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Chipotle Shops

October 01, 2017 05:56PM
RIP Chipotle shops. I will miss you. But at least in my area the restaurant seems to be busy every time I go there. And now that I know I can buy one taco and have a nice lunch for $2.40 maybe I will still eat there. Hopefully the msc will find more work. Their other restaurant I work for has 3 or 4 locations in my larger area vs Chipotle with 100's.
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October 01, 2017 05:56PM
Why do you say that? Don't they have other clients?

@SoCalMama wrote:

That MSC had all of their eggs in one basket.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
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October 01, 2017 06:00PM
I went today out of habit. I didn't order the chips and guac, and I took the survey when I got home! Luckily, and out of habit, I looked at my receipt. I was not charged correctly.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I have never once eaten Chipotle on my own dime. Guess it's back to making bowls at home again.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
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October 01, 2017 06:02PM
It would be cool if the other restaurant would expand across the US.

The Chipotle restaurants in my area are always busy, too, but maybe not like they once were and that's why they had to cut the expenses by getting rid of the shopping program. Jim Cramer of CNBC's Mad Money says it generally takes 18 months for a restaurant to regain business after a health scare. But that's with restaurants that only had one issue, not multiple ones. Let's see what happens. I will surely be craving some Chipotle whenever the shopping program starts back up. I think in time it will.
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October 01, 2017 06:35PM
@roflwofl wrote:

The MSC's other two clients are unaffected, and I just got my October assignment for one of them.

What kinds of places are the other two clients? Are you sure there are two other clients and not just one?
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October 01, 2017 06:44PM
"...launched two new Chipotle-style chains: ShopHouse, and Pizzeria Locale."

[www.bloomberg.com]
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October 01, 2017 07:05PM
@PuaM wrote:

This is hittiing me in the pocketbook big. I was doing up to 12 shops a month at about $14 a shop (and a free lunch,)
omg. i cant imagine eating at same place 12 times a month even w/ multiple food choices.
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October 01, 2017 07:11PM
Yeah, me neither, especially since my bowl always made 2 or 3 meals. I once completed 6 locations in a month, and my husband refused to go with me 4 of those times, LOL, so I scaled back on my numbers.
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October 01, 2017 07:12PM
@MSNinja wrote:

@PuaM wrote:

This is hittiing me in the pocketbook big. I was doing up to 12 shops a month at about $14 a shop (and a free lunch,)
omg. i cant imagine eating at same place 12 times a month even w/ multiple food choices.
I understand why folks would think that. I love Mexican-style food (all about the spice.) That's where the two-taco lunch came in handy. Chipotle also discontinued the chorizo. It was an inconsistent product but when it was done right, it was very good. I do wish Chipotle and the MSC well. I have been plowing through my list of MSCs to see where I could make up the lost income ... still looking. I don't want to do Cadillac/car dealerships ...

Shopping SoCal and Maui.
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October 01, 2017 07:17PM
Right, and it's not just about the income, because when I took my husband I didn't really make much profit there at the end, but it's money you aren't spending out of pocket eating somewhere else.
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October 01, 2017 08:23PM
@MSF wrote:

@roflwofl wrote:

The MSC's other two clients are unaffected, and I just got my October assignment for one of them.

What kinds of places are the other two clients? Are you sure there are two other clients and not just one?
One of them is a mostly NYC based burger chain that's been expanding into other cities and college towns, but most of the locations are still in the NY metro area.
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October 01, 2017 08:31PM
I thought the same thing until I started shopping them. I saw how I could spread each bowl over a few days and that put a serious dent in my grocery bill.

@MSNinja wrote:

@PuaM wrote:

This is hittiing me in the pocketbook big. I was doing up to 12 shops a month at about $14 a shop (and a free lunch,)
omg. i cant imagine eating at same place 12 times a month even w/ multiple food choices.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
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October 01, 2017 09:00PM
@JASFLALMT wrote:

I have never once eaten Chipotle on my own dime. Guess it's back to making bowls at home again.

I never have paid for their food and never would. There is just far too many better, even authentic, Mexican food to do so. In my mind, Chipotle existed for only two reasons - profit for me and profit for them; never for their menu.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2017 03:04AM by Rousseau.
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October 01, 2017 09:10PM
It existed for me in meals I didn't have to cook and no dishes, and food I didn't have to buy, which = profit I guess. When they lowered the fee to $21 and I took my husband I didn't make much of a profit otherwise.
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October 01, 2017 10:17PM
Post 1,000. WOW what a popular topic

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2017 10:18PM by Isaiah4031a.
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October 01, 2017 10:31PM
Looking around, found this post on Indeed.com:

Being your own boss!
CO-OWNER (Current Employee) – Denver, CO – August 15, 2017
I actually own xxx, along with other family members. This is a small business and we are currently looking at dissolving it. Again it is a small business in a very competitive sector that had many much larger players.

Taking it with a grain of salt, given that most of the comments seem to be about a different company. But the timing seems right.

Evaluating and mailing packages since 1994. I am an undercover connoisseur of customer service, a master of disguise in the aisles, and a sworn enemy of subpar experiences. I blend in, observe, and report—because excellence should never be a mystery.


Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2017 10:59PM by RobinMarie.
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October 01, 2017 10:42PM
Mod note: You quoted a post which was in violation of forum guidelines. Post removed as it breached the Forum guideline which states, "Do not reveal the clients of mystery shopping companies". Additionally, it is usually an ICA violation to name both the MSC and client.

Shopping SoCal and Maui.
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October 01, 2017 10:52PM
@PuaM wrote:

I guess there is no harm in stating the MSC name since it is no longer handling the account? In any case, the name on the scheduling site is as the one posted on this thread.
its ica violation & against forum rules to name msc & client in same thread & post. it doesnt matter that it was only 1 or 2 days ago.
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October 01, 2017 10:59PM
I edited, would appreciate it if you would too.

Evaluating and mailing packages since 1994. I am an undercover connoisseur of customer service, a master of disguise in the aisles, and a sworn enemy of subpar experiences. I blend in, observe, and report—because excellence should never be a mystery.
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October 01, 2017 11:12PM
Yeah, you can't do it, it's mostly about forum rules since the MSC probably doesn't care (they are pretty open about who they shop). The same thing happened when another company went out of business who had a major pizza client. Someone named the MSC name and the client, even though the MSC went under (the owner died) earlier this year, and the post got moderated.

Interesting that the MSC is selling the business. I guess with the big client gone it's understandable but will be hard to sell.
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October 01, 2017 11:15PM
I ate there because of free food but to be honest there are better places in Mexican Food than Chipotle..like California Tortilla, Moe's and Baja Fresh..

Shopping Eastern Pennsylvania since 2009
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October 02, 2017 12:06AM
@JASFLALMT wrote:

Interesting that the MSC is selling the business. I guess with the big client gone it's understandable but will be hard to sell.

In the Indeed.com post, the owner said she and the family are looking at dissolving the business. That means closing the business and ceasing operations, not selling it. They are doing October shops for the other client, so I hope they will also follow through on those and any subsequent payments due to shoppers.
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October 02, 2017 12:10AM
Yeah, somehow I missed that very important point. Thanks. I have no doubt they will pay.
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October 02, 2017 12:15AM
Chipotle has been in a steady decline for reasons having nothing to do with the MSC, or its shoppers. Chipotle hit speed bumps, and reacted poorly. Instead of rising above, they went low. Quality of product and service were sacrificed. No amount of mystery shopping could have helped, if ignored. MSing did not fail. Chipotle did that on their own. Will they rebound? We'll see.

I have eaten there twice in the last five months. Neither time was a shop, or my choice. Both times, I was disappointed.
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October 02, 2017 12:40AM
@Misanthrope wrote:

Ironically, it's not that big of a loss for me, ever since they cut their total pay to $21 I was practically doing them as a favor to my scheduler, anyway. A burrito and chips in NYC costs about $14 (I never figured out how to spend a half hour there on a single taco) and it costs $5.50 in round trip subway fare for me to do them, so I practically treated them as reimbursement-only shops. Sad too see them go, but they stopped being a moneymaker for me long ago.

Yeah, if they cost $14 here and transit fare was $5.50 round trip in Houston I would have had to pair them up with other shops just to justify continuing to do them at that price. Fortunately here I could in theory get through the line for just over $10 and transit fare is $2.50 round trip, and driving isn't much over that as long as it's not way out there.
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October 02, 2017 01:11AM
@RobinMarie wrote:

Looking around, found this post on Indeed.com:

Being your own boss!
CO-OWNER (Current Employee) – Denver, CO – August 15, 2017
I actually own xxx, along with other family members. This is a small business and we are currently looking at dissolving it. Again it is a small business in a very competitive sector that had many much larger players.

Taking it with a grain of salt, given that most of the comments seem to be about a different company. But the timing seems right.

It could be a different company. However, the post you quote is in the right area for the MSC.
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October 02, 2017 01:16AM
It's the right company. I saw the MSC name before they had to edit it out.
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October 02, 2017 01:35AM
May be they can be picked up buy another MSC.

My wife and I went a few months ago and it was good.

I guess it was the MSC idea to stop itb (if I read it right)
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October 02, 2017 01:52AM
I hope so. Hey honnybrown, maybe you were onto something after all. But, I won't do them for reimbursement only so if they go to ACl they better tack on some sort of fee.
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October 02, 2017 01:59AM
@JASFLALMT wrote:

It's the right company. I saw the MSC name before they had to edit it out.

What I meant was a different company with the same name. The name in question is more common than you might think and it isn't like Coca-Cola where they can trademark the name so it's legally protected nationwide.
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