- Report: #650110
Complaint Review: BARE International - Fairfax Virginia
Reported By:
IEvaluateMysteryShoppingCompanies -
Providence, North Carolina, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
BARE International
3251 Old Lee Highway, Suite #203 Fairfax, 22030 Virginia, United States of America
Phone:
1-703-591-9870
Web:
www.bareinternational.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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BARE International Mystery Shopping Company Adds Mystery to Payment Terms Fairfax, Virginia
Mystery shopping intrigued me so I signed up for a few companies. One of them was BARE International. I accepted and did a few assignments, mainly involving casual dining and banking evaluation. I did the same for other companies. I wanted to compare the experiences between the few I was signed up with. Other companies paid me on time as stated during the sign up times. But for 4 assignments done for BARE International, I waited two months before first check could be mailed to me. When I emailed BARE International twice to inquire about the 3 assignments I did, they told me that the check has been mailed. So I waited another and then called the manager. The manager responded with an email saying since the check is lost I have two options:
1) Wait 30 days before a stop payment can be submitted to the bank. During this period if the check is received, it will still be cashable. After 30 days, a stop payment can be submitted, $30 is the fee that will be deducted from the total of my check.
2) Wait for 6 months. A new check will be sent to me after this date and no stop payment fee will apply.
This is clearly a rip off as we as evaluaters are asked to have the report turned in on time, usually within 24 hours of doing the evaluation. But on their side, the company can take as many days as they wish to pay or reimburse back. And if the check is lost they deduct the payment if you request it within 30 days or you have to wait 6 months to get paid.
So, as an experienced mystery shopper, I would say stay away from BARE International and work with other mystery shopping companies who pay on time. Some of the companies that paid on time are: (((competitors' names redacted))) to name a few.
sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company, ..plus, if you post a competitors name more than likely they will show up on search engines as a Rip-off! - - your comments on this policy are welcome. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report. In this case we removed an alleged competitors name3 Updates & Rebuttals
Bare International Senior Managemen
Fairfax,Virginia,
United States of America
To the Poster in Comment #2
#2UPDATE Employee
Thu, November 29, 2012
Look at the dates again please; it was about 5 months, not over a year. In order to respond to a complaint, a company has to know it exists first. Once it was brought to our attention we responded.
____
boston,Massachusetts,
United States of America
It took over a year to reply..........
#3Consumer Comment
Wed, November 28, 2012
And it correlates in taking Bare Int. taking forever to pay and it's act together........
Bare International Senior Managemen
Fairfax,Virginia,
United States of America
Response from BARE Corporate
#4REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, March 21, 2011
Bare International would like to provide additional, factual information in our rebuttal message to this consumer complaint.
Bare International is a successful and credible business that has been a leader in the consumer research industry for the last 24 years. Bare currently works with hundreds of prominent clients across numerous industries, exceeding over 30,000 evaluations per month around the world.
Our customer service exceeds industry standards. Bare can be contacted by phone at 1-800-296-6699 or by email at [email protected]. You can learn more about us and about becoming an evaluator or client at www.bareinternational.com.
Bare International pays all evaluator fees on a 30-day net cycle. Checks are usually prepared and sent on approximately the 20th of each month and one payment is usually issued for all services rendered during the previous month.
While Bare's policy is to wait six months to reissue a lost or misplaced check at no cost to the evaluator (because this is the amount of time that must pass before an issued check becomes uncashable - our financial institution's policy), the evaluator also has the option to stop payment on the lost/misplaced check and have it reissued as soon as administratively possible. If this option is selected, the stop payment fee (usually $25-35) is deducted from the evaluator's payment. Professional evaluators must remember they are not Bare employees, therefore this is not the same as wages being "docked."
Another option and one that we highly recommend to all evaluators is to opt for electronic funds transfer and have payments automatically deposited into their account of choice. Electronic funds transfer is available at no cost to the evaluator and eliminates all concern of checks being lost in the mail. Registered evaluators need only sign into their Bare account and access their profile to securely and safely input their account information (the process is similar to an employer's direct deposit benefit through payroll).
