I recently completed a shop. The second and third item took FOREVER to come out. I was supposed to take a picture of the plate. However after I took the initial picture, I didn't think it was fair to wait for the other food to come out and take a picture of all of the food together. I felt like the first item would look terrible after I waited another 15 minutes for the other two. So now MF is refusing payment.

Candice replied:
Good Afternoon,

Our clients set the criteria for the shops and if we were to submit shop results that violate their criteria we would be in violation of our contract to submit accurate and honest data. Each shop must be completed to the last detail of the guidelines or it will be rejected. Once the shop has been submitted the correction journey is arduous and extremely complicated so corrections are few and in between. We are sorry that this shop could not be used.

If you need further assistance please let us know. Thank you.

Candice
Shopper Advocate
Market Force Help Desk
www.marketforceshopper.com

Hi,
If the guidelines said that all the food needed to be in a single photo, that's what you have got to do. If the food doesn't "look good" because you waited, that's not your problem. You can generally send a note to the editor to explain the issue. As shoppers, we must follow the guidelines precisely, even if we feel they are silly, or risk not getting paid. The guidelines are what protect us.

MFJohnson is exactly right. And Kudos to Candace, because she explained it very well and she did it in a nice way. There is no "initial picture." There is one picture of all the items ordered together. Of course the shop was not accepted and you won't be paid because you did not fulfill the requirements.

I'm sorry you had a rejected shop. You sound like a new mystery shopper. This is a cheap learning lesson - the cost of the food was not much. Always follow the guidelines. Be glad you learned the lesson with a meal that didn't cost much.

@lcb22 wrote:

However after I took the initial picture, I didn't think it was fair to wait for the other food to come out and take a picture of all of the food together. I felt like the first item would look terrible after I waited another 15 minutes for the other two.

They should have had everything available. By taking the photos when the food looks the best instead of when you have everything, you have skewed the results in favor of the location. That's not "fair" to the client, who actually pays for the shop.

I understand both sides of the issue. I feel for the shopper because waiting for fifteen minutes with food in front of you and then taking a picture is a signal to the server that you are a mystery shopper. There should be some way to appease both the shopper and the client. I have never had this happen before but I would feel very awkward having ready to eat food in front of me and then waiting a long period of time for the rest to arrive only to snap a picture before eating it. Perhaps clients should advise in their instructions how to handle this type of situation so the unprepared shopper would know what to do. Most restaurants have a manager walking the floor checking with diners to see if everything is ok. Sitting with a plate of food in front of you and not eating it will single you out in a crowd.

Taking a partial plate of your food at a fast food joint and waiting 15 minutes for the rest singles you out as a shopper far more than snapping a photo of the food. Everybody takes food pictures these days. Would a real customer take a partial plate of food and sit and eat and wait for the rest of their meal? No way. And 15 minutes? I'm usually through eating in 15 minutes.

I have actually had to wait for food at this fast food restaurant. Usually, the wait is a couple of minutes and you stay in the serving line and get all your food at the same time. Three times over the years I have been told it would be "10 minutes or so" for the food I wanted. Twice I chose to change to a different entree rather than wait that long. Of course, I then reported that the item was not ready and the time estimate I was given. The third time, part of my plate was already prepared before I was told it would be 10 minutes. The server wanted me to pay and "start on this and we'll bring the rest." I declined, saying "Call me when it's ready and I'll get back in line and place my whole order at one time. I want my food to be hot." I then timed how long it took and reported.

There's a reason you are required to take the photos. The client knows what the food is supposed to look like. They want to see what it actually looks like when it is served to the customer.

If this is the Chinese food place, you had two options. The requirements allow you to not wait for an out of stock item if the estimated wait time exceeds a certain amount of time, I believe it is 5 minutes.

What I did last time was, have them delay preparing my plate until the item I was waiting for was available. They usually offer me this option.

As for pictures, they do not out us as shoppers regardless of half full or even empty plates. The staff is oblivious to customers taking pictures. I plaster pictures all over several sites, mostly Yelp. I have never been asked about my taking pictures. I take menu pictures on a regular basis as part of my Yelp addiction. Plus plating, condiment stations, drink stations, general ambiance, you name it. Most of our mystery shopping pictures are less ambitious than typical social media posters engage in.

They have two kinds of shops. One you request an item that is not in the serving pans (empty) to see how long it would take to cook..... Issiah is correct, if it's over a certain amount of time, you order something else. Then they have the other shop where you ask if they have something "just to see their response by offering to make it for you" but you end up ordering what you want.