Eat the pizza, don't eat the pizza, take the shop, don't take the shop, ICA violation, almost an ICA violation...I think we all agree on one thing:

BRING BACK THE SUBJECT LINE!!!

I have eaten this pizza thru jobs from "the other msc". I gather I must be one of a few in my neighborhood willing to do them as they call all the time. I like good pizza but truthfully in my area I think the pizza from this place is superior to all the other so called cheap pizza chains. But still I have no idea why anyone would eat there on their own as the better non big chain pizza is actually much less expensive than all the national chains seem to be. For this particular company when I get a delivery I end up with a not so large large that can serve two adults with only two toppings not of my choice and the cost is almost $24. I can eat at a sit down restaurant and get a larger pizza including a tip for that amount. And it will even have some sauce on it and as much shake on cheese as I want.
What I cannot understand is this...are there people who also hate this pizza as almost everyone seems to, who do this job for the regular fee and then throw it or give it away? I do not understand the point of that. The other msc has no fee so if you throw the pizza away or give it to a homeless person why are you doing it? You can give the homeless person some other thing to eat without having to do a report.

Many times a place that has 'no fee' will have a reasonable, or even substantial, bonus. (All I've ever had is a reasonable bonus, but I've heard that the other kind exists, too.)

One of the companies that has this shop offered me a $30 bonus to do it (they don't have pay), and here was my comment:

"Tyler, you LITERALLY could not pay me enough to eat there again."


Never ever ever! Won't do it.

I'd do it for a $30 bonus. You don't have to eat the pizza.

But I probably wouldn't do it for less than that....

I get frustrated with them not only because the pizza is awful, but the questions only ask about the customer service. If they think the customer service is driving away customers, they ought to try eating their pizzas!! Especially after they are cold from cutting them up, turning them over and taking photos.

the clients requirements are ridiculously detailed with no room for the slightest error. or they just don't want to pay and it increases their sales.

I have enjoyed reading all of your posts. Especially about the little girl that cleaned her room and hid in her closet to keep from facing the wrath of this brand of pizza! Hilarious! LOL. Now that said, I have completed these with one other MS co. I would wait till bonuses were offered and have been paid as much as $42 for ONE shop. It is rare, but it has happened in locations that are difficult to fill. Now that company no longer has those shops, which I really miss. The new company that has the account were offering only reimbursement initially and may still be that way actually.

I thought these shops were for TWO pizzas initially, but only reimbursement, it has a high reimbursement of like $25, but that is a marketing tactic of MS co. It makes the shopper feel like they are getting a larger value and more likely to do for reimbursement ONLY. Now in ACTUALITY I have NEVER had one pizza with two topping cost more than $12! HUGE difference don't you think? They are constantly running deals on large pizzas, so They could offer a $15 reimbursement and probably be fine, but it would NOT LOOK AS ATTRACTIVE as the $25. Even though you DO NOT get the difference.( for those shoppers who may not know.). I have been tempted to do these with this other company, but just have a difficult time thinking I am being asked to do something for $5 or LESS, when I USE to get the pizza FREE AND get PAID a decent wage to complete! I have protested by not completing those shops. If they want them done, I expect to be reimbursed an paid for my work!

Later all!

Flightnurse9

^^ They often bonus... As many as I have done, I have never taken them for less than $13, and often $25. Bonuses seem to be the norm rather than the rare exception.

STN reimburses for tip, so even if you are doing a carryout order, keep that in mind for the slaves that work for this chain, have asked for healthcare benefits, and been denied flatly by STN's client. Every little bit helps.

You guys are so funny, I love reading your stories. To tell the truth where I live this shop comes up alot and I wait for a good bonus to accept. I don't get too many job offers because of being in a small town. I am new to this so I am just now learning about waiting for bonuses. I would jump at every job I could get so I was doing a lot of work for very little pay. The one thing I wish I would have understood was the bonuses but even I did not take that pizza job till a big bonus. I have not got the survey request yet and when I do I will not answer it with my true email, but surely someone has to realize no one wants to eat mangled pizza besides teenagers and not get paid just reimbursed.

I haven't done one of these shops in several years. While I never had any issues with my submissions, I agree that it's a huge risk if they reject it considering you have to mangle the pizza and risk poisoning yourself if your blade is at all un-sterile or has unseen rust on it, scramble to quickly take pictures that have to be done precisely correctly, you feel like a criminal when you have to stand around a nearby store to meet the delivery guy if you're not in the store's delivery area, the topping options are extremely limited and yeah the flavor of the crust truly does seem to take on the flavor of the box it's in.

Finding this thread is very timely,though, because I got an email today from S2N with these shops and I noticed that they've made one small change - it appears you no longer have to take box cutters to half the pizza. They're requiring 4 photos total. I was seriously considering doing a shop just because it's been years since I've had this particular pizza and wanted to see if it had improved at all but now not only does that not seem to be the case - but if I'm reading this thread correctly, this MSC has a tendency to reject shops?

I did the pizza shop once for NSS - first time doing it with a small bonus. I learned my lesson. The last two times, I picked up the shops from MF with huge bonuses. NSS just sent me an email to pick one up but, as I replied back, I can't pay my bills with a pizza.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2014 09:31PM by marg704.

DSshopper, in my experience, S2N does not have a tendency to reject shops. The highly-bonused-pizza-shop-that-I-did ten-days-ago still has not been edited, however it had the box cutter requirement and I think I'm doomed to my first rejected shop.

After the screaming match with my husband subsided (with all of those razor blades, no one got hurt, thankfully), he very calmly stated, "Never again."

I love this company.

(heart)

DSshopper... There is no requirement stating that you must eat the pizza. There is nothing stating that you must use a rusty blade either. Whether it's sterile or not is on the shopper, no?

Oh BB, you are far too serious. Happy Friday.

From reading the posts regarding this pizza shop, I don't think I'd want to even be associated with them. Shops of this nature actully make me angry as a shopper and a consumer. If people do not want a companies shops, that is a message in and of itself.
Sounds like a dumb company.

Don

I hope someone steers S-T-N to this post, if they really want to know. Maybe after they see the venom spewed here they will have a heart to heart talk with the client about food quality, nitpicky editors who reject shops for a shadow in a corner of a picture or whatever excuse they give, and putting people out of pocket on rejected shops and all they have to show for their $15 or whatever they laid out is a pizza the dog won't eat.

The nitpicking is the client and I am doubtful they would be stirred by shoppers being out of pocket anything since they have such a high opinion of the food.

The client is so stuck up and full of himself that they don't even dare ask how it tastes in the reports.

I think we need to remember that the purpose of national chain mystery shops is to ensure that corporate standards are met.

Apparently the corporate standard for this shop is that the pizza remain photogenic after being butchered, and be uniformly crappy in taste. Oh, and quickly and politely delivered up with a smile.


Weren't they sued once for claiming their pizzas tasted better because they used better ingredients? Better than what? is what I'm wondering....

Better than none, second to everything.

I have had them ask me about shops before I tell them a food only shop is not that great. The Pizza one you are talking about says it has a 30.00 reimbursement, when I emailed the fast that the instructions say plain cheese only I as told they only allow plain cheese and in some place it is 30.00. Where would that be the only island with 2 pizza places and the other is little ceasars?

I've done the mangled pizza with them once, it was a nice bonus and my DH enjoyed the pizza (even after it was mangled..). I had no problems getting my pictures approved. I'd do it again but only with a bonus. Unfortunately, I live out of the delivery area of any of the restaurants, so I can only do carry out and only if I'm going to be in the area anyway (plus it would have to be bonused for all that work).. so it's pretty limited.

I'm new at all of this, with 11 whole assignments completed. Just reading the specs tells you that this shop is just not worth it.

What are they looking for with the pictures? I don't get that at all.

I've been mystery shopping for over thirty years for hundreds of MSCs and have done <the pizza shop in question> for three different companies. After not getting paid twice for photo quality (seriously?) I stopped doing them. The pizza tastes nasty - they should be more concerned about taste than looks! I've told all schedulers to take me off notification lists for that company but they keep begging. I did tell them that I would try one more time if I could order a thin crust pizza to try. Nope, not possible. With so many pizza choices out there, how do they possibly stay in business?



Mod note: Just a little too close to the name there. I think we all pretty much know who it is, anyway; but rules are rules.

Watching the Wheels Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm new at all of this, with 11 whole assignments
> completed. Just reading the specs tells you that
> this shop is just not worth it.
>
> What are they looking for with the pictures? I
> don't get that at all.

This isn't the only pizza company with mediocre pizza that is more concerned with a delicate golden-brown crust and the even placement of the pepperonis than they are with whether the result is edible or not. They must think people eat pizza with their eyes instead of their mouths.

I have recently started doing these shops for a specific MSC. I feel like the price I am getting to mangle the pizza is fair. I did one for a different company for a lot less, and did not feel it was a fair price. The only thing that bothers me now is the cut slices. I am not a fan of the sauce they use, and am embarrassed to give away a pizza that has been destroyed.

WOW you guys are scaring me a bit! I did that shop today as my FIRST shop EVER! It seemed pretty easy to me.....that being said, I have not yet heard back on my report so I may end up just as aggravated about these shops as everyone else seems to be.

MissMandie1977 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WOW you guys are scaring me a bit! I did that shop
> today as my FIRST shop EVER! It seemed pretty easy
> to me.....that being said, I have not yet heard
> back on my report so I may end up just as
> aggravated about these shops as everyone else
> seems to be.


Let us know what happens!