If this was asked before, please refer me to the correct posts. Thank you.

I have done some shops before but they were 3 years ago, namely, 1 fastfood, 1 cofee shop and 1 bank. Now, I restarted, hoping to make this an ongoing side job. For some reason, I'm nervous about doing these new shops.

My current job has been cutting hours and I really want to make this work.

I have a poultry (can I say the word?) restaurant shop. There's a lot of questions that I don't think I'll be able to remember from memory. Should I use a small notebook and list down the questions? Type the questions in Word and print a cheat sheet? I also want to do things inconspicuously, of course. How do you guys do it?

The shop description and questions show up on my cell phone but it's a small screen.

I hope doing more shops will make it easier for the next projects. Thanks for your tips.

I have a couple tips...I text myself Server's name and description, then after eating go to restroom and write info. in stall, sometimes I bring a book or magazine and keep notes inside, I eat alone for lunch so that works, after 11 years, no one ever said anything. People always take pictures of food, so using your phone is not a big deal., phones are great for shoppers. Don't over think it, just do it. Good luck.

Yes, and some people snap photos for certain timings, since you can always get the details off of the phone later that shows the time the photo was taken. Some people use the stopwatch feature on their smartphones (me), and like Irene posted, texting yourself works.

You are allowed to name clients or MSCs in the same thread, just not both. As long as you don't link the client and MSC together you can name the restaurant. And if it's a certain wing shop, it's a super easy shop.

Hello, welcome back to MSing. I just completed my first sit-down restaurant shop the other day as well. I find what really helps me is re-reading the guidelines and survey immediately before I walk in, so that everything will be fresh in my mind. I also text myself in advance to remember what specific timings I will need to track. Like Irene said, texting yourself names is helpful too. I find it pretty easy to take a picture with my phone and make it took like I am texting, so for all employees I will have to describe later, I snap a photo.

Hi folk,
Your tips are absolutely helpful. Some, I might not even think of. It didn't occur to me to text myself. The bathroom trick, book, stopwatch, etc. Thanks.

At this point even if I don't get a perfect score I will continue signing up for these types until I get really comfortable. I'm usually clumsy when I take on a new job.

Yes, it's a wings shop. I always see this as a re-occurring shop. I'm hoping to take his MSing for the long haul.

Thanks again.

Text yourself, this way you can take notes and see the time of the text/event (food served, waiter approached the table, etc.) and visit the bathroom if you need. I used to bring shop questionaire with me and refresh my memory in the bathroom. Good luck!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2017 12:23AM by MikiNV.

pnoy, how did it work out for you?

Hasn't happened yet. I'll update by next week. At least I am not as nervous. I'm using all your tips.

I'm bringing a book and a miniature cheat sheet. The shop doesn't pay much but to me it's free food and practice.

I'm also learning to coordinate scheduling between my current job and my days off.
Thanks.

That shop is nothing to be worried about. It's one of the easiest shops you will ever do. Keep in mind that you only need to print out the actual "submit" form from your shop log because the "print" form will have all kinds of questions that don't pertain to your shop. And one funny thing: you are only allowed a certain amount of characters in the narrative so they will actually tell you if you write too many sentences! You can't submit it if you give too much detail, LOL! You will find that to NOT be the norm with MS. Keep us posted and good luck!

With such a positive, realistic and open-minded attitude, you will do well.

I take a small note pad in my handbag. I time everything, the rest you will remember. Your receipt will have information you don't need to remember. Example: arrival time: seated time: server time: Order time: appetizer time; salad time; entrée time: departure time etc. Read all of your Guidelines to see what you need.

Someone once said on this forum they do crossword puzzles and write notes in the answer boxes. I thought this was super clever!

Something I did my first few gigs years ago was quizzed myself. Now that I have basic understanding of how these work, I go through a pretty set routine and look through guidelines for key differences. I only focus on the differences anymore.

I finished the shop but not without errors. I did expect to make mistakes. I pretty much got everything done. If I needed a picture of the food before touching it, then I screwed up, but it wasn't needed. Whew!

Before I started my dinner what I had in mind was my meal would be around $12. Haha. Big mistake. Being a rookie I miscalculated the prices. Total was 25.50 before tip. It will be break even for me even if I got paid.

My errors:
1. I asked for hot sauce, as in Tabasco, but instead the server said, "We do not have hot sauce but I'll bring you a side of our special hot sauce." It actually made me think that it could be an additional charge. I wanted to ask but have forgotten. The shop did not want a side order at all. So, if I screwed up, then I'm out $30 that I really do not have.

The receipt showed .60 cents side of hot.

Lol. What restaurant does not have Sriracha or Tabasco nowadays? I guess I don't eat out often enough to know.

2. I didn't have all the exact start and stop times. I figured them all out in the end but the crossword puzzle book is a good idea. Also for other notes.

3. I ordered a soda that I didn't know was 3.29. It's not needed with this assignment so I could have saved money.

That's all I can remember that went wrong. If I get it right then I'm happy. If not, then I learned my lesson. I'm ready for a non-restaurant for next time if you guys have suggestions for easy shops. I'm hoping to get $15 per assignment.

My email receives about 5 shops a day, but I don't qualify for all. Tomorrow, I'm off and I'm hoping to find another one. My company cut my hours to the tune of $100 per month so my goal is to schedule 2 shops a week for starters.

I'll update this when I get the approval. Or non-approval. I'm not bitter. I'm ready for the next one.
You folks are awesome for your support. If not for this forum I could have been disappointed.

Thanks all.

I would say if you do the fast food shops you get practice with timings and people's descriptions. I take a photo of every meal on a shop. I keep it for myself and I may make a collage someday, argh! I take a pic of anything wrong with the food also. I always have a pic in case I mix up Arby's wants pics 5 Guys do not.

I use my phone's video and record ALL restaurant assignments. Now, I can easily write down the number 4 for the minutes to sit down, 8 for the minutes to receive my drink/order appetizer, 26 for the minutes to receive meal, 72 for the minutes to receive check/card back, etc. Now, I don't need to listen to the entire 15 minutes to 90 minutes of a restaurant shop but I have all of the timings I need. I speak ques for myself like Oh, that is wonderful for the appetizer arrival, Wow for the entree arrival etc. I remember people's descriptions easily now, up to 8 people per assignment for 5 assignments per day if I've written their name down. However, sometimes I'm shocked when I remember a server's hair color as black and then review that part of my tape and realize I saw dark brown. I use my phone's video also when doing grocery shops. I turn it on when I have an associates description and interaction details and pretend like I'm talking to someone and then put it back in my pocket until the next interaction is done. I used to write everything down on paper but even with shorthand it's a novel I don't want to re-read and it's hard to write on a shopping cart in front of people.

If you are only getting five emails per day, it is time to register with more companies. Some food shops are not all that difficult, but if your goal is to make money you may want to focus on shops without purchases or just small purchases such as $1 to $3 for proof of visit for now. You then don't have to worry about losing anything other than your time.

It takes practice! The important thing is that you learned from the exprience and you seem to have a great attitude. For shorter shops, download a voice recorder app and use that to record conversations.

Found out when I signed up for Mys Shop magazine that their email went to Junk. There I found a lot of emails I haven't read from MS reps. Good thing I checked. I will keep adding each week.

I got my score from the sit-down rest shop. I got 10/10. I was surprised the extra sauce was forgiven. I already scheduled my next one for a different company tomorrow. I'm starting to get into the groove of scheduling, signing up and preparing. I will also try both audio recording on phone and crossword puzzle and see which one works best. I might come up with my own strategy later.

I'm using Jobslinger to find shops within my mileage range and signing up with those companies.

Thanks again for your support.

I'm new to this as well. I just did my first shop yesterday and I'm really hoping it will be accepted. I did my best but it was my first one so if my report isn't accepted I just hope the MSC doesn't drop me as a shopper. It's fine if they can't accept it and I don't get paid this one time, I just want another chance to do another shop and try again. I'm telling myself they must understand a first shop report won't meet their standards because people need experience. We'll see how it goes.

What makes you think the shop will be rejected or didn't meet their standards?

I don't know. I've just never done this before so I don't know if I did good or not. I don't have anything to compare it to yet.

If your order and timings are correct you are more than halfway there. If you are worried about narratives, we would have to know the MSC. Most would not reject a report outright because the narrative was not up to their standard. Some will return it to you while others will just score it lower.

@sensei wrote:

I'm new to this as well. I just did my first shop yesterday and I'm really hoping it will be accepted. I did my best but it was my first one so if my report isn't accepted I just hope the MSC doesn't drop me as a shopper. It's fine if they can't accept it and I don't get paid this one time, I just want another chance to do another shop and try again. I'm telling myself they must understand a first shop report won't meet their standards because people need experience. We'll see how it goes.

If you really think your shop will be rejected, IMHO it might be a good idea to e-mail the scheduler with your concerns, and let her/him know you are willing to reschedule and re-perform the shop if your report isn't acceptable. If nothing else, it would show the scheduler you're professional and dedicated to doing it right.

That makes sense. There was a section below the questionnaire to note anything I was uncertain about so they could try to work with me. I did that and we will see what happens. I had fun doing the shop and tried to be detailed in the report so we will see.

It was probably first time jitters. We all had them. I don't recall if you shared the name of the restaurant. If you did not, you can tell us the name of the MSC.

@sensei wrote:

There was a section below the questionnaire to note anything I was uncertain about

I would guess ACL. The good thing is they are very forgiving. The bad thing is no matter how forgiving they are they will still drop your rating.

Yes, it was ACL.

They will let you know if more information is needed and often provide some guidance regarding their narratives. Try to relax until you hear something.

I did what ceasesmith suggested and contacted my schedular. She seems to think it went fine. I may have been worrying over nothing.