Opinions needed on a strange situation

From what I read it is only speculation that the client got the report. Even if the last timing question was left off there was an explanation. Often in shops things do not go the way the questions seem to think they will and then we write and explanation in the narrative box explaining the situation. The op met all the requirements as far as I read...we do not know if the report got sent to the client. This was a situation beyond the control of the op. What if you were doing the shop and just as you paid and your credit card was swiped the fire alarm went off and everyone ran outside? You will not have the timing for the return of your receipt...You might have gotten handed your credit card outside at some point. There are all sorts of situations that might arise to not be able to answer one or several questions the way they were intended. The report is still used and paid for.

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If it were me I would now feel obligated to pick up the tab for him in a restaurant so I am going to have that expense. I am down $75 that I earned making the observations and doing the report.

@DareWright wrote:

@jgoodwin wrote:

You should definitely get the $12 fee

Yes, I agree that you should receive the $12 fee. I don't think you should be given the $75 because you did not pay for the meal. Your profit is the $12 fee, not the cost of the meal.

If you had actually paid $75 for the meal, you should get reimbursed the $75...which meals you "broke even." Why should you earn $75 on top of a free meal? Whether or not a colleague paid for the meal, you still got a free meal.

@prince wrote:

If it were me I would now feel obligated to pick up the tab for him in a restaurant so I am going to have that expense. I am down $75 that I earned making the observations and doing the report.

Totally agree with this statement. If someone picked up the tab for me, I would feel obligated to pick up his tab at some future time if the occasion arose. But that has nothing to do with whether I was mystery shopping when it happened or dining on my own time. I would have aborted the shop and rescheduled rather than spend time on the report. Unless, of course, after speaking with the scheduler, the MSC negotiated a payment for me to complete the report.

I would have checked with the scheduler before completing the report. The guidelines indicated that you must pay for your meals and the tip. So, in truth, that is not a shop performed correctly. I would have requested for a redo to avoid any misinterpretations.

You got hosed

This happened to me once. Of course you don't get reimbursed. You didn't spend anything. I was told to wait a # of months before returning to this restaurant as I "stood out". Very understandable.

@DareWright wrote:

I can understand the msc's reasoning. You did not pay the $75, so if they paid you, you would be profiting the $75. Does that make sense? I once did a fine dining shop and my entire meal was comped because the kitchen messed up my order. I didn't expect the msc to reimburse me, because I was technically not out any money.

But did you get re-imbursed?

It is none of their business who pays for your meal. You did the work. You should get the entire promised amount. When my husband and I go out to dinner and he pays, does that void the entire job? I realize that is different because our money is mingled. What if I borrow money from someone, does that mean I did not pay for the meal? You probably would not have chosen to go there that night if it had not been a job. I would go over the head of the person who told you it would not be reimbursed. Be prepared for consequences though. It would be worth it to me.

LilaL

Not any different than having made payment with a gift card that was given to you as a present. Will MSCs start asking the source of the gift card? I call BS!

I am NOT advocating this, but the OP could have not mentioned that a colleague picked up the tab. She could have submitted the report (although did the report have timing questions regarding the check, ie. how soon the credit card was returned etc??) and never said a word that someone else paid it. The MSC would not have known and she would be reimbursed. Instead, she was honest, explained what happened and submitted her report, with an editing score of 9 out of 10. Since she wasn't told they could not use her report, I am assuming they did and the MSC will collect their fee from the client. So, it would appear the client got the report, the MSC got their fee from the client and she gets $12 (which again indicates they did use the report). She now will be out $75 when she reciprocates and pays the colleague's tab. How can this possibly be fair? I know life isn't always fair, but the OP gets hosed for doing nothing wrong and for being honest. I would take this up a level; if they cut you off for asking for an explanation as to how you reciprocate to your colleague without it coming out of your pocket, perhaps it's not a company you really want to work with in the future...that is the OP's call.

Is the MSC getting paid by their client to reimburse you when they didn't pay you to start with. Ok to screw you as long ad they don't get screwed. Did they repost the shop?

Exactly

I agree with Mf. Your friend was buying you a meal not buying your mystery shopping company a meal. Why should they benefit from your gift. Are they going to give the $75 back to the restaurant? I very much doubt it. They should pay you for the shop. you did the work you deserve to be paid. From previous experience honesty does not pay with mystery shopping companies. They will use any excuse to default on the payment.

Don't be soooo honest, next time. IF you had the receipt, why go there.

In order to remove all questioning and get twice as much good food, I would have enjoyed the meal my friend paid for, then returned another time to do the mystery shop and get paid for that as well!

These points need not be mutually exclusive. True that the shopper was not out of pocket so does not need reimbursing because they incurred no costs to be reimbursed. That is a fact. But why should the MSC profit from $75 they would otherwise have forfeited, had the shopper not found themselves eating a freebie meal courtesy of a generous friend instead of themselves? If I were the shopper I would insist that the money was still paid over to them simply because the friend's largesse was not extended to the MSC only to the shopper, so they should not benefit even by default. But as they have no legal requirement to pay the shopper this money, the shopper might persuade the MSC to part with the money but only on account that the money goes to charity of the shopper's choice. I think that would satisfy both sides with no-one feeling hard done by.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2017 09:10PM by BelGr0612.

I agree, abort shop. Contact scheduler. Don't do report. Reschedule if you want. Why waste your effort if you're not getting paid. It is my policy to negotiate a shop fee on top of a reimbursement.

It seems like the company is unjustly enriched. I think you should get the money. I have no idea what I'd do about it.

Some great lessons here. OP, If it were me, I'd make one more effort at explaining the situation to a different person at the company. Lay out your case, explain you will now have to return the favor and that by protesting paying the bill any further would have possibly outed you as a shopper. I have my suspicions about this situation and ethical standards of the companies, but you did the work, and the restaurant was paid by a patron. It should not matter who paid.

I've had situations come up where the scheduler has told me to 'do the report and explain the situation' and I've been wary of doing a report if unsure about payment. It has worked out but after reading your case, I know I will never do a report if the reimbursement is in question.

More than twenty years in the business, and I'm still learning lessons. Thank you OP. I wish you luck.

Evaluating and mailing packages since 1994. I am an undercover connoisseur of customer service, a master of disguise in the aisles, and a sworn enemy of subpar experiences. I blend in, observe, and report—because excellence should never be a mystery.

I agree with RobinMarie's suggestion. The MSC is probably not out to deliberately enrich themselves by this, but I think they are doing a bad job handling it. They are probably either mistakenly comparing this to a comped meal, where the restaurant never got paid, or they are comparing it to a bill paid for by a stranger trying to pick up the shopper. This is neither of those. The restaurant got paid by a private gift from the shopper's associate to the shopper, and the restaurant should refund the payment as agreed in the contract.

Also, if it were me, I would not have tried to reschedule the shop. I don't have time for all that -- trying to schedule again for two people and redoing all the observations and timings and ordering limitations etc. instead of just enjoying the meal.

They should pay the reimbursement. The meal was paid for by someone - not comped. You are out the next meal you comp for the friend who paid for this meal. They are apparently using the report. You might not not be out the money right this second -but in a week, two, three or whatever, you will be out. It's not profit for you, regardless of what others say and come to think of it -so what if it is profit for you it was still a paid meal.

There's no such thing as a free meal. This shopper's husband is now socially obligated to return the favor to the generous colleague.

Yes, I would feel a bit ticked off. Once I performed a jewelry shop where I needed to make a purchase and reimbursement was $75. I was meeting my date afterwards. My date came early and came to the store just before I paid for the purchase. Yes, he paid for it! I contacted my scheduler and asked to reschedule the shop. I returned to the store next day and completed the shop. It Was great buying more stuff but not really planned.

Wow, this is such a hot topic that people are participating for the first time on the forum to chime in. As we all know, editors don't always completely understand the rules. I had an editor that told me that the dessert I had ordered (from the dessert section of the menu, mind you) was not a dessert. With a different shop, the editor reduced my reimbursement because I had ordered an inexpensive appetizer that had lobster meat in it. This latter shop was for the company that prohibits ordering filet mignon and lobster (a full lobster entree, that is...what I ordered was permissible). I've also had ACL editors ask for pictures that were not required. Bottom line, I bet the person who edited the OP's shop report made the wrong call. What MSCs mean by comped meals or menu items are those that the restaurant does not charge you for, usually as a way to make amends for something.

i would be Pissed. You are being paid for the report. so what if someone else paid for it. I think you deserve the payment from the MSC, especially if they are using the report, otherwise you could've just enjoyed a free meal.

@Watching the Wheels wrote:

Don't be soooo honest, next time. IF you had the receipt, why go there.

i never would've brought it up either

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2017 04:37AM by quiettime.

This happened to us one night at a very nice sports bar and grill. A nice man at the next table paid for our meal. The next morning I called my scheduler and she suggested that she would change the date of the shop by one day and we could go back again that evening. So we went back to the restaurant again the night after the original date and did the shop. I just did the report once and got paid for going the second night by the Mystery Shop Company.

This was the correct thing to happen. I work for multiple companies and some ask was your meal paid for any reason. If your friend paid and you did not pay; you would have got paid twice for the shop.

She still got a free meal without paying for it. It's all good. Do not make a big deal or the Msc could terminate you. It's a learning experience

deleted

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2017 02:47AM by Robin2.

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