I really think I have no choice but to give an unacceptable to the walk in I did today. The food took 10 minutes, my nuggets were cold, they weren't properly staffed, trash was overflowing, there were no medium drink lids, and the kicker... someone brought it up to them that they had no medium lids left, and 10 minutes later, they still never restocked! I don't know if it's a bad thing to be labeled as a "strict" shopper. I've given some of the walk ins "poor" ratings lately, but I figure if i'm not being honest, then i'm not helping them. The other part of me thinks that the more negative reviews I leave, the less likely they'd want to keep me as a shopper. What do you guys think about this, and would you give the shop I did today an "unacceptable"?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2015 10:56PM by jay225.

You are obligated to report what you see. Factual reporting of timings and temperatures, availability/non availability of supplies etc. Cleanliness conditions would be dealt with with overflowing trash. It has been a long time since I did one but I don't remember there being opinions such as 'acceptable' or 'unacceptable' solicited or opinions regarding staffing, though you could slide a comment in as the possible reason for the slow service.

If you report objectively and accurately, I doubt there would be any issues, even if the MSC follows up to obtain clarification / verification from you.

@jay225 wrote:

I really think I have no choice but to give an unacceptable to the walk in I did today. The food took 10 minutes, my nuggets were cold, they weren't properly staffed, trash was overflowing, there were no medium drink lids, and the kicker... someone brought it up to them that they had no medium lids left, and 10 minutes later, they still never restocked! I don't know if it's a bad thing to be labeled as a "strict" shopper. I've given some of the walk ins "poor" ratings lately, but I figure if i'm not being honest, then i'm not helping them. The other part of me thinks that the more negative reviews I leave, the less likely they'd want to keep me as a shopper. What do you guys think about this, and would you give the shop I did today an "unacceptable"?

They are going to want to know "why" it took 10 minutes, why the nuggets were cold, why they did not restock the medium lids during your visit and if anyone picked up the trash at anytime you were in there. Just explain in your narrative on any comments for the walk-in portion. If you explain, that usually saves your from receiving a follow-up from Quality Control. No guarantee they won't contact you but they might contact you to get more clarification. I find the negative reports do sometimes get an email from QC for you to better explain everything you saw and what happened during your shop

Many times I have had long waits for food. I've reported food that wasn't hot. I haven't faced cleanliness issues. It seems someone is always cleaning. I just report what happens. I've never been contacted to clarify.
Now, I have never noticed whether the lids were stocked or not and don't recall being asked to notice that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2015 12:26AM by prince.

Report what you saw. I had a shop where a female customer could not get to the restroom because you have to be buzzed into the restrooms at the counter. She let it go in the dining room. I reported it like it happened and threw away the rest of my lunch. Shop accepted.

jay225, do not question or attempt to rationalize. Report the facts. By far, negative reports are the most difficult. I always take a break in report, save, and walk away. Return, and make sure my report is fair and balanced. If there is any positive, I make sure to mention it. Otherwise, do not concern yourself with being "labeled". It would drive us crazy. Treat each shop as a standalone, without worry of whether you are too strict or lenient.

I always try to accentuate the positive as much as possible, but I've had a couple where saying, "the CSR was breathing" was about it!

@PaulinMI wrote:

Report what you saw. I had a shop where a female customer could not get to the restroom because you have to be buzzed into the restrooms at the counter. She let it go in the dining room. I reported it like it happened and threw away the rest of my lunch. Shop accepted.

No.
No way.
Nuh uh.
I can't.....
I don't even.....

Oh I always report everything in the comments section, it was just a matter of should I rate the shop "poor", or the lowest of the low, "unacceptable"(I went with poor). To me, not having lids is a pretty big deal. I mean most people order medium drinks. Especially when someone informs the staff, and they still don't do it, that's a red flag. I've only given 1 unacceptable so far... a drive thru where my burger was missing a chunk like someone took a bite. And this particular msc never asks for a follow up, at least they haven't yet. I've done probably 20 arches shops, some great, some brutal. There was 1 that was like entering a warzone inside. Trash everywhere, floors looking like they hadn't been cleaned in a year, and a drive thru worker who delivered a no look food, and drink hand off. Maybe she thought she was a point guard going for the nice assist, but it didn't end up going her way. Of course I got a nice bonus for that 1 because nobody wanted to touch that store(in a bad area). LOL @ someone letting it go in the store. classic

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2015 02:20AM by jay225.

I don't even bother with lids when I'm in the dine in portion, so I wouldn't know if they were out. It's not really essential unless I order a meal to go, or I plan to get a free drink for the road. In those cases, I would just ask for one at the counter. On the other hand, cold food, if it was really cold and not just warm, would really tick me off, and that would get an unacceptable rating from me.

I don't do any more shops for this company because of their persistence trying to get me to change negative answers. That happened with their major fast food client, their major NJ area supermarket client, and their quick serve burger client. When I did a shop for hem that was heavily bonused they refused to pay me because they claimed I lied about a negative comment I made about one of the departments. When I threatened a lawsuit, they paid me.

When they say you must spend at least 15 minutes in the dining room, if I'm not in a rush and I see someone pushing a broom and they have not cleaned the tables and my 15 minutes is up, I will give them the benefit of getting a refill of tea and sit back down for another five minutes. If I see them grab a rag and head toward the dining room, I'll hang out another five minutes and not report a dirty dining room. If 15 minutes is up and I see them standing behind the counter staring off into space or chatting with another employee, then I'm out of there.

They don't say you must leave at exactly 15 minutes. If someone is cleaning and everyone else is busy, they earn up to another 10 minutes to get it done for me.

Sometimes I do the DT first. Inside, I complete that portion of the report on my tablet, and knock out portions of other reports that are due. So generally, I'm inside about 1/2 hour. That extra time often does change what my answers would have been had I left in 15 minutes.

@scanman1 wrote:

When they say you must spend at least 15 minutes in the dining room, if I'm not in a rush and I see someone pushing a broom and they have not cleaned the tables and my 15 minutes is up, I will give them the benefit of getting a refill of tea and sit back down for another five minutes. If I see them grab a rag and head toward the dining room, I'll hang out another five minutes and not report a dirty dining room. If 15 minutes is up and I see them standing behind the counter staring off into space or chatting with another employee, then I'm out of there.

They don't say you must leave at exactly 15 minutes. If someone is cleaning and everyone else is busy, they earn up to another 10 minutes to get it done for me.

I must eat slowly because even at fast food places, I note the time I walk in, order my food, sit down, taste my food, make some observation notes on my phone, and then eat the rest of the food I'm going to eat (usually most of my sandwich and 3-5 more fries). I look at my watch to check if I've been there 15 minutes yet and I almost always have (or pretty darn close so that by the time I clear my tray and check out the restroom I'll be clear to leave).

Sniff, must be in Colorado............C/S here sux!

@jay225 wrote:

I really think I have no choice but to give an unacceptable to the walk in I did today. The food took 10 minutes, my nuggets were cold, they weren't properly staffed, trash was overflowing, there were no medium drink lids, and the kicker... someone brought it up to them that they had no medium lids left, and 10 minutes later, they still never restocked! I don't know if it's a bad thing to be labeled as a "strict" shopper. I've given some of the walk ins "poor" ratings lately, but I figure if i'm not being honest, then i'm not helping them. The other part of me thinks that the more negative reviews I leave, the less likely they'd want to keep me as a shopper. What do you guys think about this, and would you give the shop I did today an "unacceptable"?

So very sorry that your "nuggets were cold". I have a few suggestions for that condition and feel free to send a PM for those suggestions as I doubt that the moderator would approve.

I report what I see. I try and include something positive in the comments. I love when the crew members are smiling and enthusiastic. Sadly, that doesn't happen very often

When I started mystery shopping approx. 15 years ago, I cut my teeth on nothing but the Arches shops. I have never had such a bad experience with any mystery shops and the MSC as I had when doing the arches shops. At least every 3rd shop would have a number of incidents that required reporting. Every time, and I mean every time, I had to submit a bad report, the scheduler would hound me for my reasons why I reported the numerous incidents and requesting me to reiterate my findings. After I submitted my reports, I would steel myself for the onslaught of emails from the scheduler. The shop that finally made me decide not to EVER do another arches shop was when I was waiting at the DT that was not attached to the main building. The young girl taking the orders ignored me to continue throwing hamburger buns back up the shoot that the orders were sent over to her on a conveyer belt. It seems that a worker in the main building was throwing the hamburger buns over to the DT girl and they thought this was so much fun. I finally had to yell at her to get her attention. When I was doing the DI portion and sitting at a table, the DT girl was asked to come in and speak with a customer that had an issue with her. She started yelling and fighting with the poor customer and the person in charge did absolutely nothing to intervene. It was nothing but a nightmare from start to end for this particular shop. Since the MSC did not give us much room to report any issues, I couldn't fit all my info on the report. I get the dreaded email from the scheduler who wanted me to clarify my findings. I emailed her back that if she wanted more info, I was going to bloody well give her the info on everything that went down. My response was very long, I got paid and I never did another shop for that food chain again. They couldn't pay me enough to mystery shop that company ever again. I could never figure out why the client would pay big bucks to have their chain shopped when they were very obviously not interested in the results or trying to fix the many problems. I guess most of us shoppers have our nightmare shops.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2015 08:04AM by niclinblue.

Too many negative reviews, honest or not seem to get you the boot..just how that company works.

I'm doing a very heavily bonused one tomorrow located in a supercenter so there is no DT. It will be the first one in several years. From having been in that supercenter many times over the year, I know that filth is the problem in the store and the arches there has not been much different. I do anticipate drinking my soda if the taste is right, but otherwise there will be the mandatory nibbles of the rest to make sure it meets the low standards as being 'food'. Purely there for the $$ and the fact that this particular supercenter is the only one in the area that carries my size of HVAC filters. The fee for the arches will cover about a year's supply of filters and my trip out there to get them will be business miles. The report will be well documented negatives unless they give me a very pleasant surprise.

@scanman1 wrote:

When they say you must spend at least 15 minutes in the dining room, if I'm not in a rush and I see someone pushing a broom and they have not cleaned the tables and my 15 minutes is up, I will give them the benefit of getting a refill of tea and sit back down for another five minutes. If I see them grab a rag and head toward the dining room, I'll hang out another five minutes and not report a dirty dining room. If 15 minutes is up and I see them standing behind the counter staring off into space or chatting with another employee, then I'm out of there.

They don't say you must leave at exactly 15 minutes. If someone is cleaning and everyone else is busy, they earn up to another 10 minutes to get it done for me.

Exactly. I generally give service workers the benefit of the doubt. If they are clearly making the effort to clean, I don't mind sticking around a few more minutes to see if they start addressing anything I noticed while there.

Around where I am, the Arches are quite good. It is still fast food, but I find that most of the time, they put the right effort into making hot, fresh food. The worst I've ever seen on one of my shops was a full garbage bin in the store. Not overflowing, and there were others that had room. The bathrooms sometimes have a little paper litter, but nothing like what I've seen described here. I am lucky, I guess.