Has anyone done any of these? Idiotically, I signed up for three right away and then realized what a pain they can be.

Company is available on two platforms and the shops might only be west coast. My first shop had tons go wrong and I'm really hoping they'll send it back for review. I wrote to let them know I had issues and I haven't heard anything back.

There really is no such thing as a free lunch.

I heard about the packaging nightmare from a shopper who posts here on the forum. I'm sure they will post soon enough when they see this thread.

I saw the shops in the greater Los Angeles/Orange County area. I did not see them in Seattle or Phoenix areas.

Maybe Uber Eats does more business in the SoCal area that they are only focusing on that area?

I never have used 3rd party for food delivery. Heck, I can't remember the last time I had a pizza delivered from any of the places (PJ/PH/or D). Wifey got a gift card from someone at her office for some lame 3rd party delivery thing and I thought...what a waste that was. Why not get someone a Starbucks card or an Amazon gift card instead. The % of people who use uber eats, grubhub, etc is not that high.

I can go get my own food. I can make sure it's correct when i'm at the place that makes it. I can also make sure it's hot and not sitting around waiting.

I really see NO need for these 3rd party deliveries except for physically unable (some sort of physical limitation) or maybe a mother with several young kids and cannot round them all up and put them all in car seats to go get stuff. The deliveries make sense for office meetings where food is catered or ordered, but not for individuals.

Even if i had crap-tons of money, i think i would prefer to go out and get it instead of waiting for it to be brought to me and risk it being wrong or cold.

@olympia tennenbaum wrote:

Has anyone done any of these? Idiotically, I signed up for three right away and then realized what a pain they can be.

Company is available on two platforms and the shops might only be west coast. My first shop had tons go wrong and I'm really hoping they'll send it back for review. I wrote to let them know I had issues and I haven't heard anything back.

There really is no such thing as a free lunch.

What? No free lunch?

Well, before I elected early retirement, I embarked on European business trips where our suppliers would provide me lunch in France (with wine), lunch in Germany (with beer), and lunch in Norway (open faced sandwiches called smørbrød).

I didn't even have to complete an expense report for those meals!

I agree with bigdaddy, I vote no to delivery eats. Non-value added.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2025 10:47AM by maverick1.

I think me and hbbigdaddy are sometimes thought twins. I'm with him on this one. I'll do it myself.

I haven't seen these shops, but I might have tried it myself, if available

The new Chase Sapphire Reserve is turning into American Express, where it's like a monthly coupon book I use DoorDash, as well.

We all know that mystery shops exist for lots of different businesses so it's not particularly relevant to debate the usefulness or need for uber eats.

With up to $200 in reimbursements and no narrative, these were not too cumbersome. Issues with delivery for me made the job more difficult and necessitated an additional order. The form at some points didn't allow space for explanation of pitfalls with the ordering process or having multiple orders, etc.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2025 02:23PM by olympia tennenbaum.

@maverick1 wrote:

@olympia tennenbaum wrote:

Has anyone done any of these? Idiotically, I signed up for three right away and then realized what a pain they can be.

Company is available on two platforms and the shops might only be west coast. My first shop had tons go wrong and I'm really hoping they'll send it back for review. I wrote to let them know I had issues and I haven't heard anything back.

There really is no such thing as a free lunch.

What? No free lunch?

Well, before I elected early retirement, I embarked on European business trips where our suppliers would provide me lunch in France (with wine), lunch in Germany (with beer), and lunch in Norway (open faced sandwiches called smørbrød).

I didn't even have to complete an expense report for those meals!

I agree with bigdaddy, I vote no to delivery eats. Non-value added.

Sure, if you want to pay for all your meals out of pocket, by all means, don't do mystery shops for them.

The only non-value add in this thread is not the job.

Based on the quote, the usual suspects are at it again

Hopefully, an editor will reach out to you for additional clarification. It sounds like the report should have allowed for further explanations for things that didn't go as intended.

Best case scenario, your shop gets accepted

@paniconmon wrote:

Based on the quote, the usual suspects are at it again

Hopefully, an editor will reach out to you for additional clarification. It sounds like the report should have allowed for further explanations for things that didn't go as intended.

Best case scenario, your shop gets accepted

OMG, your footer about not feeding the trolls is hilarious. Timely advice.

I haven't been doing as many shops lately and didn't realize the MSC was very behind on editing. I did proactively reach out to them but haven't heard anything back. I can only imagine how tedious editing all of these jobs must be. After the first one I got into a good stride but there are quite a few photos involved.

For anyone else who might be doing them or considering them - a couple of notes. If you need to place a second order, there is not really space to add the final total so I put that into the notes under the reorder question. Also, the receipt that you need to upload likely does not include your tip and there is no place to add that manually. If you add it to your total, it will not show the total as pictured (which is what the form asks for). There's not really a spot to explain your math.

I would also recommend not trying to fill this out on mobile. That's how I usually do photo heavy jobs but something about the length of the form makes it very hard to move around in the survey and get back to your place. My first job was very glitch somehow but the two I did subsequently were much easier.

Last piece of advice, don't start with a location that offered a million different dishes. Last night I did one for a popular Mediterranean food chain and it was a good selection because they don't offer a ton of different food categories to order.

Good luck to anyone else doing these.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2025 02:23PM by olympia tennenbaum.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I heard about the packaging nightmare from a shopper who posts here on the forum. I'm sure they will post soon enough when they see this thread.

I saw the shops in the greater Los Angeles/Orange County area. I did not see them in Seattle or Phoenix areas.

Maybe Uber Eats does more business in the SoCal area that they are only focusing on that area?

I never have used 3rd party for food delivery. Heck, I can't remember the last time I had a pizza delivered from any of the places (PJ/PH/or D). Wifey got a gift card from someone at her office for some lame 3rd party delivery thing and I thought...what a waste that was. Why not get someone a Starbucks card or an Amazon gift card instead. The % of people who use uber eats, grubhub, etc is not that high.

I can go get my own food. I can make sure it's correct when i'm at the place that makes it. I can also make sure it's hot and not sitting around waiting.

I really see NO need for these 3rd party deliveries except for physically unable (some sort of physical limitation) or maybe a mother with several young kids and cannot round them all up and put them all in car seats to go get stuff. The deliveries make sense for office meetings where food is catered or ordered, but not for individuals.

Even if i had crap-tons of money, i think i would prefer to go out and get it instead of waiting for it to be brought to me and risk it being wrong or cold.

Why debate the merits of the business or shop? Should someone who sleeps on the floor say there's no reason for a mattress shop? Someone who is a vegan argue the point for a Texas Roadhouse shop?

Many kinds of business exist because there is a market and are shopped to gather metrics.

You have shared that you feed your family at Panda and they share the food so it works for you. You have to drive there and order in person and do the report, etc. I'm not sure why it wouldn't make sense for you to order delivery and get several days worth of food and also get paid similarly to a Panda shop. I don't usually choose to debate the merits of shops with people but I don't get how this isn't a better value proposition in terms of what you get in return for the shop. If you started a thread asking about a Panda shop, I wouldn't comment that the jobs are a bad value and I don't understand why Panda is shopped.

Some of the participants regularly share their opinions on what kinds of shops they do and then seem to place value judgements about those who do the jobs they don't. There are often assumptions about them being more needy or desperate for food or work. There are also some who don't seem to grasp that getting paid in food (and no, not a free lunch), has a better result for the bottom line, e.g. get paid $100, get taxed (add your marginal tax rate, SE taxes, state taxes) and realize that when you go to pay for your $100 dinner, you are short due to all the taxes you paid. Pay $100 for dinner that is reimbursed and you don't loose everything you paid in taxes if you had been paid in money. I'm far from SS but you can also consider how being paid in cash vs. reimbursements affects how your SS is taxed and the effect of your income on the price you pay for Medicare.

We can likely all agree that some of the jobs don't pay that well and that the amount of work required is not always reflected in the pay. We all shop for different reasons and we likely all choose jobs that work for us in one way or another. Some of us are lifestyle shoppers, some professional shoppers and some of us are hybrid shoppers.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2025 03:30PM by olympia tennenbaum.

@olympia tennenbaum

I would more than likely do the shop if it was in my area (at least 1x). Maybe you skipped the part where I said I did not see them in 2 specific metro areas. I'm not making a special trip to SoCal to do this shop.

My only point was that food delivery is such a niche market. I prefer my food correct and hot. I was only saying that I can take care of it myself.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

@olympia tennenbaum

I would more than likely do the shop if it was in my area (at least 1x). Maybe you skipped the part where I said I did not see them in 2 specific metro areas. I'm not making a special trip to SoCal to do this shop.

My only point was that food delivery is such a niche market. I prefer my food correct and hot. I was only saying that I can take care of it myself.

Got it. I thought you usually were into the value proposition of jobs. Yeah, definitely do NOT come to SoCal for this job. Were you in HB?

The hot part is completely valid. For the most part I tried to pick food items that could easily be reheated. I also planned on food items that would be for meals later in the week. The job requires that you order many different items for the packaging.

For me personally, I don't order delivery unless it's a shop. I also don't eat out that much unless it's a shop. Like others, I have 3rd party credits from different credit cards but i'll only use them for pickup and not delivery.

I apologize for misinterpreting your comments.

i used to be in "the OC". I lived in CA for decades. Finally left. Daughter wanted to go to college out of state and I wanted to leave CA anyways. I still have 2 rental houses in CA. One in OC and one in LAC.

As far as CC offers for all the delivery things, I'm sure I have them, but I personally despise the concept so I choose to not participate. Sure, if it's a shop and it's something I want to eat, I might consider it, but generally speaking, I prefer to leave the house. I work from home all day.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

i used to be in "the OC". I lived in CA for decades. Finally left. Daughter wanted to go to college out of state and I wanted to leave CA anyways. I still have 2 rental houses in CA. One in OC and one in LAC.

As far as CC offers for all the delivery things, I'm sure I have them, but I personally despise the concept so I choose to not participate. Sure, if it's a shop and it's something I want to eat, I might consider it, but generally speaking, I prefer to leave the house. I work from home all day.

The new coupon book versions of "premium" credit cards is definitely a pain. I use them every month though. With the outsized fees I figure it's a small offset. It also gets us out for a small date now and again.

Some words for future threads, if I shared my opinion in disagreement with every shopper's dietary or lifestyle choices, it would be a while

I have succinctly followed something shopperbob recently shared: "One shopper's meat is another's poison."

If I can add something relevant, I will try. If not, then I move on. I have also been found guilty of not adding anything relevant to the original topic

@paniconmon wrote:

Some words for future threads, if I shared my opinion in disagreement with every shopper's dietary or lifestyle choices, it would be a while

I have succinctly followed something shopperbob recently shared: "One shopper's meat is another's poison."

If I can add something relevant, I will try. If not, then I move on. I have also been found guilty of not adding anything relevant to the original topic

Yes, SB is usually kind to share his wisdom. I don't always agree but he is always forthcoming and tries to be of help to others. More than you can say for some!

I just found that toggle switch, very helpful!

I did one of these and although it sounds up front like a great job...$200 worth of food! that is not what it is. I am prettty sure the reason for this job was due to the high standards on what materials can be used for packaging in this state....And the aim of the job was not the food but the packaging. My job, after over a week, is still sitting in pending review status. Like Olympia I mentioned several glitches in the only place for notes. I sure hope my money is reimbursed as the 4.3 star rated restaurant I ordered from had horrible food.
The first guidelines I saw after being able to see the full guidelines asked that we order only the least expensive item in each category. So although I was allowed up to $200 I was not allowed to order items to get me there.
The job required some impossible photos. If you do decide to do this job I would suggest you do it during daylight hours as the photos required do not work in artificial light. I did mine at 5 PM ish and already I needed to turn the lights on but it caused too much varation depending on how far away the light source was. Daylight streaming through your window would be best. And you cannot do this in a space without a sink or an entire rolll of paper towels at hand and additional empty containers. .

Someone, possibly on another forum, wrote about a possible additional value. Mind you, they did not specifically state mystery shop. It seems reasonable to go one step farther and use the idea for a known mystery shop.

Salvage/harvest the meal components and use ingredients in expected and unexpected ways.

I have not tried this, but I would consider it for some food.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2025 07:43PM by Shop-et-al.

My question would be...for the $200...how much food do you really get with the 3rd party fees and the expected tipping? For those that have promotions on the 3rd party, you can probably get more for the $200 than just the average person.

It sounds like @SandyF was not thrilled with the food she received. So even if she got a fair amount of food, it doesn't sound like she thought it was worth it.

How much time and effort is involved with obtaining $200 of food from the grocery shops?

How does this compare to the uber packaging shop?

Not a no-brainer.

I am temporarily homebound (no vehicle) and could evaluate packaging. I will not do this because it is not feasible to spend my money and wait for reimbursement. I also limit salt and sugars and might not want the designated range of foods. I see potential value but no possibility at this time.

Yes, my daugher who is a great cook doctored up the items that had no soul at all making them palatable. I would say what I had was the Del Taco or Taco Bell of Middle Eastern foods. Not to denigrate those two vendors of Mexican foods but they are not the same as a sit down restaurant with a cook who knows how to cook a good meal not using a formula so everything is exact anywhere you choose to eat. For those of you in rural areas of small towns you may not have many choices of food from around the world but where I live there are great restaurants of this type of food every few blocks. As an example my $16.00 (menu price) Greek salad had American olives, and the only other thing that was Greek salad about it was a smattering of small crumbles of feta. Hummus tasted like ground up cooked garbanzos with no flavoring added and very thin. So no I did not enjoy. Signing up for the first time using the delivery service automatically gave me a free week of their discount service with no way I could find to cancel it after my free week was over. I had to send them an email to cancel.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

My question would be...for the $200...how much food do you really get with the 3rd party fees and the expected tipping? For those that have promotions on the 3rd party, you can probably get more for the $200 than just the average person.

It sounds like @SandyF was not thrilled with the food she received. So even if she got a fair amount of food, it doesn't sound like she thought it was worth it.

I have done three of these. One was amazing! It was a Thai restaurant I had not tried before. You are supposed to order a mix of hot and cold items and also liquid and solid, as well as things you think will have different containers. I was able to get a salad, a noodle dish, curry, rice, appetizer and Thai iced tea. That was a very good experience.

Other order was a specialty vegetarian/vegan place. The food was fairly good but felt like "health food." My SO likes this place so I ordered it. Didn't love it but ordered a variety of things and it felt like decent value. I had lots of issues with filling our this form and then most of my order didn't arrive so I had to place a second order. I spent close to the limit on this one and I'm kind of terrified that I'll have issues.

Third shop was a popular Mediterranean chain. I hadn't tried it and it was pretty bad. They also forget to send two items so that was a pain. I did not care for the food. So, this one was a bummer. But, I was a little interested in trying the chain so I'm happy someone else paid for it.

If you have a restaurant you like, and they are available, it seems like a good deal.

I agree with Sandy that you can kind of get screwed with the instructions to order the least expensive or smallest items. I can hardly imagine that the editors will go to the site and check everything you ordered against the menus. I could be wrong.

If you're open about what you're going to order and already like a restaurant or have one you want to try it could work out.

A restaurant that has pizzas in addition to sandwiches, wraps, salads and desserts seems to be about ideal for maximizing the reimbursement.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2025 01:40PM by olympia tennenbaum.

Debating if I should pick up a shop since it has a Boba Place by me, but the Boba shop only has drinks and a few snack items which im assuming will be in the same container...not sure how I will be able to capture multiple containers if the store has limited items. Directions are not clear at all.

These are sounding more and more like west coast shops

Regarding 3PD value, it's odd in some cases for me. To qualify, I had a free annual subscription through another credit card. When about to cancel, I was offered another free year, then another discounted year. I think it's based on spending and usage.

While these restaurants have marked-up prices, the delivery with promos from the store and app that you can apply, ends up being significantly less than pick-up or ordering directly from the restaurant. Also, as a paid member, you receive certain delivery guarantees, such as accuracy and delivery time. If something goes wrong, you receive discounts or credits.

A lot of the restaurants will insert flyers to order directly from them, where it's cheaper. As much as I would like to, when I crunch the numbers, it's the random promotions through the store and app that discount it heavily. I'm not even sure if the restaurant is aware of these promotions that are specifically being offered for its store/location.

@Tiffie1122 wrote:

Debating if I should pick up a shop since it has a Boba Place by me, but the Boba shop only has drinks and a few snack items which im assuming will be in the same container...not sure how I will be able to capture multiple containers if the store has limited items. Directions are not clear at all.

You do have to order wet things and dry things drinks and non drinks so you could likely get several items for the trouble. Won't be anywhere near $200 worth though.

All I could tell from the directions is you have to guess what might be in a different container. I would guess a cup for the boba with a lid and perhaps a rectangle or square for the snacks. But you might only be allowed those two unless there is another category of food/drinks there. I am waiting to see if my job of 5 days ago gets approved before even considering another.

@Tiffie1122 wrote:

Debating if I should pick up a shop since it has a Boba Place by me, but the Boba shop only has drinks and a few snack items which im assuming will be in the same container...not sure how I will be able to capture multiple containers if the store has limited items. Directions are not clear at all.

It's crazy how to have to make another order if they forgot something or if all the containers were not captured. I probably won't do it because the boba place only has popcorn chicken, fries, and calamari which I know I'll be in the same square paper container. For the drinks it's only hot or cold drinks which might be able to satisfy two of the cup container requirements. Too much of a risk to pay for boba + snacks for delivery when I live down the street from there, the mark up for Uber/DD prices is ridiculous.