Hello! I am somewhat of a newbie and have run into a situation that I'm not sure how I feel about. I'm looking for some opinions and advice. Here's the story. My husband and I were out on a casual dining shop last month at a bar/grill type place downtown. Everything was going fine and the server came to our table to deliver the bill (about $75.00), but instead told us that someone on the other side of the restaurant had seen us and paid for our tab. Long story short, we found out that one of my husband's out-of-town colleagues was in town, saw us and secretly picked up our tab. Nice, I know, but messes up a mystery shop....right? Well, I was able to quickly come up with a ridiculous reason why I needed the itemized receipt (which I got). I submitted the shop on time along with the receipt and explained in detail what had happened. I did everything I was supposed to do and was not asked any additional questions by the editor. I received an email today saying that the msc is not going to reimburse the amount of the meal as was stated in the shop because we did not pay for it ourselves. I'm not sure what to think of this. I held up my end of the bargain and they are basically getting a freebie. I guess I can see both sides of the argument though and I'm just wondering what others here think about it. Thanks!

I can understand the msc's reasoning. You did not pay the $75, so if they paid you, you would be profiting the $75. Does that make sense? I once did a fine dining shop and my entire meal was comped because the kitchen messed up my order. I didn't expect the msc to reimburse me, because I was technically not out any money.

You still got a free meal so it should be all good !

You didn't pay for the meal, why would you expect them to reimburse you?

The only thing i'd ask for is the shop fee if there is any.

I've had that happen once or twice... If the shop is a fee of $xxxx with no reimbursement, this makes it a great deal. At the same time, in this case, you might be able to negotiated with the MSC. As you stated, they would just be getting a freebie and, if they plan to give the report to the client, they are using your work. I would be tempted write back to them and say that they still need to find a way to compensate you for your work and offer to take 1/2 the cost of the reimbursement as a "fee" instead. After all, your friend was giving you a gift, not the MSC.

I know it is disappointing to not recieve "pay" for a job completed correctly and on time. However, it sounds like your "pay" on this shop was reimbursement for a meal. However, since you had no out of pocket expenses, there is nothing for the MSC to reimburse. Next time consider taking the free meal from the colleague, and reschedule the shop. That or just bite the bullet and realize that you are doing this one for free. You got the free meal!

This situation is not as unusual as you think, it has been discussed on here. There are many reasons meals get comped --- Not all good reasons. Be thankful you actually enjoyed a great meal. (I am assuming, but you did not complain that it was a bad meal on top of it being paid for by another person).

Live and Learn for next time.

I have a different opinion. To me it is one thing to be comped meaning the restaurant actually paid your charges. But your friend paid the bill. It was not comped in the strict sense of the word in my mind. You did not know in advance so you did not have time to wiggle out of the "free" meal. You did all the work for the job and now you also owe your friend something in return.....well you do not actually owe the friend something but in most cases you might take them out next time or invite them over to dinner etc. So you are out the bill for "next time" with your friend and did the work. You would not take the manager out to dinner in exchange for the nice gesture of the free meal had the manager comped the meal..
So I am scratching my head as to what I would do. If possible late at night after dinner I would probably try to get in touch with the msc to see if I could reschedule the shop and do it another night under the circumstances. Unfortunately you would not get back the annoyance factor of timing everything during the first meal again. I might be tempted not to tell them someone else paid the bill but I probably would not do that. I definitely would have thought it very possible they would not pay me as almost every dining shop I do asks if the meal was comped. I actually do not see this as a comped meal at all myself but would want to clarify with the msc. So I agree with MF Johnston that you should try to negotiate and explain the situation.

If the shop was reimbursement only there is nothing to be reimbursed. You did not pay for the meal. If there was also a shop fee the MSC should be paying you the fee.

@staceython wrote:

I received an email today saying that the msc is not going to reimburse the amount of the meal as was stated in the shop because we did not pay for it ourselves. I'm not sure what to think of this. I held up my end of the bargain and they are basically getting a freebie. I guess I can see both sides of the argument though and I'm just wondering what others here think about it. Thanks!

Actually, you did not hold up your "end of the bargain." You did eat and you did do all operations required for the shop, but you did not pay for it. I am not saying this is your fault or that you should be "punished" in any way for it, but you agreed to a bargain that included *reimbursement for the money you spent on your meal.* You didn't spend any. The bargain did not include paying you the reimbursement amount if you managed to spend less than the reimbursement amount or be comped the full amount. The bargain was only to reimburse you for what you spent on your meal. Through no fault of your own, you did not fulfill the bargain. Now you want to change the bargain.

This has happened to me before and it is not uncommon for diners to be comped in some way, so I have not yet run across a MSC that has a problem with rescheduling under these circumstances. As soon as I found out someone else had paid for my meal, I would have aborted the shop and not told some hokey story to get a receipt for something I didn't pay for. I would have called the scheduler and explained the situation so I could have been rescheduled. Rather than completing the report, I would have redone it. No problem. You got the first meal as a gift from a friend. The second meal would be according to the bargain you made with the MSC. I would have offered to complete the report for the first visit *IF* the MSC was willing to negotiate some payment that would make it worth it to me to complete the report. Otherwise, I would not have completed the report and I would not have expected to receive reimbursement for something I didn't purchase. I would have redone the shop according to the bargain.

I agree with Sandy. I would be returning the favour to my friend at some time so that is a separate issue. The mystery shopping company still owes me for what I did for them! I doubt if I would fight it, but that is how I feel.

I believe the $75 should have been reimbursed and the MSC is clearly in the wrong. The fact you did not have any out-of-pocket expenses is irrelevant. The meal was not comped, so those comparisons also are irrelevant. Your friend is out $75, and they clearly intended to give you a gift worth $75, which you did not receive. Unless they reverse the charges to your friend's credit card, they should uphold their end of the contract. (Unless the guidelines address this situation.)

Having said that, I wouldn't raise too much of a fuss if I wanted to work with the MSC again. Some battles you can't win. But if it happened again, I wouldn't mention it unless it was relevant to the shop.

I also have to agree with Sandy. it wasn't the restaurant that comped the meal. If a MSC does not pay because "because someone else paid the bill" then how does this situation from this weekend differ from the OP's story? My girlfriend had a shop at the Texas Roadhouse this weekend, and the fee was $35 reimbursement. It was her shop, but I had a $25 gift card. The total bill was $38 with the tip, and I paid $25 of it. Should my girlfriend only get $13 from the MSC because she did not pay the whole bill?

Since you did the assignment, I think you should be paid. Is anything in the "rules"? Did you lose "points". I am like some others, I would go on. Nice friend.

Every restaurant shop I have visited wants to know how the check was handled, how quickly was the credit card /cash picked and processed, etc. Since you didn't have to pay you could not have completed that portion of the report to the satisfaction of the client. As others have said, you need to move on. You are not out any money and you hopefully enjoyed the meal. The only lose is the time you spent completing the report which you would have done in any case.

Provided the shop didn't require timings for payment, then I think the client is wrong not to reimburse you. If your spouse or guest used their credit card to pay, would the client withhold payment in that case, too? Why do they care whose credit card was charged? If you want to provide the name of the client, as neither the MSC nor the client has been mentioned, I will boycott the restaurant in your (user)name.

Personally I would be beyond livid. If the restaurant did not comp the meal then it is neither the MSC's or the client's business who paid for it. I personally would feel strongly enough about the situation that I would push the issue to the point of being removed from their system. By their choice or mine.

You got a free meal because someone else paid for it. However, you did a report which you should get paid for. I would fight for that.

Since I have been burnt by unethical MSCs and clients before, I would probably have checked with the MSC before I spent time on the report.

I think the client is wrong here, and the MSC is not showing any good faith toward the shopper.

Using the same rationale as the client, why should the client get the report if it is not going to pay anything?

Now, if the client is actually still going to pay the MSC but just not going to reimburse the shopper, then the MSC should pay the shopper something.

Thanks for the feedback. Here is a little more background on the shop. There actually is a $12 fee (along with the reimbursement) which was supposed to have been paid on 5/20 and I have not yet received. The service itself was fine, but the food quality was horrendous. I included this information in my report and was given a 9/10 by the editor because I used the phrases: "I found the____ to be..." and "I believe..." a couple of times. I am still learning the MS lingo as I just started in February. I was happy to see that some of you have the same opinion that I initially did. Yes, I do understand that I enjoyed a free meal and yes, it was very kind of my husband's friend to foot the bill. I find it completely unethical of the MSC (and/or restaurant) to use this generosity as an excuse to not honor their part in the agreement. It is, of course, our intention to return the gesture to him next time he is in town, so basically our "free meal" is now a $75.00 expense that we never intended to have. Sure I will hopefully get the $12 fee for the shop, but frankly that is not enough. I began mystery shopping as a way for my husband and I to enjoy dinners out together and not break the bank. I am perfectly happy spending 2+ hours reporting on a meal where I receive $30+/hour in food and/or fees, but $6.00/hour is unacceptable and insulting. Like I said before, I am new to this whole thing and didn't even think to email the msc about the situation before completing the report. I was just focused on getting it in by the deadline. It did cross my mind to not even mention what happened in the report, but I wanted to be truthful and do the right thing. I imagine it would have been revealed in the end anyway. Once the report was submitted and I saw the rating, comments and payments to be received (which included the fee but not the reimbursement) I emailed the msc about it. I received no reply. I emailed again about a week later and still no reply. Finally I called them and was told that she had talked to her supervisor and they didn't think they would be reimbursing. I very politely told her that I didn't think that was right. She told me she would ask again and get back to me. I received the email saying it was a no go on the day I was to have been paid. I am still waiting for the fee. I am assuming that the report will be sent to the restaurant, so they will benefit. I don't really know how it all works, but I am assuming that the msc will pocket the $75 reimbursement (which would be a pretty sweet deal for them) or the restaurant gets to have a free report (which makes the msc look fabulous). In any case, this msc is not advocating for me as a shopper and has basically "stolen" the generosity of a stranger at what will eventually be my expense.

My first impression: you are financially exactly where you expected to be. Did you leave a tip, which you could have claimed?

The example mentioning a gift card does not apply, gift cards are like cash and qualify for a reimbursement. A coupon would reduce your out of pocket expenses, we are only reimbursed out of pocket expenses.

My later impression: If the client did not pay for the meal, then why is the MSC not applying for the expected reimbursement??!!?? The client expected to reimburse the expenses, they received the money and owe it back. It is none of their business who paid, the shopper was able to make all of the necessary observations.

Sounds like Customer Impact

You should definitely get the $12 fee

@jgoodwin wrote:

You should definitely get the $12 fee

Yes, I agree that you should receive the $12 fee. I don't think you should be given the $75 because you did not pay for the meal. Your profit is the $12 fee, not the cost of the meal.

If you had actually paid $75 for the meal, you should get reimbursed the $75...which meals you "broke even." Why should you earn $75 on top of a free meal? Whether or not a colleague paid for the meal, you still got a free meal.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2017 01:14PM by DareWright.

It should not matter where the $75 came from, it was paid and they owe the money as promised on the shop.

@DareWright wrote:

I can understand the msc's reasoning. You did not pay the $75, so if they paid you, you would be profiting the $75. Does that make sense? I once did a fine dining shop and my entire meal was comped because the kitchen messed up my order. I didn't expect the msc to reimburse me, because I was technically not out any money.

They were given a $75 gift from a friend so why should the MSC profit from the report? It does not matter who paid the bill, it got paid and should be reimbursed. I would fight this one to the end. Who let's $75 go? This is a business to make money so yes I would be profiting and then next time I saw my friend I would be paying for their meal and be back at even.

Why should they profit? because that is the whole point of doing mystery shopping... to make money!

@LeslieKay111 wrote:

It should not matter where the $75 came from, it was paid and they owe the money as promised on the shop.

The thing that would matter is that if the OP spent $75 for dinner and was then reimbursed. that $75 would not be taxable income. Only the $12 fee would be taxable income. If, on the other hand, the MSC paid the OP the $75 meal cost that the OP did not spend on a meal, that $75 would no longer be a reimbursement. It would be taxable income and would need to be reported as such.

I think you really should be paid the $75 but it comes down to how much do you want to risk being alienated by the MSC ? Principle says you should be paid, especially if the MSC got paid fully and the client got a full report. If you push too hard, they could take you out as a shopper. It's good you got a free meal either way. It's a tough choice.

You should be paid in full for the shop, including the reimbursement. The restaurant did not comp the meal, someone PAID for it. You are supposed to be reimbursed as part of the shop. I consider this unethical behavior on the part of the MSC and/or restaurant. I would take this to the highest level possible.

Sorry, but I do not agree. I have done many of these shops and it states in the Guidelines you can not use a gift card or coupons. Your friend wasn't doing the shop, you were. Texas Road House

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2017 06:41PM by shopper8.

Interesting thread. We've seen plenty of posts where people were "sure" that the client got sent their invalid shop, but this may be the rare exception where that actually seems to have happened. I'd be interested in hearing from the OP if there was a payment timing or evaluation in the questionaire. While common it is certainly not in every dining shop. Last night I did a fairly high-end joint with a lengthy report and there weren't any questions about the payment process or anything else that could have been impacted by this situation.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2017 01:54AM by NinS.