@PuaM wrote:
I am curious if anyone knows: Do MSCs have a contract with the client that specifies a range of payment?
@PuaM wrote:
I am curious if anyone knows: Do MSCs have a contract with the client that specifies a range of payment? This is not the only low- or no-pay shop about which ICs complain.
Others have noted that with bonuses shops, such as this one, can range from reimbursement only to a $10 shop fee plus $5 app bonus (that's what I hold out for.) I am guessing that the MSC and the client love the ICs who take shops for the price of a pizza alone (which costs the client maybe $1.50?) I know the MSC has to make something, too. It has to be to the advantage of both the MSC and client to get something for nearly nothing. That's a good business model for the shareholders but not for us little ICs.
Yes, thanks for expanding on this. When I said a $5 app bonus shoppers such as yourself who do these know what that means. It is the extra goodie that can be thrown in to raise the pay (at least that's what it seems like to me.) It is the same basic shop with one extra step at the end.@calicakes wrote:
The app version is not the mobile order shop. I do those all the time( for a bonus) and I earn a "flame" towards free pizza.
@PuaM wrote:
Yes, thanks for expanding on this. When I said a $5 app bonus shoppers such as yourself who do these know what that means. It is the extra goodie that can be thrown in to raise the pay (at least that's what it seems like to me.) It is the same basic shop with one extra step at the end.@calicakes wrote:
The app version is not the mobile order shop. I do those all the time( for a bonus) and I earn a "flame" towards free pizza.
@JASFLALMT wrote:
My ACL schedulers don't do that, though I have seen it before with other MSCs...but, I have recently been getting emails about "double bonus" shops which turned out to be a double of $5. A total bonus of $10 is not exciting. That being said, the particular local pizza chain that they are shopping is pretty darned good and I can get any pizza I want, along with a salad and stromboli because the reimbursement is $32. I can eat on that for a few days. This restaurant has one pizza with grilled chicken, feta, spinach, fresh tomatoes, and fresh basil that is divine, and I can add artichokes and olives or other things to it, and they have a really good crust. The location that was double bonused was 25 miles from my house, so $10 isn't going to get me there. There is a location about 5 miles from my house that I love to shop. I do it as a carryout because it is so much easier to get all of the required photographs of the food and there are fewer sections and questions to answer.
@las30 wrote:
The problem with the online shops is that you can only order one pizza. I need to eat a whole pizza, so it's not worth it to me to do this shop unless I am taking someone else with me. I only do the regular shops because then I can get two pizzas. I would do more of these shops if I could take one of my kids with me and still get two pizzas. The issue is that there must be two separate transactions each paying with a credit card. My kids are not old enough to have their own credit card! So again, while I like this company, I don't do as many of these shops because of all the problems I've listed.
For those who don't do this shop, the issue of a receipt seems odd. Apparently, it is not this pizza company's practice to give diners a receipt. Thus, the MSC advises shoppers to use a credit card since asking for a CC receipt would not be "shopper behavior." I can understand the concern about having a teen remember to ask for a receipt. It is also not "teen behavior." Good luck.@las30 wrote:
Thanks CaliGirl. I thought we had to pay with a CC. The guidelines say it's okay to bring a well behaved child. I just assumed that meant to share one pizza. I think I might be able to take my oldest child. He's 13 and I can trust him to get a copy of the receipt. The shop would still be so much more attractive to me if I could get the two pizzas on the same receipt. Then I wouldn't have to worry about my child getting the receipt.
I interpreted the instructions as not that Thou Shalt use a credit card but rather if Thou Wants A Receipt you have a better chance of getting one by using a credit card. As long as the person remembers to get the receipt that's all that is required. When I first starting shopping for pay, I really had to make sure I got those receipts. It is amazing how many places don't give one automatically. Back in my college days, we were taught that an all-cash, no-receipt business meant the first person who touched the cash kept it. That's why it should be required that employees hand out a receipt. Nothing we can do about their lousy accounting principles but if a store is losing money but going through a high-volume of inventory I would be checking the cashiers first.@CaliGirl925 wrote:
I always use a cc for my pizza, and my guest uses cash. I haven't been spanked by the editors yet for this.
@Flash wrote:
Bribing shoppers with the promise of getting a shop A by doing a shop B is, unfortunately, a long standing practice in mystery shopping that has been complained about for the decade plus since I came back to the business. A scheduler has to do what works and if there aren't the $$ to make the shop interesting, they must fall back on other methodologies. Yes, it is unfortunate, but it also opens the door to you proactively offer to the scheduler, "I want shop B and if you assign it to me, I will do a shop A for you for $."