I have never had a problem with them and they are very nice to work with. Again, this is MY experience, so please don't think I am discounting anyone's bad experience. I have had my fair share of bad experiences so I completely understand the frustration. I recently had a $60 shop disqualified, not by my MSC, but by the client they were doing the shops for. The MSC apologized extensively to me as they did not agree with the reasons the shop was invalidated. Truth of the matter is, and I have lost money myself learning the lesson, if the client refuses to pay the MSC, the MSC can't pay you.
I love doing Pizza shops as my kids have made a formal declaration that Friday nights are pizza night in our house. I am scoping out the companies I know that do these shops starting on Tuesday of every week!
The best trick I have learned is this....now, take into consideration that your kids and pets need to be out of the room and you need to have a clean floor for sanitation purposes, not photo purposes. Place your pizza box on the floor with the shop ID info you need to photograph with it. Stand over the pizza with your camera directly above it until you notice that you are creating a shadow over the entire image you see in the camera. This will keep shadows out of the frame, and by default will likely ensure you are at the right angle. Before anyone comments, I know this is ridiculous, but it works every time, never had a shop rejected, and I must get free pizza every Friday night! When you are taking those crazy side shots, I place the pizza box on the counter, fold the front flap of the box down, and close it in a drawer to show the whole pizza. I line up my camera (i.e. cell phone) to where the bottom of the box is completely straight with the bottom of my viewing screen. No matter which angle or what type of picture I am taking, I take multiple shots. It looks like I am doing a photo shoot on my kitchen floor for Glamour magazine most every Friday night!!! I get the same strange looks from my husband and kids every week, but when the payment comes, those looks tend to fade. Now, I get some odd looks, but not all that heckling like I used to get.