Well I have 2 shops, one from January and one from March, that haven't been paid. I am emailing Kim again, and copying everyone one their staff page. I'm mad at myself for even doing these shops after looking at threads with the same issues dating back to 2009!!!

We all know the answer you will get it seems pretty standard. Good luck, I think right know its a waiting game.

mamafranco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well I have 2 shops, one from January and one from
> March, that haven't been paid. I am emailing Kim
> again, and copying everyone one their staff page.
> I'm mad at myself for even doing these shops after
> looking at threads with the same issues dating
> back to 2009!!!

Don't be too hard on yourself. I should have known better than to work with them too, after it took 4 1/2 months for me to be paid the time before!! They are very nice and easy to get ahold of when they want you to work for them, but after, good luck!! It took MONTHS of e-mails before I even got the standard response about their money woe's. Like ANY of us care that they are having money problems?? What do they think they have done to us? Hotel shops require us to pay upfront for the room. I took over $200.00 out of my savings right before Christmas to help the scheduler, then got screwed. If they are having such money problems, why not lay off a few of the workers and PAY US !!!
WE are the people that MAKE their company money.

ffrieszell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wonder if they have a standard response ready.
> That response look exactly like what I received
> from Kim.
>
>
> Floyd,
>
> Unfortunately we are still experiencing an issue
> with funds at this time. We do not have a date for
> expected payment but I will keep in contact
> throughout the next 3-4 weeks to keep you updated.
> I wish I had more information for you but we do
> not know when we will be able to make payments. I
> apologize for the inconvenience. However, I have
> flagged your shops so they will be lined up for
> payment when it comes time.
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> Kim Scarcia // FreemanGroup
> Measurement Accounting Specialist
>
> T : (972) 479-1345 | F : (972) 479-1366
> 3501 Token Dr. Suite 100
> Richardson, TX 75082
> www.freemangroupsolutions.com
> kscarcia@freemangroup.org

Yes, I too know Kim well. We're pen pals! Perhaps she'll be your pen pal too!

yea, if she can pen me my check she would be my pen pal.

Floyd

ffrieszell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> yea, if she can pen me my check she would be my
> pen pal.
>
> Floyd

Floyd,

She's not that kind of writer! She only writes fiction!

Still getting YOUR paychecks, Kim? How much do they pay you to continue writing the same fiction to all Freeman shoppers? I would bet that one day you will receive one of your letters in your pay envelope with a hale and hearty, "Sorry 'bout that!" Whatsoever you sow, so shall you reap.

Ha I should have listened to everyone on here. She is so terrible. Copies and pastes the same note to everyone. I WILL get my money. Just going to keep at it.

R

Hello Everyone:

After MANY e-mails, I finally got this back from Kim:

I wanted to inform you that we have not forgotten about your payment(s) and we are sincerely sorry about the lengthily delay that has occurred. Please realize that we are doing the best we can in this situation and due to Accounts Receivable being delayed we do not have funds available to make payments at this time. It is an unfortunate situation for all involved. It is difficult for us to tell you that we cannot reimburse you in the timely manner that is stated in our guidelines. It goes against what Freeman Group stands for. We are not here to scam you or not pay you. You WILL be paid what is rightfully yours. I understand this could be an income for you and you are an everyday person living an everyday life. With that being said I want to reassure you that we are not holding out and doing this on purpose. We are doing what we can in this hard time and being very open and trying to communicate as best we can. Many companies at this point would probably turn their backs and hide. It is a shameful feelings however we know we will come out on top and turn this around as soon as we are able to do so. In order to do that we must receive funds, which we will very soon. I hope you can understand our sympathy towards you and your frustrations and accept our apologies in regards to this predicament we have encountered. Please keep in contact within the next 2-3 weeks so I can keep you updated on the status of your payment.



I also want to take this time to ask you from now on, until you are informed otherwise, PLEASE send all your paperwork (expense forms and receipts) to me at this address kscarcia@freemangroup.org . Also, if you have any questions, concerns or comments in regards to shops or shop payments please contact me at this address! I have access to the limited service email however checking two inboxes a day can get confusing. I do want to let you know in advance due to this delay my inbox is very loved and it may take a couple days for me to get back to you.

Anyone else get this generic e-mail ??

I did mention in my e-mail that they should lay off their staff, and pay the people that work to keep their business alive. Notice she didn't respond to THAT !!!

They mention that their is a delay in accounts receivable. First, I am wondering don't they have a contract with their clients that state a pay table. If so why are they not enforcing it. I am wondering if anyone has received a "proactive" email informing you on whats going on, or have they all been "reactive" email. I am sure they would have a more understanding position IF they would have communicated with us along the way.

I agree with you. I don't know of any other MSC that does not have a contract with their clients, specifically outlining pay schedule and timelines. Since they are dealing with a "large, well known company" in their hotel evaluations, I think this is all a lie. I can't believe that "the company" would not adhere to payment schedules on their contract. This would set them up for a lawsuit.

Sadly, Freeman has not bothered to contact anyone that doesn't e-mail them first. That being said.. it took me 4 months to even get a response from them. After "threatening" them with a lawsuit, suddenly they now respond. I just wish I would get the response in the form of a CHECK FOR MY SERVICES !!!!

I was "warned" about Freeman...

It takes 4 months to get paid.... so if you are in NO hurry for money, then you can take these shops...

Hi SunnyDays2:

If you read through the posts in this forum, you will see that like me, there are ALOT of people out there that have been waiting FAR longer than 4 months. I performed my two hotel evaluations in the beginning of December, 2011 and I have still not been paid. Per the admission of the representative from this company (Kim), they are having financial difficulties. DO NOT work for this company!! Even when they supposedly weren't having financial trouble, it took me well over 8 weeks to get paid for the other assignments I did. I was given the old "dog ate my homework" excuse and on more than one assignment, had to send in my invioces two and three times. Again, at this time, I would highly discourage anyone from working with Freeman!!!

Error

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2012 01:01AM by slibby1995.

I think that this issue would be out of "the hotel" company's hands.(You aren't supposed to mention any actual client names on this site) I'm sure that THEY are paying Freeman, but Freeman just isn't paying us. As much as I am sure they would be sympathetic to our problems, I really don't see them helping.

That being said.. I do agree with you about sending them letters. At the very least they should be made aware of what Freeman is doing, and with any luck maybe they will cancel any existing contract, or not renew a future one. Hopefully they will find another company to help them, and one that will actually PAY the people that are doing all the work!!

My letter will be in the mail to all above on Monday.

Have a nice weekend everyone

Has anyone been getting paid by Freeman lately?

Ah, Freeman again. As recently as four years ago, they had some nice shops with the big hotel company. Clean suites and such. It was like every property under the umbrella gat at least one visit a year. It took a long, long time to get paid but we knew we would and it would save us cash overall during our travels.

Then the offerings slowed. No more suites, mostly the budget places. Then only budget places that were either out in BFE or had bad, bad trip advisor reviews. Bed bugs, dirty linens, smelly hallways... If you were travelling you could luck out on a nice but out-of-the-way place, and the money would come eventually.

Have you seen the job board over the last couple months? Dwindling. It seems they have been running like a ponzi for so long that the number of shops out there cannot pay for the work done several months ago.

OK so I did a shop for them at the beginning of March and emailed them when it was 12 weeks as they said 10-12 weeks. First I got the "your shop is on hold and I don't know why and when it's out of hold I will send it for processing and payment". Then when I pushed further 1 day later I got "we are having a delay in payments please check back in 1-2 weeks for an update". Then when I was irate I got "A/R is having delays so we don't have the funds to make payments". Then one week later

"I wanted to inform you that we have not forgotten about your payment(s) and we are sincerely sorry about the lengthily delay that has occurred. Please realize that we are doing the best we can in this situation and due to Accounts Receivable being delayed we do not have funds available to make payments at this time. It is an unfortunate situation for all involved. It is difficult for us to tell you that we cannot reimburse you in the timely manner that is stated in our guidelines. It goes against what Freeman Group stands for. We are not here to scam you or not pay you. You WILL be paid what is rightfully yours. I understand this could be an income for you and you are an everyday person living an everyday life. With that being said I want to reassure you that we are not holding out and doing this on purpose. We are doing what we can in this hard time and being very open and trying to communicate as best we can. Many companies at this point would probably turn their backs and hide. It is a shameful feelings however we know we will come out on top and turn this around as soon as we are able to do so. In order to do that we must receive funds, which we will very soon. I hope you can understand our sympathy towards you and your frustrations and accept our apologies in regards to this predicament we have encountered. Please keep in contact within the next 2-3 weeks so I can keep you updated on the status of your payment.

I also want to take this time to ask you from now on, until you are informed otherwise, PLEASE send all your future paperwork (expense forms and receipts) to me at this address kscarcia@freemangroup.org . Also, if you have any questions, concerns or comments in regards to shops or shop payments please contact me at this address! I have access to the limited service email however checking two inboxes a day can get confusing. I do want to let you know in advance due to this delay my inbox is very loved and it may take a couple days for me to get back to you.
Thanks,
Kim Scarcia // FreemanGroup.

Then she says" I anticipate it being resolved within the next month or so."


So two weeks later on July 10th after looking at this forum and all the payment problems I sent this email:

I just checked out a mystery shopping forum about the Freeman Group. I will have to tell you if I had looked at it first I never would have done a shop for the company as there are quite a few people complaining of not being paid for shops even from Dec of 2011 and complaining! of this problem occurring for years now. I will be calling the company starting tomorrow everyday asking to speak to someone about this until I get some sort of! resolution as I don't frankly buy the A/R excuse. And if you can't afford to pay shoppers you shouldn't be offering any shops on the board and I see that you are. I also doubt that the company has made this public to shoppers who haven't yet emailed as to where their payment is, or shoppers who are currently doing shops to tell them they won't be paid for a long long time, if ever. As you can see I've copied everyone on your ! leadership team as listed on the website. As well I've copied our previous conversation ! so they could see the whole story.

Please know I will be keeping! on top of this and am h! oping for a quick resolution."

I actually did send all comunications to all leadership members after that email. I got paid by paypal today the 12th of July. The money is in my paypal account.

I would suggest taking the same action.

Thanks,

Lisa

Hi Lisa:

I got the exact same response from Kim. I sent her back a "not very nice" e-mail as well, but I have received no response. I am the person they owe the money to from December 2011, over $200.00 !!

Could you send me the e-mail addresses of the people that you sent e-mails to (ie; leadership) so I can begin yet again bombarding these people with e-mail communications.

Also, if you don't mind me asking, when did you perform your shops? I was told my Kim that I would be "first in line" to be paid when they had money, since my shops were so old. I would love to hit all of them with the date you did your shops (if they are not as old as mine) and ask why YOU were paid and I wasn't!

Thanks in advance for your help.

Call them everyday on the hour until this is resolved.

Lindazane Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Has anyone been getting paid by Freeman lately?

Certainly! Haven't you heard? With Freeman you always get paid "lately."

Read above. Apparently someone got paid. We should all follow what she has done!!

Hi LisaP,

Please can you tell us who to contact to get paid?? Where would I find this leadership team?

error

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2012 01:02AM by slibby1995.

I shop for Freeman,
and I know it's crazy

Here's my report
They will pay me, maybe?

Hi LisaP465:

Can you please forward the contact information for the leadership members at Freeman Group? Also, can you let me know when you performed your shops that you were recently paid for? I would like this ammunition before I continue to call and e-mail them. I would SURE love to be paid for my shops!!

Thanks in advance for your help.

So my shop was completed March 9th. I got the email addresses from their corporate website, you can view the leadership team and if you look really close there is a little email symbol below each one. I thought they would be generic addresses but instead they were personal email addresses (mind you they probably get filtered by a receptionist or something).

The list of names I sent to are: khofheins@freemangroup.org, jboles@freemangroup.org, kwolff@freemangroup.org, pmoore@freemangroup.org, pobryan@freemangroup.org, pvishy@freemangroup.org, bavant@freemangroup.org, gmarquart@freemangroup.org, dhyatt@freemangroup.org, rscott@freemangroup.org, bgarbacz@freemangroup.org, wtarrant@freemangroup.org, bfreeman@freemangroup.org.

There is one more person listed but the address is undeliverable so no point. The exact message I sent to all these people is listed above but to see again:


"I just checked out a mystery shopping forum about the Freeman Group. I will have to tell you if I had looked at it first I never would have done a shop for the company as there are quite a few people complaining of not being paid for shops even from Dec of 2011 and complaining! of this problem occurring for years now. I will be calling the company starting tomorrow everyday asking to speak to someone about this until I get some sort of! resolution as I don't frankly buy the A/R excuse. And if you can't afford to pay shoppers you shouldn't be offering any shops on the board and I see that you are. I also doubt that the company has made this public to shoppers who haven't yet emailed as to where their payment is, or shoppers who are currently doing shops to tell them they won't be paid for a long long time, if ever. As you can see I've copied everyone on your leadership team as listed on the website. As well I've copied our previous conversation so they could see the whole story.

Please know I will be keeping! on top of this and am h! oping for a quick resolution."



After that message I was paid 2 days later on the 12th but I also copied all those email addresses on all other emails that were sent between myself and Kim. And I copied a compiled email to them of my entire communications with Kim from my first inquiry. The only time I called the office was before hearing from Kim originally. I was paid $108 into my paypal account.

That being said, I will not be doing any more shops for this company as it's not worth the run around and the hotel was not a nice place to stay anyway.

Hope this helps, heck you can copy and paste my email and use it if you want, though it might be better to use your own words. I was simply sick of the run around and tried really hard not to sound too offensive though I did say previously how unprofessional I thought the company was.

Lisa

Sorry just noticed it added in exclamation points into the message when I copied it from my email, just pretend they're not there.

Lisa

Hi Lisa:

Thank you very much. I just composed a letter to them, and sent it to all the e-mail addresses you had listed. I hope that I get some attention from this!!

I have a feeling however they are going to try to "not pay me". I looked on my "shops completed" page on the Freeman site, and neither of those two shops are listed as completed. They will NOT however get away with this, as I have all of the e-mails from Lisa Price, stating "Accepted" for both shops, along with other communication including confirmation of receipt of both shop invoices.

I can see this is going to be a fight, but I can assure you I will not back down for one second!!

Thanks again for the help..
Connie

Thanks for posting this information. That's why I value this forum.

I have never shopped for Freeman & now, never will. We shouldn't have to hassle people daily to get paid/reimbursed for services and money we provided in good faith.

Connie,

My shop only ever said received but yes I had an acceptance email with a shop grade etc. It still only says received even though I've been paid.

Lisa