What if a shop does not have the item you're told to purchase?

I had a fast food shop today. The guidelines say you must order a certain burrito. I went to the restaurant and asked for that burrito. They never heard of it, it's not on their menu. What would you do next? Would you just leave or order another kind of burrito? I was hungry anyway do I did order a burrito. Don't know if I'll get paid for this one. I did take the required pictures, checked the restroom and have a receipt.

The guidelines are clear, you don't get paid if you don't order this one type of burrito.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2018 09:22PM by johnb974.

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I would have contacted the scheduler for guidance on that one.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

I would have gone into the shop already knowing the “Plan B” in case they didn’t have the required item. If the guidelines did not address that, I would have asked the scheduler ahead of time what to do should they not have the required item.

Obviously too late here, but that’s what I would do in the future for a shop like this.

I contacted the scheduler and they said to just file the report with the food item I purchased. They apologized for any mistakes on the guidelines. The next time any shop requires you to purchase a certain items I will contact the scheduler to ask what if the shop does not have that item.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2018 11:02PM by johnb974.

I just did a shop where they had neither the sandwich required nor the shake required. on the menu. Fortunately it was for a very forgiving msc. I ended up asking for the two items missing from their menu board and they were able to make them for me anyway so all is good and now the client knows their featured items for the month of May were not featured any more on the 21st of the month. I doubt I could have gotten in touch with the scheduler at 7 PM while I was there to do the shop. '=
There are so many msc that require a specific item to be ordered that they should put info in the instructions about what to do if it is not available.

I've only done a couple of shops where I must ask for a very specific product, but in both situations they explained that if the product wasn't available I should buy another (one that they always have) specific product; but it was in the guidelines.

@aldoman wrote:

I've only done a couple of shops where I must ask for a very specific product, but in both situations they explained that if the product wasn't available I should buy another (one that they always have) specific product; but it was in the guidelines.

On this shop the guidelines said you would order anything you wanted after you order this burrito. I'm doing the shop over again. I was suppose to eat in, but I took it as a take out. They give you up to two weeks to complete the shop.

I had a similar issue with a "monthly special item" on a shop for ACL. The order taker said they had no such irem and he had never heard of it. I was hungry, so I ordered a similar item with vastly different main ingrdients. While I was eating, the manager brought a huge poster into the dining area, touting the new monthly special. I managed to get a picture of him hanging that on the wall, as well as a picture of the poster for the obsolete (prior month's) special item. I git full pay with no questions asked. btw, the new month was already 1/3 over, lol.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Marketforce has always been very clear on their instructions on what to do if the required item isn't available. Other companies, not so much!

@johnb974 wrote:

I contacted the scheduler and they said to just file the report with the food item I purchased. They apologized for any mistakes on the guidelines. The next time any shop requires you to purchase a certain items I will contact the scheduler to ask what if the shop does not have that item.

While what you're learning is good due diligence on your end, my advice would be to get a feel for when this question is absolutely required to ask before you proceed with a shop. The reason why I state this is the last thing you want is waiting for a response when the chances of this situation may be slim to happen in other shops. Imagine waiting for a response from MarketForce helpdesk asking what to do if the fast food location does not have the required menu items available, but you have a good chance that the item's immediately available but you just haven't received a response yet from helpdesk. Would you wait for the response first or proceed with the chance knowing a situation like what you experienced can potentially happen?

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

Got an e-mail from the MSC this morning. All the shops for this place have been cancelled until June. They said there was a scheduling issue. I think a change in ordering.

I don't know this shop but I can't really imagine contacting the scheduler as a solution to the posters conundrum. Would the shopper tell the order taker, "hold on while I make a phone call before I correct my already odd order"? There are very few schedulers I contact that respond within the same hour so everyone could be waiting for quite a while. I know I'm jaded and when in doubt contacting the scheduler is what we are supposed to do. Often there is no time and you need to have a just in case plan ready (I have no idea what my backup plan would have been for this job. I would have bought a different burrito and talked to the scheduler afterwords knowing I might not get paid). My experience is that the schedulers rarely respond in time to help, their responses have only a 50% chance of actually covering the question asked and 75% chance of being correct. - like I said, I'm jaded.

When I do a shop for a specific item, I visit the company's website to see if they have anything posted. Typically, when it's a seasonal, promotional or specialty item, it will be front and center including the date when it's available. When it say something like "not available in all locations," I'll call the store/restaurant and ask if they have it. If, for whatever reason, they don't have what I need to purchase, I would buy the cheapest item just to get a receipt, and report my experience. The MSC is going to be able to check with the client and find out that the item wasn't available at that location, and it's on them for listing the shop in the first place. No point waiting hours or days for the scheduler to get back to you.

I would think that if the requirement is for a special or "limited-time only" promotion, it would be logical for the MSC to have a back-up menu item listed in the guidelines.... But, as we know, logic sometimes does not rule in this business. LOL.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

I think you are 100% right...the chance of reaching the scheduler at the exact moment are slim and none. I would not be checking on what to do if I get there and they don't have the burrito...it's not your fault if there is a breakdown, totally out of your control. I would have ordered another one and perhaps tried to snap a photo of the menu board, etc. And of course, I would have notified the scheduler after the fact. And yes, I would expect to be paid.

Before I could do the shop over again, they cancelled all of those shops. They said they would post them again in June. I guess they're fixing the problem.

And they are paying you, right? If the item had been discontinued or was a limited time special, it is not on you because the guidelines had not been updated.

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.

When I was told they did not have that item and they never heard of it, I decided to stop the shop. I did order a burrito to go. I remembered later I was suppose to dine in for this shop. No problem, I was hungry anyway.

@johnb974 wrote:

I was hungry anyway.

At least it wasn't a total wash-out!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

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What if a shop does not have the item you're told to purchase?

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