The Taco Bell PR Disaster - An opportunity for us all

Making its way across Facebook and late night comedy shows over the past 24 hours is the Public Relations melt down disaster for Taco Bell. A few of their employees posted gross photos of themselves licking Taco Shells and posting them on social media and its all gone viral.

Click this link:
[www.usatoday.com]

When Taco Bell employees start thinking a bit too outside the bun it’s time for MYSTERY SHOPPERS to be the extra eyes & ears to catch this type of behavior.

Let’s face it, Taco Bell is not one of the big users of Mystery Shoppers and now they are paying the price. Late night goofy antics, horseplay, and locations out of control are the perfect places where large chains need to have quiet and unnoticed mystery shoppers to catch this type of behavior. Now that it's gone viral on the internet perhaps someone at Yum Brands (the parent company of Taco Bell, FFC, & Pizza Hut) will decide that the expense of having their stores shopped will be more than worth the investment.

Big Ed
Mystery shopping in the Great Smokey & Blue Ridge Mountain ranges of Southern Appalachia (GA, NC, SC & TN)

Big Ed
Mystery shopping in the Great Smokey & Blue Ridge Mountain ranges of Southern Appalachia (GA, NC, SC, & TN)
BigEdBSA@gmail.com

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More About Fast Food

Ewwww, I ain't eating there...at least not without a hazardous duty bonus!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2013 11:36PM by IGOOgleit.

Unless it was an audit, how could a mystery shopper catch this type of behavior if it happens out of the view of customers?

This kind of behavior probably happens more often than we think. There was one video of someone spitting on someone's Domino's pizza and another taking a bath in a Burger King sink. The only reason we know about incidents like this is because of technology.

I have actually caught and seen late night horseplay at several fast food joints (sometimes while on assignment and some just as a late night customer). Years ago before I even knew about Mystery Shopping I saw a pressure hose water fight in the kitchen of one fast food location and was thinking I wish I had a camera on me so I could send it in to the management.

Big Ed
Mystery shopping in the Great Smokey & Blue Ridge Mountain ranges of Southern Appalachia (GA, NC, SC, & TN)

Big Ed
Mystery shopping in the Great Smokey & Blue Ridge Mountain ranges of Southern Appalachia (GA, NC, SC, & TN)
BigEdBSA@gmail.com

Taco Bell is shopped regularly in this area. But like has been said before, being shopped doesn't highlight what goes on behind closed doors. On the other hand, I would think disgusting and juvenile activities of employees might be more prevalent in businesses that are not shopped regularly and/or already have putrid customer service.

_____________________________________________________________________________
"Between stimulus and response, there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
~Viktor Frankl

taco bell has had plenty of pr disasters in the past...
problem is their typical clientele that they make most
of their money from....despite the negative comments
dont care......

remember when their taco meat was only 30% beef?

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There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots
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When you try to please everybody, you end up pleasing nobody

And like 50% of it was sands? =P MMmmMm, yum.

Like Granny said, nothing good happens after midnight

and if it is anything like some of the other fast food shops we all know and love they don't leave any room in the survey to account for those kids of things. They just want to know service, timings, and whether or not someone came out to wipe the crumbs off a table onto the floor to get points on the survey.

It's not - there is room for additional comments. I do them a lot. If something isn't up to par and not referenced anywhere on the form, you can add a final note about just that sort of thing. At least that's how it works for the MSC who has them in my area - other areas may have different MSCs.

TB reports in our area are heavy on the writing with few check boxes, all of which must be supported in the narrative. They are a PITA.

Even so, I wish all reports allowed for a comment area.

Taco Bell / KFC are sometimes in the same building. I reported one about 8 months ago for having food on the kitchen floor. Lettuce under the assembly table and more under the food table. The place was under staffed and no one had sweep the floor for a while.

expect the unexpected

The fast casual burger chain that I shop actually asks if all employees are behaving in a professional and appropriate manner.

I have seen the picture on more than one news show on more days than I thought it would be relevant. Must be a slow news week. I was recently spotted as a shopper because I reported that the employees were not wearing name tags. Had I been to this same location before? Yes, more than a dozen times. Did I know their names? Yes. The survey asked if they were wearing name tags, not if I knew their names. This was the first time I had anything "negative" to report and BOOM! I am spotted.
Now, this is not to say that a shopper would be in the right place and the right time to spot what this stellar employee did (licking taco shells that would be potentially sold), but maybe companies should be a little more receptive to accept a shop that is not 100% positive and possibly learn a thing or two about things that could be improved.
It irks me to death that shoppers are all but put up in the witness stand for issues we are paid to observe and when our observations do not meet their expectations, they call foul. Unless it is on video or audio, we will likely lose every time in the "he said, she said" game.

That's one reason why I love that South Carolina is a single party consent state. All my shops are at least on audio.

.
Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
"Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." (The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil, 1977)

"Somedays you're the pigeon, somedays you're the statue.” J. Andrew Taylor

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." Galileo Galilei

Best thing I have learned today...James Bond 007.5 may be my neighbor! Doubtful but still hopeful!

It is pouring rain right now Amie. And Wales and her sister will be dinner guests tomorrow night.

That might help you determine if we are neighbors. If we are, I'd love to get together for lunch one day.

James Bond, I am one state over from yall - next time I'm down your way visiting my sister, I'd love to meet some fellow mystery shoppers

Love to have you visit.

Ok...it is raining here, tralynnme just said y'all, I have a feeling I am close!

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The Taco Bell PR Disaster - An opportunity for us all

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