opinion" in controversy and the shopper is willing to share pictures.