Updated - 11/17/2004--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please carefully read this prior to completing the application. We suggest you print this out so that you have it at your side when completing the shopper report.A) GENERAL RULES
1) All shoppers must be 18 years of age or older, NO EXCEPTIONS!
2) Shopper agrees not to accept any assignments if shopper has association to client through family (blood or marriage), current or past employment.
3) All shoppers who perform non-integrity shops ONLY for JM Ridgway, do so as an independent contractor. You are not an employee of JM Ridgway. You may shop for any company you wish.
4) Due to California Law, ANY shopper who performs integrity shops in California for JM Ridgway, must be on the payroll of JM Ridgway, thus are an employee of JM Ridgway. Integrity shoppers must file an application AND W-4 with us prior to receiving assignments. If you do not file a W-4 with us, you can only do non-integrity shops for JM Ridgway. JM Ridgway conducts integrity shops ONLY in the state of California.
An integrity shop is when the shopper's sole purpose in visiting the store(s) is to see if any employee is misappropriating funds, or dishonest in regards to cash handling.
5) For non-integrity shops ONLY, JM Ridgway will not withhold income or social security taxes from your compensation. You are responsible as an independent contractor for any taxes due on your behalf to the federal, state, local or any other government. If your compensation from ANY shops you perform for JM Ridgway exceeds $600 (six hundred) in a calendar year, JM Ridgway will need your social security number (s/s#) so that JM Ridgway can send you a 1099 form as mandated by federal law. JM Ridgway agrees not to use shopper s/s# for any other purpose other than tax purposes.B) SHOPPER RISK AND INJURY
1) Shopper agrees to assume all risk of injury to their property or to themselves in the performance of any assignment with JM Ridgway. Shopper agrees to waive all claims against JM Ridgway and or it¹s clients for all property damage and all mental or physical injury to themselves and agrees to indemnify and hold JM Ridgway and it¹s clients harmless for any such damages.
C) ON LINE ACCOUNT OVERVIEWS AND LOCATION FINDING
1) All overviews have the links to all the forms you need to complete shop(s) and be compensated for that shop. If you lose an address contact your scheduler.
2) THE LOCATIONS LIST MAY NOT BE UP TO DATE, THIS IS UNAVOIDABLE. IT IS THE SHOPPERS RESPONSIBILITY TO CALL THE LOCATION TO INSURE IT IS STILL OPEN OR HAS NOT MOVED AND TO VERIFY CORRECT ADDRESS LOCATION. IF SHOPPER CANNOT GET AN ANSWER OR OTHERWISE, SHOPPER MUST ADVISE THEIR SCHEDULER. .... SHOPPERS THAT GO TO A LOCATION & FIND IT CLOSED WILL NOT BE PAID, SIMPLY DUE TO FAILURE TO CALL, PRIOR TO ATTEMPTING TO VERIFY BY PHONE.
3) To find the street address for the store you have been assigned, please click the Locations link found at the top of this page. The Location list supplies the proper Store Number to each and every location. When entering your Report online, you must enter the Store Number EXACTLY AS SEEN ON THIS LIST. If the Store Number is entered incorrectly your report will not register in our database correctly, which could lead to an Invalid & Non-Payable Shop.
D) REPORT SUBMISSION (FOR FAXING IN SEE #3)
1) If you accept an assignment and are submitting your report on line, you must do so within 48 hours of completion of the shop. If you do not submit your report on line within the 48 hours deadline, we reserve the right not to pay you. If you are not completing the shopping report on-line, you agree to fax (our 1st preference) or mail the completed shopping reports within 24 hours of the completion of the shop. If you do not fax or mail your report within the 24 hours deadline, we reserve the right not to pay you.
2) SHOPPERS MUST ALWAYS REVIEW THE SHOP REPORT PRIOR TO MAKING ANY SHOPS, SO THERE IS A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS REQUIRED, WHAT TO DO & WHAT TO LOOK FOR.
3) If you are having trouble submitting your report online, or our server is down, SEE SECTION E BELOW, ITEM #2-B and complete that 1st. If this fails then we will have you print and fill out the blank report and fax it to 650-967-1428. Then send a follow up e-mail to AA@JMRidgway.com and let us know that you faxed the report and this will also allow us to let you know we received it.
4) You may also use the Blank Report for taking notes after completing your shop.
5) You must comment on any No answer at the end of the report in the Comments field or the comment section provided for that question. Reports vary in this aspect because clients wishes vary, etc. Please include any positive or negative feedback and give specific details. Reports submitted with blank Comments sections, may be considered Invalid and Non-Payable and will be sent back to the shopper for further clarification.
6) If you do not get a name, you must describe the associate AND/OR cashier so that we know who you dealt with. When giving descriptions of associates please list the following info on ALL descriptions: gender, age, height, hair color and style.
DO NOT INCLUDE ANY DESCRIPTION OF RACE, WEIGHT OR BUILD.7) After you submit your Report, you will be taken to a Confirmation Page that confirms your Report has been sent to us. Be patient, it may take a few seconds. Shoppers must save a copy of this confirmation page either by printing a copy or copying and pasting the confirmation page to a document type file. For submission errors or problems, your answer may be below the following paragraph.
E) REPORT SUBMISSION ERROR MESSAGE
WHEN YOU SUBMIT THE REPORT, HIT THE SUBMIT BUTTON ONLY ONE TIME.
1) The below issue can easily be avoided by simply using the 'Microsoft Internet Explorer Browser', instead of an independent browser. By doing so; will allow you to properly receive a report confirmation page when you submit the on line report.
2) Some Shoppers using AOL, WebTV, or certain other Internet Service Providers may receive an error ("Page cannot be displayed") when they click the "Submit" button. If you receive an error page rather than a confirmation page when you try to submit your report please do the following:
WHEN YOU SUBMIT THE REPORT, HIT THE SUBMIT BUTTON ONLY ONE TIME.
a) DO NOT resubmit the report unless otherwise instructed by a JM Ridgway Staff member.
b) Send an Email to Ann and your scheduler, stating you attempted to submit your report but received an error. Someone will email you back that we either received your report or would like you to try resubmitting. We will only ask you to resubmit once then ask you to fax report (see section D, #3 above).
c) Shoppers must include the Store #, City & State of shop location and date of their shop.
d) A JM Ridgway staff member will contact you to confirm we received the report or otherwise instruct you.
e) Please email Ann your scheduler to alert them of the situation.
WHEN YOU SUBMIT THE REPORT, HIT THE SUBMIT BUTTON ONLY ONE TIME.
3) If you receive any error page (with exception to "page cannot be displayed error", see above), please read the entire error page, it will instruct you as to why your report cannot be submitted (you may have left a field blank, entered the time or date incorrectly, etc.) Once you have read the error page and discovered the problem, click the Back button and correct the error. After the error is corrected you should be able to submit the report.
F) SHOPPER COMPENSATION AND ADVANCES
1) JM Ridgway reimburses for all expenses within the store according to the guidelines set forth in the specifics of the shop. Should shopper spend more than the allotted amount, the shopper will be reimbursed up to the allotted amount and the shopper will be responsible for any difference above the allotted amount. All reimbursements require an applicable receipt. Receipt(s) should be affixed to shop report or mailed in with the shopper's invoice.
2) JM Ridgway does not reimburse for mail, fax and shipping expenses. These expenses should not be added to the JM Ridgway invoice that shopper sends us for compensation. Overnight or priority mail expenses will not be compensated by JM Ridgway to the shopper without prior approval of JM Ridgway. All reimbursements require an applicable receipt.
3) Shopper may request a cash advance for purchases made during a shop. Shopper accepts responsibility for any cash advances, agreeing they are financially liable for misuse of advance. Shopper agrees, any misappropriation on shoppers part of JM Ridgway advances can result in prosecution to the fullest extent of the law
G) CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
1) Shopper agrees not to duplicate or disseminate any of JM Ridgway materials for purposes other than its intended use of satisfying the provisions of the assignment and agrees to keep all information obtained during a shop confidential between shopper and JM Ridgway. This includes the disclosure of names and companies of JM Ridgway clients being shopped for.
2) If shopper is asked to fax or mail anything directly to our client for any account, they are to send only that. There are to be no questions posed to the client, no additional comments made regarding the shop, no copies of the shopping report, shopper invoice for pay from JM Ridgway or any other correspondence other than the requested paperwork. Violation of this matter is strictly forbidden and will result in termination and can result in legal proceedings.
H) RECEIPTS, INVOICES AND COPIES
1) Print out and mail invoice along with ORIGINAL receipt(s) to:
J M Ridgway Co., Inc.
1352 Gretel Lane
Mountain View, CA 94040-3114
Attn: AnnFailure to include any receipt(s) can result in an invalid shop and no pay to shopper.
NOTE: Unless otherwise instructed by a staff member or written instructions, Surveys submitted using the SASSIE reporting system do not require an invoice, the SASSIE survey itself acts as the invoice. However the ORIGINAL receipt(s) must be mailed in, attached to a separate piece of paper displaying your name & ALL contact information.
ALL OTHER surveys generated require the invoice to be created as described above.
Any on line survey displaying http://12.103.168.196, as a portion of the web site address, requires the invoice to be mailed in.2) Shopper agrees to keep a master and make copies of report and invoice forms for future assignments.
3) In order for shops to be compensated upon, the shopper must submit an invoice that is either available to be printed out on line or mailed to shopper by their scheduler in the assignment packet. For fastest processing, mark envelope, "invoice enclosed".
4) Shopper MUST make copies of receipts obtained during shop(s) and keep them until compensation received. Shopper may be contacted for information off of a receipt which needs to be on the report. DO NOT SEND IN RECEIPTS WITH INVOICE UNTIL COPIES ARE MADE!!!!!
I) SPECIAL NOTE
Most of our clients have video cameras in their locations. Many of our clients audit the validity of our Mystery Shopping Reports by comparing the video of the visit with the report they receive. Therefore it is vital that your report be an HONEST & ACCURATE evaluation of the events. Most of our clients also review these reports with the people shopped. Further, most of our clients give awards and rewards for superior levels of performance, and constructive criticism to those of lesser performance levels. Follow the instructions on the Overview, and do not rush through your visit just to collect the fee. You are dealing with the jobs & lives of these people you shop, always remember that.
I Agree and Fully Accept the Above Terms