Market force Invalid Shop
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Remain calm and polite, and email them again thoroughly explaining in detail your situation. Remember it's the weekend, also, and they have been shortstaffed lately I think. When you email helpdesk, you will likely get another person each time, and some of them might not care so much about your problem as the next person (hopefully) will. I once had to go round with them about 20 times to get payment for a shop that they stated I had done incorrectly. After repeatedly emailing, I finally reached the person who took the time to research my issue and agreed I had completed the shop correctly. I was paid. I hope you don't have to go through as much difficulty in getting paid as I did, but it's the principal of the matter.
Thank you. I was thinking of emailing again the HelpDesk, just not sure how long I should wait !
If you emailed the Help Desk you should have gotten an acknowledgment of your query with an indication of what response time to expect. I don't know if they still have folks working on Saturday, so if you emailed yesterday evening and the acknowledgment stated 7 hours, I would expect to hear back on Monday. If I did not hear back before late afternoon Monday (with the 7 hr scenario) I would email again.
I did not get that acknowledgement. I'll wait till Monday anyway, and email the HelpDesk again. Thanks!
Is there a reason you could not wait for the veggies and put them side by side and take 1 pic?
Well, it took more than 5 minutes - i didn't find it appropriate to not eat while the food was in front of me....
Yes, I imagine that would make you stand out. What customer is going to wait and let the food get cold?
This will not help with this situation, but it might be something to use in the future. Since the veggies are the first thing to be served, I would have waited to go through the rest of the line and complete my order until the veggies were ready. I like all my food at the same time so it will be hot. I also think all the food has to be in same picture.
How do you know if the veggies are ready or not when you order? I did a shop for a different MSC where the rice wasn't ready when I ordered my entree. I didn't have to take any photos, though, but I would not have known prior to ordering. Do you mean that after the OP ordered and found out the veggies weren't ready yet, they should have told the order taker that they wanted all the food to come out at the same time? I am not familar with the establishment as MF does not offer any Asian food shops in my area...
So here's how it went : the associate told me the veggies would be ready in 5 minutes and gave me all my order and processed payment. 5 minutes later, she brought the veggies to my table.
They have all the food on display, you see what is available. When I shop this client, I only order what is currently available. The instructions pretty much imply to get everything on the plate before you eat anything.
@roflwofl good advice.
@roflwofl good advice.
My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.
When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson
When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson
Okay, that makes it easier to understand, isaiah. The only Asian restaurant around my area that gets shopped cooks to order.
I dont recall the guidelines specifying I have to wait for everything to be on the plate before I eat anything. I always order as if I'm real customer, otherwise if I only choose the things that are available, the report is biased. The report has a question about whether or not the food ordered is available, so this situation is expected to happen.The report asks to submit pictures of the food, which I did. I submitted two pictures instead of one. There is nothing in the guidelines that say I have to submit only one picture. On the contrary, it asks to submit ALL the pictures I have taken for this shop. On my end, I don't see what was not followed in the guidelines. I ordered something that was not available (and the restaurant had 9 pans empty at the time of the shop, which is also a question in the report), it was cooked within the time frame quoted (also a question in the report) and I submitted pictures of my food.
The guidelines say to not eat anything until you have taken a picture, which has to include everything ordered. This is very clearly stated in the guidelines.
The guidelines ask you to submit any additional pictures you took, if you thought they might help then they want them. That does not override the prime requirement of the all comprehensive picture before anything is consumed.
If a lot of pans are empty (typically happens the first half hour they open), I learned to wander off and come back 15 minutes later starting afresh.
Otherwise, as advised, do not have them start plating your order if you opt to wait for anything not currently available.
The guidelines ask you to submit any additional pictures you took, if you thought they might help then they want them. That does not override the prime requirement of the all comprehensive picture before anything is consumed.
If a lot of pans are empty (typically happens the first half hour they open), I learned to wander off and come back 15 minutes later starting afresh.
Otherwise, as advised, do not have them start plating your order if you opt to wait for anything not currently available.
My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.
When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson
When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson
I haven't eaten anything before taking pictures. The only difference is that instead of submitting one picture, I submitted two and explained what happened. My pictures relay the narrative of my shops. Items were not delivered at the same time, which is something we are asked to report on. If the question is here, it means the situation has been anticipated. The guidelines don't specify in that case I have to wait for everything to be delivered before eating. We'll see what Marketforce says, but it seems a bit contrived to ask a shopper to wait for everything to be delivered before taking a picture. I got lucky the vegetables got delivered in 5 minutes. What if they had been delivered in 15 minutes? I would have had to wait 15 minutes in front of my food before touching it? It doesn't make sense.
I've shopped this client many times for MF. I am providing advice based on my experience. I am not trying to help justify your interpretation of the guidelines or the choices you made on how to perform the shop. Ignoring the key requirement requiring one photo that includes everything you ordered before anything is consumed, does not make it go away. The instructions clearly state that your shop will be rejected if you do not fully follow that requirement. You are supposed to adjust what you do to fulfil the requirements, not ask the client to accept your choice to do things differently. If you press on with this, if they pay you or not they are highly likely to deactivate you.
My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.
When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson
When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson
Thank you Isaiah for your advice.
Good advice from the experienced isaiah58. MF is notorious for deactivating shoppers for no apparent reason. If you keep arguing with them, you will actually be giving them a reason to deactivate you.
Do the guidelines state that you should modify your shop in such a manner? How do you report the empty trays? Your start and end times?
Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
I've done this Asian shop many times. I just pick from what is presently in the insert pans on the steam table. (of course, only the items allowed) 
It's weird but I always wait if something didn't come out. I always wait on my fiances food to come out too. It's frustrating when they bring it separate anyway... I would rather they wait behind the counter and just bring it together instead of in parts.
MegglesKat
I've experienced the sides not being available at different times. They've always asked me if I wanted to pay and then they will bring my plate out to me when the side is ready so they've never given me a partial plate and then brought the rest of the food out. I did order a soda once and did not take a picture of it and my report was invalidated.
I also did not include my soda in the picture completing a drive thru shop. I saved my cup so next time I can lay it on the seat next to the meal.
@charlhenri wrote:
Well, it took more than 5 minutes - i didn't find it appropriate to not eat while the food was in front of me....
there is nothing inappropriate about waiting for the rest of your meal...
You ask a good question. Those unfamiliar with this particular shop would not realize that this is a buffet-style take-out with servers (so you can't pile your plate high with fried shrimp.) The very first thing on the line is the starch and veggies. One plan for others doing this shop would be to put in the report that the veggie container was empty (the report asks if two or more containers were empty.) A good suggestion from another forum reader was to step out of line and wait until the veggies showed up. My one and only invalid MFI shop was this same company. When I was asked in the drive-thru, "Anything else?" I added an appetizer. That's a no-no. The question had to be a specific offer. Live and learn. We always remember the bad ones, don't we?@JASFLALMT wrote:
How do you know if the veggies are ready or not when you order? .
Shopping SoCal and Maui.
In thinking about this situation the solution that I might try is to ask them to bring all items together on the same plate. It seems reasonable to want all of your food at one time. I am surprised that it is not in the guidelines.
Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230
This just happened to me on my last shop. I just stood there near the register until the rest of my food was ready. There were other customers doing the same. Nothing unusual in doing this.
Charlhenri, what about an update? It's Tuesday. Did you hear back from Help Desk on Monday? ;Although I don't believe the guidelines were followed, I have my fingers crossed for you and I hope your shop is accepted
Sorry for the late reply, i'm out of town for meetings. The shop was approved, MF Helpdesk is not the big bad wolf that some people seem to be scared of. For future shops, they recommended I wait for the food before taking a picture. The guidelines did not specify clearly all the food in the same picture, thus the confusion
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