Will Work For Food=None
I work for cash only. If I wanted to eat out, I would rather work for cash and use the cash to eat at the restaurant I want and buy the food I want instead of ordering the food that the client requires. A restaurant shop without payment is not worth the report.

AZ, that's EXACTLY how I feel about Coyle shops! I would much rather do my $10 sports bars with the easy reports and food that I want than to spend 9 hours on a report for a restaurant where I can't enjoy the ambiance because I have to count the buttons on everyone's shirts.

@shopperbob wrote:

I will work for food IF it serves my purpose. As an example, I regularly complete TRH, as the bar assignments are quite easy, they do not require a guest, I very much enjoy the food, the report is a snap, the pay is quick and I have freedom to order as I please.

I agree completely with the above. This is the only shop I do for reimbursement only and for all of these same reasons.

With Texas Roadhouse, just ask the scheduler for a bonus early in the month. I have never done that shop for reimbursement only.

Will - any restaurant on a cruise
Won't - most any other

@Lissymaree wrote:

@shopperbob wrote:

I will work for food IF it serves my purpose. As an example, I regularly complete TRH, as the bar assignments are quite easy, they do not require a guest, I very much enjoy the food, the report is a snap, the pay is quick and I have freedom to order as I please.

I agree completely with the above. This is the only shop I do for reimbursement only and for all of these same reasons.

But the time you spent doing the shop for free could have been spent doing a shop and getting paid a real wage. You use your wages to eat wherever you want. By doing a shop for free, you perpetuate low wages for yourself and other shoppers.

The TRH shop is the only reimbursement only shop that I will do, and only while traveling. I do usually get a small bonus, too. The report is really really short.

Will work for fine dining shops. The $5-15 fees for some shops are laughable and have no effect on my choices. Easy, healthy QSR shops for lunch while at work. Slim pickings in the past.

Will not do fast food. Did 5 Guy's once. For a nice bonus. Veggie sandwich was OK. Cajun fries delicious.

There is a place for ff shops. They are quick, easy, and easy to split into two snacks. Fee (and sometimes bonus) plus reimbursement mean that

a) we do not have to pack meals in addition to all the other work stuff we have in the car for
b) we do not have to starve
c) we do not pay out of pocket for quick meals on the go

But out work world is a little strange. I understand why other shoppers handle meals in other ways.

With food inflation, maybe reimbursement shops are actually a decent deal now.

Putting aside the risk of contracting COVID, of course!

There always have been and always be food risks. Salmonella, rancid ingredients, misdirected bodily fluids, etc. are probably an equal risk for eaters than the dratted disease now and after the covid-19 is gone or contained.

@shoptastic wrote:

Putting aside the risk of contracting COVID, of course!

@Shop-et-al wrote:

There always have been and always be food risks. Salmonella, rancid ingredients, misdirected bodily fluids, etc. are probably an equal risk for eaters than the dratted disease now and after the covid-19 is gone or contained.

@shoptastic wrote:

Putting aside the risk of contracting COVID, of course!

Food poisoning won't kill you and you can sue them.

COVID (at our own risk) can. This is going to be a disturbing next few weeks. We're getting around 900 deaths a day the past few days.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2020 10:11PM by shoptastic.

Today, I saw a blurb for the third or fourth time. According to this information, people with certain blood types are more likely to have difficult cases while people with different blood types are likely to have milder cases. Presumably, the risks from a ff shop are less for some people and greater for others. I did not have time to rummage around in the internet and find out where all the people with each blood type are situated. I only know that if this information is reliable, I am lucky and have lower risk. I hope that everyone has some buffers to offset their risks, even if those are yet to be discovered...

This info about blood types has been out there since March at least. I saw the headline too but did not read the article. It is possible they now have more proof. As I recall type A blood types are more susceptible and Females type O fared the best but the difference is quite small. What ever blood type you are you can get the virus and get really sick.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Today, I saw a blurb for the third or fourth time. According to this information, people with certain blood types are more likely to have difficult cases while people with different blood types are likely to have milder cases. Presumably, the risks from a ff shop are less for some people and greater for others. I did not have time to rummage around in the internet and find out where all the people with each blood type are situated. I only know that if this information is reliable, I am lucky and have lower risk. I hope that everyone has some buffers to offset their risks, even if those are yet to be discovered...

Yes. I think they do not have enough information to identify who is at greatest risk for the worst cases. There are broad commonalities among people who have had difficult cases and who have died. This information has been widely spread, but it is not sufficient to attempt to predict the future for others or to deter people from situations or activities. After all, everything we do has some risk for us. Our world is toxic! But we still live in it.... and we live despite consuming fast food on our own dime or as a shop.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2020 01:41AM by Shop-et-al.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

After all, everything we do has some risk for us. Our world is toxic! But we still live in it.... and we live despite consuming fast food on our own dime or as a shop.

Yes, but we take precautions with those risks too. We wear seat belts and have laws against speeding and drunk driving so as to avoid unnecessary car deaths (or injuries). We use sunscreen when going out for long periods in the sunlight to avoid skin cancer and sunburn. etc. . .

Right now, I think we have to have a mask mandate (along with other measures), imho, to control the spread of COVID. It's not just protecting oneself (like wearing sunscreen), but protecting others around you too.

Even then (my state, for example, has a mask mandate), it seems restaurants could still be a danger spot.
Remember this chart?

Restaurant spending (particularly, in-person) is a predictor of lagged COVID cases, while more grocery store spending correlates with lower cases.

I think it's the nature of eating at a restaurant. You have to take your mask off usually to put food in your mouth. You're breathing and talking (with friends/family) and the respiratory droplets spewing out of you can get suspended in the air and circulated through the enclosed AC system. A draft of wind could carry it to the person next to you eating and they catch your COVID, because you're asymptomatic.

Take-out and delivery should be safer (although not 100%). Ultimately, I agree with you, Shopetal, on a certain amount of risks being inherent in all aspects of life. But, I think we haven't really done enough precautionary stuff yet in the U.S. to make me want to go eat out at a restaurant. Over 50% of Americans seem to feel the same way on eating out per the surveys/polls I've been posting.

So don't go inside. Exercise your privilege to do something else. Use the drive-thru. Let someone deliver to your door or the trunk of your car. Fast. Cook at home more often. Hire a personal chef. Grow your own food.

I chose to eat in at one restaurant recently. (Good vibes there make me happy.) And, no one has gotten sick in any way from eating there. Ever.

Buffers might include caring for the lungs and other organs, being well rested, and having helpful genes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2020 01:16PM by Shop-et-al.

Would: Anything with a hefty bonus
Would not: Capitain D's/Long John Silvers

@foodluvr wrote:

Would not: Capitain D's/Long John Silvers

Two of my absolute favorite ff places!

They are tied with Chick-Fil-A and In-N-Out on my list. I like LJS slightly better than Captain D's.

Would Not: White Castle

It's not food to me. Horrrrrible!

@AZwolfman wrote:

But the time you spent doing the shop for free could have been spent doing a shop and getting paid a real wage. You use your wages to eat wherever you want. By doing a shop for free, you perpetuate low wages for yourself and other shoppers.

I have several issues with your statement above AZ. First and foremost is that I and most of us have never done a shop for free. Occasionally we get swindled into something by bad promises and confusing rules but if I do a food shop that covers a meal of $60 I certainly do not consider that doing it for free any more than I enjoy the pronouncement from a scheduler i can get a meal for free.
My second objection to your statement is that in my estimation, and perhaps in the estimation of many of the shoppers who fall into the wrongly stated category of doing a shop for free where they got reimbursed for a costly meal, or service, or item, is that I personally have not seen very many shops where I was paid a "real" wage. With the exception of a few shops a year I am not paid a "real" wage on any of my shops. I would not consider any payment for any shop that is less than $30 an hour for my time to be a real wage in my city. With no health insurance offered, no reimbursement for all the required electronic stuff, driving time , no vacation or holidays offered at pay and no guarantee I will be paid I would consider that to be the least that would make me feel I was even earning minimum wage. Considering there have been absolutely no big bonuses I have ever seen, my fees are generally the advertised rate,. Occasionally I find a bonus of a few dollars. Bigger bonuses offered would be totally be eaten up by travel time around here. And by the way I am a serious shopper in case anyone does not know that already. I am neither a full time shopper or a shopper who shops for a living but I am definitely a serious shopper. Perhaps that is why I was never a full time shopper.
Example...if I do three $12 bank shops it will take me a minimum of three hours and I will earn $36. A good bit of that will go to taxes. So it would take me 6 hours at a minimum of "easy" shops to pay for that $60 meal. Maybe I am just slow but those banks are not near each other and usually there is a long wait at a bank, or cell phone shop or even a grocery store.
It is not just you AZ but you posted that at the opportune time for me to chime in. I am glad you can easily work for an hour or two and earn enuf for a nice meal. I guess I need lessons from you and others that can do that.

Well said, sandy. To me, it's all about spending as little time as possible picking up a little extra money. I have a day job that I love that supports me very well. Mystery shopping is just something extra. I love to eat out and I love to treat family members and girlfriends to nice dinners out. Best case for me is that a mystery shopping dinner dining job is somewhere I would go anyway, costs $60-$150 (or more) for me and a guest, and it allows me to be "paid" for going by reimbursing my meal cost, allowing me to hold onto my after-tax dollars. Shops that don't meet those requirements don't interest me.

As for lunch ....... I'm working in the office 3 days a week during the pandemic while my co-workers are telecommuting. I'm "essential" - lucky me? I'm pretty much alone in the office all day. The office water fountains and ice machines are disconnected and the refrigerators are unplugged and off-limits. I need to eat. And I need drinks. Big drinks, with ice. I don;t have a lot of time for lunch or anybody to eat with. I can't get delivery because of building and governmental security, so I'm going to grab fast food. There are a bunch within a mile of my office. I can pay $8-$10 for McDonald's, Burger King, Mr. Gatti's, Wendy's, Popeye's, Cane's, Sonic ...... or I can do a quick mystery shop with a 5-minute report. The reimbursement is worth more than $8-10 to me because I am not spending after-tax dollars and I end up with a couple of dollars in my pocket (which do get taxed).

Some people are looking at this as their livelihood and want to make as much money as possible from it. Some of us are not. Some people have multiple jobs. Some people clip coupons. To me, mystery shopping is all about me selecting things that meet my needs.

sandyf shares--With the exception of a few shops a year I am not paid a "real" wage on any of my shops.

Bob agrees, but with a caveat--I have been paid more than a real wage, but only by a single MSC: Informa. Currently, I stand at seven for 2020. A visit paid $175 and a phone and five web shops all paid $30 each.

As long as there is a sufficient supply of shoppers who will work for free, the wages for shopping will never approach what some of you condiser a "real wage." I also contend that you are not a serious shopper if you do not shop as if it is your business and necessary source of income. If that is you, then you are shopping as a hobby and are not a serious shopper. A serious shopper would shop to earn income from shopping.

AZwolfman posts--As long as there is a sufficient supply of shoppers who will work for free, the wages for shopping will never approach what some of you condiser a "real wage.

Bob agrees--I have nothing to add.

AZwolfman continues-- I also contend that you are not a serious shopper if you do not shop as if it is your business and necessary source of income. If that is you, then you are shopping as a hobby

Bob disagrees--To each his/her own. While I have been self-employed for almost 57 years, for me to state that others are not serious would be unacceptable.

AZwolfman concludes--If that is you, then you are shopping as a hobby and are not a serious shopper. A serious shopper would shop to earn income from shopping.

Bob again disagrees--Income is my primary reason for shopping, but my secondary is to defray costs from another activity, such as a non-shopping business trip. As for my tertiary reason, it is reward myself and/or others to whom I wish to repay a favor, as in a TRH dinner.

The above is not to criticize AZW's position, rather it's to state my opinion.

Hmm, AZ, I guess then all the CEO's who are already million and billionaires are not serious about their jobs because they are not working as a necessary source of income. I worked for years as a data analyst at a well known hospital. I did not choose to work full time, I could have lived on my savings etc. But I was not there as a hobby by any stretch of the imagination. I expected to be paid what I was worth and among other things could clearly see that I was worth more than many of those there solely for a paycheck. Not that all those there for a paycheck were necessarily bad employees but many of them had no interest in learning about how they did their job impacted the rest of the company's goals. Many were just waiting for the minute to clock out and not interested in expanding their knowledge beyond the exact job description. Many employees like that who do not question or add anything beyond minimal expectations do not move up the ladder...and they wonder why. In that and my mystery shopping business I always have looked at the bottom line to me. I have never considered this mystery shopping a hobby. A hobby to me is my gardening where 1 tomato probably costs me hours of toil and many dollars of water and other necessary tools. I have always only taken jobs that made sense financially. It does not matter if I needed the money or not. That is how I came to a place in my life where I do not need the money...it is because I see every transaction in anything I do for financial gain to be an investment of my time for what I consider all around to be compensation in keeping with my standards. Mystery shopping usually does not for actual dollars earned however it does for me contribute in kind to my bottom line. Today I will mail a package to my son. Priceless for me but financially not worth $12 alone for my time. But it is the ability to send him something along with the $12 that makes the time spent worthwhile.

I occasionally do reimbursement only if I know I'm going to be out and about that day and it's an easy report. Lunch covered. But I did a MF shop this week whose reimbursement I assumed covered what I was required to order. NOT! I can't believe I had to pay $1.23 to do that shop. I'm rusty from 3 months of no shopping - I wouldn't normally have fallen for that.

If this is the one that assigns a different sandwich every month and also requires a purchase of a small drink and small curly fries, MF usually reimburses the additional amount if the cost of the required items exceeds the stated reimbursement. Not sure if that will still be in effect? Or even if that's the shop you did?

4 Possible Reasons Why People Take Shops At Base and/or Reimbursement Only

i.) Convenience
Sometimes certain projects are just convenient for a person's schedule. I live in a spread out area, so this isn't the case with me (pre-COVID traffic was annoying), but there are three ff shops I'd do for convenience sake. I drive by them anyways (two, at least - the third is FG which is slightly further out, but the $6.00 old fee used to cover my mileage).

***"Speed/Ease" could also be part of it too. Some people just are good at this line of work and can work fast and get the job done easily and make it worth their time. I'm a slow shopper and report writer.

ii.) Newbie "Proof of Competence"
It took me a while before I asked for bonuses, b/c I was horrible my first two or so months. I messed stuff up and had to reshop. There was no way I could ask for a higher fee. I knew this and put in some time to build up a work history.

iii.) Financial Illiteracy
A lack of understanding of mileage costs is usually the culprit here. Been there and done that.

iv.) Desperation
Too many Americans are struggling these days and it could be the difference between being able to pay rent or not. I've even speculated some might do it vs. going to a payday lender, who charges 400% interest.