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IHOP shop reimbursement only and not enough to cover food, tax and tip

May 15, 2025 08:51PM
Shame on companies expecting reimbursement only shops and not enough to cover food tax and tip. Our local tax on dine in food is 9% which is quiet high and when your add the tip to the menu prices you ae spending money you will not get back plus no shop fee. Shame shame
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More About Reimbursements
May 15, 2025 09:00PM
I agree it is a shame they don't reimburse the whole amount. But the bigger shame are people who take these. Just like they take the popular chicken finger place for NO pay and insufficient reimbursement for the BOX combo.

While it would be nice to see companies reimburse the expected purchases, why should they if there are clowns willing to still do the work for just a "discount."
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May 15, 2025 09:22PM
@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I agree it is a shame they don't reimburse the whole amount. But the bigger shame are people who take these. Just like they take the popular chicken finger place for NO pay and insufficient reimbursement for the BOX combo.

While it would be nice to see companies reimburse the expected purchases, why should they if there are clowns willing to still do the work for just a "discount."

I truly agree with you.

However, I have taken shops at base pay while traveling, because I do have to eat .

At home I always wait for a bonus at the burger place. Those chicken places aren't around my neck of the woods yet.

They were in Dallas, 10 years ago. I think the pay and reimbursement covered it all back then. But I'm guessing the fees and reimbursement haven't kept up with inflation.
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May 15, 2025 10:16PM
Yes, they are a bit stingy here with the reimbursement, but I'll make it work for the one I'm doing in a few weeks. There are a number of good choices in the $12-14 price range. I don't see a requirement to order a specific beverage, so I'll get water. Add on tax and tip, and I should be at just around $17-18. I'm mainly doing this because it's really close to work and a free meal is still a free meal. However, if something else better comes up that day, I will either reschedule or cancel the IHOP shop.
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May 15, 2025 11:24PM
I had no problem staying under/at reimbursement on the last round. Even got extra sides. But it really depends on what the required items are. Faves and a short stack flavor of the month was very inexpensive.
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May 15, 2025 11:51PM
On this topic I think many of these places we shop and already are priced just under the reimbursement or even a little above will be raising prices fairly soon. I just heard on the news that Walmart is raising prices storewide double digits (percentage?). With the fear of tariffs staying around on prices and an impending shortage of workers in lower end jobs most places will be raising prices once again. Even a restaurant, which may seem like they source everything in the US, probably has many items they source from another country.
I have not seen reimbursementd rise much if at all in msc these last few years. I am not expecting their reimbursements to go higher anytime soon.
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May 16, 2025 12:08AM
Another thing I guess I can't understand.

I like to drink milk when I eat pancakes. Though I'd love to have it reimbursed, if it's not, I'll go over reimbursement if I take the shop. It's always my choice.

Same at other restaurants. If I decide to take a shop where I can't get 100% reimbursement for my order, I've aleady decided I'm coming out of pocket. Or biting into the shop fee.

But I chose to do so. I don't like it, but I have on occasion.
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May 16, 2025 02:10PM
Off topic, but sort of on topic..My husband and I ate breakfast at a local IHOP this week while waiting for his car to get the oil changed. Neither was a shop. I used to love IHOP but we were so disappointed. The place needed to be shopped so badly. It's amazing how much i realized I've been MS trained. First note was trash on floor in entry. Next was nobody at the host stand or anywhere on the floor for a few minutes. Next the dated, worn looking interior. Later as I had a view of the kitchen, was one server with no hair covering playing with her very long braided hair while waiting near the food. The service was unbearably slow because the workers congregated in the kitchen. Such a shame. I don't see this place surviving much longer and it's been there since forever. I will say the pancakes were still yummy. I just felt sorta sad for the place. I wish they would just spruce it up, get some friendly and reliable employees and stick to basic food without the convoluted drinks and flavored everything.

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain
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May 16, 2025 03:11PM
As I consider all dining-out shops to be category 2, leisure, if it suits me I accept; if not, I decline. Last month, I passed on four KFCs at $15+$12, but completed the jobs at $30+$12. The only required pics were the receipt and my Drive-thru order.
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May 16, 2025 03:21PM
That one I put in the same category as TX Roadhouse. You can stay under and meet the requirements but it's not as much fun as just dining out somewhat normally and taking it as payment for the reporting (and the report is EASY). I would prefer they add a $15 shop fee because sometimes the experience at IHOP is not good but I doubt very much it will happen as that place is holding on by fingernails.
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May 16, 2025 05:21PM
The last IHOP shop I did covered 2 meals. But the service was terrible, the coffee was cold and tasted old, the pancakes were late and tasted like they had been sitting around. I had to look for signage and table toppers which did not exist! The servers were no where to be found. So taking a shop where I will have to pay for he benefit of the company by spending money and spending time on a report- and worst of all taking photos of the crappy food. A big no thanks
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May 17, 2025 12:38PM
Exactly! MSCs will only do what shoppers allow. As long as shoppers accept the low hanging fruit, especially in high shopper volume areas, things will never change


@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I agree it is a shame they don't reimburse the whole amount. But the bigger shame are people who take these. Just like they take the popular chicken finger place for NO pay and insufficient reimbursement for the BOX combo.

While it would be nice to see companies reimburse the expected purchases, why should they if there are clowns willing to still do the work for just a "discount."

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
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May 20, 2025 04:26PM
I just delete these along with others like them.
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May 21, 2025 10:06AM
I will give more allowance, as wrosie says, if I am already on a trip and need to eat.
However, there's only one food shop that I am motivated enough to leave home for lol...and you guys can guess which one that is.
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May 22, 2025 03:16AM
I did one this week and the total was a whopping $21.56 including tip! That was in part because the waitress just brought and charged me for a side of the bananas foster pancakes when I had intended to order the full stack. (I explained this on the report and it was accepted.) The report is so easy I did it on my phone in well under five minutes.
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