No more Taco John's shops?

I use to complete a ton of these. Now, all I see are "QSR" shops with low shopper pay, a list of required info i.e. pictures of store, pictures of food in bag, picture of burrito cut in half, and no reimbursement for food! Anyone know the 411?

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

You're quite right. They are now posted with a different MSC, flat rate (not enough to cover the cost of the food!), I believe 10 photos.

And no bonuses whatsoever....

No, thanks. If I want a taco, I'll buy just that -- a taco! Less expensive, no waste, no photos, no report.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2021 03:50PM by ceasesmith.

They did eventually offer decent enough bonuses for me to do the local ones last round, but not enough to travel for them as the old company did.

The closest one to me is 45 miles away...so that's basically $15 for gas, round trip. Bonuses didn't get that high; every time I asked, I was told "no bonuses on TJ". Since it's flat fee, there's not enough left to cover gas. So I have done zero of these.

And I will continue to not do them.

Of course, factoring into that decision is the current scheduler; I avoid her like the plague!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2021 06:20PM by ceasesmith.

These new ones they want a photo of the pickup window. How do you take a picture without revealing that you are a secret shopper? Alot of the time they are at the window when you pull up. I use to do alot of these too but haven't since they changed the guidelines.

@gmason1005 wrote:

These new ones they want a photo of the pickup window. How do you take a picture without revealing that you are a secret shopper? Alot of the time they are at the window when you pull up. I use to do alot of these too but haven't since they changed the guidelines.

Act like you're texting somebody or changing a GPS and snap the photo. Turn off your shutter sound and flash.

Did one last night with a bonus. Lots of pictures required and it needs to be reported in an hour. So there I was, pulled over in front of a convenience store for the free wifi, taking the time to choose and upload pictures when I could have been driving home or to another shop on a route. I won't be taking any more of these for that reason. The opportunity cost of stopping mid-route to upload photos is too great.

It was challenging to use the stopwatch and camera on my phone at the same time, also. Very clumsy at the window. You can take the window photo after you get your meal, though.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2021 01:17PM by heartlandcanuck.

I completed a nicely bonused one. The short time frame for reporting and the potential difficulties of obtaining pics qualify this assignment for a minimum $100 base fee.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

You can get them at Kennedy Airport here. No thanks. Pricey parking and a one hour time limit is an issue, in a ginormous airport like that you can use up a big chunk of your allotted time just getting back to your car.

I was not familiar with the previous TJ offerings.

I've done a couple for the current MSP at an acceptable flat rate of $25. They were both somewhat remote locations, and parts of a overnight loops, so I used my second room key to cut the burrito the first time :-D

I went with a taco-y thing the second time around to avoid having to cut something.

When I'm doing loops I'm good with a flat-rate as long as I can pocket some coin when all is said and done.

Might as well get paid to eat (and I like fast food, not that I eat it much outside of shopping), and breaks in the routine are welcome, as well as an opportunity to stretch.
I like to park remotely and walk around to get as many pictures as I can before doing the drive-thru whenever possible.

"I like to park remotely and walk around to get as many pictures as I can before doing the drive-thru whenever possible."

Every time I see someone walking around taking photos, I go "Oops--mystery shopper!" How do you do that without being "outed"? I mean, if you're on a one-time route, and don't foresee returning to that location, OK, it doesn't matter.

I have now done several. The biggest problem (outside the multiple photos) is the "landscape right" requirement. You just can't pretend to be texting or calling when you are having to hold the phone in "landscape right" position. No one else holds their phone like that!

And yes, the opportunity cost of stopping to do a report (and even though it's short and easy, every photo takes FOREVER to load, so an hour per shop, including report, is about right) is high. So glad to see someone else use that phrase! When I was new to the forum, I started discussing the "opportunity cost" of having to wait 7-12 weeks for pay....and people didn't understand the concept at all; I think they thought I made it up, but it's a basic tenet of Economics. If my money is tied up with A, I can't be using it to make a profit on B!

"Every time I see someone walking around taking photos, I go "Oops--mystery shopper!" How do you do that without being "outed"?"

It's doubtful that the employees inside a fast food establishment are paying attention to what is going on in the perimeter of the store. Based on my experiences, a disturbing majority of them have a hard time paying attention to what is happening directly in front of them ;-)

For the two TJ's I did it was easy to park at the business next door and find vantage points where I could get what I needed, often zooming in. Always a plus to be able to get the menu boards NOT from inside the car

My biggest concern at TJ was the picture of the window, but that turned out to be easy as the window is vacant while they are getting your order. I carry an iPad so I can keep my phone on my timer and still get the drive-thru pics I need.

The others I'm happy to do is the wind-up kids toy drive-thru's when there are bonuses offered. I typically do those during the late night shift. Much easier to sneak around in the dark :-D

Once you have your food and your timings, it wouldn't matter if someone saw you walking around with a camera. Anyone remember and old scenario from a different fast food join where you would order inside, then order the same thing at the drive thru but ask a question about what comes on the thing that you just ordered inside a few minutes ago? "What comes on the -- sandwich?" As long as the person taking the order for the drive thru does not see you at the ordering point it would not matter if they remembered you from last time or not. Unless your voice is really distinctive or they have a video ordering system you would be fine.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

No more Taco John's shops?

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine