Complaint Review: Pateventric Mystery ShoppersInc - Macus Smith Marvin Plain - Internet

I answered an ad on craigslist.org for an "Accounting Specialist" what I got was this email...

Dear Applicant,

We are a company that conduct surveys and evaluate other companies. We get hired to go to other peoples companies and act like customers to know how the staff(s) are handling their services in relation to their customer(s). once we have a contract to do so, your work consist of visiting stores, making predetermined purchases and evaluating the customer service.

Of course there are variations, such as going to a restaurant or hotels,stores and evaluating the services, cleanliness, and overall attitude of the staff. In any case, you are to fill out a report after your work has been done, and turn it in to receive your pay. You would be directed to the company or outlet, and you would be given the funds you need to do the job(either purchase things or require services), after which you would write a comment on the staffs activities and give a detailed record of your experience.Examples of details you would forward to us are

1) How long it took you to get services.

2) Smartness of the attendant

3)Customer service professionalism

4)Sometimes you might be required to upset the attendant, to see how they react to clients whey they get tensed.

The information would be forwarded over to the company executives and they would carry out their own duties in improving there services.

Most companies employ our assistance when people give complains about their services, or when they feel there are needs for them to improve their customer service.Your Identity would be kept confidential as the job states (secret shopper) you would be paid between $300-$500 for every duty you carry out, and bonus on your transportation allowance, and funds would be given to you if you have to dine as part of the duty. Your job will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety of shops, stores, restaurant and services in your area. No commitment is made on this job, and you would have flexible hours as it suits you.

IMPORTANT: If you are interested do send in your full name, contact address and telephone number, so we can look at your distance from the locations which you have to put your service into, and your address would also be needed for your payments. As soon as this is done, Be sure to check your email within 12 hours for an acceptance e-mail. I would have to put you down on our file as one of our agents,and an Employement/Formal letter would be sent out to you,which you would sign. And you would be covering your area and some close cities around you, you would find this job interesting. An acceptance e-mail would be sent to you,we have 20 evaluation activities around your city.

You will resume work sometime this week after recieving your acceptance email and You would Earn $300 or more for every duty carried out by you, that is why we need your services. I would have to get you the full details of the services which you would have to partake in. I would like to know what your schedule is so I know what days to fix you in. As soon as you are taken for this job, you would be given full details of every activity you have to carry out, and you would be told what to keep for records, and your payment information would be included in the mail. If you are still very much interested, Please reply this e mail with your full mailing details and contact telephone number.Send your reply to:[email protected]

Thanks

Macus Smith

Recruitment officer http://www.mystery-shoppers.co.uk/about_us.htm

http://www.grassrootsmeasurement.uk.com/bdr-emp2/gruk/home.xhtml

I looked up the web address and the company was legit so I answered back and then got this email....

We are pleased to confirm you're being employed by our firm (Pateventric Mystery Shoppers,Inc) as a Mystery Shopper in the US .

Our HR Managers has entered your information into our database. It is a pleasure to inform you that you have been cleared to receive employment status from our company. Due to an increasing amount of clients,time constraints,many overall work volume, The letter of employment which you would have to sign would be sent to you at a latter date, but before then you can resume your duty as a Mystery/ Secret shopper.

After you get the letter, you must print, sign, scan and send it back as soon as possible. In the mean time, you have been given temporary work status. Once you receive and send back the employment letter, your status will be updated.Your first assignment would be to run a survey on a prominent company in your area,which happens to be a Western Union outlet. The company would be disclosed to you later ,The management and staff of western union has reported some lapses in the services rendered by the agents at this particular location.Their complains were based on reports which their customers forwarded anonymously and Phone calls which were also made to the head office. The Western union location was reported for evaluation for the following reasons.

I) Customers have reported their money missing

ii) Slow services

iii) Unbalanced exchange rate

(Iv) Poor services

(v) Rudeness to customers

(vi) Excess charge

(vii) Illegal operational hours.

Your Secret Evaluation would be :

1) To make a transfer of fund from this western union location to someone in the US or anywhere we prescribe which would be given to you, And the funds would be picked up at the exact location Which a customer reported her funds stolen from.

2) You would have to record the time at which you got to the location and how many minutes it took you to get service. You would be sent a payment which would cover your payment of $300 for the duty. As soon as you receive the payment you would cash in at your bank, and deduct your $300, and use the rest of the money for the services.

3) Upon receiving the funds, the locations address would be forwarded to you, and also the Name and address of whom the transfer would be made to. You would have to keep a comprehensive report on every activity you carry out.

4) You would also provide me with the name of the cashier that attended to you.

A swift acknowledgement of the receipt of this email will be appreciated in order to make our client's Account payable officer prepare funds for this activity and get the payment sent out to you ASAP. Thanks for Your Total Understanding and Co-operation.

Sincerely,

Macus Smith

Recruitment officer http://www.mystery-shoppers.co.uk/about_us..htm

http://www.grassrootsmeasurement.uk.com/bdr-emp2/gruk/home.xhtml

They are just immigrants thinking they are smarter than you - just another scam. Only this time they are riding the shirt tails of a legitimate company - I say Grassroots should sue their theiving asses....but that's just me.

Heidi

Atlanta, Georgia

U.S.A.