I did a McD lunch shop today and ordered coffee as my beverage. I've never done that before and it triggered a flag question, so I re-read the guidelines and sure enough, coffee is allowed at breakfast but we are supposed to order a fountain drink at lunch/dinner. I'm trying to decide if I should submit the shop and hope it goes through, or go back and redo the shop tomorrow. It'd be tricky for me to get there during the correct time frame for Sunday lunch. Thoughts?

Pretty sure it would be declined so best to redo it if you want to continue doing shops with MSC. Have you checked to see if you can reschedule it yourself online to another day that is more convenient?

I agree with kenasch. The flag is a pretty sure indicator the shop will be rejected. It will likely impact your record if the shop is invalidated or if you cancel, so best to try to reschedule the shop.

I think it was open next weekend as well, but I will be away on vacation all week.
The problem is, if I miss the 1-hour window tomorrow, it's a flake, and I have two other shops to do right beforehand.
I think I'd rather have a shop completed on time but rejected, than flaked. Hmm.

I agree with your logic, but that's just a guess. If I recall correctly, the time window is still an hour and a half, even though it may start later on Sunday.

The time frame shrinks to an hour on Sunday's

Sunday lunch is 12:15-1:15. I have another shop 20 minutes away that starts after 11 a.m. and requires my presence for an hour. In theory, barring any type of delay, I should be able to re-shop it, but in my world, "barring any type of delay" is another way of saying "if I can acquire a flying pig."

I went ahead and submitted it and sent an email to the help desk offering to attempt to redo it tomorrow if I can get there. I expect they'll tell me we can't do it that way, but it's worth a try.

When I do mcds toward the end of the time period I do the drive thru first then of course wait the required time before doing the dine in. As long as you start the dine in within the time frame for the shop you are ok. You can then eat as slow as you want - the 15 min required time in the dining area can end after the shop timeframe.

I wish we could order coffee. The fountain drink always goes right down the drain.

Too late now, since you submitted, but I sure would have rescheduled for tomorrow. The above poster is correct -- you must be in line to order by the 1:15 cutoff; the shop doesn't have to be completed by 1:15.

And I'm not sure, but I'd rather have a reschedule on my record than an invalidated report.

They will reject the shop, then have to call someone and offer a bonus to get it done on time.

I wouldn't have had to officially reschedule it, because it was assigned to me by a scheduler who gave me a 3-day window to complete the shop in. All I had to do was be certain I could get there by 12:45 or so....and between the two other shops I have downtown and possible traffic or other delays, I really couldn't guarantee it.

BTW, I wasn't trying to come across as uncaring or crass. Just being honest and factual based on my limited experience with the shops for this client. You pretty much asked for a special order. My first reject for them was a manager offered to give me half sweet and half regular tea. The location does not have a drink station on the floor, all drinks are behind the counter. I agreed by instinct. REJECTED. I even reported that the manager announced "medium meal" two times then insisted on offering me options. Lost a big bonus to boot.

The help desk is going to kick it back to the schedulers to see if they can reschedule it for tomorrow.

And can I just take a moment to say that a nice hot cup of coffee sure did taste good on this cold day....
But not THAT good, dang it.

If you got the Nov 27-29 shops, you can just go back and redo it today. I am pretty sure ordering coffee will get your shop thrown out if you ordered that at lunch time.

For the record, it was invalidated automatically, as soon as I submitted it.

What I should have done, in hindsight, was to complete the report (since I still hoped it might be accepted and I really didn't want to attempt to go back if I didn't have to) and then email the help desk *before* submitting it. If they'd responded that day (which they did), they would have told me it would be automatically invalidated and I could have attempted the re-shop Sunday. Once I submitted a shop that violated the guidelines, though, Help Desk's hands were tied. I haven't heard back from a scheduler so I'm going to assume that they'll attempt to reschedule it for next weekend, when, even if they want to put it back in my basket, I'll be unavailable

HINDSIGHT

How can it be HINDSIGHT when you knew going in, Your shop was going to be invalidated.

Hindsight, meaning that I didn't know the help desk would be working this weekend and would respond to my email quickly enough to make it worth asking the question prior to submitting the report. And I really did hope it might somehow get through.

As it turned out, my second downtown shop didn't end until 12:45 and traffic on the freeway was heavy so the chances of me being able to make it to McD's with time to begin both portions before 1:15 were slim. Basically, once I ordered that cup of coffee, there was nothing I could have done.

@Alter_Ego------------>"once I ordered that cup of coffee, there was nothing I could have done."

There is always something you could have done. If you already had your timing in place and your cleanliness issue assessed and "ate" your meal or received it. You could have ordered a identical meal------ TO GO, with your beverage mistake. Your reasoning, you were getting a meal for your SO or family member. And once you got out of the sight of the retail, give the meal to someone on the street. TIME IN, TIME OUT and your mistake would be satisfied.
If you need to inform the scheduler to this is what you did, then, do so. But it is something you could have done. and your report would had all the requirements.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2015 12:22PM by sojo917.

Sojo, that would not have worked. Ordering TO GO is also not allowed. The only recourse was to start over with the dine in portion.

@sojo917 First off, as I said in my initial post, I realized the mistake when the question was flagged in the report. This happened, as you might guess, after I finished the shop. In fact it was about an hour later, and the lunch window had ended.

So, yes....had I realized the mistake while in the restaurant, prior to the end of the lunch shop time window, I could have started over and ordered another meal! And if I had realized it before ordering, I could have ordered a fountain beverage instead of a coffee! Brilliant input. Thank you.

It's clearly stated in the guidelines what to order to drink. I've done ninety-eleven breakfast shops since the last lunch shop I did and I made a mistake which sucks for me and for the scheduler. I can't see how it impacts you at all so I'm not sure where your resentment is coming from unless you're the scheduler. Are you the scheduler? If so, I'm super sorry and I owe you a favor. If not, then believe me, as a parent of teenagers my quota on self-righteous indignation is full and my tolerance for it is pretty low at the moment. Really not what I hope for on the forum.

The OP didn't know until she got into the report that the coffee was a mistake. Also, the receipt used should be the transaction timed. Even if she realized on site the coffee was a mistake, which she didn't, it would have been necessary to abort and start over with an entirely different shop. Even though it didn't work, I would have done exactly what she did, which was report what I did in a timely manner.

@isaiah58 wrote:

Sojo, that would not have worked. Ordering TO GO is also not allowed. The only recourse was to start over with the dine in portion.

The food was the only thing to be ordered to obtain the drink. The OP should have already done her shop with the coffee. To get the drink beverage one would have to order the meal again. TO GO is the action the OP would take upon leaving the Retail. Your recourse is not the only option.

One can always order a second meal. One is not informing the Associate---->"it to go so put a rush on it." The receipt would have the fountain beverage and meal. It is best to correct mistake while close to the venue, not after one has left. The report would of been called into question if the OP stated they were in the Retail for more than 40-60 minutes, esp if its one of those FF shop..

This would not draw any unusual attention. If your within your time frame and the receipt reflects that. What's the problem? OR stay in the Retail for an additional time waiting or eating another meal You leave when you leave

@Alter_Ego-------->The guidelines always tell you want drink to order. So finding out when you do the report is after the fact. Maybe the guidelines should have been with you. To look over before you left the shop. The shop did not SUCK for the scheduler, because the shop was invalidated when you submitted. Most guidelines and reports are auto generated. So if your answers are not correct you are automatically invalidate. That is why Scheduler don't sit at their desk just waiting for Shoppers to call with a problem.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2015 03:57PM by sojo917.

There is a reason coffee is not allowed in the guidelines at lunch and dinner. I have to assume that ordering coffee later in the day might throw the timing off. In fact, it did impact the timing because she took extra time getting the cream for some reason. Ordering another meal for the sake of the receipt without redoing the shop would be unethical.

The scheduler has to find someone else to do the shop now and I would say that with the amount they have to do, that sucks for them and I feel badly about that.

I finished the drive through portion of the shop at 1:17.

Yes, I should have read the guidelines thoroughly and I really don't see the place in this thread where I indicated otherwise. But thanks.

Of course IF the shopper knew she screwed the shop she could have aborted and started over. But the shopper did not know until after she completed the shop and got into the report that there was a problem. Why do you think she would re-order the meal and start over if she didn't realize the coffee was a problem?

Ordering coffee was a mistake. Not realizing the Help Desk would respond on the weekend was unfortunate. Submitting an accurate report on time was an obligation. Flaking the report would have been Mistake No. 2.

@sojo917 wrote:

@Alter_Ego------------>"once I ordered that cup of coffee, there was nothing I could have done."

There is always something you could have done. If you already had your timing in place and your cleanliness issue assessed and "ate" your meal or received it. You could have ordered a identical meal------ TO GO, with your beverage mistake. Your reasoning, you were getting a meal for your SO or family member. And once you got out of the sight of the retail, give the meal to someone on the street. TIME IN, TIME OUT and your mistake would be satisfied.
If you need to inform the scheduler to this is what you did, then, do so. But it is something you could have done. and your report would had all the requirements.

That wouldn't work, as you are required to spend 15 minutes inside after receiving your order. If you get that inside order "to go", and your timing shows you left within 15 minutes of the time on your receipt, you MAY be getting yourself a record as a "fraudulent shopper". Much, much worse than being honest and having your report invalidated.

In this business, sometimes we really do "eat our mistakes".

"One can always order a second meal. One is not informing the Associate---->"it to go so put a rush on it." The receipt would have the fountain beverage and meal. It is best to correct mistake while close to the venue, not after one has left. The report would of been called into question if the OP stated they were in the Retail for more than 40-60 minutes, esp if its one of those FF shop.."

You are wrong on so many levels, I don't know where to start.

I often start these shops at the beginning of the window (sometimes 11:45, sometimes 12:15) and don't leave the site until after 2 PM. I take a book, and letter writing materials, and read my book or write an actual letter while dawdling over my meal. Not unusual behavior for someone eating alone. I often see other lone diners doing exactly the same thing. I also figure if I start early and goof, it gives me time to re-do the shop then and there. And many times the drive-thru alone has taken up to 45 minutes to get through, which means I couldn't possibly do both parts of the shop in less than an hour.

I find your suggestions for totally unethical behavior disturbing.

Especially as you seem to be criticizing the OP ("Opening Poster" ) for her (or his) integrity and honesty.

We ALL make mistakes. It's how we handle them that counts -- if you try to cover up or conceal, or 'fess up and deal with the consequences -- that defines one's integrity.

In my opinion, kudos to OP.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2015 05:44PM by ceasesmith.

@ceasesmith wrote:

I often start these shops at the beginning of the window (sometimes 11:45, sometimes 12:15) and don't leave the site until after 2 PM. I take a book, and letter writing materials, and read my book or write an actual letter while dawdling over my meal. Not unusual behavior for someone eating alone. I often see other lone diners doing exactly the same thing. I also figure if I start early and goof, it gives me time to re-do the shop then and there. And many times the drive-thru alone has taken up to 45 minutes to get through, which means I couldn't possibly do both parts of the shop in less than an hour.
/quote]

I just did a McDonalds yesterday and there were posted "No Loitering" signs with a "30 minute" time limit. I just googled this and apparently these signs are now wide spread in McDonalds. I doubt they are enforced but you may bring unwanted attention to yourself by staying so long.

Loitering and dawdling over a meal are not the same thing.

The "no loitering" is to deter panhandlers, which are a major problem in parts of the country.