Frozen out of 5 Guys already?

I've been back to shopping for only two months, and have not shopped any location more than twice, but I have not seen any 5 Guys shops posted for September, so I am wondering ... have I been frozen out already?

If so, wow! That's really quick.

Or am I just over-reacting, and no shops have really been posted for 5 Guys for September, yet?

Maybe they really don't like it if you have to post something negative about a shop. 8-(

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In my area, we usually have a lot of them, but now there is only an airport location.

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Thanks to all the forum members!

Batchman I know they DO use video to track shoppers. For sure. I did it two months in a row and always ordered no pickle.
(Which is allowed.) The third time (on my own) the cashier who I never saw before said last time you had no pickle are you sure?

I am seeing them posted but I know people working there so I don't take them.

My friends at Five Guys talk a lot. They don't know I'm a mystery shopper. It's pretty easy to get outed by Five Guys because everything is on tape. The managers and the regional managers watch the tape while they look at the mystery shopper's report, so they know who the shoppers are. If you write a bad report that concerns a particular employee, the manager discusses the report with the employee and shows him what he did wrong on the tape. Then they all know who you are.

Thank you Jay for that confirmation. Appreciate it.

Jay C Wrote:
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> I am seeing them posted but I know people working
> there so I don't take them.
>
> My friends at Five Guys talk a lot. They don't
> know I'm a mystery shopper. It's pretty easy to
> get outed by Five Guys because everything is on
> tape. The managers and the regional managers
> watch the tape while they look at the mystery
> shopper's report, so they know who the shoppers
> are. If you write a bad report that concerns a
> particular employee, the manager discusses the
> report with the employee and shows him what he did
> wrong on the tape. Then they all know who you
> are.

I've done so many Five Guys shops (we have 9 within a reasonable drive from me) that several of the locations recognize me as a regular. I changed my usual order once on a phone order and the manager asked me "What? No A-1 Sauce?" when I picked it up.

However, I don't think I've been spotted as a shopper because at the locations where I think I may have been spotted, they are still making "mistakes" - on areas where they could easily have done it right had the word gone around ("psst, that guy in the black shirt is a shopper"

I haven't seen any posted in my area for quite a while, some are several miles away which I won't take.

Maybe, I should hit the site more often

I didn't see any this morning, but they are back along with the phone call ones too.

I just recently got them back after being frozen out for a couple of years. At the time, I was so sad because I just loved 5 Guys. When I got them back, I immediately did one ...... and, guess what ...... I've found other burger shops over the past two years. Going back to 5 Guys was a major disappointment and I haven't done another one. They used to be in great demand, but I've noticed now they sit on the board all month.

I do not like the 5 Guys food, especially the fries. I have only performed one of their shops and I do not want to do anymore. I purposefully flunk the little quiz so they will stop sending me notices but I still get them. And those annoying certification emails. I thought by flunking the quiz, you are frozen out of the program for a round.

When you want a shop, you can't get it. When you don't want a shop, they inundate you with e-mails. Spanish funeral home phone shops anyone?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

If you click decline, doesn't that remove you from the list for that client?

I did that with McD and I don't see them anymore.

As of 10 minutes ago, they added 5 more

Batchman, could you have been identified not by the video but by something you might have done? Like texting yourself observations?

They are actually on the look out for many things from shoppers...Mainly because they get a BONUS now!

Canuck Wrote:
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> If you click decline, doesn't that remove you from
> the list for that client?
>
> I did that with McD and I don't see them anymore.

So flunking the quiz on purpose does not work. Where do I decline a particular client shop? I do not want to deactivate.

Speaking of 5 Guys, it must be increasingly difficult to "spot the shopper" because on average, at least 5 customers are STARING at the cooks making their burgers, etc..

SunnyDays2 Wrote:
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> Speaking of 5 Guys, it must be increasingly
> difficult to "spot the shopper" because on
> average, at least 5 customers are STARING at the
> cooks making their burgers, etc..

Why? Do they have nice buns?

I shopped 5Guys heavily for about a year until I was banned. Truthfully I did love the cheeseburgers and fries but have lost 10lbs since I have been banned - silverlining?

I don't text the observations to myself. I text them to a friend who has gone on shops with me when I needed a second. He always replies with generic replies to scroll the observations off my screen or sends photos of his dog. Then when the employee sees the phone out, all they see is a normal texting conversation.

OK ... I am now confused ... but very happily confused.

This morning Five Guys appeared once again for me ... guess they just took a short break from releasing them or something. But no shops at any of the three closest locations. So maybe I just got frozen out of those locations.

Then tonight, those three locations have also appeared.

So I am confused, but quite happy.

There are 5 Five Guys in my area - 1 close, 2 far, and 2 way out there. So, I go for the close one. When they start posting for the new month they don't post any for the close one for about a week. Then when no one else takes it they post it. I picked up a close shop yesterday. I take the other shops only if they are bonused.

Since the crew gets to split $1000 for a great report, they will never out you if you give them good ratings. It's like a little game. At the close store I'm fairly positive they know I'm a shopper, so they work their asses off to do a good job. I have no proof except that when I show up the manager usually goes to the back and then I see a crew member come out to clean.

NOTE: I'm not on the forum every day. If someone comments on my post, I might not reply right away. I've been a shopper since 1991. I've never done any work for a MS company in any other capacity.

$1000??? That's a good chunk of change multiplied by all those reports. Yikes, How do you know that info?

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

Love/hate. In the past, I was frozen out of only one location, not all. A couple of years later, presumably, I had done my time, and that location was again available to me.

More recently, I didn't see any Five Guys for August or September, not on their daily bulletin or my board. Days past, then weeks. My husband could see their shops. I fretted a while, wondering what I had done. I have done less than ten 5G this year. I was bothered by the freeze for a day or so.

Today, their shops reappeared on my board. Squirrely MSC. Take this job and shove it comes to mind.

Only one location has been offered to me the last 6 mos., although I have shopped 3 others in the past. I have no idea why.

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