Questions: Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Panda Express and Steak ’n Shake

We are getting our first Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Panda Express and Steak ’n Shake this year. I believe they are all shopped. True?

MSPA Gold Certified 2003

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Steak and Shake discontinued their MS program a few years ago in my area. Panda gets shopped, never heard of Freddy's.
Steak N Shake is shopped in my area. Just got requests for them this past week. My local one is SO BAD that I'm afraid to shop it...the report would probably take me forever.
Freddy's is shopped, I know. My area just got one this year, but I have not shopped it yet.
Last time I shopped Freddys I come down sicker than a dog because the entire staff was sick with something so I do not do them anymore.
We have a Steak N Shake here but I have not seen any shops for them. Not sure if I am signed up with the right company or my SNS is not shopped.
We have both Freddy's and Panda Express - 2 different MSCs. I love the Freddy's, not so fond of Panda but I think I just haven't figured out what's best to order from Panda.
@plmccut wrote:

I think I just haven't figured out what's best to order from Panda.
Please share your ordering secrets/hints.

MSPA Gold Certified 2003
There's Freddy's and Panda shopped here also. What's best to order from Panda is whatever you can get them to cook fresh. I really love their 'new' Honey Sesame chicken but only when it's fresh. I think the teriyaki chicken is the only real meat they serve though.
I will watch the next time I go in to see what's being cooked as ordered. I don't like doing the "before closing" shops because I don't think the food is fresh.
@eyespy wrote:

We are getting our first Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Panda Express and Steak ’n Shake this year. I believe they are all shopped. True?

Panda is shopped but the MSC is notoriously cheap.
Freddy's is with a Sassie company. You are required to order the double cheeseburger combo and a sundae. You must take a photo of the food. I've only done two of these shops. I thought the food was along the lines of Steak & Shake, but at almost double the price.
Freddy's is also with a Prophet company that requires no photos and has a reimbursement more than double the reimbursement of the Sassie company.
@roflwofl wrote:

Freddy's is also with a Prophet company that requires no photos and has a reimbursement more than double the reimbursement of the Sassie company.

Wow! I had no idea. I'll have to search. I like the idea of no photos. The first time I took a photo the manager scared the beejezus out of me. He popped up over my shoulder as I was taking the photo and asked how my meal was.
We don't have a Freedys. We have two SNS now. I have looked and can not find them. Guess my area is not shopped.
I have my first Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers shop with photo required in a few days. Any advice? Thank you.

MSPA Gold Certified 2003
@eyespy: No advice. Just one experience. At Freddy's, two people ate too much food and spent less than the Sassie company's reimbursement. We shared the fries from the combo meal. We shared the sundae. For us, this was too much food. We like the food, but we can eat only so much tasty stuff. YMMV.

About the picture: you can try to position yourself with your back to the counter or employees who might be working in the dining area so that you are not noticed for photographing your food. But this is not as important as the fact that you are to taste the burger and fries while they are hot, and you must photograph the burger before you taste it. So, take the burger image asap regardless of where you must sit. Then, taste the food. After that, you have time to evaluate other parts of the restaurant.

I would do this shop again. I would always bring a guest. That is just me.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu
PANDA: Read the instructions closely. It is a bit tricky regarding what exactly to order and what you can accept and not accept if the staff offers it or not. Otherwise it is fairly straightforward with a fee/reimbursement of $14.00. They have both lunch and dinner time shops. Chicken with mushrooms is very good, strangely, they do not sell chicken with broccoli, believe it or not and their puny egg rolls are as thin as cigars !!!
The requirements are pretty similar to the typical quick serve restaurant requirements. The things I've forgotten are how many people in line in front of me and how to be positive on a fairly negative report. Fortunately, each time I've thought back there has not been anyone in line in front of me, that's probably why I forget to remember that. Also, the employees are mostly teens and express more of their "smile" with their tone of voice. Remember what they are wearing, I just note their pants type and color and shirt and belt. Blue jeans, black Freddy's logo shirt and a black belt. I have put a cheat sheet in my pocket with the primary items to remember and speak the answers into my phone video recorder as though I'm talking to someone. I have not found the report is worth the food and $5 so I don't take them very often. The fries get cold within 2 minutes because they are shoe string fries so, since I have to fill my drink cup and steal a moment for the pic, I touch the fries as soon as they serve them so I know they are hot or not before getting a chance to taste them.
I used to do Freddy’s when the reimbursement was $25. I think it was an error that did not get corrected for awhile because the paperwork only reflected $15 but the shop log would list $25. $25 goes a long way there since their meals are large, as already stated. We had a local MSC doing them but that sadly stopped recently. I’ve seen a third but haven’t in years, so maybe it’s just my local stores that are sticking with the one MSC.
As for Panda, that one should be fairly easy to find. It’s probably the largest MSC out there. We don’t have a Steak N Shake too close to me but just got our first Shake Shack which I didn’t realize wasn’t the same thing at first! SS is certainly shopped smiling smiley

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do smiling smiley
Take a bite of the hamburger to make sure it's hot, take a bite of the fries to make sure they're hot, then eat the sundae. If I eat the hamburger and fries, I never enjoy the sundae because I'm too full so I just skip ahead to the sundae.

The editors want every detail documented including the drink and was it carbonated enough.
With the increase in social media prevalence, I don't have any problems with taking food photos.

I've never seen Panda shops in my area... maybe I'm not signed up with the company.

I sign up for every Freddy's shop I can. Far and away my favorite fast food burgers. NOTE: You must order the sundae ON HOLD, at least with the SASSIE shop.

Have synthesizers, will travel...
I haven't seen Panda shops in my area either but i LOVE Freddy's shops. Like others have said they give you lots of food. It is also my favorite quick serve burger place. There's never been a line when I approached the counter so it was easy to remember. The report asks for the name of the people you deal with, but I've never seen an employee with a name tag. So pay a lot of attention to what they look like and what they were wearing. I love their Turtle Sundae it is fantastic. Like someone else said though, you do have to put the sundae "on hold". The employee is supposed to offer you a sundae and when you accept they're supposed to offer to put it on hold. Once, the employee I was dealing with forgot to offer a sundae and I forgot to then request it before I paid for the rest of the meal. I had to think fast to order one and get a separate receipt. I was worried the MSC wouldn't accept it with 2 receipts, but they did. Another thing to make sure you check is how the burger looks. The report is very specific about how it should look. So read the question carefully so you know what to look for and then remember to check before you take that all important first bite.

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@tstewart3 wrote:

Take a bite of the hamburger to make sure it's hot, take a bite of the fries to make sure they're hot, then eat the sundae. If I eat the hamburger and fries, I never enjoy the sundae because I'm too full so I just skip ahead to the sundae.

The editors want every detail documented including the drink and was it carbonated enough.

If you are doing this for the MSC which requires the sundae to be “on hold” it’s hard to get your food, eat a bite or two, the. Go back up for your sundae without standing out. But as stated before, I know there have been/ are other MSCs doing Freddy’s with different requirements.

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do smiling smiley
I completed the video version of these shops. As long as someone sits at the table long enough it is easy enough to do. We had a required amount of time to spend in the dining room to capture certain activities. I didn't find it difficult only eating a bite or two of the food, it was disposing of the sundae that was always problematic for me.

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Sreak and shake has fabulous milk shakes for 1/2 price - M- F from 2 - 5 . Here they cost undee $2 ! yummy
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