Found this gem in an article:

“The better the perk is to the shopper, the lower the amount of money we have to pay them,” said David McAleese, CEO of A Closer Look, based in Norcross, Georgia. “I’d certainly take a lower amount if someone was paying for the nice meal I’m eating out with my wife. And I’d be happy to spend another 15 minutes writing up a report of our experience.”

Here's the entire article: [www.franchisetimes.com].

I don't find that troubling or offensive at all... Obviously, the better value the reimbursement to the shopper, the less additional cash it takes to make shoppers feel like their time was well-spent.

The shops he describes come with a $0 fee and the reports take substantially longer than 15 minutes to write. The author of the article calls him on his bs in the next paragraph.

@MFJohnston wrote:

I don't find that troubling or offensive at all... Obviously, the better value the reimbursement to the shopper, the less additional cash it takes to make shoppers feel like their time was well-spent.

That’s not how I read it...

@MSF wrote:

Found this gem in an article:

“The better the perk is to the shopper, the lower the amount of money we have to pay them,” said David McAleese, CEO of A Closer Look, based in Norcross, Georgia. “I’d certainly take a lower amount if someone was paying for the nice meal I’m eating out with my wife. And I’d be happy to spend another 15 minutes writing up a report of our experience.”

It seems obvious to me that he and his wife really enjoy sharing one meal at a fast food place.
Total reimbursement + 15 minute report = one fast food meal.

This article is old and he is not the CEO.

MSF states--The shops he describes come with a $0 fee and the reports take substantially longer than 15 minutes to write.

Bob agrees--I have never encountered a report for ACL I could complete in less than an hour.

MSF also opines-- The author of the article calls him on his bs in the next paragraph.

Bob & MFJ disagree with MSF.

My experience with ACL is that they offer a wide range of mystery shops (at least they did until recently!) Many are quite lucrative in terms of shopper payments, while some are very nice in terms of reimbursement. Some are a little of both, while some are not worth the time it takes to read the guidelines. This has been gone over so many times on this and other forums. The ms companies are in business to make money and to provide a valuable service to their clients. They offer a shop, and we as Independent Contractors are free to complete the shop or move on to something more in keeping with our personal goals.

The article is from 2016, but I think the former CEOs words still hold true. MS companies need to balance offering pay and/or reimbursement for shops with what they can competitively bill the clients for their services.

MFJ? Have you ever done an ACL shop? Obviously the previous CEO has not. I too would not mind writing a 15 minute report in exchange for a meal. However, even their simplest shops take longer than 15 minutes, and the fine dining shops are significantly longer. I have spent up to 2 hours on an ACL fine dining shop report.

JAS-

I am not saying that the ACL shops are or are not a "good deal." The article and then-CEO do not opine on this one way or another. The then-CEO did make a suggestive statement: “I’d certainly take a lower amount if someone was paying for the nice meal I’m eating out with my wife. And I’d be happy to spend another 15 minutes writing up a report of our experience.” I would suggest that this is the essence of what most dining shops offer and a fair statement - though, I also do question the "15 minutes" for the report for a great many dining shops. I've yet to see a "family" or "fine" dining shop than can be written up in 15 minutes.... Fast food or counter service, yes. Sit-down restaurants, no.

I am agreeing with the statement: "The better the perk to the shopper, the lower amount of money we have to pay them." This is absolutely true: Look at all the available lifestyle shops: Shoppers will spend hours upon hours on reports **if** the perk is truly fantastic, even if they walk away without taking home any money. The better the perk, the less payment shoppers need in order to be motivated to complete them.

I would then suggest that every shopper has a different perception of the value of "perks." Shoppers who find the "perks" worth their while, do the shops. Shoppers who don't simply don't do the shops...

@JASFLALMT wrote:

MFJ? Have you ever done an ACL shop? Obviously the previous CEO has not. I too would not mind writing a 15 minute report in exchange for a meal. However, even their simplest shops take longer than 15 minutes, and the fine dining shops are significantly longer. I have spent up to 2 hours on an ACL fine dining shop report.

The ONLY thing I didn't agree about was the 15 minutes. That's BS, and that's why I suggested that he (the former CEO) had never done one of their shops, and questioned whether or not you had as well.

Wow. Maybe that guy should take a couple shops and then he can teach us all how to do ANY report in less than 15 minutes.

Now, that's a seminar I would attend!

I figure I haven't done enough ACL dining shops to opine on whether or not they had any short ones. For all I know, two years ago, when the article was written, they had some quickie counter service shop that could be done in 15.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

The ONLY thing I didn't agree about was the 15 minutes. That's BS, and that's why I suggested that he (the former CEO) had never done one of their shops, and questioned whether or not you had as well.

They have shops I like quite well. I never stated or insinuated whether or not I thought they were a good deal or not. I have done quite a few shops for ACL and will continue to do so (I also was an editor for them some years back). Again, I was calling out the "15 minutes" statement as untrue. I did a carryout shop for them in January and was really happy to do it. It reimbursed $40 and only took me about 30 minutes to write it up. I think it was well worth it. That shop was on the easy end of their scale of difficultly. I also had another sit-down restaurant shop that ended up getting canceled in March that reimbursed $70. It's a restaurant I happen to really like and I was excited to do it, knowing it was going to take me 1 to 1.5 hours to do it. It's a place I would go on my own dime.

I've been shopping with them since around 2003 and have done 100s of shops for them. Have yet to find that mysterious 15 minute report. I have been able to scale down my time by uploading photos and the receipt into the report using my phone (they don't have an app) and then finishing the narratives on my desktop. Most of their shops have multiple sections that require detailed narrative, and then they want food description as well. And if anything went south during the visit, well...hell, then you are in for a lot of writing.

@MFJohnston wrote:

I figure I haven't done enough ACL dining shops to opine on whether or not they had any short ones. For all I know, two years ago, when the article was written, they had some quickie counter service shop that could be done in 15.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

The ONLY thing I didn't agree about was the 15 minutes. That's BS, and that's why I suggested that he (the former CEO) had never done one of their shops, and questioned whether or not you had as well.

If we want to really pick at the verbiage..... The former CEO never states that ACL actually has dining shops with 15 minute write-ups. He only states that he'd be happy to do them.... Of course, it is kind of implied.

I would say a majority of MSC owners have a warped sense of the requirements for their shops. Those who started in the trenches as editors have often forgotten, or the guidelines have changed considerably since they were shoppers....

LOL. Isn't that person still the CEO of ACL? I too, have performed "QUICK" sounding shops for ACL. No where is it worth the reimbursement that they offer let alone the requirements and time it takes to do the report Yes, I did them years and years ago and will take them once in a very, very blue moon but really? Five+ pictures, restroom visit, names, descriptions, and a long, narrative report? It's been the same for forever that I recall.

Those carryout shops are pretty darned easy. No restroom visit (usually) and photos of the food when you get it home. Depending on the client, you don't have to take a lobby photo or photo of the front of the location, and yeah, you have to get the name of the person who took your order and who helped you when you arrived for pickup, but other than that and food photos, the narratives are minimal. Like I said, I did the report in 30 minutes and had a high-end pizza with salad for $40 reimbursement. But you're right, those dine-in shops can take a lot of time. It just depends on whether it's a particularly yummy restaurant on whether or not I will do it.

JAS, no such carryout shop visits in my area. Great for YOU!

For quite awhile over the past few years, they had very few I wanted to do. I still checked in every so often, and eventually they had some new clients. This isn't the first of the carryout shops I have done for them. I have done other ones that were not pizza chains but were popular national restaurant chains. They do get snagged up rather quickly. And occasionally I will do their fine dining shops if it's a restaurant I really like and don't feel like paying out of pocket for an expensive meal for 2 people. And of course now they don't have any.

"15 minutes"

Until this month there was an ACL valet client whose reports took under five minutes. And two chains of high-end steakhouses with large reimbursements had surprisingly easy reports -- maybe not 15 minutes, but not much more for a fast writer who knew the ACL formula. On the othe hand, I've had reports with so many photos that it took 15 minutes just to upload and label all the pictures.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

And if anything went south during the visit, well...hell, then you are in for a lot of writing.

I find those the easiest to do (as I suspect others do). When there are issues to write about at least I can write detailed info. If there weren't any problems, you have to write "the lighting was fine" and other fluff to to get to their required number of sentences.

Second time an editor for very two different shops for them requested pics never required. Response well you should have known we needed them.

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

Second time an editor for very two different shops for them requested pics never required. Response well you should have known we needed them.

Some shops have different event notes for the same client. One might require photos, but the other one does not, The editor probably missed that. Should not have, but it happens.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2020 06:50PM by audrialyn30.

I read the article. No where does it discuss how this affects the contract between the client and the MSC. Clients want to save money, the MSC might be offering the package for less than other MSCs bid, by leveraging this aspect. It is not appropriate to assume otherwise. I am sure this is how Smashburger changed MSCs, the new MSC creatively underbid the contract, understanding the shopper base available. If the reports were not as good, the client would take appropriate action.

LOL, exactly!

@NinS wrote:

On the othe hand, I've had reports with so many photos that it took 15 minutes just to upload and label all the pictures.

Very few dinning reports take 15 minutes. Certainly none with ACL as I have seen. The only one I can recall not with ACL that took 15 minutes was Texas Roadhouse. I can usually also do Smokey Bones in 15 minutes. Some shops for ACL are worth it some are not. I don't do many but it is usally cause of the long detailed reports vs the pay.

They also usually get the full reimbursement and cap the shopper meal at a low dollar amount, this way they make money both not paying the shopper a fee, getting the full reimbursement from the client AND getting paid from the client to do the shop. I wonder if clients know they are ripping off shoppers in the reimbursements. I haven't shopped for ACL in years due to this practice and never understood why shoppers complain so much about other companies but put ACL on a pedestal.

@MSF wrote:

Found this gem in an article:

“The better the perk is to the shopper, the lower the amount of money we have to pay them,” said David McAleese, CEO of A Closer Look, based in Norcross, Georgia. “I’d certainly take a lower amount if someone was paying for the nice meal I’m eating out with my wife. And I’d be happy to spend another 15 minutes writing up a report of our experience.”

Here's the entire article: [www.franchisetimes.com].