Five Guys reimbursement is too low

Not in CA, Little Burger, Little Fries, and a fountain drink totaled $14.35 at some locations. $14.75 at others, and one in an expensive area, over $15.

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Just at a Five Guys today and $13.97 for Little Burger, Little Fries, and Regular Fountain Drink. I wait till Thursday or Friday and see what is still available for that weekend. The best bonus I can get usually is $20 unless a shop is open on the final day.
Some of my Chase credit cards have a 15% off Five Guys bonus every once in a while so use that which brings my net cost below the reimbursement.

This is why I won't do a Five Guys' shop unless it's nicely bonused. $3 bonus? Forget it. Until the bonus gets up around $10 for my local place and higher for distant locations, it's not worth it. I can't order anything in my area and stay at or under reimbursement. (I can't have the just-veggie sandwich because of dietary needs, so the cheapest sandwich I can get is $5.79.)

They really need to up that reimbursement by at least $1.25.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Five Guys bonus are usually good, but Church Chicken starts with zero, then $3, then $5......
I did one with $20 reimbursement only. With the required and allowed purchase, it came to $8.26. Basically, I did all 9-10 photos and report for only $8.26. Not worth the time and gas ($4.35/gallon here)

So it's ok to get a hot dog? So when it asks if you got a burger, you say no, and that's ok?

@Plarka wrote:

So it's ok to get a hot dog? So when it asks if you got a burger, you say no, and that's ok?

Yes, any entree is fine.

@Plarka wrote:

So it's ok to get a hot dog? So when it asks if you got a burger, you say no, and that's ok?

Yes, or even a veggie sandwich or grilled cheese.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2021 12:34AM by MisterBill.

Don't forget to ask for some peanuts! Since they are no longer self serve, you have to ask. On my last two visits I was cheerfully given a more than ample amount. They are great to take home for a (healthy?) snack.

I had a veggie sandwich today that was $11.73. I am determined to stay under reimbursement.

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

@kenasch Peanuts are now available in the self-serve open containers in my area. During the pandemic, there were a few stores that simply did not offer peanuts, but most of them had pre-bagged portions they would hand out if asked.

I just did my first dine-in shop for over a year tonight. I'd only been doing online or phone shops since the pandemic began. While prices have gone up, I guess I'm still lucky enough to be in an area where I can get a little hamburger and stay within reimbursement. My little burger, little fries, and large drink came out to $12.02 with tax today. Of course, the 5G shops in my area are also very popular, so it's very hard to get a bonused shop usually.

I doubt it. I always end up paying more than the reimbursement too but never complained. Let us know how it turns out.

I work for $$$, so reimbursement is irrelevant as long as it covers the requred purchase. This goes for all shops.

I set my own personal record for the high cost for a hot dog, fries, and drink order yesterday - $12.38 before tax, $13.20 after tax.

I went to another location today that is about 8 miles from the one yesterday. The same order cost me $11.07 before tax, $11.80 after tax.

Today was a Make An Offer that I priced so high (for me, anyway), that I never expected it to get assigned. I got it. I got 209% of the most I had ever gotten to go to that one. They must have been really desperate.

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

Today, I got an email offering $25 for a location 25 miles from me. I did not accept it because it is far and there is a $6-7 bridge toll to boot, and gas is over $4.35/gal. I received a phone call for the exact same location, but she offered $10, Very surprising, usually phone calls from schedulers offer much more than emails or website, but $15 less??? Unbelievable !

Others have posted that this MSC reimburses for tolls.

@ShopperFun99 wrote:

Today, I got an email offering $25 for a location 25 miles from me. I did not accept it because it is far and there is a $6-7 bridge toll to boot, and gas is over $4.35/gal. I received a phone call for the exact same location, but she offered $10, Very surprising, usually phone calls from schedulers offer much more than emails or website, but $15 less??? Unbelievable !

I used to get the highest fees from the schedulers. Now, even they tell me to check the job board for higher fees.

My phone shop on Saturday was MAO for $25. The schedulers offered $14.

@ShopperFun99 wrote:

Today, I got an email offering $25 for a location 25 miles from me. I did not accept it because it is far and there is a $6-7 bridge toll to boot, and gas is over $4.35/gal. I received a phone call for the exact same location, but she offered $10, Very surprising, usually phone calls from schedulers offer much more than emails or website, but $15 less??? Unbelievable !

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

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I used to get the highest fees from the schedulers. Now, even they tell me to check the job board for higher fees.

My phone shop on Saturday was MAO for $25. The schedulers offered $14.

The schedulers seem to have stopped calling me again, not sure why. I had been on the "online only" list a few months ago before they started calling again. I got rejected on a $28 MAO on Friday for a location that I was paid that last time. Then someone else took it over the weekend.

You have to bid $1 less than your usual fee on MAO. Try try that next time.

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

@HonnyBrown wrote:

You have to bid $1 less than your usual fee on MAO. Try try that next time.

The problem with that technique is then you keep getting $1 less and if/when they call, they'll say "but you took it for less last time". I haven't had a problem getting my usual $25 with MAO. But I got $28 for this location last time because they raised the price at the end of the week.

When they say that I tell them I did it as a favor for my favorite scheduler. Then I ask if they can go $5 higher. They grumble and tell me the max they can offer is the fee that I want.

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

Just got an email from an Auto-Scheduler for a $13 fee, that is $5 lower than the usual fee from this Auto-Scheduler. What's happening? Everyone's salaries are going up, expenses, gas, car maintenance, are going up, but somehow shopping fees are dropping from pre-covid.

Would someone mind PM'ing me any and all MSC's that do Five Guys? The first one just opened up in my area and I would like to do some of these.

@russell.in.canada wrote:

Would someone mind PM'ing me any and all MSC's that do Five Guys? The first one just opened up in my area and I would like to do some of these.

We are not permitted to do that. It would be a violation of the ICA we signed. However at the bottom of this page there is a link to the Official List of Mystery Shop Companies. You will then see a link to the 15 most discussed companies in this forum. It is one of those. It may take a while for a new location to get shopped.

Looks like this weekend's round is going to be "shopper's choice" hours.

@kenasch wrote:

@russell.in.canada wrote:

Would someone mind PM'ing me any and all MSC's that do Five Guys? The first one just opened up in my area and I would like to do some of these.

We are not permitted to do that. It would be a violation of the ICA we signed. However at the bottom of this page there is a link to the Official List of Mystery Shop Companies. You will then see a link to the 15 most discussed companies in this forum. It is one of those. It may take a while for a new location to get shopped.

Okay thanks for that. I asked for it to be PM'd to me then it isn't actually violating the terms of agreement because nothing is made public - just one professional shopper to another. But I will check the top 15.

I did a shop yesterday and tried to stay as close to reimbursement as possible. I had a veggie cheese sandwich (need the protein, so can't do the veggie-only version), little fry, and small soda. It was $13.11 with tax. They really have to up that reimbursement! I covered the extra with my generous MAO fee, but still....

I think I'm figuring out how to have MAOs accepted, at least for me. I bid $1 more now, and it's usually accepted. I used to shoot for $2 to $3 extra, but usually those get automatically declined or don't get accepted when sent for consideration. That extra $1 yesterday covered the extra cost of the meal.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Months ago I emailed the HelpDesk. Got a reply of "thanks"

do people really eat veggie sandwichs with no protein? just lettuce tomato and bread? gross.

for the record, the cheapest option that still involves a hamburger is 13.60 near me

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2021 12:41AM by boridi.

@boridi wrote:

do people really eat veggie sandwichs with no protein? just lettuce tomato and bread? gross.

for the record, the cheapest option that still involves a hamburger is 13.60 near me

No. You can have "the works" on a veggie sandwich: grilled mushrooms, onions, peppers, pickles, tomato, lettuce. They're not bad loaded up like that, but I have to have the protein, so I had the veggie with cheese the last shop I did. I think I'd rather have the BLT, but the veggie & cheese wasn't too bad.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

A scheduler called me today for shops this weekend. He gave me his max which was a few dollars lower than my minimum. I mitched and boaned about the increasing prices and travel to the locations. He gave me both for the fee I wanted.

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

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