So I screwed up on a MF shop today for one of their fast casual chains. My shop had phone ordering as a requirement and I missed it since it was listed halfway down the CPI and I ordered at the register. In fairness, had I checked the form it was clearly shown there so it's my fault (plus they mentioned that there are some different shops in the qualifying questions, but I mistakenly thought they would mention it in the description before you accepted the job). Just figured I'd notice it so someone else doesn't make the same mistake.

Hope you rescheduled and reshopped it.

Thanks for the heads up!

Just tried to reschedule and it won't let me since I already started reporting it. I'll call them tomorrow if I still can't reschedule it on the site or app. Good news is that Tuesday is a reschedule option so I won't have to change my plans for Monday (which involved a different lunch shop for them). Also, at least I was getting double pay for this one so the shop fee will cover the first purchase.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2019 10:25PM by MisterBill.

That's tough. Sometimes they tell you what kind of shop it is before you sign up for the shop. I can see now when I search that there are some online shops. But after I am accepted I always go see what kind of shop they require. Chalk it up to a learning experience, I know I have done it once with them.

Where are you seeing it prior to taking the shop? I know they've had some online delivery shops and those are obvious because the reimbursement is much higher. But I don't see any indication that available shops are a phone shop in the job description or notes. It's only in the CPI and on the form, both of which you obviously do not see until you take it.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2019 10:59PM by MisterBill.

After I go to Find Shops, I pick one of the locations and then click on View Shop Details. Under Assignment Scenario, it says Online Shop. For me there is no difference in base price between the dine, phone or online shop price.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2019 11:04PM by 7star.

Hi Mr.B. I was burned on that one also. It won't happen again. There are also online shops, so watch out for those as well.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Hi Mr.B. I was burned on that one also. It won't happen again. There are also online shops, so watch out for those as well.

At least I'm not the only one. I know it's our responsibility to look and see what type of shop it is but they really need to do a better job differentiating them in the description.

I see I'm in good company here. I called the location & didnt get an answer 3 times. I completed the shop anyway since it was 160 miles. Invalidated.

Wow, you drove 160 miles just for the shop only ?

You're "never the only one" in this forum.

@MisterBill wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Hi Mr.B. I was burned on that one also. It won't happen again. There are also online shops, so watch out for those as well.

At least I'm not the only one. I know it's our responsibility to look and see what type of shop it is but they really need to do a better job differentiating them in the description.

No. I had a total of 14 shops. There was a hefty bonus on the invalidated shop, but the others in the mix were also heavily bonused. I ended up losing $73.

That was a tough trip you had. Sorry to hear that. One thing I learned was to read the shop instructions for what to do if the main scenario didn't happen. If the shop instructions didn't state what to do, then to open the shop report. In your scenario, the shop report would've told you what to do and you would've gotten at least a $3 fee. If the shop report didn't say what to do then I would contact the MSC and if no answer, then improvise. But that's hindsight now. Hope you at least got a scenic drive out of it.

@janalou wrote:

No. I had a total of 14 shops. There was a hefty bonus on the invalidated shop, but the others in the mix were also heavily bonused. I ended up losing $73.

So here's an unpleasant update. I decided to call them this morning. Naturally no one picked up (even though I selected the "if you have a shop today" option, which I hoped would get me someone) so I got voicemail and left a message saying to reschedule the shop. Naturally no one got back to me and when I got home I had an email saying that my shop was not accepted because I did the wrong scenario. It's no longer assigned to me and I don't see it available. I responded to the note but who knows when they will read it.

So I guess in addition to paying late they've also gotten rid of people who answer the phones since when I called them a few weeks ago asking for a bonus no one answered or got back to me. I should have sent email yesterday (and hoped that someone looked at it) and put a comment in the form (which I never actually finished submitting, so I am surprised they actually looked at it.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/2019 09:02PM by MisterBill.

So this did not have a good ending. They responded and claimed that there were no reshop dates available. When I pointed out that the system had been offering me 4/2 after I started submitting it (but could not reschedule because it said I had already submitted, which I had not), they told me that someone must have taken a shop for that date at that location (which I think is BS, their system just screwed up, but whatever). Then I wrote back and pointed out that it was unfortunate for both of us that the shop did not get done (they had started with that in the rejection notice) and that had someone answered the phone at 10:15am when I called to get it reschedule, or responded promptly to my voicemail, this would not have happened. Did not get a response to that one. I did point out that they needed to make it clearer what type of shop it is in the description and they did accept that.

In any event, lesson learned, send email instead of calling and hope that someone reads it promptly.

Meanwhile I just got a job offer from Samantha for the next shop at this location starting Thursday for $12 so I emailed back that I would accept it. Of course, they don't tell you if it's a phone shop, which I believe allows you to take the food to go. If they had and it were a phone shop, I would have taken the dinner shop, which was also offered with the bonus and had an additional beverage purchase (although I'm not sure why one person would purchase both beverages). But I had no interest in going there for dinner if i had to eat there so I just put in for the lunch shop.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2019 07:05PM by MisterBill.

OP, you are incorrect about how the type of shop is disclosed. On the form to self assign the shop, where you select the date you want, the Shop Description clearly discloses if it is Online or a Phone shop. The same place it states if it is Lunch, Dinner, etc

On the Guidelines, which we all agree to check for every shop, the first banner in red states the type of shop. From my recent Phone shop: "*** FOR THIS SHOP YOU WILL CALL AHEAD TO
PLACE AN ORDER FOR PICK-UP! ***"

The Shop Description in the CPI will also provide this important information. The Samantha Offer also provides this.

As for the Milkshake, all of the above either say "No" or "Milkshake" at the end of that question. Two other key indicators, the additional $5 for the total reimbursement, plus the $5 listed for the additional required purchase.

As for driving to the location, as someone else did, the guidelines clearly cover what to do. This was actually discussed here within the past week.

The phone shops have been around a long time. I screwed up my first one by not following the guidelines.

Yeah, I screwed up a shop by not reading my CPI and realizing I had to order a milkshake. Although I could not reschedule it, A foreign scheduler helpfully called two days later with the same shop bonused no less. So I was actually rewarded for screwing up BUT the lesson was learned and now I read those guidelines and CPIs EVERY TIME. Also, at the beginning of the month there maybe 5-10 of these shops on the board. But if you sign up for one, or accept one via Samantha or a Scheduler, they disappear, until you're back in rotation. When I see a number of them, I check them all out to see which are milkshakes, which scenario, and what meal period.

@MisterBill wrote:

Of course, they don't tell you if it's a phone shop, which I believe allows you to take the food to go.

You must spend at least 15 minutes in the restaurant for a phone order AND you must evaluate the restroom.

You do not have to spend 15 minutes in the store with a phone shop. All the guidelines I have read for this client say you only have to spend 15 minutes in the store if you are eating there. You are not required to eat in the location. You do need to check the washrooms.

@Lady Marius wrote:

You do not have to spend 15 minutes in the store with a phone shop. All the guidelines I have read for this client say you only have to spend 15 minutes in the store if you are eating there. You are not required to eat in the location. You do need to check the washrooms.

That's what I've read and done for phone shops as well.

@kryswyn916 wrote:

@MisterBill wrote:

Of course, they don't tell you if it's a phone shop, which I believe allows you to take the food to go.

You must spend at least 15 minutes in the restaurant for a phone order AND you must evaluate the restroom.

No, that is inaccurate. For a phone order you must evaluate the restroom (if the location has one) but you are not required to stay 15 minutes.
There is even a box that pops up after you enter your time when the system recognizes you spent less than 15 minutes. You simply write, did not eat at restaurant.

@isaiah58 wrote:

OP, you are incorrect about how the type of shop is disclosed. On the form to self assign the shop, where you select the date you want, the Shop Description clearly discloses if it is Online or a Phone shop. The same place it states if it is Lunch, Dinner, etc

On the Guidelines, which we all agree to check for every shop, the first banner in red states the type of shop. From my recent Phone shop: "*** FOR THIS SHOP YOU WILL CALL AHEAD TO
PLACE AN ORDER FOR PICK-UP! ***"

The Shop Description in the CPI will also provide this important information. The Samantha Offer also provides this.

As for the Milkshake, all of the above either say "No" or "Milkshake" at the end of that question. Two other key indicators, the additional $5 for the total reimbursement, plus the $5 listed for the additional required purchase.

As for driving to the location, as someone else did, the guidelines clearly cover what to do. This was actually discussed here within the past week.

The phone shops have been around a long time. I screwed up my first one by not following the guidelines.

Well I just checked all of the shops available in my area (multiple stores) and none of them say anything about being a phone shop. So either I got unlucky and picked the one they had in my area and did not notice it or it's not there.

I understand that the form says it's a phone shop. I admitted I did not check it. And it's in CPI, albeit buried halfway down.

Not sure what "driving to the location" is referring to since I did not say anything about that. I did notice while completing the form that you either make sure you're there within time estimate they give you or give them a time that you will be there. I would just get nearby before calling it in.

The milkshake shops are easy to determine because the reimbursement is $5 more than the others. I'm still not sure who orders a soft drink and a milkshake for a single person.

In any event, at the moment I'm more angry at their lack of shopper support in being able to listen to my phone message and reschedule it when it was still available. Hopefully I get the response to my Samantha job request and get it for the same $12 as this one and make back my out of pocket for the bad shop.

You are correct, the Available Shops page does not identify the shop type. The Shop Details page does, where we would self assign and select a date.

I also messed up an online shop for them.

The two most improperly performed scenarios, complained about here, are the Phone and Internet scenarios. The reasons for failure are related to not following the guidelines. In both, never walk in to place the order. For both, follow the specific steps when attempting to order if you want the $3 fee for not being able to place the order.

Lastly, the Internet scenarios are high risk for anyone more than a few miles from the locations. You can travel near by just to discover that the location is not currently accepting Internet orders. If you live a distance away, check for the ability to place the order before heading out. If feasible, place the order with a future pick up time, both steps within the shop window. Just calling to ask for their hours can help make sure they are at lesst open.

I just had t similar thing, I was to get a milkshake and did not get a drink. This was and expensive lesson . three hour drive and two hundred miles.

@isaiah58 wrote:

You are correct, the Available Shops page does not identify the shop type. The Shop Details page does, where we would self assign and select a date.

I also messed up an online shop for them.

Well I got assigned the new shop for $12 and it's a normal walk-in shop. And like I said, I did not find a description of any of the currently available shops in my area that were different than the normal walk in.

Bottom line here is that while we are at fault for doing the shop wrong, MF should do something on their end to make it obvious that it's a different shop given that it's not good for them or the shopper when the error occurs, and it apparently IS happening more often than it should.

And yeah, doing the online ordering shop and not being able to place the order would be a pain. I had a pizza shop a while ago that needed to be ordered online. I was having a problem with the app and could not add anything to the cart (I was trying this while still at home, the shop was 30+ minutes away). I finally tried a different phone and it seemed to work. Something was obviously messed up in the app on my regular phone and I had to clear the app data before it worked. The shop instructions claimed that there was a way to place an order via their website, but I never found it. I almost didn't do the shop that day since I wasn't going to drive down there if I didn't think I'd be able to do the shop.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2019 12:59AM by MisterBill.

@bmttinman wrote:

I just had t similar thing, I was to get a milkshake and did not get a drink. This was and expensive lesson . three hour drive and two hundred miles.

I hope you at least had many other shops for that trip! But as I've said, at least the milkshake shop is obvious since the reimbursement is $5 more.

I still can't imagine who would order a soft drink and a shake. Maybe the same person who orders the bacon cheeseburger and large fries for themselves? I can see doing it if you're with someone else.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2019 01:05AM by MisterBill.

I ate at McDonald's two days ago. I had two hamburgers, a soda, and a chocolate shake!

The soda because I was thirsty, and the shake for a treat! Nobody looked at me weird or anything, LOL!!!

(And y'all lay off OP! He admitted from the git-go it was his mistake!)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2019 02:01AM by ceasesmith.

The Mickey D burgers are sooo good. I love the onion, ketchup, mustard and pickle for $1 ! Nothing wrong with getting a soda and a shake. I like their dollar menu. I sometimes get the chicken sandwich minus the mayo, comes with lettuce. Once in awhile it's ok.

OK, here's where I get to repeat my mantra:

Build a relationship with your schedulers!

Bill, if you'd called your scheduler's phone number as soon as you realized your error, she or he has the ability to reschedule the shop for you.

Problem solved.

I sometimes have to go down a list of 8 or 12 schedulers before I get one that's on duty and answering the phone, LOL! They have saved the day for me so many times, I wish I could send them Christmas presents!

I didn;t order the damn milkshake.