Denied shop - iced Tea w Lemon = Special Order

Hi all. I am a follower of this forum and have shopped for many MSCs for 3 years. I love this forum for validation, laughs, and honest replies to help one justify their complaints, and to see the MSC's side too. This is the first time I'm posting, so be kind!

I shopped an Arches after accepting a bonused shop from Scheduler. I have done many Arches, but did read through guidelines and was very clear on the Medium drink specification. I did the Dine In and Drive Thru. In the DT, I ordered a Medium unsweetened Iced Tea with lemon. Lemon is offered self serve at the Dine In condiment bar. My shop was denied because apparently Iced Tea with lemon is a "special order." I reread the guidelines and the word lemon is non-existent. Ordering cream, sugar for coffee is addressed, detailed verbiage on what a special order is for a sandwich, but no lemon reference.

I have had a couple email exchanges with the help desk, but they stand firm.
I'd appreciate any feedback so I can let this go and make lemonade out of these lemons!

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I will get my fountain lemonade inside, as if I try to get it from the DT, they will then up sell me from the "Fountain Minute Maid Lemonade Light" to the specialty fresh squeezed lemonade in the clear cup. Yeah it taste better, till you get a shop rejected for ordering a specialty drink.

Unless you live in the deep south, they will not have cut lemons sitting next to the iced tea canister at the DT and it will in fact add time for them to cut/get it. Just get your extra lemons and do the walk in first and then if you still need more tea, you can transfer the extra lemons from the other cup.

The schedulers may live up north and not understand that lemon and iced tea is like coffee and cream is in the rest of the world. When I report about no lemons or nasty lemons for a local franchise, I know it will be addressed. I won't even address it if the place is a franchise that came south from up north. The franchise owner probably disregarded the franchise and bought the fresh iced iced tea maker on his own instead of serving fountain tea. (YUK!) A certain sub shop comes to mind. I asked for lemon and they could not even provide me lemon packets.

Wow. You know, I would continue to politely email...I don't do Arches but if there is nothing in the guidelines stating that asking for lemon is not allowed, then they should not be rejecting the shop. I once had to email helpdesk 27 times before I finally got the right person to help me with an issue that I had with a grocery shop. They rejected my report because they stated I was supposed to visit the meat service counter at this store. The store did not have a meat service counter, only a few refrigerated bins with packaged fresh meats (which I detailed in the comments). Each helpdesk person I reached via email the first 26 times insisted that they had a meat service counter. I kept gently reiterating that they did not and asked each person if they would call the store. The 27th person called and verified that they did not have a meat service counter. I was paid.

I've done many of these shops over the years. I'm sorry your shop was denied, but I understand it and I would have expected that it would be denied. Any time you add something extra to an order it becomes a special order. It takes additional time to prepare the item. Tea at the Arches is served sweet or unsweet. Yes, lemon is available at the self service counter. At the dine in shop, you could add the lemon without affecting service times. This client is very interested in their service times. When you order either sweet or unsweet tea and you then request that they add lemon, it is an additional step and it could potentially affect service times so it becomes a special order. I would say order nothing that is not on their guidelines. For example, the fish sandwich and the chicken sandwich are listed as choices. The option to add onions to a sandwich is nonexistent. Would you add onions to the fish or chicken sandwich? That would be a special order in the same way that adding lemon to tea is a special order.

Ah, AustinMom has a very good point. I hadn't thought of that.

Ooops! I just checked the guidelines and there is actually a sentence that appears to address additional requests: "Do not make any special requests, such as no ice or light ice in your beverage or no salt on your fries." To me adding lemon would be similar to asking for "light ice" or "no ice."

On this one, I would take the loss and move on. They do not want anything that can negatively affect the timings. I would consider asking for lemon, something that could possibly increase your wait, in receiving all three items. The more you do these and the more stories you hear (like yours), will help in future shops.

I would be surprised if they reverse their decision. I don't think they will be able to use your report and will have to have the location re-shopped.

It's possible you could call a scheduler and offer to reshop the location.

@scanman1 wrote:

Unless you live in the deep south, they will not have cut lemons sitting next to the iced tea canister at the DT and it will in fact add time for them to cut/get it.

Prefacing my comment with the fact that have never done this shop and don't patronize this particular client; where I live it's standard for servers to offer lemon with iced tea, so I would be shocked to learn that it wasn't immediately available at the DT. I also see it as a similar item to sugar or cream with coffee.

That said, I would just order unsweetened tea and expect to be offered a lemon when the orderwas confirmed, or when I collected it. Would it affect the timings if you requested lemon after they handed over the order? Is the timing based upon when you depart the DT or when they hand you the order?

I think that the issue may have been specifying lemon when placing the order....

It's a learning lesson, if you choose to take on future projects for this client. One thing that's learned is that the client absolutely wants you to get items "as-is," when ordering. This is different from the other MSC fast food clients, as they allow you to accept upsells such as larger sizes and "add-on's" such as lemon wedges.

It's upsetting, but a lesson learned. I do agree on covering any and all potential "add-on's." I don't see anything wrong expressing these comments to Helpdesk to forward to whoever's responsible for this client's guidelines on the next revision.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

The timing ends when you receive all three items. In this case, they might walk two feet out of their area, to get a lemon, before handing you your three times, which might add 3-4 seconds to the timing. These shops are VERY serious about timings and seconds really matter.....lol....seriously.

So accepting all 3 items and then asking for the lemon would not affect the timing...correct?

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@scanman1 wrote:

Unless you live in the deep south, they will not have cut lemons sitting next to the iced tea canister at the DT and it will in fact add time for them to cut/get it.

Prefacing my comment with the fact that have never done this shop and don't patronize this particular client; where I live it's standard for servers to offer lemon with iced tea, so I would be shocked to learn that it wasn't immediately available at the DT. I also see it as a similar item to sugar or cream with coffee.

That said, I would just order unsweetened tea and expect to be offered a lemon when the orderwas confirmed, or when I collected it. Would it affect the timings if you requested lemon after they handed over the order? Is the timing based upon when you depart the DT or when they hand you the order?

I think that the issue may have been specifying lemon when placing the order....

Very good point about the cream and sugar for coffee, SteveSoCal. While some don't see lemon as an essential add-on, some do.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2015 05:29PM by Tarantado.

It's normal here. Was the shop perhaps a negative one? They have a reputation for challenging negative shops and the MSC could care less about you; they will stand with the restaurant owner every time. Consider yourself to have dodged a bullet -- move on to better shops.

I used to occasionally fill in routes with these; you'll eventually get dropped from the project, anyway, if you tell the truth too often. Once the managers realized they could challenge negative shops and get away with it, the mystery shopping ceased to be useful.

Correct, but if you mention you ordered lemon, regardless of how they gave it to you, I would expect a rejection and for the MSC to reshop the location.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

So accepting all 3 items and then asking for the lemon would not affect the timing...correct?

I would skip sliced lemons altogether at ANY restaurant.

Next time you order iced tea, tell your server to hold the lemon. A recent study found that nearly 70% of restaurant lemon slices were soured by bacteria from saliva, skin, even feces. The fruit's natural antibacterial properties didn't hinder the germs, which may have come from unwashed hands, uncovered coughs and sneezes, and contaminated cutting boards and utensils. Instead of ordering drinks with a twist, keep packets of lemon juice or True Lemon crystallized lemon.

If interested, here is the link to the rest of the article.
[www.prevention.com]

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2015 05:37PM by Sybil2.

And if that article did not do it for you...

[www.huffingtonpost.com]

@Sybil2 wrote:

I would skip sliced lemons altogether at ANY restaurant.

Next time you order iced tea, tell your server to hold the lemon. A recent study found that nearly 70% of restaurant lemon slices were soured by bacteria from saliva, skin, even feces. The fruit's natural antibacterial properties didn't hinder the germs, which may have come from unwashed hands, uncovered coughs and sneezes, and contaminated cutting boards and utensils. Instead of ordering drinks with a twist, keep packets of lemon juice or True Lemon crystallized lemon.

If interested, here is the link to the rest of the article.
[www.prevention.com]

I have been drinking cut lemons in my iced tea my whole life and never got sick from it. The acidic nature of lemons make them a little safer than when I touch the remote control or mouse/keyboard from a public place and then rub my eye or scratch my nose or rub my lips when they itch without realizing it. Germs are everywhere.

It's a calculated risk I'm willing to take. I have seen some cut lemon containers that were not chilled and had fruit flies or were really dirty. Even I have a limit, but will take a lemon if the shop otherwise looks clean.

A server in a sit down restaurant will 99% of the time offer lemon with iced tea and if it is accepted, will likely then ask anyone ordering soda if they would like lemon as well. But this is a fast food and drive thru of a fast food at that, so I think Austinmom is on target that asking for anything not advertised as part of the item is a 'no no' though if it is offered it probably would be ok. "I'd like a coffee." "Cream and sugar?" "Yes, please." should probably be okay because you are not asking. "I'd like a sweet tea." "Lemon?" "Yes, please." should probably be okay. "I'd like a sweet tea." "Your total will be $X." "Oh, and give me some lemon, please." is probably not okay, nor would "I'd like a sweet tea with lemon."

@scanman1 wrote:

I have been drinking cut lemons in my iced tea my whole life and never got sick from it. The acidic nature of lemons make them a little safer than when I touch the remote control or mouse/keyboard from a public place and then rub my eye or scratch my nose or rub my lips when they itch without realizing it. Germs are everywhere.

To each his own but I try to avoid ingesting fecal matter as much as possible. I also try to stay away from pesticides when possible. Organic helps and usually tastes better. And both articles state that the acidity from the lemons does very little to nothing to kill the germs.

If you're going to be paranoid about slice lemons, you should just avoid eating at any restaurant altogether... Just imagine some of the non-compliant things that happen such as cross-contamination, not washing hands when changing out gloves, etc. etc.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

I'm not paranoid at all. I just lead a very healthy lifestyle. Hence, I do not perform any FF shops.

@Sybil2 wrote:

I'm not paranoid at all. I just lead a very healthy lifestyle. Hence, I do not perform any FF shops.

My comments on non-compliance that can lead to food poisoning can relate to any and all restaurants.... Not just fast food.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

You really want to argue over lemons? I thought I posted an article link that would be helpful to some forum members. If you do not like it, do not read the article. Very simple concept.

As someone who has spent over 60 days in SE Asia on mystery shops over the past 5 years, lemons are the least of my worries. I've survived cruise ships, a whole bunch of horrific airline/airport food, drinking the tap water when I was too tired to know better at a hotel in Mexico and a bartender that coughed all over my drink after telling me that he just checked himself out of the hospital after a 3 day stay because he couldn't afford to loose another day of work.

I recently was tested and was amazed that I'm Hep-A negative. Bring on the lemons...

@Sybil2 wrote:

I just lead a very healthy lifestyle. Hence, I do not perform any FF shops.

...and I'm with you on that one. More concerned about FF ingestion than anything else. My lemons are usually coming from high-end restaurants.

Not arguing; just stating other facts as well. No need to backlash at any and every reply that comes your way.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

@SteveSoCal wrote:

...and I'm with you on that one. More concerned about FF ingestion than anything else. My lemons are usually coming from high-end restaurants.

I have a friend that has worked the kitchen of many very upscale places and this is where some of the back of the house does things that are extreme code violations that even fast food does not do. I'm talking about the country Club and that Zagat 5 star rated place.

1. That clarified butter you just dipped your lobster tail in. You didn't know it was every butter dish off every table from the day before that was not finished and scooped into a pot sitting in the back. If there is a butter creme sauce that is placed over something, that is even more disgusting.

2. That kale garnish on the plate is thrown in a bus tray of ice water and served over and over until it don't look pretty.

3. Some places will hire people that are literally street people to run the dishwasher and when caught up, they will have that person do menial kitchen tasks involving cutting raw food that may not be cooked. The sous-chef will use them to lighten the workload they have. Sure they cut them self as they don't know how to use a knife properly. Then they just wrap a little duct tape on the cut and keep going.

He's told me more stories, but those three stand out. This friend worked on Hilton Head Island at the very best dining locations.

Luckily I'm not ever allowed to order the lobster.

Eating out at any restaurant can result in illness. Sleeping at any hotel can result in bedbugs. Driving on any road can result in a car accident. Swimming in an ocean can result in a shark attack. Walking into a robbery/burglary in process can result in being shot. We take chances every day.

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Denied shop - iced Tea w Lemon = Special Order

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