Can't do my shop-Bare

May 18, 2014 12:34AM

I was scheduled to do a restaurant shop and had to bring another person (I was bringing my husband). Well, he got called to work and despite my efforts to find someone else, nobody is available. This is my first shop with Bare Intl and I'm wondering if I'm going to get the boot from the company or if I might get another chance. The reason I'm so nervous is I didn't find out until this morning (Saturday) that I didn't have anyone to go with me and I emailed, big of course, nobody is there due to it being a weekend. Thanks for any and all replies!

Shopping Baton Rouge and loving it!

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May 18, 2014 02:35AM

Welcome to the forum

Don't assume that b/c it is the weekend ---->"nobody is there". Most MSC work on a 24/7 schedule. They may not get back to you, when you want them to but they will get back to you. MSC have a life too, just like us.

Were or are you able to reschedule the dinner? It is dinner, right?

Although your spouse was not available, there was n't any in-laws, out-laws, or friendly or enemy provoking church going neighborly person to help you out?

Just wondering. IDK what I would do in that situation either. or what BAI will do.

BTW, let your hubby know he owes you a big one, on his dime

May 18, 2014 02:53AM

A problem with a first shop is never good. Try calling and leaving a message on an answering machine and try again Sunday and Monday. Showing good effort to try to reach them will go a long way to get past 'just forgot the thing'. Try to talk with a real person but in the meantime make sure you start an email trail.

Generally you apologize, throw themselves on their mercy, suggest to them that this was a completely unusual situation, indicate that you will find backup possible companions so that this will never, ever, ever happen again.

It does make a whole lot of sense to have an 'on-call' backup person. For me it is my son, who has pinch hit some several times when there was sickness or injury. He has been known to cancel his dinner plans to come to my rescue.

Many shops allow you a window of a couple of days to do them. Plan on going the first day of the window. Then if there is an unforeseen problem, you still have the rest of the window to complete the shop.

May 18, 2014 03:05AM

Communicate with them as soon as possible and offer to reshop on a particular date. If you can do that it should be alright.

Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut

May 18, 2014 09:42PM

I wonder what happened. I hope it worked out okay. I have to admit, I clicked on this thread because I thought maybe a nudist was upset that we're not allowed to shop bare

There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

May 19, 2014 02:06AM

It never fails that a shop problem will occur on the weekend. I have railed for years that if MSCs schedule weekend shops, MSCs should have someone available, on call, to support shoppers. We are working weekends, so should they.

May 19, 2014 03:41AM

Some Schedulers check their email on weekends. Some answer their phones. Some don't do either. Then there are some MSCs with weekend emergency numbers although bare is not one. I know what shop your talking about and they have trouble filling those. They may let you reschedule.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.

May 19, 2014 09:41PM

I cancelled twice with them, one was because of a snow storm the other was because of a personal emergency. I was canned. I found out they pay pretty low for some food chain shops. I had a recent conversation with a neighbor and she said he husband started mystery shopping for one of the better known mystery shopping companies and he demanded a much higher price for food chain shops and he gets it every time. Never knew you could negotiate a price.

May 19, 2014 11:16PM

Hi everyone, OP here. So after a mad dash of calls, I was able to find someone. I was VERY lucky as I have no family and very few friends in town, but one friend friend decided to help me out instead of going to a crawfish boil. She did, however, order the two most expensive items on the menu.

They already accepted my survey on the restaurant and said it was well written. I think I'm going to stick with store shops for a while so I don't have to worry about having someone with me.

Shopping Baton Rouge and loving it!

May 19, 2014 11:53PM

Happy it worked out for you. Now your blood pressure can return to normal.

There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2014 11:53PM by LJ.

May 20, 2014 04:42AM

Keikom, don't bother with that shop. The pay is not worth the work, IF there is pay.

May 21, 2014 01:52AM

Well, I, for one, am absolutely stunned that someone would pass up a crawfish boil to go out to dinner on someone else's dime. Shocking.

August 24, 2014 10:15PM

Hi all, I have one of those restaurant shop scheduled with a $45 budget. Can shop like this be done alone?

I looked at their menu online and for 2 people to stay under $45 with the mandatory alcoholic drink and appetizer, we'd have to order the cheapest thing on the menu which is burgers and salads. This place specializes in seafood so ordering burgers is the kiss of death in my opinion.

I have 30+ years of restaurant experience and whenever someone would order a burger for dinner in a specialty restaurant, we'd all cringe and get upset to have cheap skates occupying one of our table because burgers take the longest to cook from scratch so you can't turn that table quickly.

August 24, 2014 10:34PM

Have you read the guidelines for the shop? The guidelines will tell you the requirements and will definitely tell you if two diners are required or if it can be done alone. Based on the Bare shops I've done, I would guess that two people are required, but to be absolutely sure, check your guidelines.

August 24, 2014 11:07PM

I've been able to do the shop alone after getting a written confirmation that I did not have a companion.

They always agree to it. I guess so, if they want that shop in the boonies done, eh?

August 25, 2014 03:51AM

towncountry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I have 30+ years of restaurant experience and
> whenever someone would order a burger for dinner
> in a specialty restaurant, we'd all cringe and get
> upset to have cheap skates occupying one of our
> table because burgers take the longest to cook
> from scratch so you can't turn that table quickly.

Do not ASSume that because someone orders a burger that they are a cheapskate. I know many people who do not like seafood so chicken or burgers seem to be their only alternative. And for someone who is anemic, they may need the extra iron found in beef.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.”
~ Jimi Hendrix

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

August 25, 2014 04:01AM

I have gone to steakhouses craving steak, then changed my mind when I got there because the burger sounded damn good too.

My husband sometimes wants Five Guys, but I suggest a date night at a pretty nice mid-level restaurant, he agrees, we get there, and.... he orders a burger. Because, damnit, he wanted a burger and he's going to have a burger.

We always tip well. No cheapskate here.

------------------------------------------------
Plan the work. Work the plan.

August 25, 2014 12:36PM

Back in my bartender days I didn't know enough to make any assumptions about who would or would not be a good tipper. My best tip was from two women who were impressed I paid as much attention to them as all the men sitting there. They explained to me how unusual it was because most bartenders ignored woman assuming they wouldn't tip as well.

So the question is were those people ordering burgers cheap or did they tip poorly because the servers treated them like crap based on an assumption?

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

August 25, 2014 05:42PM

If I'm dining alone, and the place is busy, I'll wait a few mintes longer to get seated at a two top if the hostess is zoned out and offers me a four top booth to myself. The waitress definatly noticed this when I refused the four top and saw a two top being bussed in the same section and waited on it. Sometimes I think the hostess may have it out for a particular server and will drop all the single parties in one section on thier four tops.

August 25, 2014 05:42PM

LJ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have to admit, I clicked on this thread because
> I thought maybe a nudist was upset that we're not
> allowed to shop bare

And no underwear as outerwear anymore, either.

Man, they're just taking all of our fun away.

------------------------------------------------
Plan the work. Work the plan.

August 30, 2014 03:22AM

Bare has restaurant shops now? It used to be only <Oops! Let's just go with "shipping shops", m'kay?> and small retail shops.
I ran into one of their rude schedulers after doing hundreds of shops and establishing a good relationship with the company, even received 2 hotel assignments. However, one bad scheduler and poof, I was deactivated. Never mind that I picked up and helped them many times on last minute shops, even driving 20 miles to do them once.

Mod note: Even though you're no longer working for Bare, the forum still asks that you refrain from linking MSCs and clients. Thanks!

August 30, 2014 01:34PM

I have John Rodriquez as my scheduler, he is the best !! I completed a PO, headed home, it dawned on me that I went to the wrong location.
One email and he rescheduled me.
I'm so blessed that I don't have nasty schedulers.

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