So apparently without notice and in the middle of the month they have randomly decided they will no longer cover any tolls or parking for any shops. Just ripped it off the site and didn't even tell us. I had to ask what happened to the links for that. Thanks ya cheap jerks.

Thanks for the heads up. I now have zero reason to shop for them.

@weatherman2111 wrote:

So apparently without notice and in the middle of the month they have randomly decided they will no longer cover any tolls or parking for any shops. Just ripped it off the site and didn't even tell us. I had to ask what happened to the links for that. Thanks ya cheap jerks.

I’m really glad I saw this thread before accepting one of the downtown locations near me where the parking would eat up most of the fee. I won’t be doing any of those anymore.

Yes, I just found this out after spending over $7 on tolls for one of their shops yesterday. I emailed about not finding the link but haven't received a response. I was counting on that reimbursement. Well, no more trips down Garden State Parkway without a much higher fee. I submitted a toll receipt on 5/15, so it was still there a few days ago. Did they confirm to you that they are no longer covering tolls and parking? Maybe it's just a glitch.

Edited to add response from MF: I just received a response to my email to helpdesk. As of 5/16/23, no more toll or parking reimbursement. I responded that shoppers should have been notified before accepting a shop. This is a bummer. They will have to pay considerably more to get me to drive the distances I have when they are desperate.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2023 03:02PM by MsJudi.

And they think somehow that shoppers are OK with this????? C'mon! Their fees are cheap enough already, but to take away the cost of parking and tolls to get their jobs done??? Um, no. I can't see that lasting very long, unless they raise their fees exponentially, and I doubt that will happen!!

WOW!!

First they change the pay agreement to which you can only be paid now by Direct Deposit or Gift Cards (which has not been updated unless they finally updated it and have not told anybody)

Now this...

Did they give a reason for this change?

May be some one from MF will chime in

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2023 04:03PM by Isaiah4031a.

Its funny when you're on the internet (not on this forum) and see people post things like "no one wants to work anymore!"
False, people will work, and many want to, just not for the dirt pay you want to give.

I would just like to get paid. I have shops from 4-4 waiting for payment.

I submitted my receipts to the HelpDesk and requested payment. They agreed to pay me for them, but I can assume it will be the last time. So, I won't be going out of my way to help them with distant shops unless the fee is worthy. It gives me a good reason to request a much higher amount. Tolls in NJ are ridiculous.

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

WOW!!

First they change the pay agreement to which you can only be paid now by Direct Deposit or Gift Cards (which has not been updated unless they finally updated it and have not told anybody)

Now this...

Did they give a reason for this change?

May be some one from MF will chime in

No reason given. I just assume they're trying to "contain costs" aka the owners want to keep more money in their pockets so we get the shaft.

Isn't getting paid by Direct Deposit a good thing? If not, what is the issue?

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

WOW!!

First they change the pay agreement to which you can only be paid now by Direct Deposit or Gift Cards (which has not been updated unless they finally updated it and have not told anybody)

Now this...

Did they give a reason for this change?

May be some one from MF will chime in

The wording in the agreement is that you won't get paid till you've hit $50 in fees. I'm not sure if they updated it or not in the actual shopper agreement. Their help desk and a rep that posts here said direct deposit won't be impacted by this new policy, but the verbiage in the actual shopper agreement is the issue.

@Cassiespark wrote:

Isn't getting paid by Direct Deposit a good thing? If not, what is the issue?

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

WOW!!

First they change the pay agreement to which you can only be paid now by Direct Deposit or Gift Cards (which has not been updated unless they finally updated it and have not told anybody)

Now this...

Did they give a reason for this change?

May be some one from MF will chime in

Cassie, the issue is, for some, like me, they will only pay if they owe you more than $50. And I believe that Isaiah is upset that the won't mail checks for payment anymore.

Someone from Market Force and the help desk have said in emails that the rules about not getting paid unless they owe you $50 or more is only for folks getting the money on the gift cards, that it doesn't apply to direct deposit, but they won't change the agreement to say that specifically. So we aren't signing the new agreement.

And that may be one of those "more for me" kind of things for other folks, but I'm not bending on this.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2023 11:47PM by Morledzep.

More what??? There's hardly anything left! So sad.

I'm not agreeing to the new no payment plan either. Every Samantha offer gets a reply as to why I will not agree to the new conditions.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2023 11:16AM by sestrahelena.

@Cassiespark wrote:

Isn't getting paid by Direct Deposit a good thing? If not, what is the issue?

[/quote]


Yes it is.. But there was a thread recently, saying that they were changing the way MF was paying everyone.

I have always been paid by DD

@Morledzep wrote:

Cassie, the issue is, for some, like me, they will only pay if they owe you more than $50. And I believe that Isaiah is upset that the won't mail checks for payment anymore.

Someone from Market Force and the help desk have said in emails that the rules about not getting paid unless they owe you $50 or more is only for folks getting the money on the gift cards, that it doesn't apply to direct deposit, but they won't change the agreement to say that specifically. So we aren't signing the new agreement.

And that may be one of those "more for me" kind of things for other folks, but I'm not bending on this.

I was planning on going out of town in an few months and I was going to do a couple of shops. However, those shops may not add up to $ 50.

I have done shops in the pass that have total less than $ 50 and I would get paid by Direct Deposit..

The last time I received a paper check was several years ago. I don't remember the name of the company but it was a small company and they happen to have a shop in my area at the time.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2023 12:44PM by Isaiah4031a.

The $50 minimum only applies if you are being paid by gift card. For Direct Deposit, there is no minimum. They posted a clarifying comment on their home page regarding this. The shopper's agreement also details this, its just worded sort of funny.

@joanna81 wrote:

The wording in the agreement is that you won't get paid till you've hit $50 in fees. I'm not sure if they updated it or not in the actual shopper agreement. Their help desk and a rep that posts here said direct deposit won't be impacted by this new policy, but the verbiage in the actual shopper agreement is the issue.

@Cassiespark wrote:

Isn't getting paid by Direct Deposit a good thing? If not, what is the issue?

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

WOW!!

First they change the pay agreement to which you can only be paid now by Direct Deposit or Gift Cards (which has not been updated unless they finally updated it and have not told anybody)

Now this...

Did they give a reason for this change?

May be some one from MF will chime in

Thats still how it works. If they owe you less than $50 and you have Direct Deposit set up, they'll directly deposit the exact amount owed to you. They clarify this on their website, that the $50 minimum only applies to Gift Card payments. I'm not sure what you feel you are bending on, unless you have your heart set on accepting gift cards as payment and want those gift cards to have a value under $50. Sounds like a pain in the neck to me to get paid via Gift Card! in small amounts! I don't know why anyone would choose this option over the safe, widely accepted practice of Direct Deposit.

Here's what they posted to clarify how this works. If you haven't signed the new agreement I understand you probably can't see this as you can't get to the home page where they put this:

UPDATE ON SHOPPER PAYMENT OPTIONS
April 27, 2023
Hi, if you have decided to opt-out for direct deposit for your payments, we will soon be shifting away from a paper check to an electronic card payment (e-card). Once we have officially made this change, we will post an update on the shopper portal. In the meantime, you will receive a paper check if you do not elect to use our direct deposit option.

Once we change over to the e-cards, this is the way it will work: Each time we run shopper payroll for the respective month then you will be able to “request” a distribution for your payment. The request will take you to our fulfillment vendor and they will deliver the payment card electronically via email. However, you must have a $50.00, or greater, payment balance that is owed to you before you can request and receive an e-card payment.

Direct deposit is definitely the quickest and easiest way to receive your payments each month, so please sign up for direct deposit if you can! Thank you.

@Isaiah4031a wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

Cassie, the issue is, for some, like me, they will only pay if they owe you more than $50. And I believe that Isaiah is upset that the won't mail checks for payment anymore.

Someone from Market Force and the help desk have said in emails that the rules about not getting paid unless they owe you $50 or more is only for folks getting the money on the gift cards, that it doesn't apply to direct deposit, but they won't change the agreement to say that specifically. So we aren't signing the new agreement.

And that may be one of those "more for me" kind of things for other folks, but I'm not bending on this.

I was planning on going out of town in an few months and I was going to do a couple of shops. However, those shops may not add up to $ 50.

I have done shops in the pass that have total less than $ 50 and I would get paid by Direct Deposit..

The last time I received a paper check was several years ago. I don't remember the name of the company but it was a small company and they happen to have a shop in my area at the time.

I submitted a toll for a shop recently for a new (to me) burger location that I would have considered doing again if they covered the toll. I guess won't be doing that location anymore.

Seems wrong that they didn't put a notice on the home page. They put so much other useless stuff there.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2023 04:06PM by MisterBill.

@Cassiespark wrote:

Thats still how it works. If they owe you less than $50 and you have Direct Deposit set up, they'll directly deposit the exact amount owed to you. They clarify this on their website, that the $50 minimum only applies to Gift Card payments. I'm not sure what you feel you are bending on, unless you have your heart set on accepting gift cards as payment and want those gift cards to have a value under $50. Sounds like a pain in the neck to me to get paid via Gift Card! in small amounts! I don't know why anyone would choose this option over the safe, widely accepted practice of Direct Deposit.

@Cassie, Market Force can say ANYTHING THEY WANT TO on their Home Page...HOWEVER, NONE of that is legally binding!! Only the actual contract is legally binding. And as of today, May 20, their CONTRACT still has NOT specified that those that have DD will receive any monies less than $50....here is what it says as of today:

Fees for all assignments which are designated as completed in the portal during any calendar month will be paid within 20 business days of the next calendar month, as long as your account balance is at least $50.00. You can elect to be paid via ACH or receive a gift card through our gift card program.

That is why so many of us will NOT sign the new contract until either the verbiage is actually changed, or after several months of reading that shoppers who made less than $50/month had their monies actually DD into their bank accounts. It's a matter of legal verbiage in the actual contract. What's on the home page sounds nice, but it would mean squat in a court of law.

On a different note: (I hope this isn't infringing on the toll fee lack of reimbursement post)
Samantha has offered shops to which I must agree to the fee offered. These shops are NOT on the job board.
So I either have to accept the low fee, NOT!, or wait for a scheduler to all me and I can ask for what I consider fair. Anyone else experiencing this?

Ok, my goodness. If you do so much work for them that you think you'll eventually have to sue them to get an amount of less than $50 sent to you...well that frankly doesn't make any sense. I certainly respect your decision to work for whoever you want. But I would encourage you to think through the logic of your argument. If they own you less than $50, and you have to wait a month extra for it, is your financial life really impacted? If you do a lot of work for them, the $50 monthly minimum is easily met so you don't have an issue. Lawyers are $250 an hour, so it would seem antithetical that you'd be hiring an attorney at some point to recoup your owed $49 (or less).

@guysmom wrote:

@Cassiespark wrote:

Thats still how it works. If they owe you less than $50 and you have Direct Deposit set up, they'll directly deposit the exact amount owed to you. They clarify this on their website, that the $50 minimum only applies to Gift Card payments. I'm not sure what you feel you are bending on, unless you have your heart set on accepting gift cards as payment and want those gift cards to have a value under $50. Sounds like a pain in the neck to me to get paid via Gift Card! in small amounts! I don't know why anyone would choose this option over the safe, widely accepted practice of Direct Deposit.

@Cassie, Market Force can say ANYTHING THEY WANT TO on their Home Page...HOWEVER, NONE of that is legally binding!! Only the actual contract is legally binding. And as of today, May 20, their CONTRACT still has NOT specified that those that have DD will receive any monies less than $50....here is what it says as of today:

Fees for all assignments which are designated as completed in the portal during any calendar month will be paid within 20 business days of the next calendar month, as long as your account balance is at least $50.00. You can elect to be paid via ACH or receive a gift card through our gift card program.

That is why so many of us will NOT sign the new contract until either the verbiage is actually changed, or after several months of reading that shoppers who made less than $50/month had their monies actually DD into their bank accounts. It's a matter of legal verbiage in the actual contract. What's on the home page sounds nice, but it would mean squat in a court of law.

@Cassie, my post wasn't meant to imply anything about suing anybody. It was to point out that the only obligation MF has to abide by is their own contact, nothing more That was my point. No one would sue them over this. You misconstrued my point

Maybe so, but all your BOLDED CAPITAL LETTER WORDS ABOUT COURTS OF LAW AND CONTRACTS AND OH MY indicate to the average person that you are concerned with the underlying legal process. To get to a court of law, you need an attorney. I realize you are going to die on this $50 minimum hill, and thats certainly your prerogative.

^^^^^^^^ OK, whatever. ^^^^^^^^^

At the rate they keep losing clients and cutting shopper pay, it would not be surprising to me if they decide to use that agreement exactly as it is written.

I found out the hard way about them no longer reimbursing tolls. I went to submit my toll and the option wasn't there. I sent an email to the help desk and received the following response. Thankfully my toll was only $2.70 but I certainly won't be picking up shops where the tolls are close to $10.

Good day – as of May 16, 2023, Marketforce will no longer provide reimbursements for expenses as bus fare, bridge tolls, parking, ferry rides, etc. Per your Contractor Payment Invoice (CPI): MFI will quote a fee or reimbursement for a particular assignment in advance of your acceptance of the assignment, or we may ask you to bid on a particular assignment, which bid we may accept or reject in our sole discretion. Unless we specify that certain purchases which are required as part of the assignment will be reimbursed, you will be responsible for all expenses which you may incur in the performance of Services for MFI. Fees for all assignments which are designated as completed in the portal during any calendar month will be paid within 20 business days of the next calendar month. Additionally, you may write into helpdesk@marketforce.com to request additional money(s) for a shopper fee to cover the expected expenses and we will consider your request.

They're grasping at straws.

Think about what we've seen over the last few years:

-Loss of major national contracts.
-Reduction or elimination of fees.
-Fewer and smaller bonuses.
-Reimbursements that do not cover minimal required purchases.
-Elimination of toll/parking reimbursements.
-Paying in gift cards (bottom of the barrel).
-Gift cards payments are at shoppers' expense and only doled out if minimum dollar amount IN FEES is met.
-Legal agreement that states ALL payments are subject to above mentioned minimum.
-Non legal agreement stating you might get paid with direct deposit no matter your fee balance.
-Outsourcing scheduling to overseas salespeople.
-Schedulers offering smaller fees that what is listed on the job board.

Are alarm bells ringing yet? So, when the day comes that you message the help desk looking for your payment, whether gift card or DD, and they reply that they are under no obligation to pay you because you did not accumulate the required fee amount in any given month and you have accepted those terms by signing their agreement clearly stating so, well... don't say you weren't warned.

I am sure they are trying to dig out of the apparent hole they are in but they have also preplanned in case they cannot. They left the terms open on purpose.

Me, I shop for profit. An overpriced burger or some chicken fingers are not things I would spend my own money on. If I get stuck footing the bill when MF decides to uphold the current agreement, that's an unnecessary loss to me.

Just my opinion, of course.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2023 08:06PM by sestrahelena.

Just received a payment today!