@AustinMom wrote:

It makes no sense at all to me that contracts are renewed year after year with exactly the same prices and exactly the same reporting requirements.

It makes perfect sense to me! Imagine being an MSC that reimburses fairly and competing for that account. It will most likely remain with the company that charges/reimburses the least until shoppers are no longer willing to take the assignment.

That could be, Steve. That seems to be what happened to another client of ACL's. ACL had a very popular taco shack with many locations which they lost to another company. I love that taco shack, I frequently eat there on my own dime. The new MSC made massive changes to the report requirement, started to pay a fee, and reduced the reimbursement. BUT - they also reduced the ordering requirements. The no-fee ACL shop used to have a $25 reimbursement - requiring 4 different tacos, appetizer, dessert, and two beverages (different bevs: can't both have soda, one must have tea or beer and one soda, etc). The few times I was willing to do the shop, I went over by about 30%. Given the choice, I would have not ordered the dessert or the beverages - I would have drunk water and been under budget, so my over-budget amount was spent for things I really didn't want. The new company pays a $5 fee and allows a $10 reimbursement and has NO requirements - order anything. At the new MSC, the shops fly off the board, where with ACL, and I usually do at least one. The ACL shops sat and sat.

For me the reality is that only one ACL client has ever been completely impossible to make the required purchases and stay within the reimbursement. Our sales tax is 6% and that was an 18% required tip. With all the rest of the shops we have done there was at least one combination of appetizer or dessert, different beverages and different entrees we could have done, met the requirements and stayed within reimbursement. This of course does not mean that what you want to eat when at a seafood or steak place is grilled chicken or a burger, so perhaps you go for a dessert or cheap appetizer in order to save as much of the reimbursement as possible for the entrees and order iced tea to meet beverage purchase requirements for the same reason.

In that sense, ACL is no different than MF with its burger joint. I can do the MF with a single patty burger with cheese, small fries and small drink and stay within the reimbursement or I can get what I actually want and go over reimbursement by 72 cents. The choice is mine.

I can do a restaurant shop with SWS and get a fee plus reimbursement, but the report always seems so discombobulated to me that it takes a lot longer, chops up thoughts in a way that it feels to me totally disorienting, never really lets me spotlight what was good or bad about the experience and leaves me completely unsatisfied when I finally hit 'submit'.

There are trade offs everywhere in life. On last night's dinner shop the reimbursement was more than was needed to get what we were hungry for, meet the requirements and still leave $1.37 unspent. I'm about to go have my leftovers from last night for lunch as both the quantity and the quality made the prices a very good value.

It is becoming more common for reimbursement to be an issue depending where the shopper is located. I don't know how they come up with reimbursement amounts, but it is obvious differences across the country are not always taken into consideration. Just in different parts of St. Louis the sales tax could be as low as in the 6's up to just over 10%. Unless menu prices are dictated by corporate and are the same everywhere, which would be unrealistic, they are going to vary by the location's expenses and what the market can bear. It may be that ACL and similar MSCs need to reevaluate with the client so they can provide the equivalent value in all markets rather than just the same reimbursement.

I agree. I USUALLY can stay within the budget requirement with ACL shops. I typically do not order beverages, I drink water. And I tend not to order the most expensive thing on the menu simply because I order what I actually like and want. It's amazing how much restaurant beverages cost. The TexMex restaurant I wrote about above is still doable as far as staying under reimbursement by ordering the absolute cheapest. When adding tax and tip, I can barely make it or choose to order something very moderately priced and go over. And of course, they encourage an appetizer, but since it is not required, I stay away because that would be on my own dime. The money simply goes much less further than it did 9 years ago when I first did the shop at the same reimbursement.

The taco shop was an unusual because I could not seem to stay within the reimbursement. It had so many requirements, including BOTH appetizer and dessert AND two beverages. And, more upsetting, the items that pushed me over budget were things I did not want. I was glad to see that client move to another MSC with easier requirements and a much faster, easier report.

And there are variations in restaurant pricing with the same restaurant in different areas of town. Not too long ago we went to restaurant X, got entrees we wanted, an appetizer, required beverages and with tax and tip underspent the reimbursement by a few dollars. A few weeks ago we did the same restaurant at its waterfront location and if we had ordered what we had at the other location would have been well above reimbursement because the entrees each were $2+ more and the appetizer was $1 more with the beverages about 75 cents more. Now add tax and tip to the inflated prices and you have a hefty out of pocket. I came home and checked the menus for the two locations on line and indeed the waterfront location is way high.

Thanks for the tip, I just went to Raise.com and this establishment is on there, but not much of a discount 4% off, but there is an amount of $60 so that's perfect if I ever come back to rotation on this shop. I just have to remember and bookmark this site to check on future shops too.

@Flash wrote:

There are also other ways to skin the cat. My dinner tonight was paid for with a gift card off Raise.com that was purchased with a 16% discount. Gee, I even made a profit on tonight's dinner! Soon I have a shop at a restaurant that is part of a more diverse chain and a gift card from any restaurant in the chain can be used at any other restaurant in the chain. So I watch for gift cards with the best discount within the chain. Typically ACL allows the use of gift cards but not 'coupons' like Restaurants.com, Groupon, out of the press or comp slips from previous disasters.

I had gift card from a restaurant that I shopped for ACL. They said I could not use them since I was getting reimbursed for the dinner.

Every shop I have done for them in the guidelines has indicated that you can not use coupons, Groupon, Living Social, Scout Mob etc. during the shop though gift certificates are permissible. It is possible that they have some that do not allow a gift certificate, I just have never seen one in more than a decade of working with them.

That's always my struggle! My partner and I have been very happy with the choices from ACL.

I too have never seen an ACL shop where you could not use a gift card. However, some people consider the rewards certificate they might receive after spending a certain amount to be a gift card. In fact some places I get rewards they actually dispense something that looks and sounds like a gift card, especially those they give when you purchase a certain amt of actual gift cards around Christmas time every year. The difference is that you have spent actual out of pocket dollars to purchase a gift card and there is no expiration date (at least in my state). The ones you get as a freebie are not gift cards. So you need to be aware of what you are calling a gift card.

ACL is definitely one to add to your list. All shops I have done are pay plus reimbursement. Read the shop info carefully before you accept. This holds true for all companies.

Maybe they're reading this thread. My latest reimbursement check included the $3 I was over the stated amount.

Their restaurant shops are posted as reimbursement only; however, in my area bonuses are offered frequently, so I almost always end up with extra money in my pocket besides a meal out for myself and a friend.

@Flash wrote:

My dinner tonight was paid for with a gift card off Raise.com that was purchased with a 16% discount.

Have you had many problems with Raise? I've had 5 problems with the 13 orders I've placed over the last 6 months. 2 $0 balance cards, 2 cards never received, and 1 card shipped later than 14 days after the order. Most companies can't stay in business with a 3.5% order failure rate, much less 35%.

2 in about 20. The first had the correct balance but the store had a block on it because of some credit card issue with the original purchaser. The second was a store merchandise credit that was not honored because the card was clearly marked 'non transferrable' and could only be used by the person to whom the credit was issued. In both cases Raise quickly sent the prepaid return material and put the credit back on my card.

Really? I've never had them answer an email in less than a week.

Pick up the phone.

They are never open when I need to call (like now) and the one time I tried I hung up after a 30 minute hold.

Fascinating. I get in the queue and it gives me the option to have them call me back in the order I am in the queue. I just have them call me, so I'm on the phone just a couple of minutes and get a call back in 20-30 minutes.

That rarely works for me. I am working during business hours more likely than not and cannot answer call backs if I'm in the middle of a shop.

I did a pizza shop this week and was paid 22.00, plus the 18.00 reimbursement. No one wants to go to this town so I end up doing them 1x a month.

I have done two shops with them. One was $5 and reimburse. Another was $20 and reimbursement. What gets me is that in my area I only see shops for the same vendor over and over. Every single month it's pizza shops. Do they do anything else? I have one next week but I really want pizza. LOL ..not everyday!

I have had many Raise gift cards go "bad". A couple never showed up. One arrived with a zero balance and a few started out fine, but then got drained of the remaining balance. There are a couple of things I do to get my refund. I never buy a card unless I know for sure I will use the entire balance within their three month guarantee. I have learned to stop emailing them and just go straight to calling them and the issue is resolved right then and there.

I see several other restaurants in my area. Also a few non-restaurant shops.

@rosaestanli wrote:

Every single month it's pizza shops. Do they do anything else?

right now, in my area there are storage and chiropractic shops. They do a lot of fine dining too( some chains, a few "one ofs".)

Thay have about 20 diferent kinds of shops in the metro DC area every month.

You all are lucky..Los Angeles area isn't looking so good.

@rosaestanli wrote:

You all are lucky..Los Angeles area isn't looking so good.

I'm N of LA and there is plenty around or within 30 miles

Eh not sure but my address is Long Beach. Burbank is 30 miles so I don't know.