Mystery Shopping Thread 25 *PLEASE READ THE OP FIRST**PLEASE NO CLIENT NAMES OR FEES

cziffra

I'm still awaiting £22 from them for a job. This was finally established before Christmas and I neither received payment nor an apology in response. The email I received today blamed me, because apparently it was too difficult to locate the unpaid job (from my explanation of the fee I should have received and the client) out of the five I performed for them. I can't possibly imagine how any professional accounting system can be so poorly organised.

cziffra

Here's the last reply from Retail Active:


"As insufficient details were provided to identify which visit you were referring to, this process has taken longer.

I can only assume you are referring to the assignment carried out on 21/10/13,


(client details edited out)


If this is the visits you are referring to, your account details were not provided when payments were processed. If you notified us you had updated your details, please forward a copy of this email so I can investigate further."

("taken longer" refers to over two weeks without either issuing the payment or replying to the email that I sent detailing the fee and the client)

In other words, they didn't pay me because they didn't yet have my bank details at the time of that first assignment. So they just wrote off that payment altogether and decided that it wouldn't be added to the next payment, or issued at all. That's their "excuse". Can you believe such an attitude?

Boredupnorth

cziffra wrote: »

(I've also posted this in a new thread, but thought I might as well make it visible here too)

Stay well clear of Retail Active. I have written extremely few negative reports in any of my mystery shops for any company, but the conduct and general incompetence of this company simply beggars belief. When I received my first payment, it fell short of what my records suggested should have been paid. I immediately contacted them, to politely request a full payment breakdown. Remarkably enough, such a routine and simple request was actually refused. I was told that I'm supposed to keep my own records. When I pointed out that I had indeed kept my own records (which is why I was aware of having been incorrectly paid and why I needed to see a breakdown of the unexplained payment that had been issued) they still point blank refused to provide further information and made no offer to investigate the matter unless I filled in a form that I could not complete- as it was a claim form for a specific unpaid job. Seeing as they refused to provide routine accounting records, I had no idea which job had been underpaid.

After a string of evasive and completely unhelpful emails, they eventually sent a breakdown- after I threatened to stop wasting any more time and simply take them to court. One of the jobs had indeed not been paid and was not listed. I told them how much I was owed and which company it was for and then heard nothing for over two weeks. When I complained yet again, I was blamed for not providing clear details of the missed payment (despite having stated the amount and which company it was performed for). Still not a single word of apology had yet been given or a word to accept responsbility for not only the error, but the refusal to investigate it. I simply received yet more flimsy excuses for what is clearly a completely incompetent system of accounting that is completely disorganised. Apparently they were unable to trace the unpaid job from the list of just five assignments I had performed for them...

Today I received a phone call from someone at the company. Although they made the first apology I have received- they revealed that the company is inherently the same and it was not one single individual at fault. The company is just a mess and they are not willing to be held accountable for it. They tried to tell me that all mystery companies are the same and that I was not paid because they did not have my bank details on file when the assignment was performed. When I told them that my experience with other mystery shopping companies is NOT the same (and that all others paid me correctly, regardless of whether they needed to request my bank details) she became equally rude and uninterested as the person who had sent the emails. She was only out to recite inaccurate excuses and was not prepared to listen when I was forced to correct her about statements that were patently untrue. No other mystery shopping company has behaved with the same incompetence and made the same refusal to provide accounting records for verification purposes.

This company is run by the rudest and most incompetent staff I have ever encountered in any professional organisation. Don't go anywhere near them. They have very few clients at present, and aren't worth getting involved with.

Obviously you have never worked for AA! now they are incompetent....Everyone has different experiences with different companies, personally I have never had a problem with RA.

cziffra

Boredupnorth wrote: »

Obviously you have never worked for AA! now they are incompetent....Everyone has different experiences with different companies, personally I have never had a problem with RA.

Well, just be sure to check your payments. I'm generally the type to just assume that these things will be properly automated. Judging from the mistake they made (but above all from the way in which they responded afterwards) their accounting and payment procedures are pretty shambolic. It's clearly not a company that you can put any casual trust in, nor one that is professional enough to treat mistakes with any seriousness.

JohnnyG

Boredupnorth wrote: »

Obviously you have never worked for AA! now they are incompetent....Everyone has different experiences with different companies, personally I have never had a problem with RA.

TBH, I've had payments missed from RM (apparently I didn't send in the receipt for a particular visit however, I sent 3 receipts in on one e-mail, had two paid but not the third :cool:) but, like you, have never had any problems with RA.

Boredupnorth

cziffra wrote: »

Well, just be sure to check your payments. I'm generally the type to just assume that these things will be properly automated. Judging from the mistake they made (but above all from the way in which they responded afterwards) their accounting and payment procedures are pretty shambolic. It's clearly not a company that you can put any casual trust in, nor one that is professional enough to treat mistakes with any seriousness.

The same goes for any company not just RA. We keep our own records not just to keep the tax man happy but also to ensure we get paid correctly. In all the years I have been doing this full time I have only ever been short paid twice both of which I spotted and the companies sorted after a conversation or two. You have had a bad experience with RA, hundreds of others have never had a problem.

skivenov

Macadamia wrote: »

Thanks to all those who provided ideas.

Now here's another question. What can you buy for £1 in a tile shop?

Answers on the back of a fag packet.....

Small bag of spacers? Sponge?

cziffra

Boredupnorth wrote: »

The same goes for any company not just RA. We keep our own records not just to keep the tax man happy but also to ensure we get paid correctly. In all the years I have been doing this full time I have only ever been short paid twice both of which I spotted and the companies sorted after a conversation or two. You have had a bad experience with RA, hundreds of others have never had a problem.

True, but it's worth knowing what you can expect if something does go wrong. Most companies behave professionally and would be quick to respond, apologise and rectify any error that might occur.

Retail active, however, refused to offer the most basic assistance. Even after we established that I had not been correctly paid, they went silent for two weeks and then found a flimsy excuse to try to blame me for their mess, rather than apologise for either the missed payment or their evasive behaviour in response to my complaint. I'm still waiting for the missing payment.

Even if most payments go through correctly (as you'd expect from any company) it's worth knowing what kind of service you can expect to receive in the event that something goes wrong. I would not be prepared to take any future assignments from them, after witnessing such casual disregard and unwillingness to take responsibility for their mistakes.

How a company behaves when things go wrong is what tells you how much trust you can really put in them.

bylromarha

JohnnyG wrote: »

I've negotiated extra fees in the past, but usually in the way of mileage. Must admit, it's never easy with them though, they play hard ball at times.

Fee online now up 25% from original fee. 4 of these jobs to allocate and 3 days to allocate them in.

Will wait another couple of days...:D

Larac

skivenov wrote: »

Small bag of spacers? Sponge?

Well I managed to buy two tiles for 40 pence which will make excellent coasters...