SeeLevel wing shop = Seriously?

I just assigned and printed the form for their popular wing shop. After going through the confirm and guidelines download, I got to the part where it says to print, and it says I need to print from the view/submit button. So I pull up the shop and print it. Holy crap! It's on page 25 and still going. Okay, a lot of information, right? There are at least 4 pages (that I've seen so far) that contain full page pictures if a person wearing a full color uniform. Do I really need these? I mean, yeah, they want us to know what to look for, but a full page picture of a girl in a jersey? Couldn't you have at least fit them all on to one page? I love the free food, but the shop fee won't cover the color ink cartridge that I now have to replace! Come on SeeLevel! Let's get a little more environmentally friendly with your reports, okay?

Oh, and in the past, I've copy and pasted shops from the print screen into word and edited all the unnecessary pictures out before printing and usually reduce the number of pages by half. when I tried to copy this shop, there was so much data that it locked up my computer. Ugh!

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Once you open the document, the MSC doesn't know if you actually print it or not. Save a copy for reference, but no. Please don't print all that documentation out each time. Poor trees! Poor printer cartridges!

Shopper in California's Bay Area

@SumDumGouy wrote:

I love the free food, but the shop fee won't cover the color ink cartridge that I now have to replace! Come on SeeLevel! Let's get a little more environmentally friendly with your reports, okay?

its not free food. U have to write a report & maybe pics to get some money back. free would be given food w/no report or other work.

I use the "CutePDF Writer" utility to "print" to a PDF file on my computer. That allows me to read everthing and only print what I need, if anything. I also use a Brother laser printer rather than an inkjet. The toner cartridges may run out, but the toner doesn't dry out the way ink does. I can live without color printouts in order to have overall lower printing costs.

@MSNinja wrote:

its not free food. U have to write a report & maybe pics to get some money back. free would be given food w/no report or other work.

I wondered how long it would take before someone went all technical on here. This is one of the biggest reasons I'm not on here very much. Too many people pointing out technicalities like they are all that, or going negative for no reason. You knew what I meant, but you just had to open your mouth.

@SumDumGouy wrote:

I wondered how long it would take before someone went all technical on here. This is one of the biggest reasons I'm not on here very much. Too many people pointing out technicalities like they are all that, or going negative for no reason. You knew what I meant, but you just had to open your mouth.

your post is misleading to newbies who don't know any better. nothing techie or neg about it just boring ole truth. i didn't know what u meant. I am not inside your head.

Why print it out? I never print out guidelines. I open them, save them to the MSC's folder in my cloud, and read them before the shop. If I need a refresher before the shop, I pull them up on my tablet.

I'm amazed that people actually print guidelines. Yes, I know we MUST print the guidelines and keep them in the car. It's not necessary in 2016.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

When I started I found it beneficial to initially print the complete guidelines the first time. Some are well over 30 pages. To save on costs I print on both sides and set the print to black only, turn off the color. It also helps to keep the PDF or whatever document format saved digitally (digital footprint). Rename it so you can find it. Put a copy on your cloud and your mobile device just in case you can't get online.

Now I just create a digital footprint. I print a few pages on an as need basis.

I like the idea of working for food, even more when there is an additional fee.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

@MSNinja wrote:

your post is misleading to newbies who don't know any better. nothing techie or neg about it just boring ole truth. i didn't know what u meant. I am not inside your head.

I'm pretty sure even newbies knew that there was a report required, otherwise, what the heck are we doing here? Yeesh.

On this subject but slightly off topic. I saw one in my area today for call ahead and order, which I assume means take with you. But it also says you still have to visit the tables, menu, etc. I understand the bathroom and they aren't going to look at weird for that but how do I visit a table when I'm just picking up?

Reread the instructions. I believe all they are asking you to do is walk down the hallway and look around. You will not be able to see the tables from afar. I call ahead from close by then show up about five minutes later. I pay for my order and if I have a drink I get my cup and fill it. I then stroll down the isle to check out the sports playing on the TVs, observe what I can from there, then head to the bathroom.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

I didn't see anything negative and the technical responses could be helpful to other readers. Many of us just have an issue with MSCs using the word "free" incorrectly because it negates the value of our work while the technical answers were good ones. New shoppers may think they really do need to print all that unnecessary paperwork. It is the rare MSC who actually has printer friendly guidelines or reports. Sassie and Prophet are the worst IMHO because they are nothing more than the computer version of the report, nothing resembling print ready.

@SumDumGouy wrote:

I'm pretty sure even newbies knew that there was a report required, otherwise, what the heck are we doing here? Yeesh.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I'm amazed that people actually print guidelines. Yes, I know we MUST print the guidelines and keep them in the car. It's not necessary in 2016.

I don't have a tablet (although I do plan to get one), and my smartphone screen is too small for me to easily read guidelines before I'm ready to do a shop. It's faster and easier for me to print out those pages I need and take them with me to review before I walk into the location, which I do need to do when I'm doing a new shop or one that I haven't done in awhile.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

@SumDumGouy wrote:

@MSNinja wrote:

your post is misleading to newbies who don't know any better. nothing techie or neg about it just boring ole truth. i didn't know what u meant. I am not inside your head.

I'm pretty sure even newbies knew that there was a report required, otherwise, what the heck are we doing here? Yeesh.

not good idea to assume anything in mystery shopping. i agree w./other poster who said that word free is thrown around too easily here/

I use both paper and tablet versions of instructions. If you go paperless, make sure you know you will get good signal in the areas in which you plan to travel! I made the mistake before of thinking I would just pull it up on my device, only to find I was in a hole with lousy reception. I had to call my scheduler to help refresh a few points, and that worked, but wasn't ideal!

If you saved a copy to your tablet, you do not need an internet connection.

@SunnyBrook wrote:

I use both paper and tablet versions of instructions. If you go paperless, make sure you know you will get good signal in the areas in which you plan to travel! I made the mistake before of thinking I would just pull it up on my device, only to find I was in a hole with lousy reception. I had to call my scheduler to help refresh a few points, and that worked, but wasn't ideal!

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

isaiah, I learned my lesson about that when I was shopping in the one area of the country where Verizon was dead. Not a weak signal, no signal.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I just print out a few on the report form pages because I like to have a hard copy to enter info. I never print out the guidelines for the wings shop. I only do carryout. They are by far the easiest. I can see if the tables are clean and make other observations as I walk by the dining room. I arrive a few minutes early and visit the restroom.

@MSNinja

Possibly you were just trying to make a joke. Just accept that your joke wasn't funny and move on. No need to fight on here.

--Newbie Mystery Shopper

You received good advice. Take it or leave it.

I did a couple of these wing shops last month. One location was permanently closed, so I answered all questions with a "no" (there was no option to choose N/A), then was stymied when the system would not accept my report without an uploaded receipt photo. Finally, I just created a jpg image of some text saying "This location is permanently closed" and uploaded that instead. I was bummed because I was quite confident that I would never see payment for the shop. Imagine my surprise when, a few weeks later, they did indeed pay me for it! Only $5, but still, nice, especially since I had just been ripped off by Maritz on a $30 shop the week before.

Today, these same shops locations came up again, and the closed location is included. How can the client not know that it's closed already? So, I shrugged and self-assigned it. If they want to pay me $5 a month to upload a image saying it's closed, that's fine by me!

I did the Wings shop, and yes, instructions seem long and tedious, however, it isn't really that bad once you get there. I didn't like the fried wings, too much batter, hardly found the chicken, but, don't be afraid of the instructions, if Wings is your thing, go for it. I also look at it as a free lunch, since we don't pay for it.

Live consciously....

Huh? Battered wings?

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

Their boneless wings are breaded I think, but I don't ever order those. Their regular wings are not breaded. Neither type has batter.

Oh, also, you don't have to order wings. I like their salads and their chicken sandwich is pretty good as well.

Their grilled chicken wraps are awesome!

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I often print two pages on each side so I can have for report pages on one piece of paper. I like to have a print copy. I dont print out the pictures for that job though.

@txhrc4 wrote:

--Newbie Mystery Shopper

A forum member for 2 years and you still consider yourself a newbie MS'er? Interesting.

I must chime in.....isn't it a given for shoppers to KNOW we eat "free" in exchange for a report., does that really have to be spoken about and berate a shopper over.....we all understand it, let's keep out lingo and stay in a creative place. Picky, way too picky for this liberal Californian.

Live consciously....

Just a heads-up for anyone doing these shops: I did another couple of these yesterday, they were a breeze to complete. BUT...I almost screwed myself out of payment. I put in the takeout order but for some reason they did not give me a receipt. I realized this a minute later while I was completing the tasks inside the location, and decided to just ask for it when they brought my order out.

When the bag arrived, I saw that a receipt had been taped to the bag, so I thought all was well. Went home and was munching on "free" wings and writing my report when I went to scan and upload the receipt. Oh No!! It was the order ticket for the kitchen staff, with no itemized dollar amounts on it, just a description of the order. I had to drive all the way back to the location and ask the manager to print me out a duplicate receipt, which he was glad to do (I gave him a story about having picked up the food for "my boss" and that I could not be reimbursed back at the office without it).

Lesson learned, make sure your receipt really IS the one you need, not just the order ticket.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2016 05:55PM by BlueMoose.

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