@HonnyBrown wrote:

Why was the KQ problematic?

@PuaM wrote:

The net pay is still higher than other FF shops. The point of any business is to make a profit, Chipotle and us included. Let's see what the February kq is. January's was problematic for me from a timing standpoint.

It shouldn't have been, as there were clear "Do NOT's" on what to do for the scenario.

@Tarantado wrote:

It shouldn't have been, as there were clear "Do NOT's" on what to do for the scenario.

I did six of them. I know what the do-nots were. Seriously, I am glad it was easy for you to meet the timing requirements. Since we cannot get into specifics, I will give you the last word.

I agree, Pua, I found the KQ timing limitations inconvenient. It had nothing to do with the do's or do not's of the shop requrements. And I also agree that discussing the specific requirements of the KQs on an open forum would not be wise.

I guess we will just leave it at that, unless you're talking about time frames, which have been common from month to month, with some exceptions...

My how the mighty have fallen.

I can't say I'm happy about this and I will probably stop accepting most if not all of my chipotle assignments.

In New York City, food prices are somewhat inflated; a burrito and chips costs about $11, with a soda, $13. I don't drive, and so I take public transportation to every Chipotle, which costs $5.50 round trip (going up to $6 in March). That means, counting the half hour I must stay in the store and the half hour I spend doing the report, for an hour's work, right now, I make $6.50-8.50, around minimum wage. But most Chipotles aren't close to my house and I spend hours traveling to them, making my profit for hour very small already. I do them because I like the food and it's usually two meals' worth.

I'm surprised I didn't see more grousing about this, but I was VERY displeased when Chipotle shrank down the hours I was allowed to eat there; it used to be 11 AM-3 PM and 5:30 PM-9:00 PM, except special months when the KQ wanted us there during the busiest times, but since they reduced the reimburement last year we have had to go between 11:00 and 1:30 or 5:30 to 7. I kept doing it because I liked the food, but it was increasingly inconvenient for me. That's not to mention that the KQs have also become more anal, weird or uncomfortable in recent months.

I understand WHY they have to reduce their payment and I'm glad they have come clean to the shoppers, but it no longer makes economic sense for me to do it. The $21 pay would necessitate me ordering a tiny meal... but I still need to show up according to their narrowly defined hours and spend a half hour eating one measly taco? No thanks.

I may continue to work for you on your other client, but I don't think I'll be taking any more chipotles.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2017 02:12AM by Misanthrope.

I thought they lost their other client? The burger chain. I saw a shop for them on another job board recently. Since the beginning of the year.

I made brown rice with black beans, grilled chicken with roasted garlic and herb weber seasoning, and half of an avocado. It's so delicious and thought to myself, "It's basically like a burrito bowl at chipotle"

@bgriffin wrote:

I thought they lost their other client? The burger chain. I saw a shop for them on another job board recently. Since the beginning of the year.

I did two of their burger joints earlier this month and I've seen no indication that they've stopped working with them. They may be working with multiple MSCs, or it could've been a competitor shop.

As an aside, "competitor shops" are really the shittiest form of corporate espionage aren't they?

Misanthrope - you need to edit your post as you have mentioned the MSC and the client (the client is also in the thread title). One of the things I like about this shop is that I have practically all month to do it. I am therefore always able to finish it while I am out doing other shops in the same area. So your calculations of what makes economic sense does not apply for me. Many shops do not make sense to do alone but if you can make it part of a route that's another story.

@kenasch wrote:

Misanthrope - you need to edit your post as you have mentioned the MSC and the client (the client is also in the thread title). One of the things I like about this shop is that I have practically all month to do it. I am therefore always able to finish it while I am out doing other shops in the same area. So your calculations of what makes economic sense does not apply for me. Many shops do not make sense to do alone but if you can make it part of a route that's another story.

Didn't catch that, thanks.

I do have all months to do the shop, and I appreciated that about the MSC, but with travel times, the shrunken visiting hours and the time I'm forced to spend doing the shop it's almost impossible to do more than one per night (and I'd still have to pay for a subway ride from location to location). I acknowledge I'm in a unique position when it comes to these shops (no car, but live in a dense city that's densely peppered with Chipotles)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2017 02:20AM by Misanthrope.

@Misanthrope wrote:

I do have all months to do the shop, and I appreciated that about the MSC, but with travel times, the shrunken visiting hours and the time I'm forced to spend doing the shop it's almost impossible to do more than one per night (and I'd still have to pay for a subway ride from location to location). I acknowledge I'm in a unique position when it comes to these shops (no car, but live in a dense city that's densely peppered with Chipotles)

I didn't mean doing more than one Chipotle per night (or per day). I am always able to schedule at least one other mystery shop (retail, wireless store, another fast food, etc) to make the visit economically worthwhile. Having the whole month gives me the flexibility to do this. Also some other MSC's have a date range and the ability to change my scheduled date so I can set up the route. I understand that it is different in a dense city but I am just pointing this out to other shoppers who tend to look at each shop individually when they consider whether it is worthwhile to accept it.

@kenasch wrote:

Many shops do not make sense to do alone but if you can make it part of a route that's another story.

i agree. I try to get one meal during the day while I am out "shopping." Then the low pay is OK 'cause you have to get lunch anyway. I just figured out my net if I order my usual sofritas salad and chips under the new plan. I will earn about $12 for the shop. That's better than the "crazy chicken" shop or the FF Chinese shop that I can get from one of the big MSCs. It was nice when it was $16 paycheck, though. It still takes me more than a half-hour to write up my report.

The thing with Crazy chicken or FF Chinese is that the reports are SIMPLE and FAST and can be completed in the restaurant on a Smart Phone so it is all done when you leave - therefore the lower pay more palatable (although I sometimes get them bonused). Not so with the Chipotle shop - not smart phone friendly (not even sure one can access the report on a smart phone), not short and not fast.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

If they can keep flying around the country for training with hotel and car rental expenses they could afford to at least give us $23.

DING! DING! DING! Also know as "why they keep canning folks who have been with them a long time". Gotta justify that sweet travel money.

weatherman, let it go.

I notified my scheduler that I'm giving up these shops. She said it was disappointing, but that she would delete my shopper account.

Originally, I started doing these for a few reasons: 1) a guaranteed $27 shop (or more) every month, with two meals from each visit; 2) the portions were huge and the food was very fresh, and I was excited about "free" meals (yes, I know about gross v. net); 3) I saw an opportunity to improve my reporting skills, and my patience, with the old reports. Sadly, the shops became increasingly difficult to "fit in," as I'm not a voluminous Chipotle consumer. The portions shrank, and some of the food is no longer as fresh as it used to be; the $9 for two lunches became $9 for one. And, while I really did improve my reporting skills (imho), the report forms themselves seem to change frequently now. I don't mind the changing key question, but the changing report, and report "help" documents, wore me out. Pretty much, they became less worth it to me, and I've found other more lucrative shops.

The announcement via Facebook shocked me, as well -- I would expect an email, especially this close to the end of the month. Points for getting it out there, though.

You never know if the rate next month will go up. Or if they will get another client. Asking to be deleted is ending all future possibilities.

@LGRM wrote:

I notified my scheduler that I'm giving up these shops. She said it was disappointing, but that she would delete my shopper account.

Originally, I started doing these for a few reasons: 1) a guaranteed $27 shop (or more) every month, with two meals from each visit; 2) the portions were huge and the food was very fresh, and I was excited about "free" meals (yes, I know about gross v. net); 3) I saw an opportunity to improve my reporting skills, and my patience, with the old reports. Sadly, the shops became increasingly difficult to "fit in," as I'm not a voluminous Chipotle consumer. The portions shrank, and some of the food is no longer as fresh as it used to be; the $9 for two lunches became $9 for one. And, while I really did improve my reporting skills (imho), the report forms themselves seem to change frequently now. I don't mind the changing key question, but the changing report, and report "help" documents, wore me out. Pretty much, they became less worth it to me, and I've found other more lucrative shops.

The announcement via Facebook shocked me, as well -- I would expect an email, especially this close to the end of the month. Points for getting it out there, though.

I agree. You should never become inactive with an MSC. They may get more clients, or your situation may change.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2017 12:07AM by HonnyBrown.

It appears to me that when LGRM notified them he/she no longer wanted to do Chipotle shops that THEY deleted the account.

It's amazing to me. When I first started this 3 years ago the company was one of the most well respected. Most of the people who had the slightest thing bad to say about them were the "I didn't do their shop right and they still didn't pay me" type. Now there are many well respected shoppers who don't seem to care for them much anymore.

@DareWright wrote:

It's funny, on the msc Facebook page no one's really complaining. They're all rainbows & butterfies & "Great! Now I can practice portion control by eating only one taco! Thanks!"

@bgriffin wrote:

It appears to me that when LGRM notified them he/she no longer wanted to do Chipotle shops that THEY deleted the account.

It's amazing to me. When I first started this 3 years ago the company was one of the most well respected. Most of the people who had the slightest thing bad to say about them were the "I didn't do their shop right and they still didn't pay me" type. Now there are many well respected shoppers who don't seem to care for them much anymore.

I've noticed that they've become much more inflexible in recent years. Considering they only have two clients, and Chipotle is significantly larger than the other,, I'm guessing Chipotle has them by the balls and they can't be lenient anymore.

@Misanthrope wrote:

@kenasch wrote:

Misanthrope - you need to edit your post as you have mentioned the MSC and the client (the client is also in the thread title). One of the things I like about this shop is that I have practically all month to do it. I am therefore always able to finish it while I am out doing other shops in the same area. So your calculations of what makes economic sense does not apply for me. Many shops do not make sense to do alone but if you can make it part of a route that's another story.

Didn't catch that, thanks.

I do have all months to do the shop, and I appreciated that about the MSC, but with travel times, the shrunken visiting hours and the time I'm forced to spend doing the shop it's almost impossible to do more than one per night (and I'd still have to pay for a subway ride from location to location). I acknowledge I'm in a unique position when it comes to these shops (no car, but live in a dense city that's densely peppered with Chipotles)

Your editors haven't caught on that you were doing more than one location per meal shift? That one's against the rules. When I was editing for them I had this one shopper who was warned repeatedly not to do that and my editing supervisor deactivated her the third time she ignored the warnings.

@bgriffin wrote:

It appears to me that when LGRM notified them he/she no longer wanted to do Chipotle shops that THEY deleted the account.

It's amazing to me. When I first started this 3 years ago the company was one of the most well respected. Most of the people who had the slightest thing bad to say about them were the "I didn't do their shop right and they still didn't pay me" type. Now there are many well respected shoppers who don't seem to care for them much anymore.

I started with them at the same time. Straight down the drain the last 6 months since they took on the burger client.

I was a little surprised at the lack of criticism on the FB page. I've expressed dismay there before, never thought twice about it if it was warranted.

I will not drive out of my way to do any of these shops now. I have no interest in a taco. I will likely be more picky about the scenarios as well. The narrow paramters will likely get a pass from me from now on. Between the phone call and prep work/narrow times, the amount of time spent on a visit was pretty high, especially this month. Couple that with a few cold meals and I find myself questioning the worth. I cut the soda purchase out a long time ago to boost the profit and health.

I've shopped for them since 2011 and have seen a lot of changes. I've learned to roll with the newbie editors, they make mistakes too. The schedulers are fantatic and all communication with the company are pretty cordial. I appreciate their attempts at properly training shoppers but I think it's time to take things to the next level. We know this company has a pretty good shoppers and schedulers from a longevity perspective, so why not create a mentor/training process to boost the amount of shoppers in needed areas? This could save travel costs. I mention this because I noticed half of my state has declined shops and it feels like I've accepted the other half.

This is a company that will deactivate you if you do not do any shops for a few months. I'd imagine good communication with your scheduler could prevent that.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2017 11:12AM by RobinMarie.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Your editors haven't caught on that you were doing more than one location per meal shift? That one's against the rules. When I was editing for them I had this one shopper who was warned repeatedly not to do that and my editing supervisor deactivated her the third time she ignored the warnings.

Are you sure that's against the rules? I know I have done more than one location per meal shift and I never got a warning. I also know other shoppers who have been doing more than one location per shift for years.

There was also a discussion about this recently in the MSC's Facebook group and no one from the MSC claimed multiple shops per shift was a violation.

@weatherman2111 wrote:

@bgriffin wrote:

It appears to me that when LGRM notified them he/she no longer wanted to do Chipotle shops that THEY deleted the account.

It's amazing to me. When I first started this 3 years ago the company was one of the most well respected. Most of the people who had the slightest thing bad to say about them were the "I didn't do their shop right and they still didn't pay me" type. Now there are many well respected shoppers who don't seem to care for them much anymore.

I started with them at the same time. Straight down the drain the last 6 months since they took on the burger client.

The way this MSC operates changed (for the worse) a long time ago. I would say it started about the same time the owners (first generation) stepped back quite a bit and let the second generation run things.

gotshops, I too, have done the two meal visits/different locations but I'd checked with the MSC first. They had no problem with it unless I began to mix up my reports which I have not done so. We don't know the whole story why that other shopper was warned not to do same shift/meal visits.

I've read on their FB page of shoppers doing 2 lunches, same day, different locations, and from what I recall it was allowed. I could never do that, I'm full enough after just one lunch.

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

You never know if the rate next month will go up.

[/quote]

Well, in the past year and a half, the rates have decreased twice. I don't foresee them increasing anytime soon, especially since they're made the report easier than it originally was.