Panda Express Marked Down for Not Showing Up "Exactly on Time"

I arrived approximately 3 minutes early on my last panda shop and had to wait for my order. I got to shop grade of eight and it said that I needed to arrive exactly on time. Is this serious? I did another shop where I arrived early but my order was ready early and I received a higher grade. I understand if I arrived late, but I was slightly early. Am I really supposed to wait in my car the three extra minutes and then walk inside? I looked at the guidelines but it doesn't say anything about arriving exactly on time

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does seem a little ridiculous. I feel like when I read the guidelines it did say to arrive exactly on time, and I have waited in my car an extra few minutes .lol.
Not sure what you mean by "exactly on time." Shops generally have a time window like 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. or some such, and you have to arrive within that window. 1:03 p.m. would be fine but 12:57 p.m. would not. Did they say to get there at exactly 1:18 p.m., not 1:17 p.m. or 1:19 p.m.? That would indeed be ridiculous.

Otherwise, I wouldn't find it a hardship to check the time on my phone and wait the 3 minutes (or 8 just to be sure, in case the cash register's time is a little different) but that's me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2024 10:47PM by KokoBWare.
It was for an online pick up shop. They marked me for arriving 3 minutes earlier than the quoted ready time.
Well then, again, I'd probably just wait a few minutes if a 10 score was important to me.
I arrived at a Panda shop early. I had received a text that the order was ready 12 minutes prior to the pick up time. I arrived and then sat in my car and then 2 minutes before the actually pick up got out of the car and walked around the building to check out for debris, etc. I then went in exactly at the pick up time. My order was sitting there for 12 minutes so not exactly boiling hot- I reported the going inside time as the stated pick up time but then said I got there 2 minutes early to do the property inspection. Have not been scored as of yet so time will tell. I reported all of this in my narrative.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2024 11:15PM by SueW70.
Well it's not that a 10 matters to me. It's that I don't see anywhere in the guidelines that I need to go in at the exact time. One of the questions even asks if you arrive before, exactly or after the quoted time. I don't think I should be marked off for something that is not clear if I am supposed to arrive at the exact time.
It mattered enough to start a thread complaining about it. Yes, guidelines can be maddeningly non-specific and this MSC's editors can be masters of imposing rules that aren't there. For instance, when Sonic reduced its narrative to something like 200 max characters (it's back "up" to 250 now, I think), I resorted to incomplete sentences on one shop to fit more information: "Carhop friendly. Restroom dirty, had trash on floor, toilet unclean. Hot dog cold, chewy," etc. I got busted down to a 7 and got scolded for that, even though I didn't recall seeing any style rules in the guidelines. But I got paid for the shop. Now I just write everything in complete sentences and they get a lot less information. Works for me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2024 11:54PM by KokoBWare.
The directions on my pick up shop said enter the restaurant EXACTLY at your pick up time.
Can you tell me where it says that? I searched the page for the word exactly on the guidelines as well as the questionnaire and no where does it say that.
@KokoBWare wrote:

It mattered enough to start a thread complaining about it. Yes, guidelines can be maddeningly non-specific and this MSC's editors can be masters of imposing rules that aren't there. For instance, when Sonic reduced its narrative to something like 200 max characters (it's back "up" to 250 now, I think), I resorted to incomplete sentences on one shop to fit more information: "Carhop friendly. Restroom dirty, had trash on floor, toilet unclean. Hot dog cold, chewy," etc. I got busted down to a 7 and got scolded for that, even though I didn't recall seeing any style rules in the guidelines. But I got paid for the shop. Now I just write everything in complete sentences and they get a lot less information. Works for me.

I feel like that is different. I feel like if not specified it is implied that mystery shopping should be in full sentences. Usually when you sign up for a mystery shop company they require a narrative in complete sentences proving that you know how to write. I'm not surprised that that was marked down. But I can't find anywhere in my guidelines that say I need to enter at the exact time, so I feel like that's not the same.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2024 12:20AM by dafizisblue.
@dafizisblue wrote:

Can you tell me where it says that? I searched the page for the word exactly on the guidelines as well as the questionnaire and no where does it say that.
fiz, look on page three of the guidelines, under 'Arrival and Greeting', #1:
"Online orders - Enter at the exact pick-up time stated in your order confirmation email and proceed to the pickup area."

If you take it upon yourself to go in early, that's one thing, but I think it's silly to be dinged for going in early after receiving a text saying your order was ready. That happened to me earlier today. I went in five minutes early - we'll see what happens when I file the report.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2024 12:43AM by drdoggie00.
@SueW70 wrote:

The directions on my pick up shop said enter the restaurant EXACTLY at your pick up time.

Yes, exactly at the time you are quoted. Sometimes the screen confirmation will say one time and the email/text will say another. You will lose points whichever you go with. And the question about entering before, exactly or after your pickup time is a trick question. There is only one acceptable answer. Why is it there, you ask? A comprehension test? An attempt to reject the shop? To test the shopper's honesty? Who knows. All reasons are insulting.
Thanks for that. I guess when you read through something a million times you tend to overlook it. Though I still think that it's silly for going in early, it's another thing if you arrive late. But from now on I guess I will arrive at the "exact time" .
@dafizisblue wrote:



I feel like that is different. I feel like if not specified it is implied that mystery shopping should be in full sentences. Usually when you sign up for a mystery shop company they require a narrative in complete sentences proving that you know how to write. I'm not surprised that that was marked down. But I can't find anywhere in my guidelines that say I need to enter at the exact time, so I feel like that's not the same.
Well, you'd be wrong. I know of numerous shops for which complete sentences are not necessary in the narrative, as long as you communicate clearly and spell properly. In fact, I did two of them today: Market Force's burger client and Alta360's truck stop client. There are others.
Yes, there are certain ones. I can't think of any Sassie ones though that allow that though unless it's specified that complete sentences aren't needed.
@dafizisblue wrote:

Yes, there are certain ones. I can't think of any Sassie ones though that allow that though unless it's specified that complete sentences aren't needed.
You're moving the goalposts now. Is there a Sassie narrative rule book I'm unaware of that encompasses all MSCs using the platform?
It looks as if the guidelines have been "streamlined" again. I can't find where it says to enter at the exact time your order is supposed to be ready. But the guidelines and instructions have always said that up until recently.

And I agree, that there is no way for a new shopper to know these things with the current version of the guidelines. One more sentence in the guidelines or the shop instructions would fix this issue.

But as usual, it will only get fixed when the problem is so bad that they start excluding all of the shops for this. Like what happened last year in March with the bundles, they changed the guidelines retroactively after they excluded ALL of the shops because the editors claimed we used coupons when we bought the bundles for our shops.
I'm not sure which version you're looking at, Morl. The one attached to my shop for today is five pages. Page three, #1 under Arrival and Greeting addresses when to enter.

If your path dictates you walk through hell, do it as though you own the place. -unknown
I have one due tomorrow. I just checked the guidelines. It says to enter at the exact time. It's on page 3 under arrival and greeting.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2024 01:58AM by pegleg2000.
And for me exact time is hard to predict when quite a few stores I get receipts from have incorrect times on their end. Even if i used my cell rather than my watch or clock on my car it may be off at least 3 minutes from whatever time the restaurant is using. My TV which is hooked to the internet which should be totally correct shows a time 10 minutes off since I changed to standard time in Oct.
@sandyf wrote:

And for me exact time is hard to predict when quite a few stores I get receipts from have incorrect times on their end. Even if i used my cell rather than my watch or clock on my car it may be off at least 3 minutes from whatever time the restaurant is using. My TV which is hooked to the internet which should be totally correct shows a time 10 minutes off since I changed to standard time in Oct.

For the online order it shows on the receipt, that was emailed, the promised time. That is the time i use. And i use my phone's time.
I once got an email saying my order was ready, but it wasn;t.
@mystery2me wrote:

I once got an email saying my order was ready, but it wasn;t.

Then they get marked down for not having it ready when it was promised.
@dafizisblue wrote:

Well it's not that a 10 matters to me. It's that I don't see anywhere in the guidelines that I need to go in at the exact time. One of the questions even asks if you arrive before, exactly or after the quoted time. I don't think I should be marked off for something that is not clear if I am supposed to arrive at the exact time.
Here is a copy and paste from page 3 of the guidelines:
"1. Online orders – Enter at the exact pick-up time stated in your order confirmation email and proceed to the pickup area."
However, my main concern is that I get full pay and reimbursement. I do so many shops that a few 8s are not going to hurt my average.
An Online Order shop I did in the past was ready early so I entered the store early. However I did put that in the comments so my shop would get approved and it did. I said I entered before the exact time in my order confirmation (and I noted that time) because I got a text message that my order was ready earlier (and I noted the earlier time) so I was able to get my food while it was still hot.
It is pretty simple...enter at the time in your confirmation. However, if you get a text stating your order is ready, you can enter when you receive that text. Just EXPLAIN it in the comments. My order time was 12:00 (for example). I arrived 3 minutes early because I received a text indicating my order was ready ahead of the "promised" time.

It doesn't need to be that difficult. They are really looking to see if the orders are ready when they are telling people they are ready. If you show up "early", they are worried you are going to mark them down for not being ready on time. I know it doesn't always make sense, but just do what they say or explain in detail what you did and why you did it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2024 07:02AM by hbbigdaddy.
This is accurate. If you get the text, you can go in immediately.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

It is pretty simple...enter at the time in your confirmation. However, if you get a text stating your order is ready, you can enter when you receive that text. Just EXPLAIN it in the comments. My order time was 12:00 (for example). I arrived 3 minutes early because I received a text indicating my order was ready ahead of the "promised" time.

It doesn't need to be that difficult. They are really looking to see if the orders are ready when they are telling people they are ready. If you show up "early", they are worried you are going to mark them down for not being ready on time. I know it doesn't always make sense, but just do what they say or explain in detail what you did and why you did it.
The guidelines tell you to go when you are supposed to pick it up. Yes, I have waited in my car.
I think I recall reading it on guidelines says on exact time of pick up cause i dinged prior as well.
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