I make over $50,000 a year and I love doing restaurant shops. I don’t care they are reimbursement only or with $5-10 report fee. I actually prefer to do reimbursement only shops because the report fee I would have to claim on my income tax which they deduct 35-40%. If the report fee is $10, I have to pay $4 tax on it, and the $6 fee left is not even enough for tipping.
I take enough gas station shops each month that both vehicles in my house get pretty much “free gas” every month. So I don’t really calculate the mileage on the restaurant shops. The casual dining shops on average take me 40 minutes to 2 hours to write the reports. I figured I would have to spent the same amount of time to cook, clean up, and wash dishes if I were to eat at home. So I think the only difference is I have to tip on my own when I do restaurant shops. Let’s say we tip $10 on a casual restaurant bill. I think I would spent at least the same amount of money if I were to cook my own meals for two at home for decent healthy food.
I can totally see reimbursement only shops are not for everyone. I think they work for me so I will keep doing them.

I NEVER do dining shops. I suspect only inexperienced (or starving) individuals do them. Even an assignment within a 15-minute drive from home wastes a full half hour on the road. Then, at least another hour to do a really good job on a report means you've spent 90 minutes to earn $15 or less. Pleeaase. I don't touch any assignment that pays less than $40 cash. Do you guys have any idea how much these companies make from major national clients? They're hauling in huge profits on the backs of people willing to essentially prostitute themselves. Wake up, people.

Absolutely in agreement. Would rather spend my own money on that, and actually enjoy it.

It's OK, there are plenty of us who make PLENTY of money who love these shops more than any paying gig.
No reporting it on my taxes, free meal that I would have paid for otherwise anyway, and all I have to do is write about it? Sign me up (and I did).

Also, please don't generalize. Most of us that do the restaurant shops actually make really good money, and my doctor would love for me to starve myself a little, if you know what I mean. To be clear, I mean sit down chain resturants, not the Fast Food joints, that is a different story, and I don't do those.

@Shopper Jon wrote:

I NEVER do dining shops. I suspect only inexperienced (or starving) individuals do them. Even an assignment within a 15-minute drive from home wastes a full half hour on the road. Then, at least another hour to do a really good job on a report means you've spent 90 minutes to earn $15 or less. Pleeaase. I don't touch any assignment that pays less than $40 cash. Do you guys have any idea how much these companies make from major national clients? They're hauling in huge profits on the backs of people willing to essentially prostitute themselves. Wake up, people.

I feel like the meal reimbursement covers my time and work while dining, but I would like to see these businesses offer at least minimum wage for the time required to enter the paperwork.

There is a popular MSC with a great restaurant that offers $25 reimbursement plus $8 fee. Theirs get picked up very fast because the food is great, shop instructions easy, and great editors to boot. So why do the other one without any fee? And requiring numerous awkward pictures that reveals you as a shopper? On top of that, ridiculous editors?

@shoptastic wrote:

Am I the only one who thinks this when it comes to reimbursement only dining shops?

Excluding Texas Roadhouse (enjoyable food/experience + manageable report) and Chili's (super short report), I find most dining shops not worthwhile. 95% of them are reimbursement only and often cannot be done for another three months (which means you have to relearn/double-check the guidelines 3 months later).

The amount of work can be brutal and not worth it to me. One hour of preparation studying the guidelines (unless it's one you've memorized), because you know any mistake might get your report rejected. Often each restaurant has their own little quirky questions/requirements, so it's a constant learning/relearning of unique guidelines (plus the usual stuff for these types of shops).

While you are dining, you don't really get to fully enjoy the experience, because you're so focused on observing, timing, and recording things, while trying to "act" normal. The value of the reimbursement almost never allows you to order the "better" (often more expensive) items on the menu and you come away with the "lower" grade meals (like a generic cheap chicken sandwich you could get anywhere, instead of that lobster roll on the upper end of the menu) if you want to come in under reimbursement and not have to pay out-of-pocket. After the stressful "cheapo" meal that you barely enjoyed, due to having to "work" the shop, you have to rush home to write-up a lengthy narrative-filled report.

No fee means gas mileage is not covered, so you are often out $5-10 for mileage. The "free" meal is you agreeing to pay for it and have it reimbursed two months (45-60 days later - while the client can essentially "float" your money and do whatever they want with it) later, having spent time (often hours of work) and mileage for what was likely mediocre food. Ummm, I could just take the $5-10 mileage and buy Chick-Fil-A (probably better tasting too! than the cheap chicken sandwich you'll likely be forced to order to stay under reimbursement) or the like and save the time/hassle of doing a detailed narrative report and stressful dining observations (that might get rejected for any small mistake based on the whims of the editor) and I'd be even, right?

Feeling snarky tonight and wanting to vent. But, I am also serious too. Anyone else feel this way about reimbursement-only restaurant shops? I don't think I'll ever do these EVER again (aside from a few faves of mine). They are a rip-off and I always feel like a SLAVE afterwards.

*end rant* lol

When I see Reimbursement Only meal shops listed, I pass them up. I figure, "I'm not interested in free food." By the same token, I will not take shops that offer a fee only and No reimbursement. In those instances, I feel there's always the chance I may possibly end up paying more for the meal than my fee, and we all know that wouldn't make any sense. I only do the restaurant shops that pay a fee And reimburse for the food. Those are the only ones that I feel are worth my while.

I agree with you. In my situation, my spouse and I enjoy going out and then getting reimbursed for it. We do it together. It's a fun retirement gig. I like ultimately not spending my own money for a nice night out!

How do you know they have people lined up?

@oteixeira wrote:

Nope, they have people lined up for these shops with a history of good reports. To the point where good shoppers go months sometimes without getting one from them. Also, I have TOTALLY flubbed a shop with them (forgot to take a picture of one plate before touching it) and they STILL accepted it and paid me.
They are super lenient, but....if you can't afford the meal before the shop, you probably should not take it if you are worried that much about it being rejected.

@snowy22315 wrote:

The thing I worry about with ACL is that some of their shops are very high dollar 85 to 100 that you have to pay upfront, and if your shop isn't accepted, (which has happened) you are out the cash. I don't have that kind of cash lying around unfortunately. I think if they want people to do those shops they need to accept them..any good faith effort should be accepted!

It's a great opportunity for me. Love it! So blessed. Had a great date with my DH at a beautiful, fabulous restaurant last night. Was able to knock out the report in 1.75 hours with not many distractions.

Snowy, we all wish. ????

I do not do them anymore. I mystery shop for extra money and to be reimbursed for stuff that normally I could not afford. I spent 100.00 or pub food for me and my sister and was not reimbursed because they allegedly emailed me and I never emailed back. I thought that was stupid and suspicious. If I don't get my 100 because you did not get your "x", why not just call? I have a special email for shops and it is searchable, I never got an email. So I do not work for them anymore. I have done 200 and 300 dining experiences which were cool but never again. I can not afford to let some company have that for free. As it stands when you do them you are giving a 30-90 day free loan if it is on your credit card you are actually paying for the privilege. No thanks. I have found some cafe's and restaurants that I can work for directly. They pay me in advance per our contract. Guess I negotiated a better contract than the MS companies, or someone is fibbing.

Because if they didn't I would get many more of these shops. In my area not only are they hard to get, you have to agree to take a pizza shop that no one likes to take as part of a package, or they wont give you the good shop. Basically, you will never get a restaurant shop near me unless you take it packaged with a less desirable shop.

@Madetoshop wrote:

How do you know they have people lined up?

@oteixeira wrote:

Nope, they have people lined up for these shops with a history of good reports. To the point where good shoppers go months sometimes without getting one from them. Also, I have TOTALLY flubbed a shop with them (forgot to take a picture of one plate before touching it) and they STILL accepted it and paid me.
They are super lenient, but....if you can't afford the meal before the shop, you probably should not take it if you are worried that much about it being rejected.

@snowy22315 wrote:

The thing I worry about with ACL is that some of their shops are very high dollar 85 to 100 that you have to pay upfront, and if your shop isn't accepted, (which has happened) you are out the cash. I don't have that kind of cash lying around unfortunately. I think if they want people to do those shops they need to accept them..any good faith effort should be accepted!

What I don't like about the Roadhouse shop is that you have to pay for your own tip.

Getting Reimbursement isn't enought for ANY FOOD Shop. People! Our timeis valuable! For each shop we have to do some kind of research or extensive guidelines to follow, which takes time to review to get the key points. We have to map out our travel, wait in lines, make appointments or reservations, Tip-when people aren't deserving-because it's a shop, be nice to people who sometimes are jerks to us....AND when we reviewed a really bad associate, we have to write a whole lot to explain the crap they did..Again-this takes time! Some locations even require we dress contrary to our normal. We have to do research on these locations, sometimes do pre-visit phone calls or internet leads, drive roundtrip and sometimes they want insane reporting information. Some want EXTENSIVE narrative comments -almost a blow-by-blow/word-for-word comments, which can take hours to write and proofread (Yes some companies still don't have Grammar and Spell Check as part of their site software)!
And
Then what about the gliches in the sysytems. Yes, sometimes they are in our systems, but still, they have to be addressed and fixed, Which AGAIN takes time! What about the unplanned road detours?......
Oftentimes
You can't reach a scheduler or tech rep over the weekend, then the report which was supposed to be due in 8, 12, 24 hrs is now late.
And sometimes they want these reports so fast, forgetting you either have another job or are doing other assignments, with other companies,and by the time you get home maybe 8-hours have past......BUT they don't forget to send you those late notices do they.?!
Then worse, Now that old shop that you didn't finish on time is encroaching on your personal time or time to do other assignments.
AND,
What about if you nak a mistake, forget a picture, lose your receipt.....then there is NO PAY!

You shoppers out there who think reimbursement is enough are crazy!
Do you know how much you're worth? Do you know there is no report if a shopper dosen't visit the location or make that call or visit that online site? Do you know that ALL the support staff like: proofreaders, report designers, tech help schedulers, project managers,payroll , human resources, the sales teams and more.....DON'T EVEN HAVE A JOB, IF THEY DON'T HAVE SHOPPERS!

Wake up people!
Know your worth and stop shopping for peanuts!
Think about it;
You review the guidelines, travel to the location, wait, eat your meal, critque the entire location, take pictures, make discreet notes, listen and observe carefully, pay and tip (hoping to get paid and reimbursed waiting 10-60days to get paid), you drive home, you fill your gas tank, maintaine your vehicle, write your report and all you WILL GET is $5, $10, $20, $100, $200 back for food that will end up in the toilet....Please! KNOW YOUR WORTH!

These companies make millions off of the work we do! Look at it this way: They pay us roughly 5-10% of what they are getting paid by the client.!

I get it! These companies are in business for profit!
*Then shoppers you need to make sure you're getting the best pay you can.WHY? Becasue SHOPPING IS "YOUR" BUSINESS. Are you a NON-Profit business Or are your a Profit Business?

What ever your reason for shopping, make it worth your while!
And only you can determine what tha is. Your time is Valuable to you, your family and your business. Use it wisely!

From the voice of experience.
I wish the best for you all.

If spending A high dollar amount isn't good for you, don't do it. KNOW YOUR LIMITS!
There are many shopping companies out there that will only require a minor expense of less than $10. But some weeks even that's too much. There are alos many assignments require no expense.

Sign up with a lot of companies to expnad your options. Test the waters with each. If you don't like them, hoe they work, how they pay, don't shop with them.

Remember, You have to ACCEPT THE ASSIGNMENT ....If the Guidelines or expenses are too much for you Cancel the Assignment Quickly! Don't wait days, and mess up the Due Date Deadlines. You aren't the only one who needs to get paid!

Can I ask which MSC is Texas Roadhouse with? I'm fairly new and haven't come across them yet, but there are several in my area. Thank you

Nope.

@tracylee.shopper wrote:

Can I ask which MSC is Texas Roadhouse with? I'm fairly new and haven't come across them yet, but there are several in my area. Thank you

Sorry about that. Yes, you can ask.

What irks me is a pizza shop that only pays reimbursement in my city pays a $10 fee plus reimbursement in a city only 80 miles away. If they can pay a $10 fee there, they can pay me $10 also.

I been to the same restaurant back to back. The food okay but nice to eat out in some one else’s purse. But the worse for me is the questionnaire and essay afterwards. It’s just awful and takes me a good two hours to do!!! Today I fell asleep in the middle of it so add in another hour. I ruined my afternoon by eating out for breakfast. Fast food is easier to finish but I don’t eat meat so not too many of those to choose from.

@siamese5555 wrote:

What irks me is a pizza shop that only pays reimbursement in my city pays a $10 fee plus reimbursement in a city only 80 miles away. If they can pay a $10 fee there, they can pay me $10 also.

Supply and demand. As long as they find someone who will take the shops for reimbursement only, you won't see a bonus.

Excuse me but some of us love the pizza shop. We find them desirable and on top of that because we love them we can get those other shops more easily. However on my recent pizza shop (today) I was asked to take a different less desirable (I gather) shop together with it. Not demanded but just asked nicely. That shop is not bad either. It has an all you can eat salad bar with steak, chicken type meals. So that was a new twist to me. The pizza shop has moved up in the world. There seems to be issues getting people to do the ring shop..but that is one I have no interest in.

@oteixeira wrote:

Because if they didn't I would get many more of these shops. In my area not only are they hard to get, you have to agree to take a pizza shop that no one likes to take as part of a package, or they wont give you the good shop. Basically, you will never get a restaurant shop near me unless you take it packaged with a less desirable shop.

Technically, you can ask, BUT - we are not allowed to tell you.
You can ask which MSC have restaurant shops and we are allowed to answer. The prohibition is on linking an MSC with a particular client.

@tracylee.shopper wrote:

Can I ask which MSC is Texas Roadhouse with? I'm fairly new and haven't come across them yet, but there are several in my area. Thank you

I know you are enjoying your fine dining shops just as we are. I totally agree with your mindset. Do you do them i.e. the ACL pre-requisite low end shops in order to get a "desirable" shop? I personally will not play that game. Too many other fish in the sea. :-)

Hi Snowy! I wish it were all due and done with re: good faith.

@oteixeira wrote:

Because if they didn't I would get many more of these shops. In my area not only are they hard to get, you have to agree to take a pizza shop that no one likes to take as part of a package, or they wont give you the good shop. Basically, you will never get a restaurant shop near me unless you take it packaged with a less desirable shop.

@Madetoshop wrote:

How do you know they have people lined up?

@oteixeira wrote:

Nope, they have people lined up for these shops with a history of good reports. To the point where good shoppers go months sometimes without getting one from them. Also, I have TOTALLY flubbed a shop with them (forgot to take a picture of one plate before touching it) and they STILL accepted it and paid me.
They are super lenient, but....if you can't afford the meal before the shop, you probably should not take it if you are worried that much about it being rejected.

@snowy22315 wrote:

The thing I worry about with ACL is that some of their shops are very high dollar 85 to 100 that you have to pay upfront, and if your shop isn't accepted, (which has happened) you are out the cash. I don't have that kind of cash lying around unfortunately. I think if they want people to do those shops they need to accept them..any good faith effort should be accepted!

@megarza60 wrote:

What I don't like about the Roadhouse shop is that you have to pay for your own tip.

Texas Roadhouse pays your tip up to the reimbursement amount. The form asks you how much you paid, and the total includes the tip. I have always been reimbursed for my tip.

@oteixeira wrote:

It's OK, there are plenty of us who make PLENTY of money who love these shops more than any paying gig.
No reporting it on my taxes, free meal that I would have paid for otherwise anyway, and all I have to do is write about it? Sign me up (and I did).

Also, please don't generalize. Most of us that do the restaurant shops actually make really good money, and my doctor would love for me to starve myself a little, if you know what I mean. To be clear, I mean sit down chain resturants, not the Fast Food joints, that is a different story, and I don't do those.

@Shopper Jon wrote:

I NEVER do dining shops. I suspect only inexperienced (or starving) individuals do them. Even an assignment within a 15-minute drive from home wastes a full half hour on the road. Then, at least another hour to do a really good job on a report means you've spent 90 minutes to earn $15 or less. Pleeaase. I don't touch any assignment that pays less than $40 cash. Do you guys have any idea how much these companies make from major national clients? They're hauling in huge profits on the backs of people willing to essentially prostitute themselves. Wake up, people.

You are missing out, oteixeira, if you don't do Five Guys.

They pay a decent fee on top of getting a decently healthy burger meal (as healthy as can get, I suppose, for a burger and fries). Plus, the report is easy. I can do it in under one hour. It usually takes me 30 minutes or so to do it.

As for sit-down restaurants, the ones that are narrative heavy - al a Remington Evaluations' style length/detail - and have repetitious commentary sections and lots of timings (and "wording observations" - where you have to know if the person said x, y, or z ), I just can't do them. I just can't remember everything the server and staff say, how they said it (exact words), and their tone to get those reports done without having to replay my audio recorder file. I highly doubt anyone can. And if you they think they can, they are probably not always accurate in their memory. If you have to make 100+ observations per shop, along with timings, while staying covert, then I really suspect people would forget or mis-remember (is that a word?) some things without a recorder to verify. That's why I always have to bring a recorder and check back at it for these shops. If a restaurant shop took one full hour to dine in, then replaying the audio to get exact timings and exact details of things will take two hours. There's lots of pausing to take notes and replaying things to make sure I heard what they said correctly. It's very tedious work!!!

I prepare one hour pre-shop, by studying the guidelines and making an index card cheat sheet to bring with me. I then have to drive to the shop. Eat and observe for one hour or more. Drive home. Listen to audio for two hours to gather all the details/notes. And then comes the report (pic uploads too), multiple choice questions, tedious "admin." type of questions, commentary sections, and the dreaded narratives. There are some reports with lots of "reflection" type questions. To do an honest and good job, you have to take time to think about how things went and reflect on the experience to write a useful review/report. It's like writing an essay practically. I don't just write generic stuff, but really try to do deep reflection about how things went and describe all the details in ways that are not just accurate, but useful to the client. I dunno. That takes me another two hours to write this stuff up in a satisfactory way. BUT, I get so exhausted half way through my reports that I take an hour to three hour break mid-way through.

I start to regret it half way through usually. The food just isn't worth it to me at that point (the reimbursements often don't cover the better items on the menu that the restaurant is known for, so I end up getting a cheaper meal that's just generic oftentimes to stay away from paying out-of-pocket).

But, I'm also in a position where I really do need the cash. It's hard to say how I'd feel if I made a lot more money.
Maybe, if that were the case, I'd be happy to take the time to do these reports for food shops. Maybe....

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2018 10:50AM by shoptastic.

Text yourself. That will save you the two hours you are using listening to recordings, shoptastic. But, if you need shops for the money, dining shops are not it, unless you get Five Guy shops with a decent bonus. The dining shops do not pay much, maybe $15 with Coyle, but you could spend hours writing that report versus fifteen minutes for Five Guys.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2018 11:50AM by Niner.

Thank you for the advice, I will hopefully come across some of these more known companies eventually

When my son was on his church service mission in the Boston Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we used food shops to reimburse all our meals. Most had leftovers, which gave us snacks on the road. I was traveling anyways, driving three hours, so why not grab a small bite or two? The largest expenses were filling the gas tank and servicing the engine. Now, we use food work to discover the locsl culture.