McDonald's Shop Question

I've been doing McD Shops for several years, but I had a situation come up today and I would like opinions about this,

The Guidelines are very specific that you are to go alone. I went alone, I completed the drive-thru and entered in to do the walk-in. After I had paid and was walking to find a table, I saw a friend. She was alone and asked me to join her. I thought about it, but I didn't want to take a chance that it would compromise my shop, so I declined and sat across the room.

What would you have done?

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Exactly what you did.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

I ran into my sister-in-law (she knows what I do) at a MickeyDees and she asked if we could sit together. I said "not now, but I'll come back in later and we will". I finished my shop, left by one door, and came back in another. We had a nice visit.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

I would have done exactly as you did, and if I were able to join her after my 15 minutes (if she was still there) I would have exited as Mary did and joined her then.

That is a tough one, your friend was probably insulted unless she knew your line of work. But I agree I would have done the same but maybe pretended I had an important phone call that I had to make right now and that I would catch up later.

I was once sitting at a table by the window, when a little old lady asked if she could sit at the seat across from me. I thought, Frack it, and let her sit with me. To be fair, all the timings were on the nose, so I knew I wasn't likely to get reviewed on tape.

shopsuey, I think there's an unwritten exception for little old ladies. She was probably lonely and thank you for doing that!

(heart)

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

I'm still miffed over the 6 chicken nugget limit. Ronald must have made some poor investments.

I had a similar situation. I was walking into a Walk In only location and see a friend sitting by the window. Luckily, they were almost done and about to leave, so I ate alone without issue.

If you feel comfortable with it, perhaps explain to your friend afterward. It could be a fun story. Though if she sounds intrigued, you might end up with local competition!

What I would have done it different to what I should have done...

I would say, "Hey friend, I need some privacy right now, but I will call you after I leave here, within 30 minutes."

Or if they know your code word for "shopping in the field" I say, "Let me get back to you a little later, okay? "wink"

Its really a double edge sword. We are to NEVER reveal ourselves as the shopper, but we are to sit alone. I often wonder how this works in a really small town. I have on occassion ran into friends on McD's shops. I once had a situation where a neighborhood child came up and gave me a hug while I was dining. He sat down beside me and told me about his baseball game.

As shoppers we have to use our best judgement. Very few people know that I am a secret shopper. What would I do? I would use my best judgement at the time and never compromise myself as the shopper (even if it meant spending some time in the dining room with a little old lady).

If the video was ever pulled, I would just explain what happened.

ShopUntilYouDrop Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm still miffed over the 6 chicken nugget limit.
> Ronald must have made some poor investments.

No really! I swear I ordered the 6 piece! That drive thru speaker had so much static that the girl must have thought I ordered the 20! Here is my receipt! Thank you! Drive Thru!

************************
Some times you just have to turn around, give a little smile, toss the match, set the bridge ablaze, and walk away.

Silver Certified on the Carolina Coast. You want fries with that?

I once went to the walk-in "Arches" portion of the shop and two little kids jumped up on my table and begged me to let them play the machine (game) at the table. Not sure what it's called but kids love it.... I knew I needed to get up and move to another table but there was no-where to go. I sweated the video camera showing me sitting with 2 kids! ..

Then gramma of the kids comes over and says, "Oh dear, you don't mind if they sit at your table and play with your video game?" I wanted to scream: "Heck Yea I mind! I might blow the shop! haha..

Truth is no one would ever know. But Beware <MSC> blocked me after 10 years saying I was vaguely not in the middle of the "bell curve" so don't be to white gloved nor to casual. In short, they are like little dictators and they love it. They will not pay you for any infraction. My opinion is that they will use your report and receipts anyway and get paid from McDonalds or 5 Guys and just not pay you. Face it, doing that is more profitable and that is the bottom line. That is my opinion.

Mod note: Dude. Knock it off. If you don't respect the ICA you signed, and it's safe to say you don't; respect the forum rule.

Seriously? Breaking your ICA again and name the clients linked to the msc?

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

I keep reporting them because it is doubtful he or she will edit the posts.

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.

I don't know if I'm splitting hairs or not, someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but the guidelines don't ever say you have to sit alone. I had a situation last weekend that I was concerned about so I did review the guidelines again shortly afterwards. When I received my order there was no where to sit. I set my tray down on a ledge and started eating standing up. A customer invited me to sit at his table. I declined at first then decided to sit down. I said "thank you" when I sat down and again when I got up. I was glad he didn't try to strike up a conversation. Not one word was said between the 2 thank yous. IMO this was OK but we all know the only opinion that counts. It was a small table but what if it was one of those long tables that I see in the newly remodeled locations. Those tables have 10-12 seats. If I was at one end and someone was at the other end are we sitting together? I was not the only customer with this issue. The thing is there were 4-5 tables being occupied either by non-customers (people sleeping) or customers that were finished and were reading newspapers and playing on various electronic devices. Management was not intervening.

FYI, for the last year I am one of those "customers" playing on an electronic device and more often than not haven't even purchased anything more than a cup of coffee. I am involved with an audit program and we are required to enter data onsite. If anyone needs a seat, feel free to join me just don't talk to me

This happened to me a couple of years ago, when I had just started shopping and I could not get out of it- tried all excuses I could think of, finally sat with friend, and the company viewed the tapes and questioned me. I explained in detail, and they just said don't do it again.

wow, i never get to order any chix or salads!

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