Mystery Shopping Thread 20 **PLEASE DO NOT MENTION CLIENT NAMES OR FEES ON HERE**

Lil_Me_2

I've also had payments from Lodge but from REACT.

In terms of banks, yes they can be as fussy as they want, and what's more annoying is that they won't tell you why! I tried to open an account for all my MSing to go through, went into what is the most convenient bank with long opening hours and they turned me down! I was only after a basic account with no overdraft so was a bit surprised. Their loss :cool:

Dotty13

debsjc wrote: »

It's not only RE. I don't intend taking another job from Amber Arch after their queries last time, not to mention the unclear brief. :mad:

nehpets81 wrote: »

Too true - the briefs for AA are hands down the worst I have seen - about a page or two of A4 of very vague instructions for what are, sometimes, quite complex scenarious.

Joined up, but never worked for them, so cant comment. Sounds like their vague instructions are the cause of the queries. Isn't it funny that you never hear from some companies after you have pressed the submit button, whilst others need you to explain the ins and outs of a knats !!!! I wonder why that is.................?

mimi1234

Dotty13 wrote: »

Joined up, but never worked for them, so cant comment. Sounds like their vague instructions are the cause of the queries. Isn't it funny that you never hear from some companies after you have pressed the submit button, whilst others need you to explain the ins and outs of a knats !!!! I wonder why that is.................?

Signed up. Did 2. Promised myself I would never do any more for them ever again! Mind you, if you want to get paid a few quid for some mammoth reporting after a shop, hurry and sign up!

Dotty13

mimi1234 wrote: »

Signed up. Did 2. Promised myself I would never do any more for them ever again! Mind you, if you want to get paid a few quid for some mammoth reporting after a shop, hurry and sign up!

I'm straight off to do that now - thanks for the tip! LOL:D

There's loads of companies that I've signed up for, and never actually done any work for. Do you think they'll get rid of me at some point?

Dotty13

Lil_Me wrote: »

I've also had payments from Lodge but from REACT.

In terms of banks, yes they can be as fussy as they want, and what's more annoying is that they won't tell you why! I tried to open an account for all my MSing to go through, went into what is the most convenient bank with long opening hours and they turned me down! I was only after a basic account with no overdraft so was a bit surprised. Their loss :cool:

I think that banks have forgotton why they are actually here - to look after OUR money. They charge you for this, and charge you for that, try to sell you this, and add on that. It costs you money to actually have a bank account these days! Lets go back to the olden days of paper money in a little brown envelope! And dont get me started on direct debits. Arggggghhhhh:mad::mad::mad:

tomla

misssarahleigh wrote: »

ummm, just a question. But had an email about a bank. Those who have this email will understand my question.

Are they allowed to only offer account to 'specific' people?

If so, is that not illegal?

The email doesnt suggest the account is only offered to certain people. Discrimination law is varied in its implications because you can actively discriminate if the job really calls for it (an example would be asking for applicants over 25 for a driving job because your insurance only covers drivers over 25) but I imagine that anyone can open this account so asking for a specific group of people is a fine line. Saying that I can fully understand it if that group will either speak the language required (if that is the case) or is 99% of the products customer base. This is "mystery" shopping so I guess they want to keep the mystery alive.

Dotty13

tomla wrote: »

The email doesnt suggest the account is only offered to certain people. Discrimination law is varied in its implications because you can actively discriminate if the job really calls for it (an example would be asking for applicants over 25 for a driving job because your insurance only covers drivers over 25) but I imagine that anyone can open this account so asking for a specific group of people is a fine line. Saying that I can fully understand it if that group will either speak the language required (if that is the case) or is 99% of the products customer base. This is "mystery" shopping so I guess they want to keep the mystery alive.

I haven't seen the email, so cant comment per se.....but what you are saying reminds me of the age restrictions for mobiles and computer shops etc. By placing an upper age limit, is the client discriminating? After all, these types of products are bought and used by people of all ages.

StacFace

Dotty13 wrote: »

I think sometimes that the proof readers try to justify their worth. If your report was objective, and you stated the facts, then what can they query???!!! If you answered truthfully and honestly (which no doubt you did), then stick to your guns! They go away eventually LOL:rotfl:I presume that this is RE - why is it only RE that query reports?:cool:

It's definately not just RE, I did a chicken job for GAP at the start of this week and when I arrived they had run out of chicken, so there was a 20-minute wait for some more. I stated this in the report.

Today I get an email - why did you spend so long in the restaurant and why are your timing points so excessive? :wall:

tas123

serendipity2706 wrote: »

This is the paypal reply. I'm going to write to Catalyst attaching the reply. Anyone else??

Thank you for contacting PayPal regarding the payment made to you which had a charge.

As I have checked your account the £*** GBP from Catalyst Marketing Communications Ltd was sent to you as a normal commercial payment rather than a mass payment given to you by Amber Arch Ltd £XXX GBP.

To further clarify, a normal commercial payment is sent to a single
person for a payment for service or goods. This is done by selecting the 'Send Money' tab and selecting 'services' which is what is showing on your £XXX Catalyst payment.

This is why it will incur the standard receiving fee of 3.4% of the
total payment plus 20p. On the other hand, a mass payment is a type of payment made by a seller to a lot of people in the same time on a single session of submitting the payment.

With the mass payment method done, the merchant will shoulder the fee which is why you can see that the whole amount of £XXX GBP was given to you.

If you would like to get the rest of the £XXX GBP on your PayPal
balance, you can ask the merchant to send you a Personal type of payment instead of making a commercial or Purchase type of payment.

With this payment feature, they can send the whole amount to you in one go even if you are just the only person they need to pay.

In order to do this, you can ask your merchant to follow these steps:

1. Log in to your PayPal account at www.paypal.co.uk
2. Click the 'Send Money' tab.
3. Enter the email address of the recipient and the amount and currency
of the payment.
4. Select the nature of the payment under the two tabs ‘Purchase’ or
‘Personal’.
Select 'Personal'.
a. Purchases are for paying for products/services; such as
something won on eBay, or for a service, such as music downloads.
b. Personal payments are for sending gifts, splitting a lunch bill,
paying living expenses, and everyday exchanges of money between friends
and family.
5. Click 'Continue'.
6. Review your payment details including the payment method and
currency. To change any information, click the ‘change’ link in the
relevant section. Note: If you change any payment details, the payment
method will automatically return to your default method of payment.
7. Review your postage information and add a message to the recipient
(optional).
8. Click 'Send Money' to complete the payment.

The recipient will receive an email announcing the payment. If the
recipient does not have a PayPal account, they will be required to open one to receive the payment.

Now once this is done, you can refund the original payment they made to you or you can do this before receiving the Personal payment.

Here’s how to refund a payment:

1. Go to http://www.paypal.co.uk/ and log in to your account.
2. Click ‘History’ near the top of the page.
3. Click ‘Details’ next to the payment you want to refund.
4. Click ‘Issue a refund.’
5. For ‘Refund amount,’ enter the amount to you want to refund, then click ‘Continue.’
6. Review the information, then click ‘Issue Refund.’

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,
Terence

This is the response from Catalyst regarding Paypal payments, I have pointed out that other MS Companies pay me through Paypal and I don't get charged a fee and that in future I will not be using Paypal. The last sentence made me chuckle!! :rotfl:

"Thanks for your e-mail. Paypal does charge a fee if you receive any payment for goods or services that you have provided. The information from Paypal in this regard is as follows:

Our fees are the same for all accounts–Personal, Premier, and Business.
We charge fees for the following circumstances:
* When you receive money from a purchase.
* When you receive payments from outside your country or region.
* When you send personal payments using a credit card. The sender
determines who pays the fee.
Transaction fees can range from 1.4% to 3.4% + 20p. If you receive a
payment from outside the UK, an additional cross-border fee of 0.5% may
apply.
It's free to pay for a purchase, or make a personal transfer using money
from your PayPal balance or your bank account.
If a merchant wants to get lesser fees, the merchants you pay for
should apply for the Merchant rate using their own PayPal account.

We are hoping that our shoppers will find Paypal much quicker and more convenient than having to go to the bank to cash cheques.
"

tas123

tas123 wrote: »

This is the response from Catalyst regarding Paypal payments, I have pointed out that other MS Companies pay me through Paypal and I don't get charged a fee and that in future I will not be using Paypal. The last sentence made me chuckle!! :rotfl:

"Thanks for your e-mail. Paypal does charge a fee if you receive any payment for goods or services that you have provided. The information from Paypal in this regard is as follows:

Our fees are the same for all accounts–Personal, Premier, and Business.
We charge fees for the following circumstances:
* When you receive money from a purchase.
* When you receive payments from outside your country or region.
* When you send personal payments using a credit card. The sender
determines who pays the fee.
Transaction fees can range from 1.4% to 3.4% + 20p. If you receive a
payment from outside the UK, an additional cross-border fee of 0.5% may
apply.
It's free to pay for a purchase, or make a personal transfer using money
from your PayPal balance or your bank account.
If a merchant wants to get lesser fees, the merchants you pay for
should apply for the Merchant rate using their own PayPal account.

We are hoping that our shoppers will find Paypal much quicker and more convenient than having to go to the bank to cash cheques.
"

And the response from them when I asked why other MS companies could pay us without me being charged a fee.

"I believe it is because in this case you are being paid from outside the UK."