ComplaintsforMarket Force Information, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Worked as an independent contractor for them and they dont reimburse like they are supposed and never paid for work . I complained and then the blocked me from tracking my work and money owed, and wont return a call or email.

  

  Business response

  04/03/2023

  Good morning - we did respond to this person when they asked for their tax information.  It was explained that we cannot, by law, provide tax information for the current year.  The shopper has three approved shops for March 2023 and those will be paid out the week of April 17, 2023 with the rest of shoppers who have approved March shop dates.  Since they signed up with ** on June 23, 2022, they have cancelled 37 shops between 2022 and 2023.  Please also see the attached email to ** with many expletives that are unprofessional and unacceptable.  We do not tolerate that type of behavior, thus we have terminated the Independent Contractor Agreement.

  Customer response

  04/03/2023

   
  Complaint: 19878272
  
  I am rejecting this response because: yes, you did you did recieve that email after I spent $ **************************************************************************************************************** to review my business records as I am an independent contractor and have that right. 
  

  I'm sort of surprised by your arrogance when you are the thief. Im not the only one who has experienced this with you either. I bet if we ran a ****** ad on who has been ripped off by you,  there would hundreds of not thousands. 
  

  No one stands up to because of your propped self created reviews but the shoppers know the difference. 

  
  
  ***************************

  

  Business response

  05/15/2023

  This particular shopper was paid on April 20th for the three approved shops in March 2023.  Shopper has no other outstanding unpaid shops so I do not know why they stated we stole their money and are thieves.

  As previously stated in the first response, they asked for tax information which is not provided via a **** until the following calendar year.  Additionally, this person used multiple expletives in communication and, as stated, it will not be tolerated.  The emails with the language were attached in the original response.

• Initial Complaint

  03/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I took a "secret shopper" assignment with Five Guys. I was to order and pay for food/drink and be reimbursed up to $20. Specifcally, I was suppose to order hamburger, french fries, soda and milk shake of which I did. I also ordered a bottled water. I was suppose to be reimbursed in addition to being paid for my time. They are now saying they won't pay me because I ordered a water when I was suppose to order a soda. Although the assignment specified 'don't order water' I didn't take it to mean in addition to what I was suppose to order. I think its ******** that because I ordered an additional drink for myself to take in my CAR, that the assignment would not be approved. I ordered and did everything that was specfied for me to do. I also ordered another hamburger in addition to the water. It wasn't specified that I couldn't order an additional hamburger but they don't have a problem with that. I want my reimbursement $20 and my pay

  

  Business response

  03/16/2023

  The shopper guidelines are very clear to NOT order water of any kind on your receipt.  The client will not pay for the shop if they see water ordered. We have to abide by the parameters.  The shopper has been informed multiple times via email as to the details around the invalid.  This was her first shop and she admitted in our interaction that she knew she made a mistake.  We cannot pay a shopper for a shop that is invalid.

  Customer response

  03/16/2023

   
  Complaint: 19586666
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  First off, I never admitted it was a mistake in my correspondence.  I have all correspondence via email and no where do I say it was my mistake. I ordered everything it said I should.  The directions were to 1) order a drink (soda). if they didn't have soda, to order a water.  It does say do not order water, but I took that as an initial request.  The directions are not clear. It says to order water then says to not order water.  I shouldn't have to be penalized because they aren't clear.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  01/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Deleting verified and approved shops from the payout list effectively stealing my money..

  

  Business response

  01/10/2023

  Hi, I have referenced our check register and we have paid shopper ******* for all approved shops for June 2022 thru November 2022 (a total of 8 shops).  Shopper ******* has 11 approved shops for December and we will pay out all approved December shops the week of January 23, 2023.  For context of this email, the shopper has only performed 19 shops for us and cancelled an additional 10 shops which do not count towards any payment.  

• Initial Complaint

  12/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I've been a mystery shopper (contractor) with Market Force for 12 years. On 12/22/22 they paid me (via Direct Deposit) $2.95 when it should have been $29.52. They sent an email on 12/22/22 stating that it would be resolved with ***** hours and as of 12/27/22 it has not been resolved. They have done this to many other shoppers. We're tired of the lies and would just like to receive the payment that we were promised.

  

  Business response

  03/16/2023

  We did have an accounting/banking error at the end of 2022.  We contacted the affected shoppers via email with a persona message AND posted a message on the shopper portal. We were very transparent about the errors and worked with the bank to rectify the situation.  There were no lies at all.  We did the best we could given the circumstances with our banking institution.  Eventually the situation was rectified and shoppers were paid.  From what I can see in the check register for this shopper, we paid them $29.52 on 12/19/22 for assignment 19309809.  Then we paid them an additional amount of $26.57 on 12/27/22.

• Initial Complaint

  12/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have two issues with Market Force Information, *** that need to be resolved.First of all, Marketforce sent an email that said "Market Force would like to make you aware that there was an error with your recent shopper payment. We are actively working to fix this error as quickly as possible and hope to have this corrected as early as tomorrow morning." They also sent an additional email that said "Market Force would like to thank you for your patience as we reviewed our shopper payroll file processed this week. As you may know, your full payment was not issued. The payroll file has been reviewed and an additional deposit was sent on the evening of Tuesday, December 20th."and yes, there was an error and full payment was not issued. I received a payment from them for $3.45 and the payment was supposed to be for $36.45. As of today December 25, I still have not received the additional deposit they promised to make. They don't also reply back to my emails.The second issue I have with them is an assignment ID ******** I performed for which I will not get paid for since it appears as invalid of my account. Normally if a shop / assignment is determined to be invalid, they will provide an explanation....but so far no explanation has been made. And again they do not reply to my emails. So I am hoping that they will reply back to the BBB since they don't reply to my messages

  

  Business response

  03/16/2023

  This person was sent two emails to get confirmation on validity details, otherwise without those details we could not send the shop report to the client.  We emailed the shopper on both December 4 and 5 asking the same information. We did not hear from the shopper so we could not deem the report as valid due to the outstanding unanswered details.  Additionally, we paid him two payments in December for November shops:  one on 12/19/22 in the amount of $36.45 for the only two shops performed in November (******** and ********) and another on 12/27/22 in the amount of $32.81, marked as a supplemental payment.  We have zero records of any emails from this shopper ID or email address attached to the shopper ID.  We do answer all emails asking for assistance or a question. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Mystery shop was offered to me with stipulation that the order must be placed "online". Called into customer service to verify this and it was confirmed by a Market Force employee. Upon starting the survey, there is a note that the the shop was required to have been completed in person. Attempted to contact Market force same day via phone and email. No response received until the next day when I was told that the organization does not take phone calls from shoppers, only communicates via email (I had called into their phone system 4-5 times previously without this being noted). After finally getting a response from their helpdesk, I was instructed that I am required to understand what is being asked of me. This is not what happened, however. The information was CHANGED after original assignment registration. Not sure how this company has an "A+" rating from the BBB. Look at the reviews left for them on here. Very poor company to be a contractor for. STAY AWAY!!!!

  

  Business response

  09/13/2022

  Good day - this particular shop was assigned as a Lunch-Online order shop to pick up the food and drink at the location.  The shop was assigned to shop on April 28 and as of May 1 the report was still incomplete so we had to invalidate the shop.  Per the Contractor Payment Invoice, the reporting window is eight hours after shop completion and that threshold was not met.  Additionally, the shopper stated they were going to contact the client directly with their complaint which is something a shopper should never do.

  Customer response

  09/13/2022

   
  Complaint: 17181580
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The survey was initially offered as online delivery. Only after acceptance was it then updated to online pickup. When I tried to start the survey, I could not complete it because of the system issue. I immediately contacted support who offered no resolution. Three days later, I was told the survey expired. Recorded phone call with support will verify this info. Additionally, this response has taken months to receive. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

  

  Business response

  09/14/2022

  As of the email interaction on May 9, ****, you requested to be expunged from our system and we adhered to such request.  Additionally, once a shop is assigned the point of service does not change which is why the *** is so integral for a shopper to know the point of service, shop date/time, reimbursements, shop fees and address of the shop.

• Initial Complaint

  02/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I applied for a job position as a mystery shopper on LinkedIn through marketforce Information approximately a month ago. A man calling himself "***********************" took immediate interest in my resume. I was then told I would receive a check in the mail, to deposit said check into MY personal account and proceed with my "missions" per my assignment sheet that would be included in the **** high priority folder being sent to me. Being the cautious and non trusting woman I am, I immediately called the ************ the cashier's check (totalling ******** USD) originated from. I am from ********, I called ******, **********. The check number had been issued to not only me, but also others with different amounts. I asked if I needed to send them the check back (for their records) or shred it. I was told to shred it. THIS BUSINESS IS A SCAM!!

  

  Business response

  03/31/2022

  Good morning - Unfortunately, what the complainant encountered is a known scam of people using our name and likeness.  They have been doing it for years and just change the name of the "recruiter" every few months.  We will never send money upfront for a mystery shopping assignment.  We have been a legitimate business since ****, formerly known as *********** then rebranded three decades later to Market Force Information LLC.

   

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩