I actually caved and did one last month. That bonus was just too tempting! Luckily, my shop was accepted. I didn't think the pizza was too horribly awful either (at least it beat cooking for myself!). There is a slight chance I may do it again this month if they offer an even better bonus, but I'm pretty leery of these shops too; those pics are a real pain!

I did three of them last month because the bonus on each of them was so attractive. By the third, the prospect of cutting any more slices was really getting to me. The one where you just flip slices upside down is so much more reasonable. I found that refrigerating the pizza overnight and then heating in a 350 F oven for 10 minutes makes the pizza taste much better to me.

I just applied for a flip-over bonused shop. I had to apply since I was there last month, but they have been calling me, so maybe they will give it to me.

I'm not a pizza snob. I'll eat almost any kind that I'm not cooking on my own time and dime. I haven't had trouble with the reports.

I take these shops all the time--for the money--not the pizza. I eat half of one slice and then give the rest of it away to neighbors and co-workers. The pictures can be a pain and one company makes you re-name every photo with a long sequence of numbers and descriptions to make it even harder. However, since there are not a lot of shops in my area, I do the shops I can. It is not required that you like the product. They want you to document what it looked like and how the service was. At least I don't have to count the number of pepperoni pieces on it like another pizza company.

So many Papa John's posts, LOL. As I've.said time and time before, I've never had a problem. Last month I did two shops and got paid $81. Did another one this month and as I was in the delivery area, I did it for only a $5 fee. This is the only location (delivery that is) that I will do it for so little money. It was EASY. My kids love their pizza. They also love Pizza Hut and Domino's. Go figure. I too will eat a slice; it's OK. I've never had a situation where the toppings slid off the top or have the oil soak through the cardboard box; if that was the case, in the garbage it would go.

Siamese, the easiest way to rename the photos quickly is to open a Word document, and type in the Assignment ID.

Then Copy+Paste it a few more times into the same Word Document, adding in "Top View," "Side View" "Cut View" "Flip View" etc... then adding in the appropriate "1" "2" "3" "4" in each...

Takes a few seconds. Once done, Copy+Paste the appropriate one when renaming your files.

At most, it takes me 1-2 minutes to rename all of the photos.

I used scissors on mine and it was accepted.

I'm not sure what they are looking for but I must have cut it right.

Got three pizzas in the last two days. My co-workers love me. I am now the "pizza fairy". LOL

I like Papa John's and patronize them often. Whisper a hint as to handles them or tell me in Swahili.

Heather- they are looking for a clean, straight cut. It is harder to do this with scissors, but it possible if you concentrate and focus...

Shop, it would be easier to hint to you who does NOT shop them. Shops with them - with identical requirements - have been posted by at least four companies in my area. Sounds like they are searching for a bigger or different shopper pool.

Ive done so many of these shops, that taking the pictures, uploading and submitting are easy now. <One particular MSC> though seems a lot pickier than the other companies who had them.



Mod note: Welcome kscousens! Please remember to not link an MSC with a client in your posts. Thanks!

They suc*k.. and, apparently, PJ's corporate doesn't give two )(*&(*^*& either! I've spoken to corporate twice.


I did one under protest in August: scheduler promised me $30 bonus to do it. No $$$$ yet.

it now makes sense to me why they are always begging people to do shops for them.

Looks like I can come out of the pizza closet with some others above who actually don't mind the pizza. I am not sure if it just my local store but I do not think it is all that bad and I have never had a rejection problem with the pics although I must admit they are time consuming. I even eat that garlic stuff every once in a while and then wonder why. I hope my mentioning this does not change my luck with pic acceptance. My biggest wish is that they allow me to order mushrooms and peppers someday, or horrors, even one of their newer specialty combos.
I only do delivery and evidently no one else lives in my neighborhood who does these jobs. But still I keep reminding myself I need to ask for a bigger bonus. $81 on two pizzas!!! wow. I am happy when they will agree to $12. I just need a bit more to make me jump for that "free" pizza they keep emailing me about.

I have reached the point that I won't take one unless they call me and BEG me to do it. Hopefully, they will bonus it. In that case only, I do it. They are easy, but I find the taste is awful. We're spoiled by a local store which is one of the best in the country.
BTW, both the cut piece and the only flip shops are showing up. Different MSC's? I wonder.
GOM

Well, yesterday they gave me a $20 bonus for a delivered pizza and today offered me $30 if I did a carry out. You betcha! I did them even though I really don't like their pizza.

There are two PJs near my house (one carryout and one delivery). They usually offer a shopper fee of $7 here, but last week I got an email asking me if I'd do a delivery for $15. I said I would. A couple of hours later I got an email about the carryout location. Told the scheduler I'd complete it the next day if he'd match the bonus. He did.

Now my freezer is full of pizza.

I like your technique, Kathy, but even skillful negotiation doesn't alter the fact Botox Juan turns out a truly awful product.

The interesting thing is that the Papa John's stores around here are always busy. They are always making deliveries, and people are always there picking up pizzas when I am there. There are enough people to keep them in business and for the franchise owners to make money. It it not my favorite pizza, but long before I was mutilating pizza, my then young children were asking me to order pizza from there. The pizza is edible. So is the Roman pizza joint, and so is pizza from the hut. My level of dislike for the product grows with each slice which I mutilate, but recognize that we in this forum are a small slice (pun intended) of the total market for their pizza. Despite what some people have suggested, the business is not relying upon mystery shoppers for the bulk of their sales.

bestofbothworlds Wrote:
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> I like your technique, Kathy, but even skillful
> negotiation doesn't alter the fact Botox Juan
> turns out a truly awful product.

Like others have mentioned, the pizza is better if you reheat it in your own oven. Personally, I don't particularly care for it (especially after having done quite a few shops over the last few months), but if there's nothing else available it's nice to have for a quick dinner. Youngest Son also eats it or distributes it to his friends.

Best way to reheat pizza is to put it in a skillet and slowly heat it. Crust gets all nice and crispy and not chewy at all. I just did one for $20 bonus and was offered another the next day, same location, for $30 bonus. I don't take them until they are paying at least $20.

The skillet is a great way to heat up pizza. Just put it in a skillet at medium with a cover and the crust does get crispy. Microwaved pizza always tastes horrible to me. PJ's pizza's tastes horrible to me also - even when fresh. This is not a quality product, the ingredients are substandard and the pizza is overpriced. I may be a little bitter since this has been the only shop that I have ever had rejected but that was the only pizza that I have tossed whole into the trash can and I eat a lot of pizza. I know my pizza and PJ's is just awful.

Hello there. I performed a pizza shop where there was just one picture required. Top View, delivery. Reimbursement was for the pizza only. EASY! Got a 10, LOL. While I do think a few bucks should be paid for the report, I did it anyway.

They were bonusing them like crazy in my area last week. I did 3 for $20, $30 and $30 bonuses. For that price, I'll do them. I just need to find someone to give the pizza too. That's too much pizza for one single girl.

It seriously depends on the location. The one in my zipcode doesn't use enough cheese and it seems the sauce is sweeter, though I don't know how that is possible if they are a franchise that uses the same products! I also have found that some locations don't let the dough rise long enough, which makes for a tough, denser crust. If they let it rise too long, it is doughy and soggy. There is one location in particular about 10 miles away that always has the best crust, lots of cheese, and has the best sauce. I jump on that one when it becomes available.

Anyway, there are approximately 15 Papa John's within a 30 mile radius of me, and there are at least 3 MS companies who shop some of these locations. It was explained to me by an MS scheduling rep that there are so many locations, not one MS company can handle that big of an account! There is one particular MS company who has been doing them for many years. I have done at least 100 of these shops in the past 10 years for this company, and at first I would do the delivery one for just the pizza reimbursement, but over the years with no rejected photos, I have been able to get bonuses between $15 to $45 per location depending on how far I had to drive (never more than 25 miles one way). Even for the one that delivers to my house I usually get $15. Hint: end of month bonuses. You can usually get them to change it to a carryout. That one company: they like the phone. Don't self-assign, call them and ask for more money. You can negotiate and play hard ball. They will call you back 9 times out of 10 and give you what you want.

There are two other MS companies who started shopping some of the chains in the past year. I will only do them for a bonus, but these other two companies are rarely willing to go over $20 in addition to the pizza reimbursement, which isn't good enough for me since I am not crazy about the pizza (at most of the locations). I hate wasting food, so I ziplock 3 slices per bag, take a case of bottled water, and when I am going on or off the ramp to the Interstate where the panhandlers are hanging out on my way to go do shops or errands, I pass off a bottle of water and some pizza. Hey, I know most of them want money, but sometimes I run into a person who is really hungry and doesn't care if the pizza tastes like cardboard.

My co-workers will love me tomorrow. I did two PJ shops today and even got one vegetarian. I do the shops for the bonus and my co-workers and neighbors eat the pizza--except for the small slice I eat to do the taste test.

For most of them, you oddly don't have to do a taste test...which should be one of the most important gosh darned things about the danged shop!

JASFLALMT Wrote:
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> For most of them, you oddly don't have to do a
> taste test...which should be one of the most
> important gosh darned things about the danged
> shop!


One pizza shop (another company), I got a super spicy pizza one time. I was worried they were on to me but then I realized it was a pizza that was already made. I always taste a bite of the food so I can comment on it.

I got assigned (with bonus) 2 PJ's shops that I have to do today. One is the regular top view picture pizza w/1 or 2 toppings and the other is the "slice & dice" pizza.

Does anyone know if I can order both on one order or do I have to do 2 telephone calls? I will attempt to reach the scheduler as I suspect that someone may be working this weekend trying to wind up all the left over shops.