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Market Force Information

Market Force Information review: Scam 113

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3:09 pm EDT
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Market Force Information, Inc. ripped me off. If you ever decide to work here, you will most likely end up regretting it. Seemed like a great idea at the time-- even fun perhaps. Getting paid for your opinion, experience at writing AND reimbursed for your meals? Hey, I love writing and I give my opinion freely-- so why not get paid for it all, right? Hmph! Was *I* in for rude awakening!

On the initial application they want to know everything there is to know about YOU. Do you own or rent a home, do you have any type of disabilities, what's your gender, your race, are you married or single, what's your household income, what's your birth date, your Social Security number, your hair color, eye color, do you wear glasses, how tall are you and how much do you weigh?! Many of those criteria sounded very suspicious or even illegal to me but I ignored my intuitions. I knew that there were some mystery shopping jobs that were a scam and you had to be careful so I checked them out with the BBB. When I saw that they had a decent rating I eagerly signed up with them. I wanted this job. Badly. It sounded like my dream job so I ignored any skepticism on my own or anyone else's part.

They wanted me to take a written test that would test my attention to detail on the last place that I shopped. Spelling and grammar counts even though when you do the actual reports for them, you have an automatic spell checker-- but yet they still have an actual spelling test on there and they want to know the exact time right down to the very second that you started taking their test and EXACTLY when you ended it!

Then, if you're accepted, you have to read and then take a 35 question test on an 11 page manual. 5 pages of the manual are dedicated entirely on how to start and stop timing the workers at the restaurant. They devoted about half of the questions to things like: What is the timing point 1, 2 and 3 for the walk in, what is it for the drive in... which timing point is #2 and which one is #3 and then what are timing points #1-3 for the drive-thru. You only get 2 chances to get a 100% of all questions correct-- and you must get them all right either the first time or the second time!

When you're doing the actual evaluation at the restaurant though you have to be very discreet about your timings. Can't actually write them down while you're there or you could blow your cover. You're supposed to be able to remember exactly down to the second: "When did you come to a complete stop in the drive thru, what time you stop and pay for your food, what time you did you receive your food and drink, how many cars were ahead of you, what time did you go to the walk-in line, how many people were ahead of you, how many cash registers were open, what time was it when you were told the total cost of that order, what time was it when your food actually arrives... It shouldn't be more than 10 seconds or something's wrong with the worker! There are so many requirements that need to be met, so many questions that they ask, so many details that you have to remember but you are not allowed to bring these list of requirements with you because you are supposed to look and act as if you are an ordinary shopper. You can't even bring anyone else along. You must be alone, pay entirely in CASH, be very hungry, go to a specific location between a specific time frame. You must be able to eat, drink and honestly scrutinize 2 consecutive full meals all by yourself.

The night before my first assignment, I worked on my computer for over an hour downloading and printing out 10 pages of their rules and instructions. The next morning I woke up, got myself ready to snoop, took the time to go to Wawa to get $20 in CASH, (which was all I could spare this week), went to McDonald's and did the absolute best mystery shop that I could do with what I had to work with.

You would think with all of the pages that you have to download and print out, they would actually USE these pages to make it very clear exactly what to order for each part of this review but they are STILL unclear because they REALLY do not want to pay you for all of your hard work! For example, on page 3 of their 10 page "Information Sheets", they said you need to order one sandwich, fries and a beverage-- but it was unclear to me if they wanted me to do that for the walk-in AND the drive thru. They said you need to order: "either a sausage biscuit or sausage biscuit with egg, a sausage mcmuffin or a sausage mcmuffin with egg, a sausage McGriddle or a sausage egg and cheese mcgriddle. Then it says for the second order, (the drive-thru portion) you have to order one of these choices.. either: "a bacon egg and cheese biscuit, an egg mcmuffin or a bacon, egg and cheese mcgriddle." It did not say to order yet ANOTHER side and a drink... and I thought it would certainly be ridiculous of them to expect anyone to eat 2 entire meals all by themselves so I just got the sandwich for the drive-thru, just like it said to do in the upper middle portion of that page.

For each evaluation, you have to answer questions about the server's friendliness, their attentiveness, their communication, their speed, the accuracy of the order, the food quality, the store's cleanliness, how the drive thru was and how the restrooms were. Ok. No problem there. That is what I expected to do but it was disappointing to me that they did not have any space for me to write in my own comments and observations, which I feel are just as important as the other things that they want scrutinized. (I thought the restaurant was fine. The only thing that could use some improvements were the fact that the tray was very wet and so was the counter top in the ladies' restroom.)

I filled out their report on the walk-in, the surrounding area, the drive thru AND the restroom then I scanned the receipts and the "CPI", which is the Contractor Payment Invoice-- the form that they have you sign that you must also print out when you print out the useless 10 other pages of their requirements...and you have to print it out right at that time, not later on.

After waking up early to go to this place, spending my time and my money, doing their report, scanning everything that they wanted, they still have to try to find something--anything that wasn't done precisely so they don't have to pay for all of this.

It took me hours to try to upload my CPI. I tried it a dozen times but every time it just made my computer freeze and then I'd keep getting an error message. I shut down the computer and started it again 3 more times before the site finally said everything was received. By then I was angry, frustrated and was really starting to feel like this wasn't worth my time or aggravation. Not too surprisingly, a few hours later I received an email from Market Research Information saying that they were not going to pay me ANYTHING for all that I did because I only ordered a sandwich, drink and hash browns in the walk-in but I only got 1 sandwich in the drive-thru!

It was a very belittling and condescending letter!

Now if this were a reputable company, they would have prorated their assignment fees-- especially for my first experience working with them-- but they don't. It's all or nothing with these crooks. What I did was surely worth something but THEY acted like all my hard work and money were worthless and they allegedly "could not use it".

Now that I know how crooked they are and all that they demand, I think back to what my husband told me when I first told him about this place. They simply do not pay the reviewers nearly enough for all of this even it was done entirely correct in their mind. I also feel that they expect too much from the McDonald's employees too with what scanty amount they get paid! For this assignment, if I did it entirely how they say they wanted it, they were only going to pay me $7.50 plus the cost of food.

I thought this would be a fun job even though it doesn't pay well but this anal company is clearly not worth the time, money, effort and aggravation.

Update by MrBadgers
Aug 24, 2010 3:42 pm EDT

I have seen other complaints about this company online. I wish I took them seriously. What a waste of time this crooked company has been.

Update by MrBadgers
Aug 26, 2010 7:05 pm EDT

Good for you! I'm happy for you, Observer 101 and Anonymous 1 that you didn't get sucked into their foolishness. :) I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. Luckily for me, I was only out $5.98 plus the cost of food, unlike some of their other victims who I read about who were ripped off over $40 for each mystery shop.

The only thing I got out of this is learning to be less trusting and to have even more empathy for people who work at fast food places. These big corporations expect way too much from them for what little they pay.

Update by MrBadgers
Dec 26, 2010 10:18 pm EST

Great idea! I couldn't agree more! Excellent letter and excellent ideas!

Update by MrBadgers
Apr 09, 2011 11:31 am EDT

! They should have paid you an aggravation fee on top of what they so cheapskatedly cheated you out of. Cheap sneaky ###. It's like they want to irritate their employees on top of ripping them off and wasting their time.

Update by MrBadgers
Apr 09, 2011 9:30 pm EDT

They are SO crooked it still boggles my mind just how low they will stoop. Well I hope you do get a lawyer and take them for everything they have. Perhaps your lawyer could even get them to pay your entire court costs too. For all the people they've ripped off this is what they have coming to them. Good luck and I wish you all the best. I hope you will write soon to tell us how many millions of dollars you took back from their greedy hands on behalf of all of us.

Update by MrBadgers
Apr 12, 2011 10:33 am EDT

I think you're absolutely right. It is both and they ARE like talking to a brick wall. Numbskulls.

Update by MrBadgers
Sep 01, 2011 9:40 pm EDT

Thank you very much for writing and for reading and appreciating what I wrote. I wish you the best with this. Just remember to do everything exactly as they say and keep track of every detail or they'll use it as an excuse not to pay you. You'll probably be videotaped so they can be sure that you do everything their way and are accurate right down to the second. I now think they may be quasi-legit but I just found them to be too demanding for what little they pay. If your interest in doing this is more like a hobby than a way to make a living, this may even be interesting and enjoyable for you. Good luck and best wishes. Let us know how it goes... --Sylvia

113 comments
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Sigh.........
Aurora, US
May 01, 2011 8:16 am EDT

I think MF is real, though they sound like a nightmare, but...a new phishing scam is out there using them. I have been out of work for awhile now, so always on Craig's, where you know you have to be careful. Well, I had heard of companies willing to pay you for a car wrap and advertising a companies goods or services. Well, got one of those emails that you just know. Signed by somebody from MF, but when you look at the return address it is a gmail address. You don't see the broken English like you used to, but still some grammer issues as another person mentioned. Then, "we will send you two weeks of pay, AND the money to get your car wrapped, we then need you to send the money via Western Union to the vendor that does the car wrap". Sigh...so sick of scammers wasting my time.

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martingd
CA
May 12, 2011 6:55 pm EDT

Thanks for the information, I will avoid doing any mystery shopping then and advise friends to be careful.

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Nathan Danks
Grand Rapids, US
Jun 22, 2011 1:27 pm EDT

So here's the deal; the way I see it you can't expect to be a mystery shopper or any time of entry level consultant and make a good deal of money - it simply isn't reliable for steady income. However, if you have a good job and make steady living there is no good reason why you shouldn't attempt to sign up for something like this. It may be that the requirements are tedious and generally off the wall ridiculous; but that is what it is.
My wife and I really enjoy going out to eat, but going out to eat is expensive and we honestly can't afford to do it as much as we do; but if once or twice a month we can find a good mystery shop at a place we'd both be willing to eat at - we can do it at no cost to us. The truth is that we would go out to eat anyways so if we screw up and don't do the shop well enough, then we pay what we would have otherwise. I personally don't care If i'm required to do a certain number of stupid and useless things - honestly it gives me something to do.
On the other hand, it may turn out that doing all of the details ruins the experience for me, in which case I simply won't do it anymore. My suggestion is if you have never mystery shopped before (which I haven't yet) to make sure that the first shop you do is something you would have done anyways. In fact - don't do any shop you wouldn't normally do until you are confident that you will do it correctly and that you will (as a result) receive compensation for the shop.

Anyone else have thoughts or comments? I'm up for listening to them. My feeling is that most of the complaints here are from people who were expecting to be compensated and paid for doing something they wouldn't normally do, people who in my opinion are expecting this industry to be something that it simply is not.

Nathan Danks

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GLS53
Mars, US
Jul 09, 2011 4:51 pm EDT

How does this company continue to have a good credit rating with all of this information?

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Nan M
Hudsonville, US
Jul 16, 2011 3:16 am EDT

I have shopped for them for over 10 years. When I started out shopping for them they were under the name Shopnchek. In all the time of shopping for them, I do believe I only had 1 shop rejected and it was my fault - ordered the wrong items. They even sent me a free digital small stopwatch to make it easier to get accurate timings. I knew when I started with them it was not a get rich quick scheme and attention to detail was a necessity. Now they frequently offer me bonus money if they need a shop done quickly (and they offered me a bonus shop as a birthday gift). I like the freedom of being able to take or not take the shops that are offered. They have always been honest and more than fair with me and friends that also worked for them. Re the checks that have been sent - they are NOT from the companies that they appear to be from. All the various companies I work for have specific warnings out that they never ask you to cash a cashiers or any other kind of check.

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ACampa1
San Antonio, US
Jul 27, 2011 9:58 pm EDT

Signed up about 15 minutes ago and now regret it. Called back to cancel and already getting the run around. They gave me a number to customer service and it is not a working number. Already spoke to Brian Greene, Derika, and Ashton Howard, and Tanika. I cant get any where, what do I do now.

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shops4money
Honolulu, US
Aug 19, 2011 12:28 am EDT

This company is FAR from my favorite, as they are so impersonal and the helpdesk frequently could be called the clueless desk...but their instructions are VERY clear, and if you mis-ordered after reading the instructions incorrectly, then no one is at fault but you. They have few shops of interest to me, but the ones they have are EASY.

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Robert Douglas
Camden, US
Aug 21, 2011 5:19 pm EDT

The internet and Google have helped tremendously in researching things like this. My wife got a letter, postmarked in Canada, from Ecomleads Market Research, with a check made out to her from Wells Fargo. Similar instructions as hammer200 posted. Too good to be true? Always. Thanks to those who took the time to post honest complaints here. You have helped others avoid being victims of this rip-off.

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Robert Douglas
Camden, US
Aug 21, 2011 5:21 pm EDT

Ha ha! The internet and Google have helped a lot of people avoid scams and ripoffs like this. Thanks to all who posted honest opinions here. My wife got a similar mailing as hammer200 did, except it originated in Canada. Why, when the company Ecom Leads is based in Brooklyn? After reading these postings, the entire mailer will go into the shredder!

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Olivia Herrera
Santa Clara, US
Sep 01, 2011 12:29 pm EDT

The thing I don't understand is whether or not people here are writing about the same company that I researched into. It is true. Many companys hide behind a legit name but those companys are usaully scams. Everyone says Market Force. Or another one I read. Was it marketshops.com? I have never gotten an email telling me about how I can make money by purchasing at restaurants or retailers. No one has emailed me asking if I would like to be a mystery shopper. People here say that they are mailed a large check from some odd location, they take it to the bank and it ended up being a fraud. My point is that a lot of people on here have confused the name of the market company. The actual name that I have been aproved for and might work for soon is Market Force Information, Inc. (or in short they call them selves MFI) When speaking to their market researchers on their page. Not Market Force. They have an email with their name included. They have a fax number, and they also have a telephone number. They gave me a long test to see if I met their qualifications. I was exepted. One of the rules was that you have to be over 20yrs. old. I read a comment on here that says that the company he was looking at said 27 yrs. old. That's another detail that I have gotten that shows me that he was involved with a different Market Force type company than me. I haven't done a job yet for the company even tho I have been approved. I am going to wait about a week until I am satisfied and have completely read all their information. I have done so much research about if they are a scam. If they're legit, reviews, and complaints. I'm reading the comments on here and they don't sound anything like the company that I have come across. I understand that people get ripped off and I can see everyones point. I now am also scared after reading these reviews that this is all going to happen to me. But wait. I'm not with Market Force. I think a lot of people might have found one of those disguised names. As for Sylvia 103, she is describing exactly the market research company that I'm looking at to the dot. She wrote the same exact questions they asked of me. I'm actually paying attention mostly to her comment the most. All I can say is that I will give it my first shot. I'll try not to pick out a fast food location. Market Force Information, Inc. has said that they do need to have the shopper have a stop watch to time the length of service. I sure hope they don't give me the ruff time that they gave Sylvia! I am going to do my first shop. I'll try to make sure that I won't be paying too much to do it just in case I don't get paid. I also think that the first time is always the hardest on most things. I am going to do a shop a second time. I may get the hang of it and it may not be as bad as my first experience. I think that some people have commented some wise advice by saying "learn form your mistakes". That's why I'm going to try it at least twice so that I can see any mistakes that I might had made and try not to do it again. It will also help me know a little bit about how Market Force Information, Inc. really works. I'll get to know them better also. After trying a few shops, I will then decide whether I am getting myself into some "money hungry screw ball company". I'll cross my fingers that I won't!

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willietribute
Largo, US
Sep 13, 2011 2:45 pm EDT

We (couple) have worked with marketworce fro over 2 years. If you have not been paid it is only because you have not completed the assignment. Many of thier clients have special requests specific to the assignment. Read the assignment carefully. You can decide if you can comply with the requests or not, & can turn down any assignment without predjudice. Do the ones you like, & decline the others & you will have a great experience with them.

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ArkieSparkle
Van Buren, US
Oct 10, 2011 9:34 pm EDT

Yes indeed...the McDonald's shops suck and they don't pay S H I T cheap bastalllllss! You get the drift right. Cheap, Very detailed and i use a stop watch for the timing. Still got the report disqualified and didn't get reimbursed for the food which was $20.00 yeah I am pisssssed!

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Michelle45
Norcross, US
Dec 06, 2011 5:57 pm EST

You sound so damn bitter. Ever think it was your dumb ### that didn't get it right?

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champ220
West Chester, US
Feb 12, 2012 8:49 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

@hammer200 WHY would you believe someone who sends you a check for over $3000? Common sense says stay away!

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Kira027
North Bay, CA
Feb 24, 2012 3:29 pm EST

humm after reading all of your comments Iam having secon thoughts about this company... I just recieved an e-mail saying welcome to the team, I also wondered about this being a scam, but it sounded really good. Im not sure what to do now, it seems like kind of a waste of time and effort :S

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Susie-spy
woeiruewou, GB
Jun 17, 2012 8:40 am EDT

The nice comments about Market Force are misrepresenting the facts, in my view. I completed 5 weeks work with this company as a mystery shopper and thought they were legitimate and was paid for most of my mystery shopping work - bar one job where I didn't follow the assignment brief. Last week I completed an exit interview with them all day and got scammed completely. I spent all day on site with the client hustling their customers for survey feedback, which took 7.5 hours of my time. I was exhausted when I returned home. The next day I tried to upload the reports and was not able to do so -the MF software did not allow me entry. When this matter was resolved I was still unable to upload the reports becuase of another technical issue. This is later resolved but not until mid-day, eating in to all of the time I'd allocated for this job for the less than minimum wage all in fixed fee, which I had agreed to do according the terms set out in the assignment brief.. I rang MF and said I would now send the paper survey reports for the same fixed fee (with an extension for postal arrival time) or would need extra fee for the uploading part of the job now that more hours were required eating into other earning time within the same 24 hour period.. After all, the technical hitches were not at all my fault and I had not reneged on the agreement.. They initially agreed and said I was to send the reports by mail in the post (to avoid paying me the extra by 3.30 pm that day). But when I asked for confirmation of my fee - at the same fixed rate - no one replied so I didn't send them that they. The next day they said that they would not be paying me at all becuase I had not uploaded the reports electronically and that they were going to close my Mystery Shopping account with them too, even though this was not a mystery shopping job at all. Clearly they thought I had sent the paper surveys off already before telling me that. I had introduced myself as a representative of MF on the client site. Clearly, MF thought that I had sent the reports when they reneged on their agreement with me - so that they could gain maximum value from my time spent on site, which they had no intention fo paying for.

I suspect that the company does have a bunch of MS working for them that get all the best jobs and don't get cheated. Judging by the mentality of some of the MS who post on one mystery shopping forum, who seemed to think my predicament was funny, I suspect I am right on this point. But for other mystery shoppers, they take the piss. I have also discovered in the last week that my bank account had been raided too: over £269 taken from the account over the internet - to pay of loan companies I have nothing to do with. At first I thought it might have eminated from one of the pub jobs I did for MF around the time of the first withdrawal from my account; but on closer examination of my account details it could nto have been them and it is unlikely to have been anyone else from places I visited - given that I watched staff very closely whilst transactions were being carried out. After this incident with MF over the exit interviews, I think it could have come from a source within the MF offices (after all, they do have my bank details and these were internet thefts, not pin number required thefts - so no scrutiny of my debit card would be needed). So I have now shopped them in to the Inland Revenue and will be taking legal action against them for not paying me for work performed - and at the legal rate of payment for the terms and conditions of my agreement with them concerning this particular assignment. I will also be calling the police to investigate the matter of theft from my bank account and whether trying to extrapolate surveys from me using a false declaration of agreeing to negotiated terms, when they had no intention of following through with them, also constitutes a criminal act that needs investigating.

Market Force, I suspect, really are scammers, Keep away.

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jvvj
PH
Jul 16, 2012 12:58 am EDT

Market Force has been helping a lot of people to earn extra income.. C'mon don't easily judge just by initial impression... think before you click...

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k/k
king county, US
Oct 17, 2012 9:32 am EDT

I did an audit for them at a place I would not ordinarily go, and spent more money that I usually would. Then they had extra questions that I had already answered in the report; they had not asked for elaborations on the report. They also asked about certain questions, ex. Qxx, but I didn't remember which one that was and could not download another report. I was then told I did not respond to their questions and the report was going to be invalidated. I that email, they quoted from the terms that any report could be invalidated at any time for any reason. In other words, they could get what they needed, get paid for it, but then not pay us. Shame on me for not finding a site like this first. When I looked at other assignments further, I noticed they were going to pay $5 for an assignment that would take an hour+ and then the report time (with picture downloads). What a waste of time. This is less that minimum wage! I never saw anything like these other that paid out hundreds, much less thousands of dollars. I have actually found BBB complaints now that I looked.

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dheath3
Taylorsville, US
Nov 28, 2012 11:58 pm EST

thank you all

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Johnabus
Snohomish, US
Jan 28, 2013 3:57 pm EST

The company advertises the following:
join up to become a Secret Shopper, it's FREE! As a Secret shopper you work and shop together for pleasure and the pay is $300 per assignment/task carried out. Your response would be highly appreciated. What I'm seeing here is $7.95 plus what you buy that seems fraudulent to me. Has anybody ever been paid the 300 dollars plus what they purchased?

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Johnabus
Snohomish, US
Jan 28, 2013 4:03 pm EST

Ok, so Marketforce send you an email saying:
join up to become a Secret Shopper, it's FREE! As a Secret shopper you work and shop together for pleasure and the pay is $300 per assignment/task carried out.
Your response would be highly appreciated.

Market Force ®
www.certifiedfieldassociate.com

But it looks like the payment is $7.95 plus what you bought if approved. While neutral I don't think I'll sing up.
Some employees say it is not fraudulent, but it looks like it might be I guess the old adage;If it sound to good it ... is.

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thelastslaith
Ipswich, GB
Feb 06, 2013 1:53 pm EST

I have to say the person who wrote this is stupid. I am a bit fed up with this sort of thing before you write the word scam or anything negative in life atleast just define it to yourself.

I do agree that marketforce will not always pay for a receipt although they have let me redo a assignment so the whole getting you to do it for free is questionable.

The real issue is in two parts:

1. they do not pay very much for the assignments.
2. some people see it as a potential full time job.

The fact that people have said they will drive 30 miles to get a mcdonalds when they don't like mcdonalds is just plain dumb, no scammer would try and get you to do that instead you have done it to yourself.

Instead there is a alternative way of using marketforce. You look at the assignments and take the ones that ask you to buy something you want. so someone who likes mcdonalds and lives down the road would gladly get a free mcdonalds in fact they would be paid to eat something they like! With this method your never going to make a income however someone such as a housewife or university student (me) can potentially reduce some bills or make money go a bit further.

its not a scam its just not high paying and some people are idiots who expect to get paid to go eat takeaway food. when you think about that who is the worst person?

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John Gault Jr.
Casper, US
Mar 11, 2013 3:52 pm EDT

They are not a scam. You just need to be able to read and follow directions.

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lilane65
Prescott, US
Mar 16, 2013 1:16 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have mystery shopped for Market Force for about 4 years and I am usually happy with the out take, but until I did a shop for them and it was for a audit and the company wasn't open at the time they sent me and I had half my pay deducted. Now was it my fault they weren't opened during the time they sent me. But I guess I wasn't suppose to go if they were closed but the instructions weren't clear they said if you don't go you job wont be counted.

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Raven55
Midwest City, US
May 03, 2013 11:53 am EDT

Me and my husband worked for them. We did good work, too. Then all of the sudden, they removed us as shoppers and would not give a reason for the removal. They are bottom of the barrel for sure.

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Sedg1
Billings, US
May 23, 2013 10:28 pm EDT

Market Force has paid me right on schedule for the shops I've done for them. When doing mystery shopping, the shopper is an independent contractor hired to obtain very specific information. If the shopper fails to comply to the shop instruction the shop is worthless to the client that is paying for these services. If you have trouble following very detailed instructions do not even attempt mystery shopping. The original complainer has no one to blame but themselves for not following the shop instructions.

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tylersmommy1113
US
Jun 12, 2013 11:29 am EDT

I entered all my info including ssn and bank info.. I literally just signed up. I hope I don't get scammed..

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BYUBoy
Roy, US
Jun 19, 2013 10:24 am EDT

I was a shopper with a mystery shop company that Market Force acquired. I continued to shop for them. I got an email from them congratulating me on my 500th shop (old company and Marketforce). One month later I tried to log to their website to obtain new shops and I could not log in. I emailed the company only to be told that they "decided to not use my services" any longer, even while getting another email from them asking me to refer friends because they needed more shoppers in my area. I wonder why? Is it because you want to take advantage of the new shoppers who don't know better.

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thrasher5
Lilburn, US
Aug 01, 2013 8:38 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Has anyone ever sued Market Force? Why don't people complain to McDonalds? If a lot of people were to write them, they would get sick of the complaints and drop MF! Many celebrities have been dropped by companies because of complaints. Start a boycott. These can be done.

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thrasher5
Lilburn, US
Aug 01, 2013 8:39 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Class action law suits against Market Force?

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jenny000000
Scranton, US
Aug 10, 2013 10:12 am EDT

I worked for this company for a little over a month. I thought they were great, they paid within 2 weeks. I did several jobs for them and received all the payments. Then one day I did a phone shop. I had to call and ask a question. The instructions said you MUST get a name. If they don't give their name, then ask them. So I did it.

Then I entered the results. The survey form asked how many times did the line ring. I answered that. Then it said, "did the person who answered the phone provide you with their name?" I answered no. (He didn't, I had to ask for it.) It gave a box to explain. I wrote in there, "he did not provide his name, so I asked him and he said his name was Jim."

Later I get an email from MF that said I was not going to be paid for this shop because I did not get the name. I emailed back and forth several times with different editors and some of them made no sense and finally one of them told me it was because I said both the name AND he did not provide me the name. They told me flat out they gave the job to someone else and I would not be paid.

It was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of and I will never do anything for this company again. Those of you who think it can't happen to you, watch out. One day it will. I consider myself lucky that this time I only lost $5 of pay and printing costs, and that it was only a phone shop.

If someone told me this before, I never would have believed it. I thought they were a great company and I had no bad experiences. Now I would never trust them again, nor will I do any work for them again and stress over whether I will be paid or not. I could see if it was something legitimate and I made a mistake. But I only followed their instructions. Now I figure it's best to follow that rule..."Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me"

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Linda86
Woodstock, US
Oct 05, 2013 9:26 am EDT

I've been with Market Force since the summer. I WILL NOT do any more for them. As stated above, they catch you on details that really don't matter. Does it really matter if I order an iced coffee instead of a coke (since I don't drink carbonated beverages?) They said another time I didn't order breakfast. Well, I was told to shop between 5:15pm and 6:45pm They don't even serve breakfast at those times.
Good bye, good riddance.

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Poya
AS
Nov 07, 2013 10:34 am EST

What happened with me was I too shopped for one company that Market Force acquired for about ten years, and then had been with another for approximately six months to a year, but Market Force took that one over too. Everything went well for maybe three years or so, and there came in a new manager type of person. After this woman took over, suddenly I was being called out on silly mistakes which I wasn't making, and ultimately I was let go as a shopper after something like 12 or 13 years, because my shops were "too positive" and given the data they received from "other, similar shops" my shops were too happy. Well, I emailed back and asked whether I was supposed to Lie? Regardless of whether the companies being shopped tell their employees, or whether the shopping companies tell their contractors that these shops are performed for "training purposes" to find ways to improve service, etc...Always, always please remember that people in these stores, restaurants, apartments, banks, etc., Can and DO! get fired over shopping reports. In some cases it is absurd to expect an employee in a busy store-think the first of the month in a grocery store, as an example-to nod and smile and offer help and wish each customer a good day within ten feet of the person, etc...yet if the shopper says this person did not acknowledge "me" even though there are 600 people in the produce department, that employee could, and often does, get written up and fired. I personally know three people who have been fired by mystery shoppers, one woman being at her job for over five years!, and although I too shop, I try to be extremely careful in my wording and observations because I have seen the effects from both ends of the scale. Theoretically mystery shopping can be a useful tool but unfortunately when just about anyone can go online, sign up and immediately start shopping, what type of quality shopper is a business really getting, and it's kind of scary to think that so many marketing companies treat their contractors like ###s, while at the same time, trusting them to submit quality reports that ultimately have the power to actually terminate sometimes long-term employees...Kinda Twisted!

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HARDTOFINDMUSICANDMOVIES
Port Jefferson Station, US
Feb 17, 2014 1:20 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Market Force 1.800.669.9939 uses a bell curve to judge reports for McDonalds and 5 Guys so don't even think of doing a great job or they will drop you. They don't want bad reports, obviously, BUT if you do too good a job and report too much they will drop you. Basically you are there to just report what McDonalds already knows. If you report any timing over 3 minutes they will flag your report. If you give too much detail, they will flag you. I worked for them for over 10 years and they dropped me for doing reports that were too good and outside the "bell curve".Also, don't miss a single instruction or they will not pay you and believe me they look for reasons. If you submit a good report and receipts and they can find any reason not to pay you, and there are plenty with McDonald reports over 50 questions, they can change your report, not pay you, but submit it themselves and get paid. They have your report and receipts and they can and probably do change the report so it is acceptable and then they submit it and keep all the money.It is too bad McDonalds doesn't really know what they are up to.

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amy151
Cabazon, US
Jun 11, 2014 6:37 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

someone called Bill Wilson send me messages about market force and was also asking me to deposit money through western union. I started to question me the he reply me this:
Listen i have no time to waste okay because you aren't the only person working for me and i just need to advice you not to fall in other stupid artist scam because i am honest and i want you to read the payment with task instruction given to you and see what you are to do at walmart and western union. I am not stupid and if you think i am. NO am not. ...
definately scam
!

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cixelsyd75
Villa Rica, US
Aug 08, 2014 8:45 pm EDT

Market Force is not a scam. Someone posing as a representative from Market Force and sending out checks with strange instructions is not the fault of the company. It is no different than someone posing as another individual to deceive someone. I also know that if you follow the guidelines you agree to, then you are paid. If you are lazy and expect to get money for nothing, then you are an easy target for the true scammers out there. If you are not paid for a mystery shop that you complete, then it is because the company can not forward it to their clients. It does the company no good to reject a report when they still have to find someone else to complete the shop correctly before the client deadline. As far as the personal information and SSN that is required, you have to pay taxes on money earned in this country

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creative goddess
Kamloops, CA
Sep 07, 2014 12:24 pm EDT

Maybe some people don't understand what the word "scam" means. Not being paid for a job u did not complete correctly is not a scam; frustrating, sure; aggravating, yes; but not a scam.

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Davily
Bellflower, US
Oct 05, 2014 9:43 am EDT

You people who were sent money orders BEFORE you did any shopping--you have obviously been scammed by someone else who is claiming to be Market Force. Geez, people, you have to be careful! In any case, don't come on here bad-mouthing the company you THOUGHT you were doing business with...that just makes you look like twice as stupid.

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Anonymous but true
CH
Nov 20, 2014 4:53 am EST

Think bell shaped curve and the need to keep clients, regardless of the truth or the lies. What a shopper submits and what shows up on a client report are not the same, or at least, used to not be. One fine day many moons ago some brave souls gathered proof of what was going on and let MF and their client know the facts, and said stop or face the music on Oprah and GMA. It came to a screeching halt, and we're just itching for it to start again so we can have more proof and let loose with over 10 years of documented and irrefutable proof of the truth and the lies.

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Anonymous but true
CH
Nov 20, 2014 5:00 am EST

I own several franchises shopped by MF, and can attest to Anonymous but true's statements. It is freaking fun to see the report submitted from the computer at my desk to MF, wait a little, and see how much it changes when I get it back from the franchiser I pay the franchise fee to! I personally have almost 20 shoppers that work for me, get paid by various shopping companies, and protect my and rather a few other business contact's from the baloney.

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