Targeted Server Restaurant Assignment

I have to admit I've never heard of this type of shop. I guess you call ahead and see if the target is working and request to be seated in the target's work area.

A Dad shopping the Ark-LA-Tex and beyond.

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If you have to call ahead and ask, you have really outed yourself. Even stating that a friend raved about that server, it would be a red flag. Chances are, the target is NOT a star at all, so your claim would be very suspect.

That said, I have had hotel shops with a ton of required interactions, were there were requests to seek out and interact with (or avoid) a particular server at a coffee counter/bake shop/deli counter and to try particular shifts to find or avoid that person. Sometimes that works; other times....nah. BUT, an explanation of what happened when that was not possible has always been accepted.

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.

There are a ton of these shops on the job board. They look impossible.

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

Your assumptions are incorrect. If you like the job fee and like the cuisine, then you will love these shops. The reports are not difficult or narrative intensive, and the reimbursement allowances are realistic. You ask if the target is working if you need to (she gave good service, was recommended, etc.), but you don't force the hostess to seat you in the target's section. If the target is not working, then you sit wherever the hostess offers to you. If no hostess, you seat yourself. In other words, you attempt to shop the target, but you don't out yourself by doing anything that a normal customer would not do. Try one of these shops out, and thank me later

I have done a targetted server which required that I ask for the server when I arrived. Since all of them have been at casinos, when asked (I am not always asked) I say that my luck is much better when I get served by that person. They just chalk it up to another peculiar superstition. If the server asks (which happened twice) why I asked for them, I tell them that my friend (pick a common name for the area) told me that they always brought them luck. Guess what? They always remember my friend whats-their-name!

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

There was a targeted bartender shop at a restaurant. They wanted to know if he was stealing. I wonder if this is the same.

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

I did a one-off targeted server shop a couple of years ago. Management was in on it. I had to show up at a specific time and ask if they had a newspaper I could read while I was eating. It felt very clcloak and dagger.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

@KathyG wrote:

I did a one-off targeted server shop a couple of years ago. Management was in on it. I had to show up at a specific time and ask if they had a newspaper I could read while I was eating. It felt very clcloak and dagger.

I'm curious; what was the goal of this? Was the server suspected of some wrong-doing?

It seems like a lot of effort, just wondering what would prompt all that.

I didn't ask, but it does seem like a lot of work unless there were suspicions of foul play.

@JustForFun wrote:

I'm curious; what was the goal of this? Was the server suspected of some wrong-doing?

It seems like a lot of effort, just wondering what would prompt all that.

@KathyG wrote:

I did a one-off targeted server shop a couple of years ago. Management was in on it. I had to show up at a specific time and ask if they had a newspaper I could read while I was eating. It felt very cloak and dagger.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2019 07:33PM by KathyG.

They do this because they know that someone is stealing but they don't know who. That's why it starts as a non targeted shop and then turns into a targeted shop once they either narrow it down or can't figure out what is going on. The shops are super easy. You don't actually have to get all the interactions, just a copy of the bill and that's basically it (at least with the ones that I have done). If all of the shops were this easy, I'd do one of these a week.

Shopping the South Jersey Shore

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Targeted Server Restaurant Assignment

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