BestMark not paying

BestMark not paying - RESOLVED

I want to make everyone aware that BestMark is engaging in deceitful practices.

In my 20+ years of mystery shopping, I've never had issues like this with any other company.

BestMark has been consistently late with payments for my regular hotel shops (3x per week at numerous locations), and once they even sent the monthly payment as a gift card instead of a Paypal payment, blaming me for having changed the selection of the type of payment even though I never changed anything.

They still haven't paid my last Paypal payment (should have been paid on June 20th) and now owe me $2500 for approved shops. I've sent many emails to both the scheduler and director of operations, both of them ignoring me and haven't replied to a single email.

All tasks were submitted on time and approved by their QA team.

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Gift card? What a slap in the face. I thought Secret Shopper was bad.

Please don't feed the MSF trolls!

Feeding the MSF trolls bread or other human food is detrimental to their health and the environment. It can lead to malnutrition, disease, and behavioral problems in trolls, as well as water pollution and the spread of pests. Trolls are capable of finding their own food sources and don't require human assistance.

I didn't even know Bestmark was still an MSC. I thought they disappeared a long time ago. I don't mind an MSC paying late as much, as I would if they didn't pay at all. But, I understand you.

A gift card? I would have been upset.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2025 11:45PM by ArkLaMissshopping.

Wait. Let me get this correct. You allowed an MSC to accrue your payment total to $2500?

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

@maverick1 wrote:

Wait. Let me get this correct. You allowed an MSC to accrue your payment total to $2500?

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

It's important to note that payment for the previous month's tasks is issued on the 20th of the subsequent month. By this time, a significant portion of the current month's work has usually been completed. Consequently, their current delay means the outstanding balance accounts for two months of payments.

The monthly amount is substantial. While I've encountered similar high accruals with other MSCs, the crucial distinction is that they consistently made timely payments. This is the first MSC I have who doesn't pay and ghosts me.

That's strange. I have them set up for direct deposit and was paid on the 16th of May and 18th of June, no issues and no reminders needed.

NOTE: Bestmark fired me 18 yrs. ago for my refusal to accept their bottom paying shops. It is my opinion, I am able to be objective.

A few yrs. back, they were not paying shoppers. I think, but am not positive, they were placing the blame on system problems.

@shopperbob wrote:

A few yrs. back, they were not paying shoppers. I think, but am not positive, they were placing the blame on system problems.

A couple of months ago, the first time they were late (by 2-3 days) they blamed PayPal for blocking the payment and quickly processed it in two batches, fair enough at least they rectified it.

I totally get that system issues can happen. I've been chasing them with reminders for 3 weeks now and they haven't replied to a single email.

This coming from an MSC that threatens to revoke a shop's pay if you don't reply by a certain time the same or following day when they need extra details.

It seems my issue isn't isolated either: [www.reddit.com]

When the Bestmark schedulers redirect you to accounting, it's going to be a bumpy ride. All Best ark emails I receive go straight to Trash.

Bestmark was purchased by Second to None a couple years ago, after a much-discussed period of about a year where they weren't paying their shoppers. Since they were acquired, the companies merged to create the CX Group. My experience has been that they pay on time since the merger.

If you aren't getting what you need from the Bestmark team, I'd suggest you contact the CEO of CX Group, Jeff Hall, directly. His email is jeff@stn.com. He stepped in to help resolve a lot of outstanding Bestmark shopper payments in the past. Main office phone number is (734) 302-8400.

Didn't Best Mark join with STN and become CX Group? CX Group pays me by direct deposit around the 15th of each month. I don't know why Best Mark wouldn't adopt their payment schedule.

Report them to the MSPA and any platforms you sourced work from. Check places like Trustpilot, the BBB, and other reputable sources and include links to any other negative reviews Document the ghosting with times, dates, and balances.
They’ve booted other MSC’s for that kind of behavior and 3rd party platforms use that membership to vett credibility.
You can also file a formal complaint with MSPA and the BBB, both if which would be investigated.
That’s a huge sum of money to be out when you know they’re making far more from the clients.

CX Group used to have a link to the Bestmark site on their page, down at the bottom, and I see that has been removed. I don't know what the relationship is, exactly, but I would take that as concerning sign.

A week or two ago I saw apartment shops with BestMark guidelines offered on the CX Group site. My BestMark login still worked on that site but those apartment shops were not there. I don’t know what’s going on but movement may be afoot.

So a quick update, Jeff was very reactive, professional and resolved the issue within roughly half a business day.

Thank you to the person who provided his contact details.

I love a happy ending! Thanks for coming back and letting us know how things turned out. I just did a reimbursement only shop for them today but since I use groceries and I don't have to leave the house...

The first two companies I start on mystery shops were BestMark and Market Force. I am rarely picking shops from BestMark but they still in the business.

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009

I'm so glad! Jeff is a good guy. This must be a relief for you!

@lxa330 wrote:

So a quick update, Jeff was very reactive, professional and resolved the issue within roughly half a business day.

Thank you to the person who provided his contact details.

Great!

Now we hope you learned a lesson here. And that lesson should be not to place so many eggs in one basket. For heaven's sake, never, ever, allow an account due to you become so significant, let alone $2,500.

The lesson is NOT...well now that I have a contact at the MSC, gee, I can just take on unlimited shops assuming any outstanding balance will get paid.

[steps off soap box]

@lxa330 wrote:

So a quick update, Jeff was very reactive, professional and resolved the issue within roughly half a business day.

Thank you to the person who provided his contact details.

OP, feel free not to respond to the resident troll.

IMO, your post was one of the more informative and helpful ones that I've seen in the last month.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2025 01:24PM by paniconmon.

Maybe the teacher is not familiar with hospitality shoppers?

I've been doing the sneaky hotel event board audits for Bestmark for the past 2.5 years. Their payments at the beginning were shaky...3 days late here, 8 days late there. Since the first few months they have paid accurately and on time each month since. It's quite surprising the polar opposite experiences. But then again nothing surprises me in this business anymore! Cheers.

I've done less than five shops with this MSC, but I was never paid for the last shop. Chasing payment was such a drawn-out hassle.

I agree that some shoppers may have different experiences from others.

Announcement I noticed just today, Bestmark jobs are being migrated to the CX Group site.

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BestMark not paying - RESOLVED

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