@SteveSoCal wrote:

If your guest is unreliable or unwilling, visit the restroom on arrival, before ever interacting with anyone, and again before departure.

My regular dining companion flaked on me at the last second and I had to call up someone who had no clue what mystery shopping was and they kept asking me questions with restaurant staff within hearing distance. I just about stuffed a napkin in their mouth. I'm lucky they didn't blow the shop on me.

Choose your dining companion carefully and if you have a backup person in mind, Do clue them in ahead of time with the rules that apply to almost every shop:

Do NOT order the same dish as I do.
Do NOT ask for any changes or substitutions to the dish from what the menu offers.
Do NOT say the words Mystery Shopping or Report inside the restaurant!
Do NOT stay on your phone texting the entire visit.
Do NOT debrief me about how nasty the opposite sex RR is in front of the waitress.
Do NOT complain about the food unless it's inedible or completely wrong. I don't want to cause a manager visit unless it's really needed. You just made my report 30 minutes longer because your broccoli was over steamed and caused a manager visit to the table twice and me memorable.

When it is not tourist season here we are almost always immediately seated when we enter the restaurant. So to do a restroom check before seating would mess up those times. I DO read guidelines and if they don't mention multiple restroom checks they won't get them and they had best not bellyache about it. And what is happening in the ladies' restroom may or may not be what is happening in the men's restroom.

@scanman1 wrote:

Do NOT order the same dish as I do.

C'mon!......what shoper orders before their guest?

MS 101: Always let the guest order first and have a backup entree in mind in case they order what you wanted!

@SteveSoCal wrote:

C'mon!......what shoper orders before their guest?

MS 101: Always let the guest order first and have a backup entree in mind in case they order what you wanted!

That would work well for a guy, but I'm not a guy. Some of the restaurants we do check for common courtesy by asking if the lady's order was asked for first. Of course we usually have our ducks in a row as to what we are going to order, though I have needed to change my order because 'I think ____ sounds much better' when my guest has said something like 'that sounds good. I'll have one of those too.'

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2015 06:34PM by Flash.

Agreed that servers will usually check with the lady first, but you can always counter with, "I"m still undecided. What are you having? (looks toward guest!)"

I will say that being male probably does make leading in the MS experience easier...and make me much less suspect as the shopper. One of the MSCs I work for regularly actually told me to stop sending my guest to check the restroom because it had been over a year since anyone reported on the men's restroom...

I guess I am too much of a control freak. I want to make sure the restroom is okay myself rather than sending a guest. I am, after all, responsible for the report. Recently I had a male guest who is not my usual shop companion. He was headed off to the restroom on his own behalf and I asked him to check supplies, cleanliness etc. When he returned I asked whether it was clean and well stocked and got a shrug with, "Sure." I checked the ladies' room myself later and left his 'report' out of my report because I did not sense he had actually been particularly aware.

I have had one guideline that stated check restroom twice, once bf departure, it was a very high end restaurant. Also, had guidelines that say if guest is opposite sex please check both restrooms. I generally check the restroom right after I place the food order and usually I'm pretty quick make it back to the table before anything arrives. But I do tell my guest to make sure to note when anything is delivered if I'm gone.

For what it's worth, MarketForce is clearly big on making sure that any restroom issues are covered if you noticed defects. It's baked right into the reports.

@Fastjack wrote:

For what it's worth, MarketForce is clearly big on making sure that any restroom issues are covered if you noticed defects. It's baked right into the reports.

You must be doing different shops for them than I am doing.

When I have reported restroom issues with MF, validations prompt a question asking when during my visit I visited the restroom.

I do not recall any restaurant-only shop requiring two restroom checks, same or different gender. I do a bar/restaurant/theater shop, and a theater that requires two RR visits. Otherwise, I always do the restroom check after all timings have been measured. When the restaurant assignments require both male and and female (if guests are male and female) to visit and report restroom observations, my male companion can go whenever nature calls.

Servers are trained to take the lady's order and serve it first. If my guest is male, he is clued in and comfortable with what I do. Although, shins have been kicked and eyes have been locked, when instructions were forgotten. When my husband goes with me, he is still uncomfortable when I put my credit card in the portfolio. Just goes against the grain for him.

Earlier, we were talking about shoppers not knowing their rating, and it was mentioned that mine may have dropped, excluding me from seeing certain assignments. I have had a few dust ups with ACL, and do not buy into their holier than thouness. So, this may very well be true. No way of knowing. Out of curiosity, I searched other zip codes, kind of helter skelter. Some areas I know shoppers. My defined radius from home has 17 shops, Atlanta 135, Newark 109, Green Bay 18, Wichita Falls 28, and NYC 166. I am eligible to self-assign most of these assignments. I still do not know my rating, but the other cities have clients that simply are not in my area. I continue to think that ACL's shops in my area have dwindled.

Fastjack: if what happened to you happened to me - a scheduler assigned me a shop I was not eligible for, I completed it and was then denied the shop, I would be dancing on someone's desk. I have been assigned shops that I was not eligible for, when push came to shove. Presumably, sometimes schedulers have discretion to waive rotations. I would not be one bit happy if the MSC's actions resulted in rejection.

Their logic is that they cancelled it relatively quickly. Like I said, it was a last minute thing and when I got the confirmation, I jammed on out of there to make the deadline.

I got iced out by the scheduler and the staff above her stuck with her, so my opinion is just the hell with them, personally. Nothing against the company and again, wouldn't dissuade people from pursuing it, but as nice as they were about it I don't feel like being left holding another bag of **** with a smile.

@Flash wrote:

While it would be nice for A Closer Look to pay at least a small fee, that really doesn't bother me that much. If I weren't doing shops we would still eat out probably once a week and would rarely get out for under $25 even with Restaurant.com or Groupon or coupons. So we make it a shop and the personal $25 stays in the pocket. Any personal money I don't need to spend is great because I already paid taxes on my $25 and I don't pay taxes on the reimbursement.

Although it does not happen often, the experience is less than satisfactory because the chef or the server does not have a clue. That results in your compensation being unfit or not suitable for eating. You get nothing for dinner because replacing the slop would not make it any better. You have to suck it up and go elsewhere for dinner. They should pay something when you have an experience like that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2015 06:48AM by Piled Hip Deep, PHD.

I have never seen instructions to check restrooms twice so I do not however there is often a question about whether whatever may have been wrong was fixed. I cannot answer those and I do not since I usually only go once and have never gotten any feedback on that issue.
In my area in Southern California the number of shops offered has skyrocketed over the last year or two but what they have made up for in quantity has been at a lesser quality (or not actually quality as I love the $18 pizza shop). They have taken on some chains here in So Cal that have more outlets than shoppers and that seem to need to be shopped several times a month. It is the smaller upscale chains that have only a few locations that seem to have been lost ( or lost to me).

Their movie theater shops, if I remember correctly, do say to return after 30 minutes to check the status of a unkempt lobby or restroom but I could be confusing that with another company's restroom requirement.

I just added this company. I did this to find out if my inventive blah-blah about dining would be accepted by a narrative-intense MSC and to find out if this company has shops in the nearest big city, in the next state. It is unlikely that there are any near me.

I stress out about the nicer meal shops because I am always tense and on guard against a missed timing or an errant reported opinion, but I will do them for the experience. Fine dining is part of my beloved hotel shops, so I must do more of these shops when possible.

Thanks for all the information. Wish me luck.

Service Check's movies have a double restroom check. It is not stated as 'if it was slimed, recheck later'. It is purely a before and after check of the same restroom.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

Agreed that servers will usually check with the lady first, but you can always counter with, "I"m still undecided. What are you having? (looks toward guest!)"

I will say that being male probably does make leading in the MS experience easier...and make me much less suspect as the shopper. One of the MSCs I work for regularly actually told me to stop sending my guest to check the restroom because it had been over a year since anyone reported on the men's restroom...

It really does not matter if a lady orders first. If the guy says "I will have the same", a lady had the gender right to change her mind so I am told. Go ahead and tell the server, "I changed my mind I would rather not have what he is ordering," then order something else. If he does not get the hint and changes his order to match yours just tell him, "I rather you didn't.. If the food is bad we should not have the runs at the same time.". That should give him a hint that he can not order the same thing.

I don't understand. Why wouldn't you just tell your guest that you both can't order the same thing and work it out beforehand?

Edited to fix a typo.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2015 09:16AM by Roxie.

Roxie,
Guests often just do not take the shop guidelines, or the need to remember them, seriously. Many a shopper has had to kick a guest in the shins, even after briefing them about the rules.

Agreed with Wales. If I had a dollar for every guest that ordered something I specifically told them not....I could buy a really nice dinner with no reporting!

...and I'm not just talking about one guest. Probably 50 different people over the past decade. My mother is the worst offender.

I guess I am lucky to have obedient guests! Although they do so etimes engage with the employees too much. :-)

You are lucky to have obedient guests! No matter how many times I will remind guests of something, they will sometimes forget. I have had one guest gulp down a drink as soon as it arrived at the table (before I could take a picture) not once but twice! And when I recalled that story to a different guest, she did the same thing just minutes later!

I have also had to tell a guest that she shouldn't order something (because she gave elaborate substitution instructions) in front of the server. I said, 'Remember you said that you wanted to try the fish and chips? Why don't you order that instead of 'complicated substitution'.' My guest looked at me and realized what I was trying to say and did change their order. But I thought that the server thought that I was some kind of control freak or something!

I have other guests who try to 'trick' the servers. One of them purposely dropped a fork to test them to see how long it would take to respond. They don't understand that I'd rather have the shop go smoothly than have to report anything missed.

Sometimes, I am allowed to do a solo restaurant shop which is kind of a relief, so I don't have the added stress of watching out for what my guest will say or do. And I don't mind a solo shop once in a while so I can order the more expensive items!

Getting back to the topic, when I first got into this business about 15 years ago, it was rare to see a restaurant shop with a reimbursement. While yes, some companies like Coyle do offer a small reimbursement, I think that most still do not. I am okay with that when doing a $100+ fine dining shop because I would not normally go to that type of restaurant and foot the bill. Kind of like "Will work for food." I will gladly take a $150 shop, enjoy a fantastic steak or seafood dinner and write a one-hour report. On the other hand, I think ACL and other companies should offer a different pay structure for fast food and casual dining. I am not thrilled about the casual wings/sandwich restaurant that requires at least one entrée from the lunch menu, without any type of reiumbursement. However, I also believe in being a team player, so I will take an assignment like that periodically because I know I will also get the primo steakhouses. And ACL just helped me get two hotel shops for a recent road trip; I was going on the trip anyway --- to get free lodging and a great steak dinner, freed up my money for other things.

@EileenS wrote:

Getting back to the topic, when I first got into this business about 15 years ago, it was rare to see a restaurant shop with a reimbursement.

I think you mean 'fee' where you are saying 'reimbursement', EileenS. They all reimburse...

Taking ACL's no fee shops, may serve a purpose for new shoppers. Successfully doing a certain amount, allows the shopper to self-assign. That's nice, if there are locations of value to you.

My way of not being obvious but letting everyone at the table know that I need to take pictures is telling everyone that we need to pray first. I have used this on one occasion for a hotel when I thought my kids were going to gnaw off the food runners hands. Usually when I say it is before we order when the server isn't around and with a wink.

Two times I have to take a drink out of my grandmas reach because she was about to put a straw in it... I must have looked like a wierdo or a jerk.

I'm grateful to the guest for going to the restaurant with me. Normally they're a friend of mine and they get a free meal. I talk to them before hand about what's going on. Since I already know them we at least have a lot of more interesting things to discuss than mystery shopping or the restaurant. Since they are doing me the favor I also let them choose what they get to eat and then go from there. If it's a 'pizza' only or some such I tell them in advance. Just as I do if it's an appetizer which we just agree upon.

Do some of you advertise for people you don't know to mystery shop with you? I wouldn't mind going with someone I don't know as I only go with another person if I trust them to make the shop...So there are a LARGE amount I turn down because I don't have a 90-100% guarantee of them being able to go.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/2015 03:05PM by rasky.

When my SO was still working, his schedule was likely to change with very little notice because they needed coverage. Most of my restaurant shops had 2-3 day windows or I could reschedule myself within a window. Knowing what his schedule was supposed to be I would accept work and plan for the first day of the window. If he got rescheduled, our restaurant shop moved to the next available date. But I had my son in the area I could count on about half the time to cover and another friend who knew what I was up to who could sometimes cover. I did make sure to invite each of them along on a non-last-minute-shop at least occasionally to keep their good will.

Has anyone experienced this as well? The one thing I dislike is the 12 hour window. I too feel better about writing and submitting the next day, not at 11pm or 12am!

Ksilver,
Once you have established yourself as reliable by submitting a few reports in the 12 hour window, just email your scheduler and ask for it to be extended to 24 hours. I have never been turned down and it has not influenced my ratings since I continue to see aall the shops that I usually see.