Goodwin restaurant shops

I really enjoy the fresh, healthy food at a restaurant Goodwin represents and so have put up with a lot of issues. (No problems with the schedulers at Summit though, they have been great!) On the positive side: Goodwin reviews surveys quickly and pays according to schedule. On the negative side: Goodwin seems to pride itself on finding reasons to withhold pay from shoppers. They also require an insane number of photos which cannot possibly be accomplished "secretly" - such as a closeup of the food prep area. Their site routinely rejects photos as not taken on the correct day even though they were. The survey form is repetitive, tedious and requires pointless text answers. A drink is required with every meal so I order boxed water since it's cheapest, but how does this contribute to a better evaluation of the restaurant? Lunch and dinner have a flat $14 reimbursement so the cost of the $1.75 box of water is significant.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2016 09:38PM by denvershopper7.

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I've always found Goodwin to be very easy to work with. I've never had issues with them withholding pay. I've never even had them send a report back for clarification. I've had plenty of reports sent back to me from other MSC just for reference. The only restaurant shop I did for them didn't require any pictures. I did do a bowling shop that said to take pictures if I could do it discreetly. I emailed the schedular ahead of time telling her that I only use a camera as my cell phone doesn't take good pictures. She told me that pictures weren't required and I should only do it if I could do it discreetly. It turned out that we were literally the only people in the bowling alley. It would have been very odd for me to take pictures, so I didn't.

Are we working for the same Goodwin? I have never had to take a picture (besides the receipt) for a Goodwin restaurant evaluation and I've done quite a few now.

@JohnieQ wrote:

Are we working for the same Goodwin?

I was thinking exactly the same thing: is this Goodwin in Bizarro World? I have had to take photos, depending on the client, but I have never had photos rejected by the website and I never felt like I was asked to take an insane number. The part about "seems to pride itself on finding reasons to withhold pay from shoppers" just doesn't sound like the Goodwin I've been working for. Although I've done quite a lot of shops for Goodwin over the years, I have never had a question from an editor about a report or a shop issue and I've never had them withhold pay. Some shops require a beverage and others do not. Goodwin usually pays a flat fee and you keep whatever is left from what you spend.

OP, I am concerned about the withholding pay problem. Are you saying Goodwin is taking a portion of your flat fee, like a penalty, maybe for filing the report late or missing part of the guidelines? Or are you saying you are not paid at all for a particular shop? If so, what reason do they give you for the nonpayment?

Since I started this conversation please let me clarify. I have only worked for one client with Goodwin. It's a restaurant chain started in Colorado and planning to go nationwide. I have never filed a report late and have always submitted photos taken on the correct date but their website rejects them anyway. The photos are: patio (even in a blizzard), dining room, beverage dispenser, coffee dispenser, bathroom toilet area, bathroom sink, close-up of hot food prep area, meal, receipt and, if the bus area is not acceptable, a photo of that as well. The way these restaurants are designed it is virtually impossible to take all the photos secretly, and completely impossible to do the hot food prep area one. In addition the survey asks exhaustive questions about minute aspects of operations and then requires 200 - 250 word comments even though there is nothing left to say. I once gave Goodwin a detailed report about a problem that I witnessed in one of these restaurants - when I was not being paid to shop - and didn't get so much as a thank you.

I'm not in your area, so I don't know the client, but if the guidelines are as what you stated, I would politely write back to the scheduler and tell them that I would have to cancel because it would be impossible to take all of those pictures discreetly. It sounds more like the client is being unreasonable. I will say it again, I enjoy working for Goodwin. I have never had a problem and I look forward to doing more shops for them in the future.

@denvershopper7 wrote:

Since I started this conversation please let me clarify. I have only worked for one client with Goodwin. It's a restaurant chain started in Colorado and planning to go nationwide. I have never filed a report late and have always submitted photos taken on the correct date but their website rejects them anyway. The photos are: patio (even in a blizzard), dining room, beverage dispenser, coffee dispenser, bathroom toilet area, bathroom sink, close-up of hot food prep area, meal, receipt and, if the bus area is not acceptable, a photo of that as well. The way these restaurants are designed it is virtually impossible to take all the photos secretly, and completely impossible to do the hot food prep area one. In addition the survey asks exhaustive questions about minute aspects of operations and then requires 200 - 250 word comments even though there is nothing left to say. I once gave Goodwin a detailed report about a problem that I witnessed in one of these restaurants - when I was not being paid to shop - and didn't get so much as a thank you.

Does this chain that started in Colorado start with an S and end with an E? I was recently at a party where a friend recommended this new breakfast restaurant that opened up in my town. There are only a couple of locations in California but the chain originated from Colorado..........I was hoping they might be shopped.

They do not pay for closed locations even though directions do not require it.

I have to admit that even after reading your post several times, I have no idea what you are trying to say.

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

They do not pay for closed locations even though directions do not require it.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

Ok what part do you not understand? Assigned a shop. No precall required. Drive to location. Location out of business. Report such. Client refuses ANY payment. What part are YOU myst4au bgriffin, HonnyBrown missing in this??????

I have to admit that even after reading your post several times, I have no idea what you are trying to say.

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

They do not pay for closed locations even though directions do not require it.

[/quote]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2016 12:03AM by CANADAMOMMY.

I don't understand the sentence, "They do not pay for closed locations even though directions do not require it." I truly have no idea what that sentence means. I am not referring to any other information you may have provided elsewhere, just that single sentence.

These sentences would be understandable, and I am not proposing that either is what you mean, just that I understand what the sentences mean.
"They pay for closed locations even though directions do not require it." [removed the first "do not"]
"They do not pay for closed locations even though directions require it." [removed the second "do not"]
In both cases, I would interpret "it" to mean pay or payment. I don't know what your sentence means. Sorry.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

yeah, I tend to steer clear of shops that require me to shop a closed location and then not pay me for doing so. :/

@myst4au wrote:

I don't understand the sentence, "They do not pay for closed locations even though directions do not require it." I truly have no idea what that sentence means. I am not referring to any other information you may have provided elsewhere, just that single sentence.

These sentences would be understandable, and I am not proposing that either is what you mean, just that I understand what the sentences mean.
"They pay for closed locations even though directions do not require it." [removed the first "do not"]
"They do not pay for closed locations even though directions require it." [removed the second "do not"]
In both cases, I would interpret "it" to mean pay or payment. I don't know what your sentence means. Sorry.

Seriously, I do not get it either.........even her clarification did not clarify. No need to apologize. You were right to not understand what she's saying.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2016 12:36AM by a-scho.

Glad I was not the only one going "HUH?" I'm guessing that CanadaMommy typo-d and didn't re-read before posting a clarification. The clarification just repeated the sentence she posted the first time.

myst is most probably right that she meant one of the two changed sentences:

"They pay for closed locations even though directions do not require it." [removed the first "do not"]
"They do not pay for closed locations even though directions require it." [removed the second "do not"]

Hope she comes back to clarify because I'd like to know whether they pay for closed locations or not, whether the directions require it or not.

No that's not it. First letter is M.

Maybe she likes pointing out things that are clearly stated in the guidelines, like me saying the sky is blue.
Maybe she enjoys going to closed locations when the guidelines state she does not need to and probably also does not mention a "go to" fee. Or, maybe she does NOT enjoy going to closed locations and then not getting a "go to" fee, even though the guidelines never mentioned one.

I had done a variety of restaurant shops for Goodwin. They never withheld any payments since I completed the reports on time and with no corrections. I did not encounter any restaurant shops that required the variety of photos in different areas of the restaurant. I did a Boudin lunch shop once for another MSC, and the photo requirement was outrageous. I could not take any photos while remaining covert, so I took them anyway. It probably outed me as the shopper, but who gives a rat's a** if I needed to submit the required photos to get paid.

@myst4au wrote:

I don't understand the sentence, "They do not pay for closed locations even though directions do not require it." I truly have no idea what that sentence means. I am not referring to any other information you may have provided elsewhere, just that single sentence.

I think she means "They do not pay for closed locations even though the directions do not require you to make a phone call to verify that the location is open." As long as we are guessing, that's my guess. The sentence is definitely garbled.

What ever happened to the steak shop? I loved that one. I have not seen that for over a year...sigh....

@Jay C wrote:

I think she means "They do not pay for closed locations even though the directions do not require you to make a phone call to verify that the location is open." As long as we are guessing, that's my guess.

That was my thought, too, but I did a double-take before I "got" it.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2016 05:08PM by BirdyC.

@denvershopper7 wrote:

I really enjoy the fresh, healthy food at a restaurant Goodwin represents and so have put up with a lot of issues. ... They also require an insane number of photos which cannot possibly be accomplished "secretly" - such as a closeup of the food prep area.

I had the same issue with the photos for this shop. I contacted Goodwin about the impossibility of getting them all while remaining "invisible" and then passed up those shops. Now, several months later, I find that Goodwin has reduced the photos, for the location in my area at least, to just two: your food and the dining room. No problem -- and I just completed an enjoyable visit. I would also suggest to Goodwin that, if the client really wants all of the originally required photos, you can easily get them by sending in an auditor rather than a mystery shopper.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2016 08:49AM by silver12.

With the syntax, grammar, and punctuation used by some people in these posts, I have to wonder what their mystery shopping reports look like. Are they an editor's nightmare? I'd hate to see how many clarification emails have to be sent out to certain people.

I think if the majority of posters can't figure out what you're saying, the problem obviously lies with you. Getting pissy about it doesn't help anything.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2016 11:01AM by Evalu8this.

I miss them greatly. I dont ever find shops in my area any more and there's plenty of opportunity here.

In my location( Socal), all goodwin shops are scheduled by IsecretShop.

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