Hi, I have my first applebees shop tomorrow, and just wanted to confirm I'm ordering the correct items. The shop I'm going to has the 2 for 22 deal, so appetizer I'm getting is boneless wings, 2 entree's are the 3 cheese chicken penne and a chicken tenders basket,all three of these are listed under the 2 for 22 deal...with tax it totals to 24.20, plus 2 dollar tip brings it to 26.20

Love love love free food,thanks so much everyone for sharing your insight with this shop...

The 2 for $20/22 is allowed. Check the Mystery Shopper section. There is an Applebees thread where we talm about our favorites.

Yup it's correct. Enjoy!

Oh and I love that 3 cheese chicken penne. I also love those chicken won ton tacos.

That is great that you finally got one scheduled. It is strange because in my immediate area they have the 2/22 and the next town over is 2/20. I have noticed that their menus may be a little different, depending on the location, so I always check online to see what is offered at that location since I really hate to go over reimbursement. Love the boneless wings.

I don't do them as they're too far, but the one I did, I had the won ton chicken tacos, and they are good.
I'm jealous....

@Irene_L.A...thankfully for me I actually love driving..I would probably drive over 30 minutes just for the possibility of free food and to make it even better we get paid on top of the possibility of free food...

To others who have posted my carside parking spots were full..and I went inside after 5 minutes. I just do n/a on all carside questions?
Also I only saw one area for an individual food photo on the report so do I just choose one of the entrees for the photo?

About to eat right now..I don't have the buffalo flavored wings very often..mine is very spicy and a bit tangy and the spice lingers even after taking a couple drinks of soda..I don't personally mind it because I like spicy foods..but not sure if this is the normal way the sauce should taste like...

And once again..thanks so much for being so open about this shop..everyone so much appreciated....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2018 04:17AM by dawnhu.

I always try to take a photo of all entrees at once. And yes, Buffalo wings should be spicy.

I take the picture of the bag, the appetizer and then put both the entrees in the last picture. If I remember they want pictures of all the food ordered.

I also forgot to ask...if you do more than one of these..how do you block or disguise your phone number?

Usually *67 blocks your number, but check with your carrier, some areas/carriers are different. You can get a free Google Voice number also and use it from your phone.

I don't block my number. The locations I shop are very busy.

I don't block my number either. Do we need to? I just figure they think I really like Applebee's : ).

If you drink, Applebee's has a $1 Dollarita (strawberry margarita) deal going on right now: [www.applebees.com]

They suggest changing name and stuff like that. I never do. Never had an inkling that they know I am a shopper.

Thanks for the feedback..I'm alot less stressed after doing my first one and getting a great score..made me laugh on the report..I had to pick up my food inside as the to go spots were full and still full after 5 minutes. Because every Msc wants different details; I included all of the conversation once inside the location..I figured too much detail is better than not enough..and I got points taken off for being too long winded...

Hmmm I do have another lined up on Sunday..maybe I'm just stressing too much over them possibly finding out I'm a mystery shopper...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2018 02:20AM by dawnhu.

Just don't get this while you are doing the shop. No alcohol allowed.

@iShop123 wrote:

If you drink, Applebee's has a $1 Dollarita (strawberry margarita) deal going on right now: [www.applebees.com]

Including too many specifics about a conversation in a shop is one way of getting outed as a shopper.

@dawnhu wrote:

Thanks for the feedback..I'm alot less stressed after doing my first one and getting a great score..made me laugh on the report..I had to pick up my food inside as the to go spots were full and still full after 5 minutes. Because every Msc wants different details; I included all of the conversation once inside the location..I figured too much detail is better than not enough..and I got points taken off for being too long winded...

Hmmm I do have another lined up on Sunday..maybe I'm just stressing too much over them possibly finding out I'm a mystery shopper...

@JASFLALMT..nonono..location was packed..I didn't have an in depth conversation with the staff..when I went inside one of the servers behind the counter..I told them to go spots were full. Had a short wait since server was busy and the to go server came back from ouside during the wait and another customer sitting down and kept asking for a root beer..lol..my feedback on the report was we don't to know every singe detail on conversation; a brief overview is fine..

I just meant that often the reports are shared with the staff and sometimes reporting specific details can out you. It happened to me once (different client, different MSC).

@JASFLALMT..oh wow, had no idea the entire report is shared with the employees..sometimes.
I just figured it was just maybe a few details from the report...I'll keep that in mind for future reports..

Yes, not all clients share the reports with employees, but some do. After that happened to me, there were a few times I emailed a MSC when particularly memorable events happened during a shop asking them what details to include. More than once I was told to not be specific about it.

There was one MSC I shopped for (and edited for later) who did not want shoppers to share where they sat in the dining room and to be careful about how they worded other details during the shop--and whenever certain memorable events happened to the shopper during the shop, they asked the shopper to talk about it in the third person as if they observed it happening to someone else.

So I have a bit of an ethical dilemma but if I go super specific they will know for sure I'm a mystery shopper..the actual pick up didn't go very well as the car to go person did nothing required..although she was very nice.

And just checking here; when you call in do they usually address you by name and confirm your phone number? I thought for sure they knew I was a mystery shopper since they did that but now I'm not sure since the car to go person didn't do anything required....

So this my dilemma and I'm not sure whether I should include it in my report as stated above it wil definitely out me as a shopper...

When I called in to order I forgot to specify in the beginning that it's a 2 for 22 order..so I complete my order and they say my total is 37 dollars and a change amount that I can't recall..so I told them oh no it should be under the 2 for 22 deal..so they rung it up like that...so the person taking the order was pretty snarky and when she was starting to enter the order again she sneaks in at one point yeah we're not mind readers but she was still polite..it actually made me laugh, because I would probably sneak in a similar comment if I was annoyed by a customer. ..anyway I'm rambling a bit..but on the report should I include the 37 dollar amount I was told initially even if it was my error because I didn't specify the 2 for 22 when I first called or do you think the employee should have let me know I could get it for cheaper on the 2 for 22 side?

This is for what to include on the report although I don't mind discussing from an ethical point of view..

Most likely too late by now, but no the staff isn't supposed to tell you if there is a better deal available. So they did nothing wrong there. However, they shouldn't be making snarky comments. And I am sure her manager would be very upset about that. You are understanding but many customers would get upset with her rude comments. There was no need for that and would turn many people off fro going back.

@dawnhu wrote:

So I have a bit of an ethical dilemma .... So this my dilemma and I'm not sure whether I should include it in my report as stated above it wil definitely out me as a shopper...

When I called in to order I forgot to specify in the beginning that it's a 2 for 22 order..so I complete my order and they say my total is 37 dollars and a change amount that I can't recall..so I told them oh no it should be under the 2 for 22 deal..so they rung it up like that...so the person taking the order was pretty snarky and when she was starting to enter the order again she sneaks in at one point yeah we're not mind readers but she was still polite..it actually made me laugh, because I would probably sneak in a similar comment if I was annoyed by a customer. ..anyway I'm rambling a bit..but on the report should I include the 37 dollar amount I was told initially even if it was my error because I didn't specify the 2 for 22 when I first called or do you think the employee should have let me know I could get it for cheaper on the 2 for 22 side?

This is for what to include on the report although I don't mind discussing from an ethical point of view..

Definitely an ethical dilemma. The operative phrases here are "I forgot" and "even if it was my error ." You made a mistake. Why would you even think of reporting that the server did you wrong when you made an error which she allowed you to correct. You didn't like it that she commented that she is not a mind reader. But she corrected your error. Dinging the server (who is correct: she is not a mind reader) would be unethical. If you already filed the report, I hope you didn't do it.

@roflwofl...thanks for the feedback but the 2 for 22 isn't required just an option...and I chose not to include that part in my report but I did include it in the section to let the msc know but not the client...I figured the MSC could decide if the client needs to be made aware

@Rayne..exactly.....

I understand it's an option not a requirement. That wasn't my point. My point was you ordered and did not order what you wanted. It's not the order taker's job to tell you "You know, you can get it cheaper if you order the 2 for 22." Some servers do that, hoping for a bigger tip, the same way some servers deliberately don't charge for beverages hoping to pad their tip. This is frowned on by restaurants. The order taker/server's job is to take your order and upsell to increase the order (want a side of onion rings? want to add a dessert?) not to help you get a cheaper deal. My thought is that a regular customer, when realizing that she ordered wrong, would say "Oh! So sorry, I ordered wrong. I really want the 2 for 22." Maybe you made an apology to the order taker but left that out of your post. You seemed to believe she did something wrong by not telling you about a cheaper deal. Getting a response of "I'm not a mind reader" to a customer saying "it's supposed to be ....." after ordering incorrectly does not sound snarky to me. It just sounds like a statement of fact.

@roflwofl thanks