Well I got caught by our favorite today, Market Froce - purple portal. They now have combined sights. On 1/6/13, I signed up to do 3 different series of jobs for $22.80. I thought, oh good, these are short jobs and are paying great for a change considering the amount of time and the locations. Well the ones I completed today, when I looked at my listof jobs to complete the paper work had the pay changed for the series to $15.40. Yeah, they pulled the switch-a -roo on pay again. I have sent an email through contact us regarding this issue and volunteering to sent them a scan of the information I got on the 6th. I demanded that they reinstated the original pay. Let's see what happens.

Anita

I had that issue a year or so ago with some bonused gas station assignments for MF. After speaking to them about the rate at which I had accepted these assignments and letting them know that it was only the amount of the original rate that would allow me to make a worthwhile long-distance route to complete them, they did reinstate the original fees. It took quite a bit of haggling back and forth, though.

This has happened to me, too.

I was printing off my CPIs and keeping track of my projected payments in my Excel spreadsheet. Several times I noticed that Market Force was subtly changing my previously-contracted pay.

Little 'dings' here and there... $3 off an $18 shop, $2 off a $15 shop.

I said, "I'm out of here" and moved on. But apparently this is SOP for them.

Keep the stories coming, and put "Market Force" in the title. We need to keep building evidence of this, and warn newbie shoppers of this unethical behavior.

I just took a call asking me to travel 50+ miles for a burger and $8.....the answer was NO!
I think these companies are beginning to get the picture that we independent contractors cannot travel just to fill our tummy.

Waiting for the big bonus!

Typical of them

I really appreciate Anita and others sharing this information about MFI here and on that other thread. I do not work the purple portal and have not experienced, AFAIK, such unethical behavior on the blue portal. However, knowing that MFI has done this to other shoppers, I will certainly keep an eye out.

For each blue portal assignment, I always save a copy of the CPI and the shop guidelines/form as PDFs. From now on, I will make sure I save that CPI as soon as I self-assign a shop.

Thanks again.

Believe it or not I did get the response which follows:

MFI response: "Whenever you complete a location that as a part of the cluster that amount will be deducted from the total listed on the website which is the source of the discrepancy. The website only lists the total for the locations that have not been completed. If you have further questions please let us know."

I hope this is right and I get the full amount. Sounds like I will. I had completed on-line the one part of the cluster when I noticed the discrepancy.

That being said, I will still keep a close eye to see what I get paid for sure as others have indicated their problems over the years.

I have two other clusters that I am doing for them also. I will be watching to see if what they claim happens as I fill out each form.

I always print out the list of my jobs from them immediately especially if I sign up for more than one at a time.

I trust them about as far as I can throw them.

I put them and another company in the same category as green bean casserole.

I was going to say something foul about clusters, but restrained myself.

I just took a look at my pay history for the last two months, and they shorted me some money in more than two shops. I now have to take the time to go through my records and emails to show that I am owed more than they paid me. more to follow

shopgal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was going to say something foul about clusters,
> but restrained myself.

"When mommy cluster and daddy cluster love each other very much . . . . and that's where baby clusters come from."

Okay, I completed the other two clusters today and as I put in each report it did show the drop in pay for each one that I had entered. At least that part of their response was correct. I am waiting to see what happens when I get paid.

I spent less than 5 minutes in each office and each report took less than 5 minutes including uploading pic. Ond cluster had all three in the same building. another cluster was four shops with locations no more than 3 miles from the others and two were in the same building. the 3rd cluster was for two offices within 2 miles of each other. Not a bad set of clusters.

Market Farce or MF - how appropriate is another company I have gladly shed like the flu.

sethd85 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just took a look at my pay history for the last
> two months, and they shorted me some money in
> more than two shops. I now have to take the time
> to go through my records and emails to show that I
> am owed more than they paid me. more to follow


Good luck with that, Seth.

I went to bat with Market Force over an $11 shortage one month and a $62 shortage the next month. I didn't notice the $11 shortage, but I certainly noted it when the next month was $62 light.

Haven't worked for them since. Why enter into a business contract with a form that is proven to be, as the OP on this thread wrote, "unprofessional and sneaky?"

Has anyone had a good experience with them?

Lots of horror stories about MF - only did one shop for them and no longer do any shops.

Yes, I've had a good experience. I have been paid for every shop in the correct amount, including bonus when applicable.

MissyH71 Wrote:
>
> Good luck with that, Seth.
>
> I went to bat with Market Force over an $11
> shortage one month and a $62 shortage the next
> month. I didn't notice the $11 shortage, but I
> certainly noted it when the next month was $62
> light.
>
> Haven't worked for them since. Why enter into a
> business contract with a form that is proven to
> be, as the OP on this thread wrote,
> "unprofessional and sneaky?"


Thanks, Missy,

I've worked with MF for the last 3.5 years and have had nothing but great ratings with them 99% of the time. I've been reading about how they have been shorting different shoppers, and they now just started shorting me too.

MDavisnowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, I've had a good experience. I have been paid
> for every shop in the correct amount, including
> bonus when applicable.


I second that experience. Additionally they pay like clockwork so until I have problems I will continue to shop for them.

MF is certainly not my favorite by a long shot, but I work for them and plan to continue. They have shops I like, relatively clear directions, fast and easy reports, self-assign shops which are easy for me to jump in and grab, and they pay like clockwork. If I think shop pay/reimbursement for a particular shop is not enough, I don't self-assign that shop. I do watch very carefully how much they pay me in case I am shorted, just as I watch very carefully how much all the MSCs I work for pay me - in case I am shorted.

I can say that SO FAR I have not been shorted by MF, although I have been shorted a dozen + times over the past few years by a variety of other companies, most of which I think are good companies who made a mistake and I continue to work for them. When I questioned the discrepancy with all those companies, I was immediately paid. Only one of the companies was a repeat offender - Informa. I won't say I will never work for Informa because of their repeated pay issues, but I am hesitant.

I continue to watch all the MSCs I work with and verify that I am paid the correct amount.

AustinMom,

As I do not recall ever reading a comment posted by you in which I did not agree, I conclude you and I are at least semi-like minded. I have been with Informa 4 years and rate them "AAA' for the following reasons:

1-They are easily accessible by either a toll free call or E-mail.
2-Their schedulers are top-notch, never resorting to the BS of "fun & easy.
3-The pay ranges from acceptable to generous.
4-Informa have ALWAYS handled a pay problem for me to a most satisfactory manner. They actually paid me both a fee and a bonus for 2 shops that were mistakenly removed from my page; it was not necessary for me to complete the work.

Bob, I'm honored by your comment because I have found your posts to be reasonable as well.

I agree that Informa is a good company to work and I would work with them again. However, I had repeated problems with not being paid the correct amount. Everything you posted above has been my experience with Informa except #4. I have not worked for Informa recently, NOT because of the pay issues (although the pay issues were a major PITA), but rather because they lost the contract for my favorite shop and I've not been particularly interested in their other shops.

I had pay issues 4 times over an 18 month period which were not quickly resolved. They required multiple e-mails and all but one took over 6 weeks to resolve. The problem appeared to be their accounting contact, who was not responsive; in fact, in each case the accountant did not respond until I began to cc the scheduler (even though the scheduler had told me "Don't cc me, I can't help you.") noting "3rd request" and "4th request, etc." After doing this a few times, each time I received a response from the accountant with an apology about how busy she is and she was able to quickly resolve my issue.

I do not believe that shorting me multiple times was deliberate, and I did eventually get paid the correct amount in each case. I think the pay issues were the result of disorganization and unresponsiveness, and perhaps those issues have been corrected. I responded to the difficulty by accepting only heavily bonused shops, figuring I was more willing to deal with problems for higher pay. I hope they have corrected this, because it was the only thing I could find wrong with Informa. I have not had the opportunity to work with Dylan, who has posted here in recent weeks, and I'm much impressed with him.

The main point, though, is that shoppers should keep track of the shops they have done to be sure they are paid for all shops performed. They should double-check to be sure they receive the correct amount for each shop. No one should take it for granted that, because they are working for a AAA company, that there will not be any pay issues OR that because they have received payment, they received the correct amount.

I haven't seen anything in my area for a while with Informa, but I was shopping for them aggressively a while back. I was entirely satisfied with their payments, although from time to time we had to chat about overlooked bonuses. They were promptly paid. There was one out of town shop on which I was asked to make a follow up phone call, and I declined to make that call. They didn't pay me for that shop. Fair enough, no complaints here about Informa. I think they're a first rate company and would be happy to work for them.

With regard to MF, I have had a few issues with the purple side, but they have one shop I enjoy, so stay with them. Super easy reports, which I like

The blue side overall has been fine. They definitely are not get rich shops, but they are usually exceptionally easy reports with almost no narrative. I find them to be shops that I wouldn't go out of the way to do, but with their high volume shops, I can often find a few things to make a route profitable. Pay is reliable, so they meet my criteria for being an acceptable company.

It finally happened. The confirmation email and original CPI (which I forgot to print) said reimbursement $15. When submitting the shop, the CPI only showed reimbursement $10. I emailed the Help Desk, and included the confirmation email details. They said no dice - the $15 was listed in error. Some of the products are going back to the store because I am not eating the extra $5 of goodies.

Well, if it works like that, then can a shopper tell them that the shopper meant to accept the shop at a $30 fee/bonus and should be paid that amount now because it was just an error? What nonsense.

It's funny (strange, odd) when you read the various threads how different things are for each shopper. I have had nothing but good results from MF, yet several bad experiences with Maritz. Seems like sometimes things just are what they are and you roll with the punches. Book of cliches available upon request.

Always, always, check your CPI for accuracy of fees/reimbursements immediately after accepting a shop. The time to resolve discrepancies is before you go out in the field.

Had this happen to me once. Picked up about five assignments for $35 apiece. CPI had them listed at $10. No way was I gonna build a route for assignments at that fee. After some back and forth, MF admitted that the $35 was a mistake but agreed to pay me at that rate.

You guys taught me two years ago to print my CPI.

I do it religiously. If a scheduler calls, promises me a $20 bonus, I immediately check my CPI and print it.

They can't (hopefully) argue with the facts