What do you do when an MSP doesn't pay? They promised me I'd be paid last week and nothing and now this week it's crickets from them. It's a decent amount of money too and first time I ever did work for them. It was a hard shop too and physical! I'm so upset you have no idea! I want to literally file a complaint somewhere because it's not fair I have to do my work by a strict time line but they can dilly dally and screw me over and it's no big deal. This is the first time since joining isecretshop over 2 years ago that I've ever had this problem.

Hi Tara,

I would almost never suggest opening a support ticket to iSecretShop over a payment delay, but in this particular case, you might want to do so.

Expectations are key here: The iSS staff can't directly resolve your issue and just "make the payment happen"- iSecretShop is the software platform and can't interfere in payment-related issues or act as an intermediary between you and another company, BUT, you may be able to get the contact information that isn't normally available (such as the email address of a top-management person in that MSP, alternative phone numbers, etc) so you could use that info to reach them.

Additionally, if yourself and a couple more shoppers happen to report similar payment delays by the same MSP, then this is definitely something that iSS management would pay attention to, and in some cases, reach out to the MSP(s) about.

I hope this helps!

Thank you for your help Ivan! That's pretty much what I wanted to know because I'm not getting anywhere with the MSP of via email provided in the shop instructions. I'll go ahead and open a ticket and see what happens.

Well I did what you said and the ticket was closed immediately. I was told there's nothing they can do and aren't responsible for pay. The MSP emailed me yesterday and said I'd be receiving payment this week. That's what they said last week and nothing came. Right now it's Thursday night and no payment yet. I'm still shocked this has happened.

Yikes - I'm having flashbacks to about 15 years ago when a mystery shopping company went out of business and no one got paid. :-( My advice to try to keep asking the MSP for updates.

Ps an update... I got paid via PayPal this past Friday afternoon. Yay!

Awesome!

That's great to hear Tara. I was getting nervous as I too did shops and I have not been paid, but I am not at the 45 day mark.

I use a number of mystery shop apps, and 45 days is way too long. I’m not interested in doing these jobs if I have to wait so long to get paid. If they paid quicker, I’m sure they’ll get more jobs done. I’m sticking with the other apps which are worth my time and effort.

45-60 days is a very average amount of time to wait for payments in this industry. It is very typical for MSC's to pay their shoppers between the 20th and 30th of a month after doing a shop. So, if you do a shop February 1, getting paid between March 20 and 30 would be considered very normal. However, each MSC is its own entity and has its own pay schedules. Some pay very quickly (especially some of the companies that have quick, low-paying jobs on apps) - even as quickly as a matter of minutes and hours. Others (especially smaller and newer companies) need to wait to pay shoppers until they have been paid by their clients for your work, which can mean that the shopper must wait 60 days or longer. I periodically work with a company where I might have to wait 90-120 days for payment.

If you are wondering about payment for a particular shop, read your ICA with that company and see what their procedures are. There is no need to contact the company (or reason to complain) unless they are past their promised timeline. Do remember that the folks you are dealing with are all human (so mistakes can happen), but the vast majority are honest and will take care of issues. I have done several thousand shops over the past several years and have only had to chase down missing payments six times and never for any iSS MSP. Four of those were for the same company (one notorious for struggling to pay shoppers). One was for a small start-up which I suspect was struggling with some cash-flow issues. One was for a huge company for which I had done quite a few shops and they simply mis-labeled one of my shops. In each of those cases, clear, polite, firm (yet humble) and respectful communication easily solved the issue.

Hi,

Payment can vary among MSP's. I know 45 to 60 days after the shop is fairly typical but not something that is set in stone. I have been paid a little before the 45 day mark and a little after the 60 day mark. Something you can do is to check it agreement to see what the individual MSP's payment policy. Also, you could contact the scheduler for further help too.