Five Guys phone orders - does anyone actually do this in "real life"

Is it just me or are the phone order scenarios kind of suspicious? I've never seen them advertised (maybe that's just my area) so I don't know how anyone would know or think to call ahead. I've also never seen another customer picking up a call-ahead order.
I've done a couple of them for shops and always seems like it would be a red flag. Hasn't stopped me from doing them though...that's the MS company's problem not mine but just wondering if anyone else thought the same.

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I don't think it's suspicious at all.

I call ahead, on none Shops all the time; saves me the 8 minute wait for the burger(s) to be cooked. Of course in my area they are actually advertised. The take out menu I grab from the location(s) say right on it, Call ahead to save some time.

Lady Marius
Canadian Mystery Shopper

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2017 05:02AM by Lady Marius.

I no longer eat there unless I'm being paid to. The burger fries and drink are $15 by me.

I probably would call ahead if was going there, but more likely I would use the app

Now that I think about it, I have seen people come pick up phone orders while I'm waiting. A lot of times they look like mall employees (no jacket in winter, etc)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2017 12:58AM by quiettime.

Must be a regional thing. I havent seen the call ahead advertised here and online ordering isn't available.

There's a sign in the locations out here that says something about "call ahead orders, pick up here," so it can't just be for the mystery shoppers! I would call ahead if I were on a time crunch. When I was in hs we got 40 minutes for lunch and were allowed to go off campus. As freshmen, we didn't have cars, so we'd call in our orders so we could eat on our walk back from wherever we picked up food from. While teaching I got a whopping 30 minutes bell to bell for lunch, so the call ahead orders became my best friend!

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

I did a 5 Guys last week. While I was waiting, an employee from the bank next door "ran" in and grabbed his lunch that was waiting on him. Evidently he called ahead; makes perfect sense to me to do it.

We do it in real life, quite a bit; for work lunches, for Friday night take-out. It's a great time saving tip. Call it in & by the time you get there, it is ready to go.

After a quick stop to the restroom

Yes. It's common for people to be somewhere, like at work, so any minute worth saving is helpful.

Though I don't pay out of pocket for Five Guys, for other fast foods like Chipotle, Chick-Fil-A, etc. I use their app or call in to get an order prepped up so I can skip the lines and head back to the office after I pick it up.

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.

@jgoodwin wrote:

Must be a regional thing. I havent seen the call ahead advertised here and online ordering isn't available.

Maybe for your curiosity, you can just call your local Five Guys and ask if they're able to prep up an order over the phone for pickup.

Very infrequently shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado these days.

I think it depends on the location. Im in an urban area and the location is in walking distance to many business, but only street parking. I would call ahead because the line is out the door a lot of days and I wouldn't want to park at a meter for a long time. This is also the case with Smashburger phone shops.

Why would it seem strange? Restaurants have call ahead orders all the time.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I have been in 5G when a customer comes in and advises they have called in or ordered online. I'm the shopper, so they're real, non-ms'ing customers. Nothing suspicious.

I have done phone in and online orders. I still have to join the line at the register and wait my turn. The entree may be ready, or in the process, but if I've had to wait in line several minutes, it isn't always up to par. And, the fries aren't dropped until my name is announced to the kitchen. So, it's not a big time saver, especially if the location is a busy one.

I guess it's just me but I'd never think to call ahead to McDonald's for example. It's not advertised here, so I'm not sure how popular call-ahead at Five Guys is here.
But like I said it doesn't stop me from doing the shop - I've done a few of this scenario.

I witness phone in orders often at Five Guys.

As far as ordering online, since you pay in advance you just walk up to the pickup counter (as the guidelines suggest). I forget if you have the option to pay in advance over the phone or what the guidelines require or recommend.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

I did a 5 Guys phone shop yesterday and it felt a little strange placing my order but only because I rarely call anywhere ahead of time to place a order... I usually just stop in and order and wait... but it went smoothly and wasn't strange at all once I got to the location. I enjoyed not having to sit there for 15 minutes because I always go by myself doing these shops because my husband doesn't like the food and I do!

I'm guessing I eat out more than 99.999% of the people on this forum and I absolutely positively always order online or phone if it's available. I detest wasting time.

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

I called ahead, but it looked like someone dropped the ball. The girl had no idea when I got to the counter and no one in the store seemed to know either so I ordered at the counter what I had already called ahead and ordered. Food was ready in about 3 minutes, regardless because it was lunch time and they had patties and fries going. I don't usually call ahead for anything unless it's a large order.

MegglesKat

@bgriffin wrote:

I'm guessing I eat out more than 99.999% of the people on this forum and I absolutely positively always order online or phone if it's available. I detest wasting time.

I agree with you and must be in the 1%. I'm surprised at how novel of an idea this is to some, when we did it growing up all the time! (My mom never cooked, I grew up eating out at least every night for dinner... MS helps me to continue that habit but make money while doing it!). I wish more shops allowed call aheads!!!

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

I have done a number of 'order by phone' but only one location seems to have outed me because of a staff error in the order. A manager
took the trouble of checking who the mshopper was.

@ShopSouthTexas wrote:

@bgriffin wrote:

I'm guessing I eat out more than 99.999% of the people on this forum and I absolutely positively always order online or phone if it's available. I detest wasting time.

I agree with you and must be in the 1%. I'm surprised at how novel of an idea this is to some, when we did it growing up all the time! (My mom never cooked, I grew up eating out at least every night for dinner... MS helps me to continue that habit but make money while doing it!). I wish more shops allowed call aheads!!!

More and more casual restaurants are adding the ability to order online and via apps. Most already had online forms you could print out then FAX in, Chipotle still does this. Makes taking office orders a lot less complicated.

The reason many people prefer to call orders in is the peace of mind knowing who took your order and that any special requests were recognized. As someone noted above, even phoned on orders can get lost. Since Five Guys generates a order slip, and the register retains the confirmed order so it can be quickly paid for, I can't imagine them losing an order (someone would have to have not totaled it out).

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

@isaiah58 wrote:

@ShopSouthTexas wrote:

@bgriffin wrote:

I'm guessing I eat out more than 99.999% of the people on this forum and I absolutely positively always order online or phone if it's available. I detest wasting time.

I agree with you and must be in the 1%. I'm surprised at how novel of an idea this is to some, when we did it growing up all the time! (My mom never cooked, I grew up eating out at least every night for dinner... MS helps me to continue that habit but make money while doing it!). I wish more shops allowed call aheads!!!

More and more casual restaurants are adding the ability to order online and via apps. Most already had online forms you could print out then FAX in, Chipotle still does this. Makes taking office orders a lot less complicated.
.

I meant for mystery shops to allow me to call ahead. I think the curbside situation needs to be evaluated as I have pulled in to many locations and not been served without having to give them a heads up by phone. Some places say to do that, others claim they will look for your car and ask the make/ model/ color over the phone or on the form when you order. Usually they still ignore me. I only see a few shops with recorded calls and sometimes without that allow for call ahead. These are my favorites!

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

I've had to go inside twice this week when I was supposed to have curbside service. Definitely needs work.

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

My last 5G shop was a call in order,. When I walked in and said I had a call in order, the girl need me to clarify because there were actually three call in orders and the other one the person had a name very similar to mine.

I do call in every time I get a go order, why wait if you don't have to!

We have ordered Chinese and pizza's for years by calling ahead, what is the big deal.

I was just thinking this today after I had placed an online order as a regular customer. I had 3 starving children with me and wanted the food to be ready when I arrived. Had I been driving I would have definitely made a phone call.

Shopping since 2009
MSPA Gold

Our Local Five Guys just started the call and on-line options. Just did my first on-line order and it was perfectly natural, they did not seem surprised at all. My shop required that I do it either on-line or using the phone app.
All you have to do is wait for them to get your fries as they are make to order. I had a 2.5 min wait. Gave me time to get my drink. Also with the call in you are not required to eat in if you do not want to.

Shopping Southern Georgia, Valdosta, Waycross, Quitman, Thomasville and North Central Florida I-10 & I-75.

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Five Guys phone orders - does anyone actually do this in "real life"

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