Just got in from a FF shop. Anything that could go wrong....well....here we go.

It is a beautiful day here in my neck of the woods. Cruising to 70's on the radio, cows grazing in the fields....sunshining.....I arrive at my shop location, order my meal and the meal is served. I immediately notice there is lots of mustard, smashed on the top of the inside package. I proceed with caution as I remove the cardboard boat from the sleeve. Whallah....mustard and onions fall out on to the plastic in car. I continue to proceed with caution and wipe down the sides and bottom of boat to remove the overflow of mustard. Then, I carefully place on the seat next to me and bam! The entire boat is top heavy and goes to the side. Splash! Onions, mustard and kraut are now on my seat, oh my! Trying to remain calm, while cleaning up the overflow, the boat will not stay flat. It rocks over and bam! Mustard on the other side of the seat! I hurry to secure this titanic of a boat, and secure my pictures. I proceed to taste before the sandwich sinks again! At last a couple bites, and I am done, back in the sleeve this sinking ship goes!

I look into my brown bag and what does appear, 6 cheese sticks exploded and stuck everywhere. I tasted one, and that was enough, I can not find the trash can soon enough!

Waited my time and headed back home, at least there was sunshine and music on the radio!

Always carry paper towels and shout wipes with ya!

I agree. Put something on your car's, dash, console, glove box, or seat, before snapping the picture. Take the pic before clean up!

Sometimes it is indeed a sea of pickle relish and mustard!

And THAT is why I do not accept most reimbursement only jobs.

It sounds like indigestion to me. No wonder the container puked it up.

I had a similar situation with Diary Queen when they used to be shopped. I had hot fudge all over my passenger seat and then onto the floor too. And then....on the steering wheel from my hands...And then on the camera from my hands that were also on the steering wheel. It was a mess.

For a long time I had a route of video FF shops requiring temps and photos. I made the mistake of using my front seat one time. Instead I kept a drop cloth spread out in the trunk. It was a good workstation since it was flat. It was also easy to put the packaging back together and leave it all in the trunk if there wasn't a convenient trash can. The interior of my car remained pristine and there were no lingering FF odors.

@RobinMarie wrote:

And THAT is why I do not accept most reimbursement only jobs.

It's not reimbursement only. Even if it was, that has nothing to do with the theme of the post and positive responses.

Reminds me of the first time me wife to be dropped by my job to surprise me with a Starbucks treat. I spent 10 minutes cleaning up the mess all over the passenger front carpet. I'm sure it would have tasted great. It was truly the thought that counts, both ways.

I'm well aware of what shop this is, but because the food portion is not edible, it's the reason why I do not accept reimbursement only shops. Sorry you don't understand the correlation.

My once-pristine vehicle is now permanently decorated with residue from mystery shops and other jobs. This is okay. The spots are disinfected a few times a month and there are no science projects growing there.

I use a bucket style cooler in the car. When I do the drive thru ff shops, I put said food into the bucket on the front passenger seat. I used to get spilled liquids and stuff on the car seat. If stuff spilled over, no problem. It only spilled inside the bucket. I used to use a regular boxed sized plastic cooler with the flip lid but it became difficult to hold when using two hands without spilling stuff. The bucket style cooler worked for me since it has no cover and can be carried with one hand. I also use it for my lunch bag for my regular gig. I get teased by my co-workers about bringing some coronas for some celebrations. A regular lunch bag would always get ruined with spilled liquids so the bucket cooler worked great since the liquids can be easily wiped up.