I did my first job for them in August 2011. I have yet to be paid. I'm awaiting a response from accounting regarding the status of my payment. Is anyone else having payment issues with this MSC?

I have hardly shopped for them since early 2010. At that time payments were 60 days. When they began stretching out, they were no longer worth the hassle of keeping track of until the money came in. To me, a change in payment patterns signals caution with the next job(s) and if those are also slow or excuse laden, I move on. Thus far I am not aware of anybody NOT getting paid though there have been some comments about payment chasing I believe.

Yup... I'm pretty sure they are they ONLY MSC who has not paid me for 2011.

I have an outstanding job from October 2011, it's the only one still on my books. I just haven't followed up to them yet, because I'm still disorganized and trying to get taxes done!

I had this similar problem last year. I did contact the company directly and spoke with the person on payroll. They looked over the jobs called me back within an hour and then immediately paid the money to paypal. I know last year they were having a problem with addresses and their computer system. From what the woman in payroll told me is that the shops were being shown as paid on the main sheet but when they actually went through the database it was a glitch and several shops were not paid. I do not know if they fixed this problem or not but you should go to the main website and contact the company directly. There pay cycle is 6 to 10 weeks from the shop.

70-120 days is normal for them...

Even "then" you have to contact them and ask, "Where is my money?"

I did a shop in May and was paid in July. It's the only one I've ever done for them.

buynikeairjordan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well done,it shows Nike Air Jordan Shoes will be
> necesity in your daily life.


Hey Spammer, you can't even spell, let alone sell shoes...It's "Necessity"...you do***

I refuse to work for them now. I was eventually paid 5 months after performing the shops.

SPAM SPAM SPAM!!!!buynikeairjordan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well done,it shows Nike Air Jordan Shoes will be
> necesity in your daily life.

UPDATE!!!

I contacted accounts via email and received my payment in less than 24 hours. GREAT communication.

When I noticed an unpaid shop from March 3 I looked at my low, shows "payment pending" and then noticed I hadn't been paid for another "payment pending" from last September. I've sent various emails (to "scheduler" and "accounting") and left voice mails (their main number never answers) and only received one scheduler response that did not offer a solution or any other assistance. It's been nearly 2 weeks now. Given the number of online complaints, some further action should be taken.

*** Does anybody know what resources there are out there to take further action?

I had some problems getting paid as well. I had shops that went all the way back to December that were not paid. I sent over a list of shops that they owed me for, and although it did take a few weeks, the issue was resolved and I was paid in full for all the shops. Contact their accounting department (I think it is accounting@secretshoppingservice.com) and let them know of your problems. They have always been very friendly and willing to help.

Thanks for the sound advise. I in fact did this, and called. After a week and a half of being ignored I made threats and finally got a response. Apparently the owner is accounting, and one of the schedulers, which may be why they have a history of erratic payment. Over two years this is the third time I've had payment problems. While sometimes they respond and are nice, this time wasn't the case, nor has it been the case for others in this thread. For the piddly pay shops offered having to work, unpaid, to get paid just isn't right or acceptable, even if they are nice and come through in the end.

I would like to put my two cents in for this company.

I did two shops in July 2012 and still hae not gotten paid. I called and left two messages weeks ago and sent two emails with no response from either-I figured maybe they were a scam after aawhile. They finally called me back yesterday. My work phone kept getting disconnected after being transferred to the people in accounting. I called back but it kept hanging up so I called several times with it disconnecting on the second it connected. Finally I got the answering lady who started blaming me for calling too much and said I backed up the phones. Handled it very unprofessionally-I was certainly not trying to back up their phone system. Then she said someone will call me back that afternoon which did not.

I called this morning and got one lady who transferred and it disconnected. So I called on my cell and got the lady from yesterday who told me that she did not know why I kept calling every 5 minutes and did not know what I was trying to do to their company. I told her I am only calling back since no one called me yesterday which she then said they did but they did not and no one answered my questions. She was actually pretty rude to me.

I think that is a very unprofessional company and I started shopping for mystery companies this year and have never had this experience of client care. I do want to make a complaint and also get my money.

So sorry this happened to you. Sounds very familiar.

Did she sound drunk? What was her name?

BTW, I would not be too surprised if you repeatedly got disconnected because there were no accounting people.

"I am the great and powerful... Wizard of Oz."

Were the two shops posted by SSS or scheduled by an independent scheduling company?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2012 04:30AM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

Just to add one additional datapoint: I did a shop for them in March, got paid in June. I didn't bother contacting them, as it's the first and only job I've ever seen in my area and I didn't have any purchase money tied up in it.

I'm only aware of two reasons for habitual tardy payment: Poor cash flow and the interest free use of our fees; the first is bad and the second is not good.

They take a lonnggggggggggggg time to pay....many months....like 5 months for me....

I have worked for this MSC three times as I needed the jobs. All of my reports were very highly graded. On each occasion I have been messed about regarding payment. The scheduler is called Laurie Hines. She is the owner and probably the accounts department too.

The excuses are the same every time and in this order:

I will get accounts to look into it by the end of the week.
It appears to have been paid.
Accounts have tried to call you but your number is wrong.
Give me your correct number and I will call you personally
I remembered the time difference so I did not call.
Stop emailing me as I do not have time to look into your payment and deal with your emails.

The only way I have found to get payment is to tell her you know she is the owner, that her appauling payment history is all over the net and then suggest involving third parties eg the IRS. I have also said I would tweet and use facebook and all shopping forums to spread the word.

I am a full time shopper, love my job, and hate people like this who do not think it important to pay you. Please beware!!!!

Did I say a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggg time?

Hello,
I have not gotten paid for two shops by this company both high ratings-8,10 and it has been since July.
I have called and emailed. They finally called me weeks after my two messages left and when I called them back we kept getting disconnected. Each person I talked to was defensive and unprofessional.

I really don't want to call them again because the last thing they told me was to not call again and they would call me that afternoon-which was last Wednesday.

Is there a place to file a complaint?

If the shop was scheduled through Summit Scheduling, ask them for help. Otherwise, there is nowhere else you can really turn to unless you are willing to contact the end client.

Just wanted to update that I did email Laurie directly-after finding her email.
She called me within two hours and was very apologetic and nice.
They did end up paying me within a couple of days.

Thanks for the update. Glad for you. So, how long after the shop did you get paid? Three months? Four months?

Does anyone have a number for summit scheduling???

[www.mspanorthamerica.com]

(812) 618-5465

I really wish Summit would stop scheduling for SSS. As far as I can see, Summit does not even schedule a lot of shops for SSS, so why risk its reputation and why enable an MSC that mistreats its shoppers?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2012 07:09PM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

I have a current payment pending issue with Secret Shopping Services for several assgnments. I haven't posted until now, hoping that the issue would be resolved quickly and easily. But after sending several emails with no response, I thought I'd chime in here to let others know that the situation with this company continues to be sketchy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2012 05:38PM by shopgal.

I'm sorry about your situation but shoppers have been complaining about SSS's payment practices and poor communication for several years. I suspect Laurie Hines (the owner) to be the only person really working at SSS but she pretends to have an accounting department and other staff that she can blame when she bothers to respond to payment inquiries. Has ANYONE ever talked to more than one person at SSS?

The thing that makes me truly disgusted is Summit Scheduling keeps working for SSS when Summit is aware of many of the complaints. It even responded to some of them on this forum.

I'm disappointed to hear that Summit is scheduling for a non-paying and non-responsive company. I think when schedulers become aware that a company for which they schedule is not paying its shoppers, it becomes a moral issue. How sad that Summit might be aware of the payment issues and continues to schedule for this company.

I sent an email to my summit scheduler about the shop and was simply told to email accounting. I emailed them on my own and waited two weeks for a reply. I suddenly received a bunch of payments. However, I've totalled all of the payments that I've received from them and they do not add up to what I am owed. I am annoyed that I have to continue contacting them. Whatever "glitch" this is that is keeping shops in "payment pending" status is obviosuly not going to be fixed.