Papa Johns

Aside from the idiot founder, I have no idea why Papa John's even has a mystery shop program. The company doesn't seem to be making any improvements to its brand. The pizza HAS to be one of the lowest quality in the industry. They've been the most under-cooked & consistently soggy pizza that I've ever tasted. I stopped eating it altogether due to constantly tasting uncooked dough with toppings.

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The reason they did that is because they wanted to see what the texture of the crust inside looks like...and finally they just couldn't get anyone to do them and changed the requirements.

@Stephanieteaches wrote:

I don’t live near enough a Papa John’s to consider a shop, but from the discription I’d hate the pizza. The pizza origami teepee photos are such an outlandish idea they sound made up, but I’m pretty sure I’ve read about them before here!
Jas..you really tried so hard to get me to do them....even when I told you they don't give bonus here.....LOL

Live consciously....
@iblori wrote:

I sent numerous photos and they said they had shadows on them. Where does the guidelines even mention shadows? I blew $25 on something I would have never eaten otherwise, and they refuse to reimburse me. They say "The client won't accept the photos with the shadows" but on the other hand, the scheduler said my photos were great. They also said, "When we crop your photos, they get blurry." How is that my fault? First and last pizza shop with this company.

Well, all you need to do to remove shadows is go to a room with flooding light from above, normally a kitchen works great. Turn on the lights even in the daytime, and center the pizza under one. Then, hold your cell over it and take a few pics. As for the cropping, I never ever mess with the photos. If they get my foot in the shot, so be it. That way they can't say I messed with them. I also allow all my photos to get backed up to google photos and take extras, so I have many for them to choose from.

Orlando - lightly shopping NC
No, I'm not cropping the photos. The company is. They said the photos get blurry when they crop them. It's too late to fix the photos. I'm just out $25.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2018 08:48PM by iblori.
I don't remember doing that. What I remember is justifying why I did them when you posted in the forum they weren't worth anyone's time, so I let you know that I found them worth my time (by telling you how much they bonused here). I remember you saying that they didn't pay great bonuses in your area, and I never said you should do one.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Jas..you really tried so hard to get me to do them....even when I told you they don't give bonus here.....LOL
At any rate, they haven't done pizza dissection in a long, long time, and I don't think the current MSCs have ever had that requirement. The current photo requirements are pretty simple, really, being just the overhead shot.

I have read of some shoppers who said that they took great pictures, shop was accepted by the MSC and graded, then contested by the client (which sounds like the client didn't like something else about the report and booted it but who knows).
@Eric in Tampa wrote:

Aside from the idiot founder, I have no idea why Papa John's even has a mystery shop program. The company doesn't seem to be making any improvements to its brand. The pizza HAS to be one of the lowest quality in the industry. They've been the most under-cooked & consistently soggy pizza that I've ever tasted. I stopped eating it altogether due to constantly tasting uncooked dough with toppings.

My pizzas from them have never been close to undercook or sogggy and ive done about 7 locations. I guess thats EXACTLY why they do mystery shopping. To find shops not making food to standard.

I am a fan of their pizza but im not saying every orser has been perfect. I like their sauce and as noted in the thread sometimes they put too little. My worst order would have been last weekend. I received the delivery an hour later than estimated, it was cold, and tasted like peppers (ingredients must be stored to close together) Lucky for them I messed up the shop and ordered onlineinsteadof calling.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2018 10:01PM by Want985.
@JASFLALMT wrote:

I don't remember doing that. What I remember is justifying why I did them when you posted in the forum they weren't worth anyone's time, so I let you know that I found them worth my time (by telling you how much they bonused here). I remember you saying that they didn't pay great bonuses in your area, and I never said you should do one.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Jas..you really tried so hard to get me to do them....even when I told you they don't give bonus here.....LOL
Funny, I remember being told to hand them out to the homeless...LOL

Live consciously....
You remember wrong, LOL. It's not my style to tell people what shops they should do. I told you (and everyone else since I was posting in an open forum) that I didn't eat the pizza and either gave them to homeless or the college kids next door. What could I possibly gain from pressuring you or anyone else to do any shop whatsoever, much less one you don't want to do?
EXACTLY! Way undercooked!! They would improve the flavor 100% if they would cook it TWICE as long!! I dont like floppy, pale, doughy crust...............
@Want985 I'm sorry Want, but Papa John's pizza has tasted undercooked for sometime now. I'm not alone in experiencing this. It just tastes doughy.

Does anyone remember the free pizza that Papa John's gave at the IMSC conference in Atlanta of 2013 (or 2014)? 50 free pizzas, and a lot of complaints about undercooked food. The bathrooms were certainly busy that day at the Melia Hotel!
I did a Papa John's shop this past weekend and was shocked to see that the pizza was actually fully cooked with some sizable *flavor bubbles*--an actual rarity for PJ's pizza since, like, 2000 or so. An editor emailed me to get all of my photos. I guess they wanted to make sure that the pizza was fully baked for once.
@Eric in Tampa wrote:

@Want985 I'm sorry Want, but Papa John's pizza has tasted undercooked for sometime now. I'm not alone in experiencing this. It just tastes doughy.

Does anyone remember the free pizza that Papa John's gave at the IMSC conference in Atlanta of 2013 (or 2014)? 50 free pizzas, and a lot of complaints about undercooked food. The bathrooms were certainly busy that day at the Melia Hotel!

Are they franchises? Maybe I live near a good owner, mine are cooked perfect and taste amazing. There is more than one company who shop these, maybe one msc and not the other has been successful in showing the company the improvements needed.
Most of the chain pizza places (Domino's, Papa John's, etc) have a considerable amount of franchises. You may be one of the fortunate ones that actually has an owner that produces better quality pizza & service.
@catlassy wrote:

The pizza taste and texture is GREATLY enhanced if you take your shop pizza and slam it in a pipeing hot oven to finish cooking. you get a crispy yummy flaky crust and NOT that MS shop pale, floppy, limp, (wait a minute- that's my ex.) pizza and turn it into tasty just by cooking it more.
There is a "reason" why he's your ex...and that sounds like a good one. tongue sticking out smiley
@Want985 wrote:

Are they franchises? Maybe I live near a good owner, mine are cooked perfect and taste amazing. There is more than one company who shop these, maybe one msc and not the other has been successful in showing the company the improvements needed.

Out of the 15 locations within 20 miles of me, there are 3 that consistently put out a decent pie (I wouldn't call it amazing by any means). There are currently 2 MSCs shopping them, but in the past there were several other MSCs who did these shops. One in particular that shopped most of the locations has gone out of business (due to the owner's death). But I don't think anyone has been successful in showing the company the improvements needed since the pizza at the majority of the locations is just plain awful.
Whatever you shop, franchise's all differ, as in different cooks, similiar, but some a bit better than others. We have a .99 store that is amazing, gets name brands while others s___. Maybe that's why some franchises are shopped, others not. There is so much competition now with a healthier type pizza, PJ's was never an option for me.

Live consciously....
I used to do pj shops, then the company I had done them with went out of business. How can I find out which company does their shops now? I know it says I can't reveal, but where on the internet can I look to find out how to find a PJ shop again?
I actually like Papa John's every once in a while. I love the butter garlic sauce with those peppers.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
Same thing happened to me. I took five photos and they were all rejected, no reason given. No shadows, and they were as clear as the examples. I have never had a problem with rejected photos before in any of my shops. I am extremely aggravated by this. $23 for pizza and they won't reimburse. This smells fishy to me....
I am pretty furious about this right now. I have been shopping for years and have taken many photos, never had a rejection. I took the photos exactly as they said to with plenty of light. Did not mess with them. Did not crop them. They were as good as the examples provided. I took five and sent them directly to the scheduler after my three were rejected in the report. Just got word that I won't be paid. I'm out $23 for mediocre pizza.
@sierra331 I would kindly ask them what you could do to improve your pictures should you want to do another shop. This way you are treating them nice but still getting what you want, which is the answer to why your pictures were rejected.

Orlando - lightly shopping NC
Also, just wow on how different prices can be. Any 2 topping pizza (what the shop requires that I know of) in my area is 10.99 plus tax out the door.

Orlando - lightly shopping NC
Thank you @oteixeira, I have calmed down some. smiling smiley I am trying to reach the scheduler to discuss the photos. She emailed me and said they were too small. I usually send in the smallest possible file size but I'm going to send them full sized now (2.6 mb each) and see if that would work. I always send the photos the same way for other shops, so I am having a hard time understanding why this shop is being so difficult. But we'll see. Thanks again.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/2018 01:33AM by sierra331.
@Martichka wrote:

I used to do pj shops, then the company I had done them with went out of business. How can I find out which company does their shops now? I know it says I can't reveal, but where on the internet can I look to find out how to find a PJ shop again?


There is a link for a list of MSCs at the vottom of the page . Start signing up and you will find them.
Any luck? I'm out almost $25 due to "a shadow in the photo." Seems to me the guidelines should say no shadows. Seems to me to be a way for the client to get out of paying. Scheduler said they were the ones who wouldn't accept the photos.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2018 02:12AM by iblori.
I've done plenty of these, and the guidelines for the MSC DEFINITELY cautioned against shadows.

May be you did them for a different MSC. They need to rewrite their guidelines!

I have gotten paid in the past for shops that were declined, after I pointed out that I followed the guidelines EXACTLY. Then I cut and paste from the guidelines what they said I did wrong, where I followed the guidelines exactly.

An honest MSC will pay you if it's their error.

But be extremely POLITE about it. And make sure you HAVE the guidelines, and that you are 100% correct.

Good luck.
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