I've been at this for a whopping 4 months and do banks and car dealerships, to date. I'g like to add restaurants into my mix but am leery because you have to front the money.

I also have past corporate restaurant experience and have experience at just about everything except tending bar.

I believe that I can eat and keep an eye on what's going on, but, again fronting the money then hoping that the report is approved is making me nervous.

Can anybody fell me in on what some of the gory details might be?

Would I need to time people, accurately?

Would I have to sneak pictures of food for appearance checks?

Look for signs of not doing the side work cleaning properly?

I'd love to be able to treat myself and some friends. Money is tight and I cannot really afford to screw them up.

THANKS for any help!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2014 08:09PM by Watching the Wheels.

Watching the Wheels Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've been at this for a whopping 4 months and do
> banks and car dealerships, to date. I'g like to
> add restaurants into my mix but am leery because
> you have to front the money.
>
> I also have past corporate restaurant experience
> and have experience at just about everything
> except tending bar.
>
> I believe that I can eat and keep an eye on what's
> going on, but, again fronting the money then
> hoping that the report is approved is making me
> nervous.

The past experience might actually disqualify you depending on how strongly you are connected to the industry. I know, it's ass backwards...

> Can anybody fell me in on what some of the gory
> details might be?
>
> Would I need to time people, accurately?
>
> Would I have to sneak pictures of food for
> appearance checks?

Most restaurant shops are for two. Sometimes three, sometimes more, some you can do solo if you want. Rarely if ever are you really expected to "stopwatch" time events, but it depends on the client and the MSC. If you get one that wants exact times, be prepared to add a note like "time was actually 7:45.8 rounded down to seconds."

The only shops I know of that require food pictures are fast food, pizza delivery, and a certain chain known primarily for its ice cream items. There may be others but for typical sit down dining pictures are the exception not the rule.

Thanks.

From what I've read you can't shop anywhere you've worked. My restaurant days are about 25 years ago. I doubt there are even records of me, anymore.

I do find that it's kind of automatic pilot, for me. I automatically still scope out what's going on and have to fight the tendency to go get my own silverware and quirky thing like that.

I would think that constantly looking at watches could act as a clue, that something's up. When I worked in fast food we had unannounced corporate inspections. IF the franchisee didn't maintain a certain grade level the franchise could get closed. I asked about times because most places that I've worked did have time frames that were supposed to be met with regards to how long to get an appetizer served, a lunch vs a dinner. How long things could stay under a heat lamp, etc.

I usually use the stopwatch app on my phone. If I'm late on the button I add or subtract an approximate amount of time as appropriate.

It depends on the individual shop, but often if you have worked somewhere more than 5-10 years ago it no longer disqualifies you as being a shopper. Case in point: Close to the 10-year anniversary of my departure from Sonic, they changed it from "have ever worked for Sonic" to "have worked for Sonic within the past 10 years." I think some time after that it was reduced even further (5 years?). The change in MSC may have helped that along as well, if the disqualification is too broad you're going to have people who "screen themselves out" because they worked for Sonic (just as an example) some 20 years ago when they still had the Frankie Avalon commercials and the drive-in part was central to the concept. (Yes, I've shopped Sonic, and I'm now done doing Sonic shops because of how they have changed since I started MSing.)

How much timing of things is involved. I find that this is an area, that I can space out on, and not just check often.

I can't eat fast food anymore, and have had digestive problems, so would be aiming for the full service restaurants. I also not supposed to drink because of this. Is it OK to either order "virgin" versions of a drink, or just do 1 sip, or hand it off to yur friend?

Watching the Wheels Wrote:
-----------------------------------------------------
I can't eat fast food anymore, and have had digestive problems, so would be aiming for the
> full service restaurants. I also not supposed to drink because of this. Is it OK to either order
> "virgin" versions of a drink, or just do 1 sip, or hand it off to yur friend?

Many restaurants do not require a bar visit or the purchase of an alcoholic beverage, especially if you shoot for the lunchtme restaurant visits. Although every MSP/client is different and their instuctions differ, most of those with a bar visit do require the purchase of an alcoholic beverage and not virgin. I am a very persnickity drinker (I like icee-tasting things like frozen daquiri, frozen magarita, ice cream drinks, or maybe plain wine) and many bar drinks are not to my taste. I've shared with a companion, sipped, left a lot, or even poured out if I didn't like or want them.

Thanks everyone!

Maybe, my last question, how obnoxious are the reports? And how picky are the companies?

Some are picky, some are not. I find the reports easier than cooking and cleaning up after dinner, plus I love to eat out, so there are none that I find so obnoxious that I wouldn't take them because of the reports. Many do call for narratives. Some narratives required are longer or shorter, depending on company. I am particular about what I eat, so there are some I don't take because I don't want to eat there! Just jump in there and try a few. I would start with A Closer Look and I would take a couple of lunch shops first (no bar requirement!).

Thank you all, yet again!

I've been doing quite a few itelli-shops and I think my average is an 8. I was going to start out with a few lower end, low $$ in case the report winds up being NG. Lunches would probably be better for me 'cause I'm an early to bed, get up with the chickens.

There's been some intriguing offers in my area lately. that looked nice when I tracked them down online. I'm going through my neurotic phase, as I build up my nerve.

Gotta add "A Closer Look" to my to do list. I do need to spend a day just signing up to more companies.

Hey! It seems to me you are making a mountain of a molehill.

With your experience, you should have a leg up on someone who has not worked in the industry. So, just go look at some shop instructions for those you might like to do. You can get your questions answered there as answers do vary greatly for different restaurants and MSPs.

The hardest part may be to find someone to come along for a free meal.

I'm not worried about the observation end, I'm worried about the report. Money's real tight, right now, and I can't afford rejected shops, where I had to front to money.

I don't mean to be unkind or uncaring, but if you can't afford to lose the money you can't afford to do the shop. I'd suggest cranking up the pace on other shops until you can save enough money in your shopping fund that losing the reimbursement on a fine dining shop wouldn't be overly stressful. Nothing is guaranteed no matter how careful you are. Once you get a working fund backing you up, you can jump into fine dining with a lower worry level.

My last sitdown restaurant shop (at a casual dining place) required me to take a picture of the appetizer, both entrees, and dessert. Then when I did a second location of an upscale regional pizza restaurant I found they'd added a photo requirement to it, too.

> The only shops I know of that require food
> pictures are fast food, pizza delivery, and a
> certain chain known primarily for its ice cream
> items. There may be others but for typical sit
> down dining pictures are the exception not the
> rule.

MDavisnowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't mean to be unkind or uncaring, but if you
> can't afford to lose the money you can't afford to
> do the shop. I'd suggest cranking up the pace on
> other shops until you can save enough money in
> your shopping fund that losing the reimbursement
> on a fine dining shop wouldn't be overly
> stressful. Nothing is guaranteed no matter how
> careful you are. Once you get a working fund
> backing you up, you can jump into fine dining with
> a lower worry level.

I understand exactly what you're saying. I'm trying to find out some of the gory details to minimize the possibility of rejections.

I don't plan on jumping in; I'm going to take a baby steps approach, and start with the lower end corporate chain restaurants where the potential loss is between $25 to $40. Do one and pray, then wait to see how I did.

One of my friends' daughters has already volunteered to do restaurants with me, and actually finds the entire mystery shopping very intriguing. She also volunteered her son for anything that gets kids stuff.

We understand what you are saying, Watching, but the problem is that we can't explain all the gory details to you unless you identify a specific company and ask for details of the type of requirements that company has: length of narrative, detail required, timings, photos, assigned food order requirements (as opposed to being able to order what you want), bar visit, manager contact, photos, or additional requirements. They are all somewhat different. Some are harder than others. You are wanting a generalization to let you know how hard dining assignments are, and it's not that simple - you really can't generalize: some are hard, some are easy. Some have tremendous writing requirements, some do not.

As you look through your possible dining assignments, target a company and ask questions about the requirements for that company. If you are more comfortable with PMs, PM me and I will be glad to discuss how hard/easy a particular company is as far as dining assignments. I won't name any clients or discuss specifics of a shop's requirements, but I can certainly generalize about dining assignments for specific companies.

OK, now I get it. I wasn't 100% sure how much info is allowed with regards to actual names, and was trying to NOT break the forum rules.

Will take you up on the PM offer, AustinMom. THANKS!

The rule is quite simple to state, harder to apply.

You can mention an MSP or a client in a thread. You can ask for example, how well an MSP pays, or ask about details regarding their restaurant shops. You can ask details about the shop for a particular client. For example, you can ask how are are the Burger King shops; Do they require timings to the second? Do they require a purchase inside and at the drive-through?

What you can't do is link the two in a post or thread so that someone can tell what MSP has that client. For example, I can't ask does ABC mystery shopping company require two purchases for their Burger King shops? Within a thread titled "Burger King shops" I can't post "Oh, ABC company pays well for them."

Have fun!



PS: Except for the menu pricing shops, I am not aware of any Burger King shops.

OK. Does each company have exclusives with the given businesses? If I mention a particular restaurant would people who have more experience than me know which MSP would be handling it?

I'm also finding that there have been times, in general that when I've applied for shops in general, that I've been very unpleasantly surprised when I've read the actual guidelines, and canceled out of the shop. So I'm kind of trying to avoid that, too.

Watching the Wheels Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OK. Does each company have exclusives with the
> given businesses? If I mention a particular
> restaurant would people who have more experience
> than me know which MSP would be handling it?


A good question.

Many do use one and only one MSP. However there are some large national chains (not limited to restaurants) that do split up their stores with different MSPs. Some do it geographically based on region or state. Some have other rationales involved that I haven't figured out. For example, one large pizza chain currently uses no less than three, perhaps four, different MSPs in my area and has used others in the past. I sometimes jokingly think that it is a requirement of MSPA membership to take a turn with this pizza chain.

Yes, if you mention a particular restaurant there is a good chance many folks on the forum would know who shops them. They couldn't inform you which MSP it was without violating the ICA, but could give you other details about the shops.

Many shops require a chronological report. The higher end the shop the more questions and detail required.

Fast food shops are a good entry point. Roy Rogers shops require 4 to 5 paragraphs for example but not too many questions. Five Guys is also good to learn from. I use a voice recorder via my phone to track times and that helps me remember what was said. Of course that may be illegal or against a MSCs rules. It's a public place and I am not using it for legal purposes so I do what I do.

If your patient you will find plenty of shops with fees and reimbursement. I have done a few fast foods for reimbursement only but the reports have to be simple. It is a free meal so better than nothing. I refuse to do a sit down with no fee

Oh, look up menus to make sure the reimbursement is high enough. Unless to you it still makes sense.

Fast food surveys can take 30 minutes even with a required summary, once you get used to the MSCs system. Higher end shops can take hours to report.