I did one of the new online ordering shops and it clearly said it was NOT required that I eat the meal there. But IF I did, to please stay 15 minutes for observations. Well, I chose to not eat it there and so my time in and out was less than 15 minutes. The form wanted to know why I didn't stay there at least 15 minutes. I gave my explanation and never heard anything further. But tomorrow I have a phone in shop at the same place and it also says I do NOT have to stay there to eat it.

Has this been a problem for anyone else?

Yes, I did the same thing. I did not hear anything back last month so I could be getting paid soon. I like that I do not have to stay. You still have to check the restroom before leaving.

I did one of these and ate in and it still asked me that question. I think it's an error in the form.

I did one 5 dudes shop. That MSC has also asked this question for electronics shops in my area. They don't tell you you need to spend 15 minutes in the store in the guidelines, and then they ask, why didn't you stay 15 minutes? It's annoying. I just say (which is true) that there were no other customers or it didn't take long for the sales person to give me all the information I needed, because that's the truth. I've never heard anything back when I spent less than 15 minutes in the store. They probably have computed 15 minutes as an average amount of time on a busy day and time to shop in a lot of stores or take-out restaurants. Ten minutes would be more like it.

I have shopped many shops that SUGGEST 15 minutes. I have worked at the airport and many shops take less than 15 minutes. I just do the shop and put in the honest time. I have done hundreds of these shops and have never been questions about my time. I guess each MSC's Guidelines maybe different.
I did have a shop where my husband dropped me of. I put in a receipt for parking to be reimbursed up to $5, I shopped and put in the correct time. I was questioned by the editor about the time being earlier than the parking. I did mention in my report that I was dropped off and spent the day at this location. The parking receipt had absolutely nothing to do with the shop. I was questioned three times!

Of course, they would naturally assume that you parked the car yourself, if you are asking for parking expenses. Why wouldn't the parking receipt have something to do with the shop in that case?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2014 09:35PM by nycrocks.

I've also completed several of the online shops and I've eaten in my car. When I get the 15 minute question, I copy and paste the guidelines as my answer. I haven't had a problem yet.

I have done several of the phone-in shops. The last 2 I did the order taker failed with flying colors on their suggestive selling and I reported it. I have double, triple, and quadruple checked the guidelines for the phone-in shop and it clearly states, and the questions asked in the report confirm, that when ordering to only order ONE item and wait for the cashier to suggest the other TWO. On both of these jobs I received emails reminding me to order TWO items and wait for the cashier to suggest the 3rd. I replied to the 1st email with the ordering guidelines copied and pasted but received no response saying I was wrong or right. Can someone confirm for me what the guidelines say so I can make sure I'm not the one losing my mind?

Mr. Mistery Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have done several of the phone-in shops. The
> last 2 I did the order taker failed with flying
> colors on their suggestive selling and I reported
> it. I have double, triple, and quadruple checked
> the guidelines for the phone-in shop and it
> clearly states, and the questions asked in the
> report confirm, that when ordering to only order
> ONE item and wait for the cashier to suggest the
> other TWO. On both of these jobs I received emails
> reminding me to order TWO items and wait for the
> cashier to suggest the 3rd. I replied to the 1st
> email with the ordering guidelines copied and
> pasted but received no response saying I was wrong
> or right. Can someone confirm for me what the
> guidelines say so I can make sure I'm not the one
> losing my mind?

Mr. Mistery: You order the sandwich and drink/OR sandwich and fries. You wait for the associate to ask you which one (you didn't order) if you would like it?

Example:

If you ordered sandwich and drink, wait for fries suggestion.

If you ordered sandwich and fries, wait for drink suggestion.

No matter what happens, if they do not suggest #3 then you must order it, so you can evaluate all 3 items...

Mr. Mistery Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can someone confirm for me what the
> guidelines say so I can make sure I'm not the one
> losing my mind?

You're not losing your mind. My most recent set of guidelines for the phone shop also say to order just the one thing (sandwich, hot dog, entree, whatever) and then wait, even if I'm sitting there on the phone in silence. The associate is supposed to suggest both fries and a drink at that point. SunnyDays2 is correct about the guidelines for the in-person shops.

I have never had an associate fail the upsell test. Usually, the opposite happens: I order a sandwich and tell them my toppings, and they jump right in with, "Would you like a drink and fries with that?" I love those shops because they tend to get everything right about 95% of the time -- at least for me.

As for the time flag, I got that too on my last phone shop. I made sure to comment that I had gone in, picked up my food and inspected the dining area AND restroom before leaving, so they would know I didn't skimp on the shop requirements.

When I first started doing Five Guys, it was order the sandwich only and wait for them to ask about fries and drink. Now the guidelines say order sandwich and one of the others, and wait for them to ask about the third. It's possible the guidelines are not uniform across the country. Maybe it's a test to see if we're reading them.

I am only finding the "Order sandwich only" on the phone shops. I just found it odd that 2 shops in a row the MSC has reminded me to do the "order two items".

I did the online shop and stayed and ate there. The "suggestion" of staying 15 minutes I took as when my dad "suggested" I clean my room before going out circa the early high school years. LOL.

These same shops I noticed the same error in the shop reports and I called before i did my shop to confirm that I did, or did not need to stay for the 15 minutes and I was told by the MSC that I HAD to stay in the restaurant for 15 minutes for the phone shop.

So I did.. and about 5 weeks later I haven't seen any shops on the board.. so I think they screwed up when they told me to stay in the store after picking up my order(which was extremely odd thing to do) and I pretty sure that may have revealed my shopper status.. which would not be cool

I got payed for my the 3 phone/internet shops I completed for them

I got a call from the MSC that has this client, asking me to go to New Jersey. The shop is probably only 5 actual miles from me, but would cost $10 for the public transportation and could take an hour each way because the trains to NJ don't run that often on weekends. If I were driving to NJ, the toll alone would be $16.50 to get back to NYC (but I don't own a car). I explained the situation, and the person said, "Name your price," so I said $40, thinking they probably wouldn't go for it, but figured why not ask? They said $18 was the most they could pay(!) so I declined. I nearly got excited about it, thinking I could name my price and get a decent bonus. I thought it was amusing they asked me to name my price but wouldn't come anywhere near a decent
fee.

I get calls from other MSCs asking me to go to the Bronx and NJ for pizza offering me $20 bonuses and I still won't go. These schedulers have no idea how the transportation works in the NYC area and no matter how many times you tell them, they never get it!

nycrocks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I explained the situation, and the person said,
> "Name your price," so I said $40, thinking they
> probably wouldn't go for it, but figured why not
> ask? They said $18 was the most they could pay(!)
> so I declined.

Same tactic used by pickers and car buyers. They always want you to name your price so they can then lowball you. Now I tell schedulers to tell me what they pay and I don't name any price up front. Tired of MSCs laying off transportation costs on the shopper. If the gas prices someday are stuck above $5/gallon then what will these MSCs do?

I would say the on-line shops I enjoy the least.

Second place is the call-in order and first place is go inside and order

I happen to be doing a phone shop tomorrow so here is the cut and paste of the real time guidelines.

Do you have to eat at the establishment?


Guidelines state:
4) You may eat your meal inside the restaurant but it is not required.

Ordering question?

Guidelines state:
• Then place your order, following these steps:
1. Order whatever size and type of burger, hot dog, or sandwich you want with whatever toppings you want.
2. WAIT. Even if you sit on the phone in silence, WAIT until the crew member either:
a. Asks if you would like fries, a drink, or fries and a drink.
b. Says something like, “anything else?” or, “is that it?”
c. Gives you your total and/or tells you when your order will be ready.
3. Order fries of any size and a fountain beverage, even if the phone crew member does not offer them.
a. You may order a milkshake if the location has them, but you still need to get a fountain beverage. If your location offers milkshakes, you will be asked a series of questions about why you did or did not order one, how you would rate it for taste, size, etc., at the end of your report.

Again, these are the guidelines for the PHONE shop for the a handful of dudes on Sunday 7/20/2014 @ 9:40 (Eastern Time Zone)

Hope this helps.

Kathee70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I happen to be doing a phone shop tomorrow so here
> is the cut and paste of the real time guidelines.
>
> Do you have to eat at the establishment?
>
>
> Guidelines state:
> 4) You may eat your meal inside the restaurant but
> it is not required.
>
> Ordering question?
>
> Guidelines state:
> • Then place your order, following these steps:
> 1. Order whatever size and type of burger, hot
> dog, or sandwich you want with whatever toppings
> you want.
> 2. WAIT. Even if you sit on the phone in silence,
> WAIT until the crew member either:
> a. Asks if you would like fries, a drink, or fries
> and a drink.
> b. Says something like, “anything else?” or,
> “is that it?”
> c. Gives you your total and/or tells you when your
> order will be ready.
> 3. Order fries of any size and a fountain
> beverage, even if the phone crew member does not
> offer them.
> a. You may order a milkshake if the location has
> them, but you still need to get a fountain
> beverage. If your location offers milkshakes, you
> will be asked a series of questions about why you
> did or did not order one, how you would rate it
> for taste, size, etc., at the end of your report.
>
>
> Again, these are the guidelines for the PHONE shop
> for the a handful of dudes on Sunday 7/20/2014 @
> 9:40 (Eastern Time Zone)
>
> Hope this helps.


You must check the restroom, no matter which shop you choose, of the three types of shops.

Yes, restrooms and dining room. Also, check for a manager and they still ask all the customer service and location cleanliness questions.

Along the lines of calls, this thread reminded me of a question about jobs for this msc (or at least the one that has these shops on the west coast).
Every time I do a shop for this msc (not necessarily the odd number of guys shop) they recommend calling the location first to make sure they are open and still in business. I live in a big city where generally these locations are open regular hours with several employees so I do not feel i need to call first usually. The first set of questions in the questionairre for each of the shops I do for this msc always asks...Did you call before you went on the shop? What did you find out?
I am wondering what would happen if I said no! Do people answer this question with a no? And does it seem okay to say no?
Thanks

I know where the shops are, and I know their schedules. I always answer no, and not once has anything ever been said about it.

I always say no.

You usually have the option of checking the website for hours too.

I got another call today from the same scheduler asking me to go farther into New Jersey where you absolutely have to have a car to get there. This time she said she could pay $25 but I still said no, and told her it's best not to ask me to go to New Jersey for any shops. Let's see how long that lasts!

I don't like 5 Dudes burgers, and their fries are super greasy. Other than the unlimited toppings, which are nice, I don't think the quality is any better than Wendy's.

The other funny thing is, AFTER I did one of these shops, I was asked to become a "certified" 5 Dudes shopper. Usually the quizzes and "certifications" happen before you do your first shop, not after. Very odd.

I've done several of the in-store 5 Dudes shops and never had issues. I have a phone-in shop coming up and just got an email reminder that was "clarifying" my upcoming shop, but it said nothing other than I had to phone-in.

I like that they are not making you order a burger with a bun anymore. I have ordered every type of sandwich they have now and even gotten my burger as a bowl a few times (joking that I told my daughter I would eat more salads). I also like that I can take a freind with me so I can look more natural when at the table.

I always say no and nothing has ever happened. I am assuming it would only be important if you did not call and as a result could not complete the shop for some odd reason. If they ever ask me I would tell them I checked the website instead of calling. I mean who actually calls anymore these days?