As this site is dedicated mostly to reviews, I feel that it's important that we keep a record of companies that have been known for being unreliable. It's important to note every mystery shopping company, no matter how well-run or shopper-friendly, will always have its critics. The point of maintaining this list is to create awareness of MSPs that have not only a few critics, but major and significant problems.
New shoppers may not be familiar with the infamous G3 (Global Growth Group) debacle. G3 was one of the industry's larger mystery shopping providers. However, it shut its doors in 2005, and all evidence points to the fact that it continued to hire out shoppers during the last few months, knowing that they would not be paid. Even as the company was closing down, G3 responded to shoppers assuring that they would all be paid, but it did not happen. Thousands of dollars are still owed to shoppers, as well as direct employees left without paychecks. After such an event, it's necessary to be reasonably critical of a company's claims if they appear not to follow up on those claims; lack of communication and payment are warning signs that the company may be in distress or simply may not care to meet its commitments.
The following is a list of companies that the mystery shopping community should be concerned about due to the apparent risk of working for them (based on their reputation). Completing shops for the following companies is not advised until their problems are resolved
, at which point they will be removed from this list.
Hilli Dunlap: Hilli Dunlap also had major payment problems in late 2005 and ongoing. According to Hilli Dunlap, this was due to an embezzling problem with one of its employees, and they publicly put out a statement to their shoppers that, in order to pay for recent shops (in order to keep money flowing in), old shops would be placed in a "holding file" and paid out at some time in the future when the company's finances were in better order.
Sadly, many still report that their correspondence to Hilli Dunlap has gone unanswered as to when they will be paid -- including certified mail returned. Hilli Dunlap has not been communicative about how many are in their "holding file" or when they can expect to be paid, though some shoppers who have been persistent in contacting Hilli Dunlap have been paid for old shops. I, unfortunately, suspect that the holding file is a convenient way to convince some shoppers not to bother contacting them and to write off the shop money as lost.
Infotel: Infotel has a bad reputation among a large number of shoppers for payment problems (spanning over the last several years). Its own website claims payments should be sent the 25th of the following month, yet shoppers report waiting months past this time to get payment, and some months-old shops that remain unpaid. The company often blames its payment issues on PayPal and is not quick to respond to shoppers with problems. If you choose to work for Infotel, expect that payments may take four to five months and a lot of hassle.
Jancyn: Whether it is intentionally misleading business practices or just poor organization and communication skill by schedulers, Jancyn is known for not keeping its' word with shoppers in a wide variety of ways in recent months. A signficant number of payments have been significantly late or incorrect. Many shoppers report that the terms of a shop have changed after completing it (for example, a reimbursement allowance being decreased without notice); in other cases, offered bonuses were not fulfilled when the shop was completed. Some shoppers have reported very rude interactions with schedulers, or schedulers only releasing payments owed if they agree to take on additional shops. However, the feelings about Jancyn have been mixed; some shoppers report only positive experiences.
Satisfaction Services, Inc. In January 2006, SSI launched a new
Rated Evaluator program that requires an upfront fee to shoppers (currently at an "introductory rate" of $5.99, planned to go up to $9.99) in order to receive feedback and to have preferential treatment for shops. Existing shoppers are required to sign up to keep their previous rating. SSI has never been known for being high paying, so I find that their assertion that "your signup fee can be recouped in value with your first assignment" to be laughable. Also note that "due to the nature of our business, meaning, clients we service may or may not have locations close to you, there may be another evaluator more qualified than you for a particular assignment, there are no guarantees you will receive assignments, and there can be no refunds of your signup fee." Substandard pay is bad enough, but a non-refundable fee just to receive feedback and evaluations? I think not.
The Solomon Group: I've always been a fan of the motto "don't pay to shop", so I have to give a warning about The Solomon Group, which has a required training that you must pay for even if you're MSPA certified. (The company defends this saying that you're not paying to shop, you're paying to be trained, but the training is required to work for them.) These shops range from $34.95 - $59.90 just for this one company! (Compare MSPA Silver at $15 and it is good at hundreds of companies.) Sure, in theory, it could apply to other restaurant shops, but at that pricetag, I simply can't justify it. In addition, you're required to do sample shops at restaurants at your own expense. I can understand that companies have their own expenses; to a point, I could understand a business reason to lower shop fees for extensive trainings, or even take the fees for trainings out of the first few shops (although I doubt I would work for such a company). However, you have to be trained to even be added to their database and know if there are shops in your area. There's simply no reason to do this when there are other restaurant shops out there and it is preying on people who are simply uninformed about mystery shopping.
Do you agree or disagree with what you have read? Please leave a comment with your experiences with the above companies, or a suggestion for a company that should be added to this list. This file was last updated on 1/23/2006.
