Took my brother, Ken and my 8 year old granddaughter to a nicer lunch shop yesterday. About 10 minutes into it, after the server left to get our drinks my little granddaughter leaned over and whispered, "Is this a 'you know what'?" She even knows better than to say the word shop in public. lolol

Vince, I hope you can work it out to keep enjoying some of the dining shops. I really enjoy them and these days, they are about my only way to get out. I provide the nice meals and my friends and family do the driving. I get out of the house and have great fellowship. I guess I understand if you have an untrainable control freak. Maybe try taking him out on a cheaper dinner so there's not so much at risk if he screws up again. Give him a good talking to before you go and explain that if he blows it for you, you don't get paid and will be asking him for his share of the meal.

My grandkids shopped with me for the last three years. I had a five year old trained to flirt with floor personnel and ask, "Can I spell your name tag?" She was learning to read. She'd spell out "J e n n i f e r" and my voice recorder would pick up every word. While she was spelling, my grandson would be memorizing her hair color, length, height, glasses or no, etc. lol If I can train kids, surely you can train a pastor.

I almost exclusively do fine dining restaurants. I don't think these shops would be good for anyone doing evaluations for income. Also, I've had the same problem with guests misbehaving. I've found a few that do very good jobs and I bring them along. They've gotten so good, they know how to ask questions as well and the timing of transactions at bars.

Had a friends come over and help me with my housework and laundry yesterday. Tonight I'm treating her to CHEESECAKE FACTORY. Got my gift card yesterday for the shop I did there last month so I'm.just rolling it forward. Whoo Hoooo!

Gosh I like those shops. I only take the ones that reimburse all cost and pay a fee. I have a rotating list of friends to take with me. At first I owed several people thank yous for various kindnesses and have been able to take them all out on the town. Now I take the ones who agree to give me $5 -$10 and drive. They think it is worth it and behave very well. Susan

Wound up with a Cheesecake factory tab of newly $90 including tip. But it was marvelous and a housekeeper would have cost a lot more. LOL. I used the $30 gift card I got for the last shop and will get another $40 card for this one. I'm copy carting their recipes each time I goo. Tonight it was Miso Salmon and Crab Artichoke Dip....yummy!

iblessyah Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Vince, I hope you can work it out to keep enjoying
> some of the dining shops. I really enjoy them and
> these days, they are about my only way to get out.
> I provide the nice meals and my friends and
> family do the driving. I get out of the house and
> have great fellowship. I guess I understand if
> you have an untrainable control freak. Maybe try
> taking him out on a cheaper dinner so there's not
> so much at risk if he screws up again. Give him a
> good talking to before you go and explain that if
> he blows it for you, you don't get paid and will
> be asking him for his share of the meal.
>
> My grandkids shopped with me for the last three
> years. I had a five year old trained to flirt
> with floor personnel and ask, "Can I spell your
> name tag?" She was learning to read. She'd spell
> out "J e n n i f e r" and my voice recorder would
> pick up every word. While she was spelling, my
> grandson would be memorizing her hair color,
> length, height, glasses or no, etc. lol If I can
> train kids, surely you can train a pastor.

thanks. i could probably work with him and train him, but the money isn't there to motivate me right now. i would need to be paid a substantial fee and not just a reimbursement to get me to do more food shops. right now, i'm swamped with non-food shops that pay moderately well. unfortunately, i can't live on food. i require actual money to pay my bills.

I find it pretty easy to get ahead on those Cheesecake Factory shops. I schedule an at the bar one or a late night one once in a while and go and share drinks and one appetizer or salad plus a lot of their great bread for $40 which only costs $20 or so...then I have extra bucks to spend when I go for a full meal for two the next time. Fortunately there are several CF stores in my area and they even bonus some of them that no one seems to want to go to...Parking is impossible or expensive at two of my local ones so they end up bonusing.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wound up with a Cheesecake factory tab of newly
> $90 including tip. But it was marvelous and a
> housekeeper would have cost a lot more. LOL. I
> used the $30 gift card I got for the last shop and
> will get another $40 card for this one. I'm copy
> carting their recipes each time I goo. Tonight it
> was Miso Salmon and Crab Artichoke Dip....yummy!

ssssooooooooooooo jealous of the Cheesecake Factory ones. We don't have one in my area...sigh.

My husband always gets so nervous, and then practically blows my cover by asking out loud, 'Did you get her name?' or 'It took two minutes and fifty three seconds before she came to check on our table'....lol....

vince Wrote:
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> i once did a fine dining restaurant shop (last
> summer) with a guest, but won't do one ever again
> unless it is solo, as far as i'm concerned. it
> was great food (a really excellent meal at $75 for
> two people). i invited my good friend whom i've
> known for 20 years, because we have always enjoyed
> visiting new restaurants together. my friend was
> always asking me about my mystery shopping, being
> genuinely glad for me that i had found this new
> field of work. he keeps asking me, even today, to
> invite him again to more restaurant shops. he had
> a great experience.
>
> but he almost blew the shop for me. i told him to
> generally be quiet. just smile and be polite.
> that should be the easiest thing in the world,
> right? let me do all of the talking. just act
> naive and don't say anything, but hello when
> greeted. maybe comment about the weather. i'll
> take care of the rest.
>
> when we arrive, my friend immediately takes charge
> of the place, becoming the best friend of the
> manager. he acted like he's the shopper with the
> authority to evaluate the employee service,
> although not saying that we were shopping them.
> of course, he wasn't writing the report. he was
> just tagging along with me. he totally attracted
> attention to both himself and me, so that we would
> be remembered forever. then he orders the waiter
> around, not giving the waiter a chance to speak.
> eventually, near the end of the restaurant shop,
> he tells the waiter that we are required to order
> a dessert, but just to wrap it up for him so that
> he could give it to his wife and not let it go to
> waste. his stomach was full and he loved the
> food.
>
> then the shop report had 70 detailed questions
> with maybe 15-20 paragraphs of narrative. it was
> the most excruciating narrative that i had ever
> done, because it was hard to detail the
> experience, when my friend barely let the waiter
> talk. although the meal was one of the best that
> i've ever had, and the reimbursement was $75, i'd
> rather do without the mental stress, and eat a
> turkey/bologna sandwich with mustard, pickles and
> jalapeno peppers on generic wheat toast. it costs
> about 50 cents, but it is stress free. therefore
> it tastes better.


what company did you shop for

tlalonde Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> what company did you shop for

i don't even remember, sorry. the final report received a stellar rating though.

My wife has settled down about shops where she has to order separately and we just "meet" for lunch. Dinner is no problem; she orders what I tell her she can and doesn't ask thinks like, "Can we get soup?" any more.
My brother drove me nuts on a shop once, with loud comments on how well everyone was doing. ("She did that well, didn't she? Asking if you wanted cheese on it?" etc.) Oh well, he meant to be supportive.
Bottom line: once everyone is relaxed about being a spy on a job, we like good dining shops. We've been to some really great places and only one bad experience.

vince Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> i once did a fine dining restaurant shop (last
> summer) with a guest, but won't do one ever again
> unless it is solo, as far as i'm concerned...

I can relate to that. I normally take my partner with me on dining shops but I decided to treat a friend one day. I told her the parameters, including the maximum reimbursement, ahead of time and in we went. The meal called for an appetizer to share and an entree each. In addition to making a fuss over each course in one way or another, she also decided to order one of the most expensive entrees and then dessert on my dime.

The reimbursement is sufficient if you order average appetizers and entrees and stick to soda. Our bill, with tip, came to over $20 more than I was allowed. The reason I had invited her in the first place was because she was on disability leave from work and her finances were pretty tight. I never said anything to her but I won't be inviting her again.

The icing on the cake was when I was back there about a month later on another shop. We ended up with the same server and he immediately recognised me from the previous visit in his greeting. I don't think he'd made me as a mystery shopper but he definitely remembered me!

From then on, I only take my partner with me on restaurant visits.

shopper_in_cali Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
... When I used to shop fine dining it
> felt very awkward since sometimes I would go alone
> and eat...

I often do fine dining alone. I just play the role of someone travelling on business. Before I retired, I travelled a lot for work and eating alone was quite common. Sometimes I'd take some 'paperwork' in with me and 'work' on it while I was waiting for the meal. Other times I'd take in a satchel, newspaper, paperback, etc.

For a lunch shop I'd sometimes ask for a table for two and then after a bit tell the server my friend/client/whatever was unable to make it but I'd decided to stay and eat anyway.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That sounds exactly like me and my mom, LOL!


I took my Mum a couple of times but no more. The requirement that she order her tea at the end of the meal was the killer. She wants her tea with her meal and there was hell to pay when she couldn't have it. I can't blame her though. She is 91 and entitled to have her tea whenever she wants it.

Now I only take her out when she can have what she wants, when she wants it and I'm paying.

I wouldn't mind meeting other restaurant shoppers in the Los Angeles area.

I take my husband but last time I had him pay to make it look more "normal" and he did not take the itemized receipt. By the time I got to the table to grab it, they had cleared the table. Then I had to get a copy of the itemized receipt from the manager. Not so "normal" now.

I always pay the check when we eat out because my husband forgets to keep the itemized receipt. I do not do too many restaurants lately. I rather earn money than get a meal where I cannot choose exactly what I want to eat and sometimes am losing money.

Bena I am curious, all the fine dining I see requires you bring a guest...am I missing some with one person allowed? If so I guess I need to find those companies. I would not mind doing some lunch ones but I really do not want to involve people I work with in mystery shopping for all the reasons people had problems above...just don't know if i can trust them to go with the program. We do not have any of the national chains with mid range pricing where I live...only upscale ($100+) so perhaps those allow one shopper. We do have cheesecake factory but that is a 2 person shop as well.
-------------------------------------------------------
> shopper_in_cali Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> ... When I used to shop fine dining it
> > felt very awkward since sometimes I would go
> alone
> > and eat...
>
> I often do fine dining alone. I just play the
> role of someone travelling on business. Before I
> retired, I travelled a lot for work and eating
> alone was quite common. Sometimes I'd take some
> 'paperwork' in with me and 'work' on it while I
> was waiting for the meal. Other times I'd take in
> a satchel, newspaper, paperback, etc.
>
> For a lunch shop I'd sometimes ask for a table for
> two and then after a bit tell the server my
> friend/client/whatever was unable to make it but
> I'd decided to stay and eat anyway.

I was also wondering what sandy asked ..... every fine dining I have seen requires a party of 2....getting a table for two is not enough for the shops I've seen, you must also be a party of two diners. I'm totally curious which MSC has fine dining shops that allow only one diner.

RobinMarie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh to be a guest sounds awesome, take me! No
> report to write, and I promise I'll be quiet!


I got my best friend into shopping and she often takes me on her restaurant shops and vice versa. It's great to have an extra set of eyes and ears and unlike Vince's ill-behaved guest (sorry, but thanks for the laugh), she knows how to behave.

I've taken my kids (19 and 16) when allowed and my husband, too. I've also taken my sis-in-law but she can ask questions throughout..."Did they do that right?" I love you but just be quiet, please.

I've also taken my grandma and she was fine. Not really the best at evaluating things from a helper's standpoint because everyone and eveything is wonderful. She's just got a positive attitude about everything. Not a bad trait really.

I would try some casual dining shops with a different friend. Tell your misbehaving one that they identified you as the shopper from the outrageous behavior. Even if you never take him with you again, it might make him think twice about how he acts.

I am also curious as to MSPs that allow one person fine dining. I only know one and it does SoCal only. May be I should just ask other companies if I could go alone? I prefer bar shops alone because there is so much detail required and a conversation partner can make it more difficult. S.

sandyf Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bena I am curious, all the fine dining I see
> requires you bring a guest..

I'm guessing you are in the USA. I don't think the chains that I do those shops for extend into the United States, but I'm not sure.

Yes, US. Where are you?

in Manitoba, Canada

Always Angie wrote;
{I got my best friend into shopping and she often takes me on her restaurant shops and vice versa. It's great to have an extra set of eyes and ears and unlike Vince's ill-behaved guest (sorry, but thanks for the laugh), she knows how to behave.}

I would probably do more restaurant shops if I had a dependable mystery shopper to take along. I have tried to take a friends along but it turned into a disaster. I was stood up and left to find another guest for the hour and a half left in a three hour window. Luckily my wife was able to make it.

Anyone else from the Los Angeles west side that might want a mystery shop partner for restaurant shops, please send me a message.

Hi LAfeet, I was wondering if the la part meant THE LA...could be Louisiana or just a spanish pronoun. anyway, I am in LA, westside...my husband generally goes with me but he gets cranky and sometimes says...these are too much work. OKAY...your entire job is to remember not to blurt out your order before giving the server a chance to suggest and not order a refill too fast. How hard is that in order to have a nice seafood dinner? I still drag him along and he seems to be getting better. My daughter was always up for any restaurant meal, good, bad etc she did not care but she just moved out of town...so perhaps we can work something out for the jobs he is not interested in. My friends would love to go but some of them think they are going for the free meal I was offered...those that talk that way go with me once. After I explain to them the lengths I have to go to for the "free meal" if they still take that attitude they do not go with me again. Their inquiry, "next time you get offered a free meal let me know and I will be happy to go with you" How about you do all the work and i will go along? lol
-------------------------------------------------------
> Always Angie wrote;
> {I got my best friend into shopping and she often
> takes me on her restaurant shops and vice versa.
> It's great to have an extra set of eyes and ears
> and unlike Vince's ill-behaved guest (sorry, but
> thanks for the laugh), she knows how to behave.}
>
> I would probably do more restaurant shops if I had
> a dependable mystery shopper to take along. I
> have tried to take a friends along but it turned
> into a disaster. I was stood up and left to find
> another guest for the hour and a half left in a
> three hour window. Luckily my wife was able to
> make it.
>
> Anyone else from the Los Angeles west side that
> might want a mystery shop partner for restaurant
> shops, please send me a message.

sandyf Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...my
> husband generally goes with me but he gets cranky
> and sometimes says...these are too much work.
> OKAY...your entire job is to remember not to blurt
> out your order before giving the server a chance
> to suggest and not order a refill too fast. How
> hard is that in order to have a nice seafood
> dinner?

I think you're married to my husband's twin brother because he's the same way. My husband really is a twin, too. Seriously, I don't get why he often tells me to take my best friend along instead. All he has to do is smile, follow my lead and allow the server to upsell, and look pretty. I never make him remember times, though sometimes I do ask about the name because he can read farther away better than I can. But hey! If you don't want a free meal, my girlfriend and I always have stuff to talk about.

A Closer Look has a nice restaurant shop that can be done with one person. With one person you might be able to break even. They allow two or three diners for this particular restaurant chain. With two or three you are really losing money. I just ignore the emails, calls and pleas to help out. Some of the emails are even poems but I just ignore them. If they want them done by two people they need to cover what you have to order.

Dear porter wj,
I WOULD not come out of pocket for any restaurant shop. I need full reimbursement plus a fee or I do not go. If I take a friend they give $15 - $20. I did one italian take out for reimbursement only. The food was mediocre - nothing i would ever have paid for. The form was easy,But, never again. I would not take any time, make any effort, or waste milage on an unpleasant food shop again. Now I check YELP before I do any if I do not know the restaurant. Some of the YELP reviews are so bad that I don't know why the restaurants bother paying to hear the same complaints they get for free, Socal Susan.