Check out the Better Business Bureau website for horror stories about their "survey" business!!!

Believe it or not....IPSOS is one of the better MSC out there, especially when it comes to paying on time. Unfortunately with such low bar of entry requirement we tend to attract tons of people with false assumptions and wrong attitudes, got the wrong result, get rejected to the jobs and get frustrated, thus the bad reviews.

I'm not going to bother looking. I already know they have glitchy surveys and you sometimes get nothing for completing one. They frequently quote X minutes when the survey requires substantially longer. And, the pay is usually too low to bother. BUT, they are ALL like that. Pinecone is a little better but I don't even recommend them since they pay new folks a fraction of what they used to pay (I'm grandfathered in).

kise states--IPSOS is one of the better MSC out there, especially when it comes to paying on time.

Bob comments--When I was contracted with Ipsos, I was always paid quickly and on time. ALL of the companies with whom I complete work pay me on time, but not necessarily quickly. HS Brands, AKA Service Sleuth, has always paid me as agreed, but never quickly. My experience is that most MSCs will provide two of the following: Quick pay, as agreed and/or high dollar. but not all three. Each shopper must decide what is important to their situation.

A final example: Curinos, AKA Informa, pays me the best work:money ratio of my 22 yrs. shopping, but it does not arrive for approx. 40 day.

Predicated upon Cool's comment, I checked my log and learned the 10 computer shops I completed for Curinos were paid in an average of 31.5 days.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2025 10:10PM by shopperbob.

@shopperbob wrote:

A final example: Curinos, AKA Informa, pays me the best work:money ratio of my 22 yrs. shopping, but it does not arrive for approx. 40 days.

I've done a handful for Curinos which paid a bit quicker. Agreed re: the value. Jobs are easy and their people are class acts.

I've visited the BBB site and saw the bad reviews when I was going through an issue with them. I prefer not to do business with them and I'm sure there's others that feel the same but work with them anyway since they have so much available work.

Ipsos is my top msc lately. The main scheduler I use for most shops is lovely, if there are unclear instructions I can get a reply quickly to my questions and of course pay is quick and in many cases better than the bottom feeders out there. I would prefer to diversify my mystery shopping to other companies but in the past few years I have found very few opportunities at other companies that meet my standards and interests. Several of my past favorite companies no longer have jobs in my city or their reimbursements have not kept up with costs.

I agree. Ipsos have been pretty much straight forward. No hidden surprises either positive or negative. Are you sure the survey business is theirs? It could be they're just promoting it on their website w/o involved in it. I used to get those from other companies and never wasted my time. Especially the BS "a chance to win one of 5 gift cards."

IPSOS is a huge company doing many different things. I have even seen their name on political polls on news shows. I don't think you can judge the entire company on a few bad parts.

I have worked for Ipsos in the past with no problems, but today I had to cancel a bonused shop that is due tomorrow. It was bonused for $75. I have worked a shop just like it for them in the past so I know the report. I went to check the guidelines and that was fine. Then, I went to view the report. Instead of showing the full report, it only asked to upload the business card and pictures. Then, it just had submit. There was no place for any report. I sent an email to Ipsos and reported the glitch. I tried to access the report on my cellphone, my laptop and my pad. I got the same short report on all three devices. I am not going to work this shop and not be able to fill out the report. I sent another email telling them to cancel the shop and explained the reason. I still haven't received a response.

I had this problem once before a few years ago. I don't know what causes it. Has anyone else had this problem?

Did you print to PDF to see what the report saved like? I have seen a problem with Sassie before (not often). I could tell when I printed to PDF because that is when the other sections showed up.

Is the BBB rating the best barometer for a company? I noticed that Microsoft has rating of F with the BBB and Apple did not have a letter grade, but a rating of 1.12 stars out of the max 5. Ipsos is a large company and they are involved in polls like @ShopperGirly mentioned. I saw their name on several polls during the last election.

@salisburync wrote:

Check out the Better Business Bureau website for horror stories about their "survey" business!!!

Ipsos has always been good to me. Pays out faster than anyone else. Sometimes delayed with their reviews but overall I am very happy to work with them.

I've since learned that TrustPilot.com is a good barometer.

PS/not affiliated, just a user there.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2025 07:24AM by BarefootBliss.

114 complaints in 3 years. They are not doing everything right. I just did some exit interviews for them at a gas station. good money. If you get paid. I worked 10 shifts of 4 hours at $160. I have made no money with Ispos this year. After one shift the Presto Shopper app decided that they need my tax info and shut the app off for a day and a half. I submitted the tas information. I had a typo and had to correct my zip code. I recorded the information manually. Used pen and paper. Got all the information that was needed and took the time stamped photos. When Presto activated me the survey was missing. I could not fill it in.
Ispos is deneyini payment on a different shop also. We are asking people about their experience in The convenience store. If the customer has a receipt Ispos wants a copy. If they don't have a receipt it is acceptable.. They said the receipt was blurry and asked for another copy.. The link that they gave me to correct it did not work. Same thing for a typo. When asked what could make the experience better one person said,"Cheaper.?I had a typo and put chesper. The link they sent me to correct did not work. They also told the customers they would get a $10 virtual amazon gift card in 5 days..After 2 weeks no-one had gotten one. I got cheated out of $320.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2025 02:22AM by crockett53.

@crockett53 Sorry this happened to you. When did this take place?

A couple of important things to note about the complaints The ones I looked at are related to the survey portion of the business. The majority of the people that post on this forum are doing mystery shopping and not the surveys. Also, I looked at the most recent complaints and of the first 8, 2 are recent and seem like they are being looked into; 5 have been resolved, and 1 has not. You didn't mention that some complaints have been resolved and that seems important.

Presto would need your tax info before you can claim any other shops because any new jobs claimed would potentially put you over the $600 threshold if the shop is approved. Did you shut the app off for a day and a half? There isn't a reason to do this and it wouldn't make sense that they would shut it down. You would still be able to view shops on the app, but you wouldn't be allowed to claim anything until you submit your paperwork.

How would you know if people you interviewed at a convenience store didn't receive a gift card 2 weeks later?

What did Ipsos say when you reached out to them about the glitches and non-payment. I have had mystery shopping tasks where I submitted typos and I've never been asked to fix them. The editor might mention it, but with Presto there isn't a grade assigned. They do kick shops back if there are missing photos or a section, like comments, are not filled out correctly or doesn't make sense.

I've had this issue with other MSC's. I communicate timely and clearly, and only ask for clarification if needed to respect everyone's time. If I get no reply/clarification, I cancel rather than putting in the time, miles and desired data, only to have my compensation denied due to the very issue that was beyond my control. It's happened too many times to repeat the risk.

really love ipsos. they review their shops pretty quickly. they also used to pay very fast till like last december. nowadays they take longer and longer to pay. would actually prefer if they had a pay schedule the stuck too and not just pay on random days.

They pay basically by Tuesday each week for the shops received/edited/finalized the prior week. I got paypal payment today (monday) for shops completed last week. But you can count on it by Tuesday.

During November/December, they pay 2x per week. It's only during those months that they do that.

You want to say "longer and longer", go do a HS Brands or Sentry Marketing shop :-P

@joedor101 wrote:

really love ipsos. they review their shops pretty quickly. they also used to pay very fast till like last december. nowadays they take longer and longer to pay. would actually prefer if they had a pay schedule the stuck too and not just pay on random days.

hbbi...I disagree. Ipsos does not pay every Tuesday for.....In fact, Just today (Tuesday), I have 13 shops left unpaid although they have been marked "received" since last Monday...that's 8 days....The 26.2 mile gas stations routinely take 3 or 4 weeks to pay, and the Chinese Fast Food restaurants take 2-3 weeks to pay. Their saving grace (in light of low fees) was that they paid quickly. Now, they don't even do that...and don't argue with them about the validity of a shop if YOU know YOU are right....chances are they will get their feathers ruffled and ban you from their system, or certain clients.

Agreed. They have really fallen off the wagon. The 26.2 Mile gas stations use to be pretty quick and easy, and edited quickly. Last round I did took 2.5 weeks on average to be edited, and there were a very long list of mistakes. The new program manager (a transplant from Bare) isn't interested in fixing the editing errors or errors in the updated guildelines, so...good riddance!

@salisburync wrote:

hbbi...I disagree. Ipsos does not pay every Tuesday for.....In fact, Just today (Tuesday), I have 13 shops left unpaid although they have been marked "received" since last Monday...that's 8 days....The 26.2 mile gas stations routinely take 3 or 4 weeks to pay, and the Chinese Fast Food restaurants take 2-3 weeks to pay. Their saving grace (in light of low fees) was that they paid quickly. Now, they don't even do that...and don't argue with them about the validity of a shop if YOU know YOU are right....chances are they will get their feathers ruffled and ban you from their system, or certain clients.

I do NOT do gas stations, so I cannot comment on quickness/slowness of shop pay. They do pay weekly. The shops have to be edited and approved to be paid. The Chinese food shops are paid quicker towards the end of the period because they have a deadline they have to finish. The Chinese food shops take longer in the beginning of a period because it's not their highest priority.

Maybe these gas station shops are not due monthly and can "sit" longer waiting to be edited/approved.

I did a stagecoach bank teller shop last week and was paid monday for it (less than 7 days). I have a few Chinese food shops this week and know it will take a couple weeks for those.

Yes, we can complain about Ipsos. No MSC is perfect. They have gotten quite large and more than likely do not have enough resources to edit/approve the vast number of shops. Think of who their clients are and how many shops are being done at all these national chains.

I appreciate the shops I do for them. I am super-selective and am happy with the time frame I am paid in.

I guess if enough people get frustrated, they will stop shopping for them. That will either cause them to address these issues or pay the remaining shoppers more $ to get these shops done on time.

@Momomomo wrote:

Is the BBB rating the best barometer for a company? I noticed that Microsoft has rating of F with the BBB and Apple did not have a letter grade, but a rating of 1.12 stars out of the max 5. Ipsos is a large company and they are involved in polls like @ShopperGirly mentioned. I saw their name on several polls during the last election.

Nope....Not at all...First of alll BBB is nothing but just a private base company that will do something that try to "resolve the issue" but has absolutely no power over anyone. Secondly the rating can be paid and altered. Lastly, with the way the website structure it is meant to attract bad review to begin with, especially when it is the infamous internet based.

So no, it is far from the best barometer for any company, whatsoever. Maybe when it first started out, but over the years, it has been corrupted as well

My review of Ipsos...... I love you man!