I do a sandwich shop where I have to visit the restroom first and walk right by the counter too. If anyone looks at me funny, (which they usually don't) I just say that I want to wash my hands first. Seems normal to me, that's how I was taught and I know a lot of people who do that.

New York is a state and also a State of mind.

"Restroom for Customers only" is not a state thing but a "anywhere you want to post that sign" thing. There are places where the sign is not observed but the RR is locked, so you do have to ask. The OP could have also waited in line to ask to used the bathroom before ordering, even in New York. That to would have been acceptable.

I grew up in New York, too (not the city, though), and I agree with sandyf. I never had to use a token to get into a restroom, but almost every restaurant in the area in which I lived had "Restrooms for customer use only" (this was enforced) signs, and some were locked and you have to ask for the key.

If I'm with other people, that changes things, and it doesn't seem odd because the staff knows we're all there to eat.

Maybe we New Yorkers just have some weird bathroom habits.

This was by choice. I was afraid to use the restroom first even though the instructions said to. I had entered another branch of this restaurant on my own dime on another occasion and started to enter the restroom before placing an order. I was stopped by a manager and told that I had to order something first, that restrooms were for paying customers. So there you have it--my reason for bucking the holy guidelines and losing my bonus from Sentry.

Sometimes we, as shoppers, have to strategically fail. That lets the MSP see that their scenarios are whack. If you do exactly what they asked, and it goes sideways, it is their fault, not yours. I always do what the scenario calls for. If that means I get disrupted in some way, I just report what happened. If the restaurant really had a bathroom policy like that, and I got stopped during a shop, I'd just follow the lead of the manager. It is my job to be a compliant customer, afterall. Then, I would report everything that happened to the company. Instead, you decided to change the scenario pre-emptively without asking anyone about it first. For all you know, the company wants to test how the managers are doing at enforcing the bathroom policy!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2016 02:59PM by elynbeth.

being stopped from using the bathroom before ordering previously does not justify not trying again..no reason to be afraid to ask...if they refuse...note that in the report...at least you tried and that might still get you full pay

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2016 11:07PM by jmitw.

I would add that you may have been guessing incorrectly in trying to avoid being stopped by a manager as well. Our assignments are essentially to follow the instructions provided and report objectively on them....and you don't always know the reason for a particular instruction.

Perhaps the reason for the request is to see if management is or is not stopping people from using the restroom before they have ordered. You potentially loose more customers by handling that poorly than delivering a sandwich 10 seconds late....

How about just asking to use their restroom to wash your hands. You can say that your hands were sticky or similar as an excuse to check the restroom.You can proceed with your take out shop.

This group is untrustworthy. I have been unable to sign-in on multiple occasions and their website is user unfriendly. I am sick of pizza and burger shops requiring you pass a test to review their food. It's fast food, not rocket science.

Their website is one of the standard mystery shopping portals. There is nothing unusual about it - if you don't like the Shop Metric platform, then you are eliminating a lot of MSCs, which is of course your right.
Shop Metrics is in my opinion no better or worse than the other platforms. Each has its own positives and negatives, including occasional times when the platform crashes and no one can log in.

Many MSCs require tests. If you eliminate all MSCs which require tests, then you will have a lot of companies on your personal lousy list. Maritz requires a test for every client. So does MF. That is just the tip of the iceberg.

@TGStew52 wrote:

This group is untrustworthy. I have been unable to sign-in on multiple occasions and their website is user unfriendly. I am sick of pizza and burger shops requiring you pass a test to review their food. It's fast food, not rocket science.

Stew, I'm hoping you just had a bad day with the ShopMetrics reporting program. Once you get used to ShopMetrics you'll like it well enough to use it. None of them are perfect. A lot of companies use ShopMetrics, and a lot of companies require tests. If you're not willing to be flexible and learn to use the different reporting platforms and if you're not willing to take qualification tests you may not be able to maintain enough shop volume to make this worthwhile.

My experience with Sentry has been that they are cooperative with their shoppers. I have been with them for several years and have been paid every cent they owe me. I have never had a report rejected although I have had inquiries for additional information. Once I was dinged for being late. I was late and I expected the ding.

You will find multitudes of shoppers who don't like this company or that company. We all have our favorites and non-favorites and you can find pro and con comments about anyone, including Sentry. You're not feeling good about them right now so I understand if you don't want to pick up their shops, but you might want to keep them on your possible list and check them out again later when you have more experience and are more familiar with the way ShopMetrics works.

Can you tell us more about what you didn't like about ShopMetrics? Maybe we can help.

@TGStew52 wrote:

This group is untrustworthy. I have been unable to sign-in on multiple occasions and their website is user unfriendly. I am sick of pizza and burger shops requiring you pass a test to review their food. It's fast food, not rocket science.

Deleted due to the content no longer being relative to this conversation....

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2016 10:07PM by SteveSoCal.

@TGStew52 wrote:

This group is untrustworthy. I have been unable to sign-in on multiple occasions and their website is user unfriendly. I am sick of pizza and burger shops requiring you pass a test to review their food. It's fast food, not rocket science.

I am not a Sentry defender, nor a detractor. I have not shopped for them. I see that you are calling Sentry untrustworthy, but I don't see anything explaining what makes them untrustworthy. The fast that they have chosen that particular platform might make it difficult to report or search, but it doesn't affect trustworthiness.

I'm not a big fan of tests, either. I don't find them effective when I have to test before applying which may be some time before the shop actually occurs. Then I have to study again just prior to the shop. However, it is part of the job. I definitely require a bit extra pay for shops that require a test. Especially if I am just doing one of them.Again, though, this might make them annoying, but I don't see how it affects trustworthiness

So, it would be great if you could give one or two clear and well written examples of this Without anything to go on, we are left thinking that this accusation is baseless.

>>>Whether or not you live in New York makes no difference <<<
I'm going to disagree there. NYC is different. Due to the number of nasty vagrants, using a business' bathroom without ordering is a huge cultural no-no. The company has no way to know you're going to order if you use the bathroom first, and they don't open them up to the public - customers only. Last time I was in Starbucks, the wait was 20 minutes, but at least it was clean.

It makes no difference because we are required to follow the scenario. So, I believe that the OP should have attempted to use the bathroom at the beginning as required by the client. Whatever happened at that point would be reported. Either the OP would have been permitted to use the restroom (easy to report) or they would have been refused (slightly harder to report). Either way, they would have followed the required scenario and getting paid would not be an issue.

@PasswordNotFound wrote:

>>>Whether or not you live in New York makes no difference <<<
I'm going to disagree there. NYC is different. Due to the number of nasty vagrants, using a business' bathroom without ordering is a huge cultural no-no. The company has no way to know you're going to order if you use the bathroom first, and they don't open them up to the public - customers only. Last time I was in Starbucks, the wait was 20 minutes, but at least it was clean.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2016 12:39AM by myst4au.

On a somewhat related note, this thread reminded me of a fast casual shop for MarketForce that required a restroom visit. They asked me why I visited the restroom before ordering my food. Well, I had to go and couldn't wait.

Has anyone recently signed up with Sentry? I would like to sign up with them, but the links for the FAQ on their site doesn't work, and hasn't for several weeks. Does anyone know a different way I can access that information? I don't sign up with companies that don't explain their payment process.

It does happen in places beyond NY/NYC.

I recently encountered a situation in a coffee shop where the bathroom door was locked with a combination lock. My request for the combination was denied when I said I wanted to wash my hands before I ordered. I was told I would be given the bathroom code after I paid for my order. This was not in NY, but it was in an area with high vagrancy on the opposite coast.

Having said that, I agree it does not negate the need to follow the shop requirements. In this case, I would have noted in the report the denial of usage along with a name/description of the person making the denial. Then I would have done the rest of the shop and gotten the code. Then I would have asked if they could hold my food or I would have put it in my car or something while I did the bathroom check.

But as the shop is over, I would also know for next time and then ask about it in writing before I did the shop again. That way you have the official answer of what to do in writing if the situation arises again.

Using the restroom first is not a weird thing. If anyone says anything, just say you have to wash your hands first before eating. Pretend to be a germaphobe if you have to but it's really not weird. I would not want dirt, germs, etc. in my food either.

Like proudlyshopping, birdy, and sandyf, I grew up in NY and it was completely ingrained in me and everyone I knew that one may not use a RR without previously having made a purchase. No exceptions! It was akin to theft of service. That's how strongly business owners felt about it. To this day, I feel guilty if I stop at a rest stop on I-95 to use a RR and don't buy something ;-) I live further south now and there isn't any taboo about using the RR first and then ordering, but it still feels weird to me when I do so.

There are many things about NY (and elsewhere too but I am only familiar with NY and Calf) that are different. Before I moved from NY I thought refills were never free anywhere. Now Starbucks does charge for refills but regular restaurants do not. Perhaps now you can get a soda filled for free in NY. And the one which made my day when I found out was that Blue Cheese Dressing was also free outside of NY. I spent the first 20 or so years after moving from NY ordering only Blue Cheese dressing because I was getting it for free with my salad and I love getting things for free.
As for restrooms, here in LA and I am pretty sure elsewhere with homeless populations, the homeless often take a bath in the restroom. Not only is the door locked for a very long time but the restroom is kind of a mess when they leave. (you try taking your only bath of the week after sleeping in the street in a very small sink with push button soap and paper towels and see what your room looks like afterwards). I personally am in favor of cities with homeless having a shower truck circulate the city where the homeless can step in and go into a stall and take a shower. But I can understand why places of business do not want to allow those not buying there in. There are also many small stores here with no public restrooms so those that eat or shop elsewhere flock to the places they know have one without buying a thing. These people are often middle class but they just need to go.

I don't know if I would be able to put in their web address, it's admin.sentrymarketing.com

I've gone into a place and straight to the restroom first mutiple times in both Manhattan and Staten Island. Never got the stinkeye stare from any one because of it. As long as when you come out you go to the order line, who cares?

A lot of shops from various MSCs require a restroom visit *and* timings. You have to make sure your timings are accurate so you cannot use the restroom because it could mess up the timings. Also, most restaurants want you to taste that food while hot and immediately upon its presentation to you. This means not having it kept under/on a heating apparatus. You need to be there to get your food as soon as its ready. That could also affect your review of the person who gives you your food. You end up asking for it instead of just responding to your named being called. It's different. That doesn't sound like it was part of the OP's shop, but it is in many of the shops I do.

I always try to do the restroom visit first and get it out of the way. I've never had any restaurant question that, even if they aren't busy. A lot of people need to take that restroom visit before ordering. It happens all the time. You can do it at the end, too, but I prefer the beginning.

This sounds like the visit was stated in the guidelines to be done first. Cardinal rule: always follow the guidelines -- period! Remember, too, you can always ask your scheduler about that. In fact, I've done that more than once. I had one scheduler check with her supervisor and it actually went up the chain and then it came back that it was perfectly fine to do it that way.