So I picked up another pizza delivery shop. I shop the same chain for two companies and chose the one I like least but has delivery in my area. My phone has a great camera and I took the photos outside in perfect natural light. I got an email this morning saying the photo was "not exactly 90 degrees over the pizza." I have shopped and photographed these pizzas for years with multiple companies and have never had that issue. How do they measure that? I have had a couple of shops rejected from that company but that was due to errors I understood. Any experiences similar to this?

if the picture is not exact they will reject it. so if it's at 91 degrees or 89 degrees, client will not accept.

They need it exactly at the stated angles because the chain has exact requirements where each topping is supposed to be placed on the pizza.

Personally for these shops I would not use a cell phone camera. Even if you have in the past and they were fine. It's easier to get the correct shot with a regular non-touchscreen camera in macro mode.

Thanks for the tip, I never knew it was that exact. I always just stood right exactly over the pizza and it turned out fine. I might be out of luck on this one!

For the top view and the split view, they know if it is not in the right angle if the sides of the galic butter cup can be seen. You should only see the top of it. They have gotten pickier and pickier over the last year and a 1/2.

Here is new information. If you get discovered at one of the pizza places in the chain, they are all networked together and you are therefore banned from doing the chian forever. However, I am now hearing that it is for 1 year. I think when I got banned, I had done over 200 pizzas for them in about 1 year and 5 months. they are still calling me to do shops, forgetting that I am banned. I was the only one willing to do some of the jobs in the St. Louis Area. My son did them for awhile and got discovered.

They were desperate to get some shops completed that they have made special provision for my daughter to do some (can't tell you more). She has done about 10 shops for them and 4 of them were to be turned down. One was my fault as we ordered pineapple/bacon on the pizza as recently they took pineapple off as a choice. A 2nd one was because the photos were not clear. we knew this when we submitted it, but she was unwilling to take more pictures. She has learned her lesson on that one. The other two with some waggling were finally accepted.

We have also found that sometimes the photos look good to us, but by the time they get uploaded to their sight, they do not. The schedulers have let us e-mail them the photos and they have uploaded them. This has saved quite a few shops.

Thanks Anita. I will look at the butter cup- that is a great tip. I got discovered at one location and the company now has my husband shopping them. Who knew pizza could be so complicated?

how does one get discovered from the pizza shops?

Wow, thank you for this thread - I have been doing these shops for several years without a problem and this last time they told me that my color was off.

I couldn't believe it, and even reworked the photos with an apology. I compared the pictures to ones I had done in the past and they were very nearly identical and I was really bummed.

It is still pending whether or not the client will ultimately accept the pictures or not.

Also, thank you Anita for the tip about being found out. This last time I went in the shop for the carry out and separately from the shop received a text as I was walking in and so I was looking at my cell phone.

I heard one or two of the staff (it was a very small store) nod at me and sort of indicate that they thought I was the shopper. It might have looked like I was checking my timing or something.

It was a lesson learned.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/2012 08:17PM by Chix.

techman- I wish I knew how I got discovered. Could be that I have to order a certain size no matter how much cheaper a larger one is.

I refused these shops for a long time (when nss did them). Last year or so, I took one from ts because it was bonused well compared to NO fee). I doubt I would do one again. I took great pics, but it took forever. I checked them on my computer and compared them to the MSC's pics. I took more photos, etc. Then I heated up the cold pizza. Not the same!

I got an email later that my pics didn't meet their specs (size/resolution). I emailed them the specs. Got an email back that the pics were fine. BUT they left the bad remark on my profile. No one will remove it even though it was THEIR mistake.

Haven't done one since. Probably never will -- unless bonus is $25+. So not worth it. I don't really care for the sweetness of the sauce anyway, and I LOVE most any pizza.

That is so funny. I gave up the jobs when they dropped CORI. After being paid $15 to $35 and making several hundred a month from them, there was no way I was going to do it for $5 or just a free pizza. I find the pizzas are nasty, but my neighbors teenage boys enjoyed them, LOL!

Anita Koenig Wrote:
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> I was the only one willing to do some of the jobs in
> the St. Louis Area. My son did them for awhile
> and got discovered.
>

I ususally take several photos in varying degrees in addition to what I think is the ideal photo. That way, if they ever reject my photo, I'll have another, and another, and another...

WOW LisaSTL! $15-$35?? If I had ever experienced that type of payment for the shops I wouldn't do them anymore either. Talk about the good old days!

LisaSTL, I remember the good old CORI pizza bonuses. I got 30 bucks a pizza. One day I picked up four of them.

That was the good old days. Sometimes the one that delivered to my house would get near $20. Most of them could also be done as a pick up instead of delivery. I had the timing perfect, calling stores as I left other shops and having the pizza ready when I walked in the door. I also had the system for the paperwork and photos down to a science and could take care of 3 or 4 of them in 15 minutes or less and rarely took more than 3 photos for each.

I'm sure I had days of at least 4 and if you timed it right you had the pay and reimbursement back right at two weeks after That was another turn off when they changed to other MSCs, having the reimbursement be way more than the fee and having to wait a month to get the money back.

I also was told the color was off on my pictures. The white was not white enough. I used a good Canon digital camera and took the pictures the way I usually do. I did try to edit the pictures and resubmitted them and the shop was eventually accepted by the client. I am reluctant to take any more as I don't know how I can make sure the color will be acceptable.

Forgot to add when I first posted this that they deducted $1 as a penality. Seems not fair since the shop was eventually accepted by the client. Not enough money for me to argue though.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2012 04:57PM by kenasch.

techman01 Wrote:
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> how does one get discovered from the pizza shops?

I'd love to know that also! I used to be able to do them pretty regularly through MSI Trendsource. A while back I noticed other locations but never the one near my house. Then my son got a job there. When we placed an order while he was at work he texted me to say that in my file it said "mystery shopper." Makes me wonder if I was being blocked b/c I was "found out." But I don't understand how I could have been. What's so different about calling in an order for a one or two topping pizza that would tip them off? Still has me baffled.

Sometimes we get found out by the information provided by the MSC to the client. If that store got a copy of your receipt or a report with the exact date and times, how hard would it be for them to look it up? If something unique happened and it was in your report and the report was turned around quickly, someone will remember.

It makes everything tough because a unique situation may have provided an opportunity for that associate to shine, yet if you include it you are compromising your anonymity and jeopardizing future shops.

I used to do these. But by the time you handle the pizza, flip it, cut it, and take the photos -- who exactly would want to eat the stuff! I finally would just spot a mom with a bunch of kids and say "Do you and your kids want this pizza? I won't be able to eat all of it myself." I felt better about it then.

At least they did away with the mutilating shot.

sail2sunset Wrote:
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> I used to do these. But by the time you handle the
> pizza, flip it, cut it, and take the photos -- who
> exactly would want to eat the stuff! I finally
> would just spot a mom with a bunch of kids and say
> "Do you and your kids want this pizza? I won't be
> able to eat all of it myself." I felt better about
> it then.



No more cutting the pizza...that part is gone.

elizabethanne Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So I picked up another pizza delivery shop. I
> shop the same chain for two companies and chose
> the one I like least but has delivery in my area.
> My phone has a great camera and I took the photos
> outside in perfect natural light. I got an email
> this morning saying the photo was "not exactly 90
> degrees over the pizza." I have shopped and
> photographed these pizzas for years with multiple
> companies and have never had that issue. How do
> they measure that? I have had a couple of shops
> rejected from that company but that was due to
> errors I understood. Any experiences similar to
> this?


We must have gotten the same editor...lol. I also received that message on my last pizza shop which was taken the exact same way as every other pizza shop I've done for them. The only difference is I ordered it to my job, and took the photos on top of the stove rather than a counter. I explained that the different size burners created the optical illusion of not being 90 degrees over and offered to crop and resubmit. They accepted

To minimize chances of being found out, do only carry outs. Block your number with *67 when you call. Use a fake name. Pay with cash. Don't have any background in the photos.

That's a lot of hoops. Hefty bonuses can make it worth it, even if you eat the goodies off the top and chuck the rest.

Geez, I don't have this client close to me and I've never tried their pizza, though I do love sweet sauce. However, if they're going to get finicky over a slight color difference or a 1 degree angle difference? Yikes. I guess I'm glad they're not close to me.

I've never, ever had an issue. And I like the pizza, on top of it! So it's all good for me.

Do you wait until they bonus it, or do you request the distance bonus yourself?

I wait.

Since we still haven't named the actual client in this thread, can someone please name the companies?

I used to do the shops with CORI. One time I had a route of 3 shops & they paid $35 each! I was stoked!

Since they've moved to Trendsource and MCP, I don't see the store that delivers to my house anymore, so I'm out of (delivery) luck. Is there a 3rd company that does these shops that maybe has the store that delivers to my house?

If it helps, on MSI/Trendsource, it says my house is out of delivery zone. It isn't, so I sign up anyway. I've never seen a bonus though, going to have to try waiting.

I don't think Trendsource ever bonuses more than a couple of dollars...at least not that I've seen.

While CORIs fees always started low...they ramped up nicely as the month went on. Ahhh....the good ol' days.

I use a cell phone for these same shops with out problem, but my phone has 'gridlines' I can turn on. Also, have you seen in the tutorial where it says none of white sides of the sauce cup can be showing? I always double check that also. I also start by holding my camera directly over the pizza and then moving it up until I can see the entire thing.

So, is there a third company that shops them? (Other than MCP and TS?)