Pret a Manger new company

This excellent sandwish/salad/coffeeshop chain is shopped frequently. I noticed a new MSC posted some shops this week with a smaller payout and the same reimbursement. All the shops near me were snapped up immediately. If anyone does one I'd be eager to here how it compares to the old MSC (which is still listing them through late June).

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Oh no, I dont know the new company and its one of three shops I do for the old company

Is it OK to say that the new company is on SASSIE? The food is certainly a few notches above what you can get on most "fast casual" shops.

I am very disappointed to see it switch companies. There are a few locations near me that seemed hard to fill and would sit on the old company's site for a while so I would get calls to do them for 4 times the fee. With the new company, the same locations got snapped up right away for the new lower fee. And on top of that the new company has a much later payment date. Waiting longer to get less money is never good.

@NinS wrote:

Is it OK to say that the new company is on SASSIE? The food is certainly a few notches above what you can get on most "fast casual" shops.

Yes, I believe it's OK to say that it is a company using the Sassie platform, since no actual MSC name was given. If I am wrong, someone please correct me.

Sarahshopper I think we're in the same city (Boston). I go to NY a lot where there are scores of Prets and these are great shops to get a nice meal when you get off the bus/train. I wonder whether we'll see these totally disappear from the old MSC after June.

Let me go snatch up a few that are sitting on the boards. I was waiting for a phone call

If anyone does do the shop for the new MSC I would love to hear if the reporting has changed a lot. I would be so happy if they got rid of having to ask for an ingredients card in the Boston locations. It always screams shopper to me and in one case the barista spent so long looking for it, that it messed up how long it took my drink to be made and the MSC questioned me on it.

Maybe they'll stop asking about how their passion for coffee is displayed.

I wish we had this restaurant here in Atlanta ;( Until then, I will live vicariously through you all.

BTW, Sarahshopper, in case you're doing any for the old MSC this month, what I do is approach the cashier with the item I want to purchase and ask if they can tell me what ingredients are in it. This gets them to fish out the card (which can take a while as they dig through the huge binder) *before* they ring me up and start preparing the beverage. I don't specifically ask for a "card." Once they present it I give the card a look as if I was someone with an allergy then say "oh great I can get this."

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2017 04:31PM by NinS.

Thanks NisS, that's a good way to ask for the ingredients card. I actually picked up a couple for early this week. I got the feeling that the scheduler was very eager to get them done by month-end. I didn't remember to ask if they were losing the client since I was busy negotiating a higher bonus if I took both shops.

Lucky you, I've yet to get offered a bonus for one -- I actually just do it for the food. Granted I've only been with this MSC for about 2-3 months and 15 shops -- but of course I do get calls giving me bonuses for one of their other, less healthy clients.

I noticed that the email from the new MSC links to a page with only Boston shops, for whatever that's worth. I guess we'll know later this month what is happening. Also doesn't seem like the new MSC is listing any rotation or limit. Hmm...

Another batch showed up and I grabbed one for Boston. The form is exactly the same plus you need to tale a selfie to prove you aren't an employee (!!). Still gotta get the ingredient card and address their "passion for coffee." The guidelines even mention the old MSC!

The email blast had all the East Coast Pret locations including dozens of NYC spots. 30 day rotation per location but no apparent limit on how many stores you can self-assign at a time.

Thanks for the info. I was hoping for a lower fee that the report would be a little shorter. Besides the "passion for coffee" question, do they still have the "welcoming impression" question where you can't mention any of the things that might make an impression?
I will probably grab one sooner or later with the new MSC.

I found the new MSC, half the shops are already gone and they are only listed for Thurs/Friday. I was able to get three shops from the old company for this month.

We don't have that question in my area that the boston location does. I may try the new company if that hot beverage requirement is gone. I hate ordering a hot beverage with a salad. I usually just give it away to a homeless person.

Yup, same requirement of hot beverage and at least one food item. But with a tea in the $2.00 range you can still have a lot of fun mixing and matching the food selections. Today I got a savory crossiant, pineapple and lime pot and some chocolate-covered almonds and went all of 15 cents over reimbursement.

What city are you in, EyeLove?

I was able to grab a few shop at the new MSC. One big change, they expect you to submit the for by 6 pm on the day you complete it! I thought the old MSC 8-hour range was too short, but this one is under 5 hour, depending on when you do the shop. UGH!

Mystery shopping program is mentioned here: See [en.wikipedia.org]

"Controversies
Affective labour issues

Pret A Manger has been cited as being particularly vigorous in extracting affective labour from its employees.[28] Affective labour (or emotional labour)[29] is work which involves manipulating a person's emotional state.

Pret A Manger demands go beyond traditional requirements for fast-food workers (such as courtesy, efficiency, and reliability) to such tasks as having "presence", demonstrating a quirky sense of fun, and exhibiting behaviour consistent with being inwardly happy with oneself.[30] Pret A Manger uses mystery shoppers to ensure that employees deploy markers of a positive emotional state.[28][31] This has led to some criticism of the company for over-reaching[28][29][32] while drawing some praise for the business model.[31][33]"

Jamie
Editor and shopper

One downside to the new MSC is that because it is on Sassie you don't know if your word count is too short until you've saved the report. One upside: I was happily surprised to get paid just a few days after doing the shop.

I've haven't see any Pret A Manger shops since June for the new company. So glad the old company still has them since the shop fee is higher and the shop times are longer.

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