Some shops are just not worth doing
Warning: For Full Access Please Log In or Create an Account (Free)
Taking a look at the shop from the point of view of the company paying for it, as opposed to the viewpoint of the shopper, can help bring the bigger picture into focus.
In the fast food/fast casual food business, it's a game of inches......profit increases with increased efficiency - it's a pretty basic concept. If they can get a shopper to take a shop for peanuts and get an employee to pump out 5 pizzas/minute versus 4, well there you go.
I'm starting to notice shops that require work that used to be done by employees - pretty clever way to cut costs.
One of the biggest benefits of being a shopper vs. an employee is lots more freedom - but there's a price for that - usually much lower pay and no benefits...Take your pick. Nobody's a slave here LOL
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 04:41PM by BarefootBliss.
In the fast food/fast casual food business, it's a game of inches......profit increases with increased efficiency - it's a pretty basic concept. If they can get a shopper to take a shop for peanuts and get an employee to pump out 5 pizzas/minute versus 4, well there you go.
I'm starting to notice shops that require work that used to be done by employees - pretty clever way to cut costs.
One of the biggest benefits of being a shopper vs. an employee is lots more freedom - but there's a price for that - usually much lower pay and no benefits...Take your pick. Nobody's a slave here LOL
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 04:41PM by BarefootBliss.
@AnneAshley wrote:
I have done this shop at Disney Springs where they are terribly busy. If they can’t make those pizzas fast enough and the line isn’t moving forward quickly enough, they are going to lose a lot of customers who have plenty of other food options available.
Other pizza shops who are just as busy, don't require this kind of timing. I'm sure the workers on the line are not concerned about every second.
Barefoot ......"it's a pretty basic concept. If they can get a shopper to take a shop for peanuts and get an employee to pump out 5 pizzas/minute versus 4, well there you go. ".....that is so true.
Megs, its a pizza, not surgery. There really is no need to count seconds (twice) on making a pizza.
Another thing this company has to look at. Their shops are staying posted much longer than other pizza shops. It appears many shoppers are not taking them. I know some people, because the reports are so long, will just will just look at the minutes and make up the seconds. I've done that before, even had the editor tell me to just put in the minutes and they would fill in the seconds.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 04:50PM by johnb974.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 04:50PM by johnb974.
Aw, the dirty undercarriage of the MS business is revealed far too often. I have not, myself, experienced any cheating by mystery shopping companies themselves, nor schedulers or editors. For example, the above, an editor saying they will fill in the seconds. I have experienced mystery shoppers trying to find ways to cheat the system and some claiming success; albeit for a very limited time as that will absolutely be discovered.
Ya know that annoying Disney song keeps popping into my head when I read this thread.."Let it Go, let it go..."
*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..
Mark Twain
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..
Mark Twain
Spicy, that can happen. Especially when reports are asking for information that can be done much simpler. I've seen this happen in business and manufacturing. A manager gets it in their head to do things one way and ignores any suggestion to make things faster or simpler. Doing these cuts down on any desire to cut corners. As a Dilbert cartoon I read once.....Dilbert was handing in his reports and said...."I use to be an honest person until I started working here" LOL
That makes me very sad and pissed off
If I didn't follow the guidelines or otherwise goofed I take the bullet and go into self-deprecating talk.
But if I did and it's their mistake, I'll be paid one way or another.
In this case, you goofed. You can't get your timings straight and you're questioning the requirements. It's not your business to decide whether or not those timings are good for the project or not. It's like me saying I don't want cheese of my McMuffin but the shop calls for asking for cheese and I say the shop is flawed. Nonsense.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 06:36PM by spicy1.
If I didn't follow the guidelines or otherwise goofed I take the bullet and go into self-deprecating talk.
But if I did and it's their mistake, I'll be paid one way or another.
In this case, you goofed. You can't get your timings straight and you're questioning the requirements. It's not your business to decide whether or not those timings are good for the project or not. It's like me saying I don't want cheese of my McMuffin but the shop calls for asking for cheese and I say the shop is flawed. Nonsense.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 06:36PM by spicy1.
Last I checked which was earlier this month it said minimum was $3 gas purchase since gas is running $2.78 to $3.50 a gal.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 07:21PM by 2stepps.
@johnb974 wrote:
@jlovesnyc wrote:
Knowing which shops are not worth the time takes a little time to figure out at first. Market force is currently peddling a 39 question, 20+ photo audit shop for $10. I accepted them at first in handfuls, once I printed out the 25 page guidelines I cancelled every single one. Even if these shops were across the street from me they are a no go.
I agree. They have mystery shops for the same stations. You get 2 gallons of gas, make a $5 purchase, look at the inside, take 4 pictures and your done. For the same pay as a full audit. I'll do the mystery shop, but not the audits.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 07:21PM by 2stepps.
Spicy I was told I made a mistake in the timing, was not told where in the timing, so I corrected the mistake I thought I made. I made an effort to make things right. They then rejected any attempt to make it right. AFTER they rejected my correction I told them, they never told me where the mistake was. That was up to them. I than attempted to show them a better way of doing these pizza shops, as other companies have done. I told them their reports were far longer and had the lowest pay of any pizza shop.
I know that when I first did the variable QSR assignments for one MSC, all the previous timings I had reported for all the companies I'd worked for had been in cumulative form. For these QSR reports, they wanted elapsed time between stages. I had read the guidelines AND watched the video. Yet, I'd reported cumulative times on all the reports I did that first day. They only asked me to correct my timings and did not say what was wrong. It was like a major brain fart for me when I discovered what I had done. I apologized like a mofo and offered to do the same for free and then double the initial assignments for free. As these were reimbursement only and I wrote off those assignments on my taxes as expenses, it didn't really cost me anything except for some self-humiliation. Maybe that's what happened?
I cancelled a scheduled IKEA shop because of this forum. Thanks guys!
@johnb974 wrote:
Spicy I was told I made a mistake in the timing, was not told where in the timing, so I corrected the mistake I thought I made. I made an effort to make things right. They then rejected any attempt to make it right. AFTER they rejected my correction I told them, they never told me where the mistake was. That was up to them. I than attempted to show them a better way of doing these pizza shops, as other companies have done. I told them their reports were far longer and had the lowest pay of any pizza shop.
Shouldn't you have known where the error was?
Let me make sure I understand - you went on to "show" them a better way to do their shops? Seriously? I'm sure that was very well received lol.
Just out shopping around...
When then tell you there's an error in the report and don't tell you where, it's kinda of hard to know what they're talking about. As a mystery shopper you have first hand experience that the editor might not.
@fluteplaya wrote:
I cancelled a scheduled IKEA shop because of this forum. Thanks guys!
I've never done one of their shops. Why did you cancel it?
@spicy1 wrote:
I know that when I first did the variable QSR assignments for one MSC, all the previous timings I had reported for all the companies I'd worked for had been in cumulative form. For these QSR reports, they wanted elapsed time between stages. I had read the guidelines AND watched the video. Yet, I'd reported cumulative times on all the reports I did that first day. They only asked me to correct my timings and did not say what was wrong. It was like a major brain fart for me when I discovered what I had done. I apologized like a mofo and offered to do the same for free and then double the initial assignments for free. As these were reimbursement only and I wrote off those assignments on my taxes as expenses, it didn't really cost me anything except for some self-humiliation. Maybe that's what happened?
I was more then willing to go over the shop again, for any mistakes. It's funny because they rejected the shop after I made corrections and had the timings right, the second time. They rejected it because I didn't get it right the first time. This was after I made any corrections. LOL
I wish I had saved the messages that were sent back and forth. It was interesting. 
@johnb974 wrote:
I was more then willing to go over the shop again, for any mistakes. It's funny because they rejected the shop after I made corrections and had the timings right, the second time. They rejected it because I didn't get it right the first time. This was after I made any corrections. LOL
If you submitted the report without realizing you had the timing wrong, and they didn't tell you what the mistake was, how do you know you corrected the timings appropriately? How do you know you still didn't have it wrong? If I was editing a shop and the timings were wrong, I might give a shopper one chance to review his timings and resubmit. If he still submitted wrong, I would reject the shop. If I had to come back and tell you exactly what was wrong, how could I believe that you would not just change your timings to what I said was right? Could I believe the timings you were reporting? Either you timed the shop correctly or not. Making a data entry error when entering a timing is one thing, but adjusting the timing after the fact is fraudulent. It sounds like you messed up the timing and no amount of correction would have saved this shop. It would have either been wrong or been fraudulent. It's probably good that you are not going to take any more of these shops.
There are so many ways you can be screwed on a report. I had a hotel bar report. rejected because the clock was wrong on the cash regester and printed the wrong time on the recepit. Since place gave me recepit with times not matching my reported time this was thier excuses not to pay for the shop.
If I were an editor and I knew where the timings were off, I would tell the shopper. It's only common sense, not to have the person GUESS where a mistake was.
@Hydra777 wrote:
There are so many ways you can be screwed on a report. I had a hotel bar report. rejected because the clock was wrong on the cash regester and printed the wrong time on the recepit. Since place gave me recepit with times not matching my reported time this was thier excuses not to pay for the shop.
I have noticed that about some of my shops. The receipt times don't match the clock times. That may be what happened here.
The MSC used this an ecuse not to pay me. This was my last shop for them. They are now out of business and have many lawsuits filed agaist them.
Did you mention the register time was incorrect in your report or an email to the scheduler? It is actually not uncommon for register times to be off. I have had reports questioned when forgetting to include it in the report, but never rejected.
Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
Yes I did mention it in my report they still rejected my report
I wonder if you used geo verify to prove the correct time, how they would respond to that.
They were a MSC turned bad many here on this board may still be owed money by them.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 10:59PM by Hydra777.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2018 10:59PM by Hydra777.
Heads up if they say there is an error there actually might not be. They want to see if you submit the same times if the times are way off from the norm. download the report before you submit it. You have the proof of your timing. Send it right back and see if it is accepted. bet you a nickel it is. They want to MAKE you think you made an error. Not playing that game.
Why would they do that, play the error game, when that makes it so that they need to reassign and probably bonus? I need a drink.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.