I completed this shop late this week. I did the terrible thing of mentioning a table that was still wrapped in cardboard and an old toaster oven that was visible in the dining area - but I didn’t have a photo of said “infraction”.

Editor sent it back, asking for the photo.

I had mentioned in the shop that I did not have a photo as I was next in line to order and taking a photo of these (directly across from the register) would have likely revealed me as a shopper. This was a non-revealed shop.

Editor declined the shop.

If I had simply removed the text about the table & toaster, I feel like this shop would have been accepted no issue.

I appealed the denial, but is there any chance it could possibly get overturned (and paid)? Is it worth my time pursuing it further than the first email back to them or just eat the cost as part of the business?

If the instructions are not followed, they will not pay you. It's a hard lesson to learn, but as ShopperBob says, "It's just business!" I did one and I was on edge until it was approved.

Why didn't you take a picture of the wrapped-in-cardboard table? Are you saying the table was or was not in the dining area? How are you able to tell the toaster oven is old and doesn't belong? If the table was in the dining area, then there is no reason you couldn't take a picture.

You were too finicky when it came to looking for issues. Nowhere in the guidelines does it say anything about old ovens or tables wrapped in cardboard. It does say this is NOT a white glove audit. I would've taken a couple of interior images and uploaded one as required. I think the comments are there to discuss food and service.

I understand the sentiment but this isn’t my first rodeo, as it were. It just seems like many editors are very much stuck-in-the-mud and haven’t actually done any shopping themselves. Is a picture worth revealing the shopper status?

What normal customer takes pictures of things in the dining room of any restaurant? That just screams “mystery shopper” and I don’t reveal myself. Ever. The rusted toaster oven and cardboard-wrapped table were on top of a seemingly otherwise-normal table in the dining area outside the kitchen prep area.

MSCs often ask for photos that really can't be taken discretely. You just gotta do what you gotta do to get the fee. Also, we tend to be overly paranoid about other people seeing us take pics and thinking our cover is blown. They often don't notice or think much about it

@jrich wrote:

What normal customer takes pictures of things in the dining room of any restaurant?

Plenty. People will post pictures of anything these days. See comments in other posts re: Google Guides (or something similar).

This one was so easy. Go to the restroom before you get in line. Then, while you are waiting for your order, you will have ample opportunity to do whatever you need to do. Check the guidelines, take photos, start filling in the report...

If you describe exceptions to the standards in the questionainne in your narrative, you should provide proof in the form of pictures, if possible.

I tend to video tape the beginning of shops like this. It’s easier to just start taping when I walk in the door. Then I can grab a screen shot of stuff later, without anyone noticing I was taping.

@jrich wrote:

What normal customer takes pictures of things in the dining room of any restaurant? That just screams “mystery shopper” and I don’t reveal myself. Ever. The rusted toaster oven and cardboard-wrapped table were on top of a seemingly otherwise-normal table in the dining area outside the kitchen prep area.

Sorry, but this is on you since the toaster oven and cardboard-wrapped table were in the dining area. It doesn't seem like this is a difficult picture to take. You were obligated to take a picture of this. How did you get a picture of the menu board which is located behind the register and above the employees' heads if you are concerned about being outed? Same question about the interior pic the survey asked for.

Behavior that you believe "screams mystery shopper" is different from what the guidelines state "never reveal yourself as a mystery shopper" which would mean in part don't go to Firehouse Subs and scream "I am the mystery shopper." I believe you when you say this isn't your first rodeo, but your actions suggest otherwise.

To answer your original question. All you can do is wait to hear back about your appeal, but I wouldn't expect anything from them. Appeals typically go in a black hole. They don't have a great appeal process since they don't send you an email confirming receipt of the appeal, when you should hear back by, and what should you do if the deadline date passes. It is not worth pursuing further.

As @jgardn02 noted, if you cite exceptions to the standard in the evaluation, expect to provide pictures backing up your claim.

I haven't seen these. Any hints for MSC?

Completed mine today, already "Approved for Pay," was returned for an overall comment which I missed. Easy, easy shop.

It kind of depends on the nature of the shop. I have a lot where I'm allowed to say what happened without proving it, like the gym shops I've been doing a lot of lately and I have even quoted some exchanges word for word where they were name-calling, either me at one shop and the other gym members at another. I couldn't prove it. I didn't get a tape recorder. But they accepted it. However, if the shop says that you have to take photos of infractions, as they often do at fast food shops, then if you don't have a photo I wouldn't mention it. I don't think it's fair at all to reject you, though. What they should do is simply to delete that comment. That's what the good ones do.

1/. Don’t worry if you will be ‘outed’ by taking a pic in full view of the staff. If the MSC doesn’t care, why should you?
2/. Only do the bare minimum of what’s expected of you. The add on comments will be exploited and gives them a free shop - that they WILL use.
3/. Tell them that you are willing to delete those comments if they are not helpful. It’s unclear if other reporting was a requirement or not, but if it wasn’t, there shouldn’t be anything pertaining to taking pictures of other things in the guidelines either. If there is not that language, they have no case. Insist on getting paid or else you will report it to the AG’s office. This has been effective for me in the past.
4/. Terminate the MSC in writing. The chances of profiting off of them in the future is too low. Save it in your records for at least 2 decades. If you don’t get paid, follow through with the AG complaint that will take about 5 minutes online.
5/. If you don’t get paid, continue to expose them on MS forums for the heartless, cheap bastards that they are. Stroll down memory lane often about it. Accept no blame. You were just trying to be helpful.

@Minime wrote:

1/. Don’t worry if you will be ‘outed’ by taking a pic in full view of the staff. If the MSC doesn’t care, why should you?
2/. Only do the bare minimum of what’s expected of you. The add on comments will be exploited and gives them a free shop - that they WILL use.
3/. Tell them that you are willing to delete those comments if they are not helpful. It’s unclear if other reporting was a requirement or not, but if it wasn’t, there shouldn’t be anything pertaining to taking pictures of other things in the guidelines either. If there is not that language, they have no case. Insist on getting paid or else you will report it to the AG’s office. This has been effective for me in the past.
4/. Terminate the MSC in writing. The chances of profiting off of them in the future is too low. Save it in your records for at least 2 decades. If you don’t get paid, follow through with the AG complaint that will take about 5 minutes online.
5/. If you don’t get paid, continue to expose them on MS forums for the heartless, cheap bastards that they are. Stroll down memory lane often about it. Accept no blame. You were just trying to be helpful.

I believe forum rules are you can badmouth the company but not the store too, so since the store has been mentioned here then they can't say the name of the company. So that gets a bit tricky.

@ozshopper wrote:

@Minime wrote:

1/. Don’t worry if you will be ‘outed’ by taking a pic in full view of the staff. If the MSC doesn’t care, why should you?
2/. Only do the bare minimum of what’s expected of you. The add on comments will be exploited and gives them a free shop - that they WILL use.
3/. Tell them that you are willing to delete those comments if they are not helpful. It’s unclear if other reporting was a requirement or not, but if it wasn’t, there shouldn’t be anything pertaining to taking pictures of other things in the guidelines either. If there is not that language, they have no case. Insist on getting paid or else you will report it to the AG’s office. This has been effective for me in the past.
4/. Terminate the MSC in writing. The chances of profiting off of them in the future is too low. Save it in your records for at least 2 decades. If you don’t get paid, follow through with the AG complaint that will take about 5 minutes online.
5/. If you don’t get paid, continue to expose them on MS forums for the heartless, cheap bastards that they are. Stroll down memory lane often about it. Accept no blame. You were just trying to be helpful.

I believe forum rules are you can badmouth the company but not the store too, so since the store has been mentioned here then they can't say the name of the company. So that gets a bit tricky.

Dang, I tend to want to badmouth both - even in the same sentence. As far as future badmouthing goes, they can always start a new thread or err on the side of caution by giving the MSC a nickname, as I do with Ipshitz. I would be happy to come up with a new pseudo name for this particular MCS, if asked.

@Minime wrote:

@ozshopper wrote:

@Minime wrote:

1/. Don’t worry if you will be ‘outed’ by taking a pic in full view of the staff. If the MSC doesn’t care, why should you?
2/. Only do the bare minimum of what’s expected of you. The add on comments will be exploited and gives them a free shop - that they WILL use.
3/. Tell them that you are willing to delete those comments if they are not helpful. It’s unclear if other reporting was a requirement or not, but if it wasn’t, there shouldn’t be anything pertaining to taking pictures of other things in the guidelines either. If there is not that language, they have no case. Insist on getting paid or else you will report it to the AG’s office. This has been effective for me in the past.
4/. Terminate the MSC in writing. The chances of profiting off of them in the future is too low. Save it in your records for at least 2 decades. If you don’t get paid, follow through with the AG complaint that will take about 5 minutes online.
5/. If you don’t get paid, continue to expose them on MS forums for the heartless, cheap bastards that they are. Stroll down memory lane often about it. Accept no blame. You were just trying to be helpful.

I believe forum rules are you can badmouth the company but not the store too, so since the store has been mentioned here then they can't say the name of the company. So that gets a bit tricky.

Dang, I tend to want to badmouth both - even in the same sentence. As far as future badmouthing goes, they can always start a new thread or err on the side of caution by giving the MSC a nickname, as I do with Ipshitz. I would be happy to come up with a new pseudo name for this particular MCS, if asked.

Creating pseudonyms for MSC’s and companies sounds like a fun thread! Shall we?

@Minime wrote:

@ozshopper wrote:

@Minime wrote:

1/. Don’t worry if you will be ‘outed’ by taking a pic in full view of the staff. If the MSC doesn’t care, why should you?
2/. Only do the bare minimum of what’s expected of you. The add on comments will be exploited and gives them a free shop - that they WILL use.
3/. Tell them that you are willing to delete those comments if they are not helpful. It’s unclear if other reporting was a requirement or not, but if it wasn’t, there shouldn’t be anything pertaining to taking pictures of other things in the guidelines either. If there is not that language, they have no case. Insist on getting paid or else you will report it to the AG’s office. This has been effective for me in the past.
4/. Terminate the MSC in writing. The chances of profiting off of them in the future is too low. Save it in your records for at least 2 decades. If you don’t get paid, follow through with the AG complaint that will take about 5 minutes online.
5/. If you don’t get paid, continue to expose them on MS forums for the heartless, cheap bastards that they are. Stroll down memory lane often about it. Accept no blame. You were just trying to be helpful.

I believe forum rules are you can badmouth the company but not the store too, so since the store has been mentioned here then they can't say the name of the company. So that gets a bit tricky.

Dang, I tend to want to badmouth both - even in the same sentence. As far as future badmouthing goes, they can always start a new thread or err on the side of caution by giving the MSC a nickname, as I do with Ipshitz. I would be happy to come up with a new pseudo name for this particular MCS, if asked.

Creating pseudonyms for MSC’s and companies sounds like a fun thread!

Shall we?

We could even vote on them and create a glossary (grin).

@Minime wrote:

@ozshopper wrote:

@Minime wrote:

1/. Don’t worry if you will be ‘outed’ by taking a pic in full view of the staff. If the MSC doesn’t care, why should you?
2/. Only do the bare minimum of what’s expected of you. The add on comments will be exploited and gives them a free shop - that they WILL use.
3/. Tell them that you are willing to delete those comments if they are not helpful. It’s unclear if other reporting was a requirement or not, but if it wasn’t, there shouldn’t be anything pertaining to taking pictures of other things in the guidelines either. If there is not that language, they have no case. Insist on getting paid or else you will report it to the AG’s office. This has been effective for me in the past.
4/. Terminate the MSC in writing. The chances of profiting off of them in the future is too low. Save it in your records for at least 2 decades. If you don’t get paid, follow through with the AG complaint that will take about 5 minutes online.
5/. If you don’t get paid, continue to expose them on MS forums for the heartless, cheap bastards that they are. Stroll down memory lane often about it. Accept no blame. You were just trying to be helpful.

I believe forum rules are you can badmouth the company but not the store too, so since the store has been mentioned here then they can't say the name of the company. So that gets a bit tricky.

Dang, I tend to want to badmouth both - even in the same sentence. As far as future badmouthing goes, they can always start a new thread or err on the side of caution by giving the MSC a nickname, as I do with Ipshitz. I would be happy to come up with a new pseudo name for this particular MCS, if asked.

Creating pseudonyms for MSCs and companies could be a fun new thread!

Shall we? We could vote on them and create a glossary (grin).

@Minime wrote:

@ozshopper wrote:

@Minime wrote:

1/. Don’t worry if you will be ‘outed’ by taking a pic in full view of the staff. If the MSC doesn’t care, why should you?
2/. Only do the bare minimum of what’s expected of you. The add on comments will be exploited and gives them a free shop - that they WILL use.
3/. Tell them that you are willing to delete those comments if they are not helpful. It’s unclear if other reporting was a requirement or not, but if it wasn’t, there shouldn’t be anything pertaining to taking pictures of other things in the guidelines either. If there is not that language, they have no case. Insist on getting paid or else you will report it to the AG’s office. This has been effective for me in the past.
4/. Terminate the MSC in writing. The chances of profiting off of them in the future is too low. Save it in your records for at least 2 decades. If you don’t get paid, follow through with the AG complaint that will take about 5 minutes online.
5/. If you don’t get paid, continue to expose them on MS forums for the heartless, cheap bastards that they are. Stroll down memory lane often about it. Accept no blame. You were just trying to be helpful.

I believe forum rules are you can badmouth the company but not the store too, so since the store has been mentioned here then they can't say the name of the company. So that gets a bit tricky.

Dang, I tend to want to badmouth both - even in the same sentence. As far as future badmouthing goes, they can always start a new thread or err on the side of caution by giving the MSC a nickname, as I do with Ipshitz. I would be happy to come up with a new pseudo name for this particular MCS, if asked.

Creating pseudonyms for MSCs and companies could be a fun new thread!

Shall we? We could vote on them and create a glossary (grin).

@Minime wrote:

@ozshopper wrote:

@Minime wrote:

1/. Don’t worry if you will be ‘outed’ by taking a pic in full view of the staff. If the MSC doesn’t care, why should you?
2/. Only do the bare minimum of what’s expected of you. The add on comments will be exploited and gives them a free shop - that they WILL use.
3/. Tell them that you are willing to delete those comments if they are not helpful. It’s unclear if other reporting was a requirement or not, but if it wasn’t, there shouldn’t be anything pertaining to taking pictures of other things in the guidelines either. If there is not that language, they have no case. Insist on getting paid or else you will report it to the AG’s office. This has been effective for me in the past.
4/. Terminate the MSC in writing. The chances of profiting off of them in the future is too low. Save it in your records for at least 2 decades. If you don’t get paid, follow through with the AG complaint that will take about 5 minutes online.
5/. If you don’t get paid, continue to expose them on MS forums for the heartless, cheap bastards that they are. Stroll down memory lane often about it. Accept no blame. You were just trying to be helpful.

I believe forum rules are you can badmouth the company but not the store too, so since the store has been mentioned here then they can't say the name of the company. So that gets a bit tricky.

Dang, I tend to want to badmouth both - even in the same sentence. As far as future badmouthing goes, they can always start a new thread or err on the side of caution by giving the MSC a nickname, as I do with Ipshitz. I would be happy to come up with a new pseudo name for this particular MCS, if asked.

Creating pseudonyms for MSCs and companies could be a fun new thread!

Shall we? We could vote on them and create a glossary (grin).

I did a shop this week and did my usual, as discretely (or discreetly) as possible - photo snapping.
I watched and heard an employee lean over to the employee next to her and say
"whenever they have their phone out and pointing in this direction, that's how you know they are a shopper"

The MSCs expect this to happen. If they hold it against you, you get to decide whether to do that shop type again.

.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2026 05:10PM by SBP.

…and everyone has their phones out snapping and making videos for their “followers,” so they’ll never know for sure if we’re shoppers or just silly humans chasing another “like.”
We are potential buyers. They are there to help sell product.
We give them a chance to be recognized for doing a great job = win-win.

.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2026 05:12PM by SBP.

.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2026 05:11PM by SBP.

@minime What would the State AG do in this case? The OP cited an infraction in the report, but didn't take a pic. The OP admits they thought it was weird to take a pic of the old oven and table in a box in the dining room. On the scale of easy to hard, this is a pretty easy picture to take given that it is in the dining room compared to the picture of the menu board which is above/behind the workers' heads. The shop guidelines are not there so you can pick and choose which ones you want to do or don't give you the ick. The burden was on the OP to take the pic and there was no excuse.

Just like the other sub thread where the person was miffed that their shop was rejected, but later realized they did the wrong shop - in person instead of mobile or the other way around. Still, they didn't do the proper shop. I guess they should contact the State AG as well. What is the State AG supposed to do about that case?

You wrote that it was "unclear if other reporting was a requirement or not", but page 4 explains:
Capture a photo of other issues found:
• Store exterior
• Store interior
• Restroom if out of order or issue
• Fountain Drink Machine
• Drink area

It is very clear that other pics were a requirement in this case.

I agree with you that we should do the minimum given the current state of pay. Like others have noted, they don't pay you extra for additional images that some reports have a spot for. Going above and beyond is not rewarded by these MSCs.

If the OP or anyone decides to go on the boards and bad mouth them which is their right, they should be honest about what happened like the OP did here - admit that that they didn't take a pic in the dining room area of an infraction because they thought it was weird and it screams mystery shopper and like the OP did in the other thread where they didn't execute the proper type of shop. I don't think reasonable people would expect to have a shop approved if they did the wrong shop like doing in person at the counter instead of the assigned drive thru or online.

The last time I saw a FH sub shop is that you had to order form the app and pick it up at the counter.

I have never seen one where you can dine in.. I would love to do an dine in one sometimes

I wonder if the same MSC that I saw it with last time and if all them are shopped (Just like the TRX) or just certain ones..