So I finally picked up a few of these and they didn't go very smoothly. Each took me well over 30 min. I have a few questions in case I try it again .

How do you handle when the drive thru takes you out to the street instead of back to the parking lot? One of the sites exited to a busy street with no parking allowed, no u turns or other quick ways to get back to the parking lot. I was frantic looking for a place I could quickly stop to take photos and temps.

How do you hold the thermometer and food and still take the photo with both showing in it? I'm thinking part of my problem might be my ThermoWorks‎ thermometer is too big. I'm kicking myself for giving my son my old thermopop.

Finally how do you get the smell out of your car? I had five postal shops after the Jack jobs and that smell...

First, you don't need to return to JIB after going through the drive-thru. Just go to a nearby parking lot, side street, whatever. If the issue is that you don't have your other observations and pictures, consider doing that before entering the drive-thru.

Thermometer: I decided that it wasn't worth the time as my phone did did not like taking pictures of the digital display on the thermometer. I also found it awkward holding the burger and thermometer with one hand while taking a picture with the other. Too many times, grease escaped the burger and dribbled down my wrist.

Smell... I bring kitchen garbage bags and toss the food into them as soon as I have taken my pictures. I then get them out of my car periodically. When reasonable, I drive with the windows down.....

You should be able to average about 15 minutes per visit, including writing the report, unless you are in an area with poor cell service.

@MFJohnston wrote:

Thermometer: I decided that it wasn't worth the time .

Same. Too many questions and too much trouble for an extra $1.50.

We have a lot of these shops in the Long Beach. Carson, basically Orange County area where you can not park in the lot and have to go elsewhere...

To help answer your questions, here are my shop procedures...
_________________________
From 1300+ shops, here is the techniques that I use for the shops...

First, take the building, dumpster, and parking lot pictures, along with the GPS data before entering the drive thru. Do not be afraid of driving around the lot multiple times to get better angles of the dumpster and building. No one is looking at the parking lot while working, with the rare circumstance that someone is cleaning outside the building.

Enter the drive thru, and take a picture of the preview board, then switch to the stopwatch to start the timer as soon as you get to the main menu board. Note the time you get to the menu board on the phone. Look at the timer to see if the 5 sec rule is meet or the 15 sec rule if placed on hold. Take a pic of the main menu board before leaving the board. If you forget the time, you can go back and look at the menu board pic to get the time. Take the drive thru lane pic as soon as you turn the corner, or can see the DT window.

If there is a line in the drive thru, start the report while you wait to get to the window. Try to avoid working on the report once at the window. Generally I try to finish the first half of the report (until you get to the food pics) before I leave the drive thru if I have time.

Pull over as soon as possible, wether in the lot, or a closer lot if you can not park right away. You can also pull over in certain areas that you can not park if you can quickly do the temperatures, food pics, and quickly pull away. The report does not need to be finished in the lot, but you should do it as soon as possible one the food pics are done.

For the temperatures, try and get one of the food service thermometers that are flat on one side with the LCD. Turn your car lights on, and angle the head of the thermometer towards the light, and take a picture of the food and thermometer display. With practice it takes very little time to get the temps. I have yet to miss a temp from a shop.

For the rest of the things, look at the following common problems
- Water soaked, wrinkled, or bubbled signs on windows, or in sign holders
- Broken enter, exit signs, or signs with no lights at night
- Missing materials on the menu boards, or lights that are out.

You will get quicker as you do more shops. My average for all shops is about 16 minutes at the restaurant, of 24 minutes including travel time. I have done as many as 44 shops in a 16 hour period, but that is HARD. I would no recommend more than 12 shops in an 8 hour period for a newer shopper.

Good luck! If you have any questions feel free to PM me!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2020 08:45PM by my1958vw.

I have at least two locations where the drive-thru exits into the street. I always take most of my photos on the way in, so that is no problem. That leaves only the food and the receipt to photograph after I leave the lot. I always remember to clean my driver's door window and the windshield in case I need to take a photo through them. Yes, JIB accepts my photos through the windshield and through tinted car windows. The client is quite lenient with photos. If there is a line at the drive-thru, I do part of the report then. I average 2 shops per hour, including the form and drive time, and I generally do 7-10 locations in a trip.

Agreed on the smell! My daughter can always tell if I've been to Jack when I pick her up from school. Now I try to keep a travel freshener in the car (you can find them for less than $2) and try to air the car out if possible.

@my1958vw wrote:

We have a lot of these shops in the Long Beach. Carson, basically Orange County area where you can not park in the lot and have to go elsewhere...

To help answer your questions, here are my shop procedures...
_________________________
From 1300+ shops, here is the techniques that I use for the shops...

First, take the building, dumpster, and parking lot pictures, along with the GPS data before entering the drive thru. Do not be afraid of driving around the lot multiple times to get better angles of the dumpster and building. No one is looking at the parking lot while working, with the rare circumstance that someone is cleaning outside the building.

Enter the drive thru, and take a picture of the preview board, then switch to the stopwatch to start the timer as soon as you get to the main menu board. Note the time you get to the menu board on the phone. Look at the timer to see if the 5 sec rule is meet or the 15 sec rule if placed on hold. Take a pic of the main menu board before leaving the board. If you forget the time, you can go back and look at the menu board pic to get the time. Take the drive thru lane pic as soon as you turn the corner, or can see the DT window.

If there is a line in the drive thru, start the report while you wait to get to the window. Try to avoid working on the report once at the window. Generally I try to finish the first half of the report (until you get to the food pics) before I leave the drive thru if I have time.

Pull over as soon as possible, wether in the lot, or a closer lot if you can not park right away. You can also pull over in certain areas that you can not park if you can quickly do the temperatures, food pics, and quickly pull away. The report does not need to be finished in the lot, but you should do it as soon as possible one the food pics are done.

For the temperatures, try and get one of the food service thermometers that are flat on one side with the LCD. Turn your car lights on, and angle the head of the thermometer towards the light, and take a picture of the food and thermometer display. With practice it takes very little time to get the temps. I have yet to miss a temp from a shop.

For the rest of the things, look at the following common problems
- Water soaked, wrinkled, or bubbled signs on windows, or in sign holders
- Broken enter, exit signs, or signs with no lights at night
- Missing materials on the menu boards, or lights that are out.

You will get quicker as you do more shops. My average for all shops is about 16 minutes at the restaurant, of 24 minutes including travel time. I have done as many as 44 shops in a 16 hour period, but that is HARD. I would no recommend more than 12 shops in an 8 hour period for a newer shopper.

Good luck! If you have any questions feel free to PM me!

Agree with absolutely all of this — you just saved me typing out a big long reply. Basically try and get all the pics done before you enter the drive thru, and then either go back into the parking lot for the food and receipt pics, or pull off into another nearby parking lot for them if the exit is directly out into a street. I either do the survey as o go, or the previous location’s survey while I’m doing the next one — deleting the pics after each survey so they don’t get confused.

I’ve got this down to about 16 minutes per shop as well — except for the occasions (usually later at night) when Jack’s entire system seems to break down and there’s a 30+ minute wait for food (always happens when I’m making great time or near the end of a super long route when I just want to get back home)... haven’t done 44 in one long shot, but I’ve done well over 30 a number of times if the price is right.. I usually try to start right at 6am so I’m done by 2pm or start at 4pm and work through the night... service certainly seems to slow down in evenings, however — so I usually wake up for it.

As for the smell — I use Febreeze Glad kitchen bags and stuff the jack bags in there and then the whole thing hits the garbage as soon as I’m home.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@MFJohnston wrote:

Thermometer: I decided that it wasn't worth the time .

Same. Too many questions and too much trouble for an extra $1.50.

Not to mention pictures. Not going to do it again.