I did a restaurant shop for a company that required eating in the shop and then going to the drive-thru, getting receipts at both. Inside I was unable to get a receipt, even though I asked TWO employees. They simply ignored my request and said "Sorry". I was able to get the drive-thru receipt. My shop is now being rejected and I maintain that their refusal to give me a receipt should be in the report! They should know about this! What in the world do they want us to do?? This has me not just angry, but baffled. I mean, let's say I wasn't able to do the bathroom portion because it was closed. Would that report be thrown out?? What if I was supposed to buy a burger and they were out of burgers, so I had to buy a hotdog?? It is not as if I had NO proof of my visit...I had the drive-thru receipt!!! This is so irritating that I am on the cusp of walking away from this company.

I think they expect you to stand there and stomp your pretty little foot until somebody gives you your receipt or passes you off to a manager to provide one. There is absolutely nothing wrong with INSISTING on the receipt because you need it. My usual is "My husband doesn't care what I spend as long as I have the receipts for his budget thingy." So I have yet to be without a receipt except where I just plain forgot to ask for it.

Whenever you feel a company is treating you unfairly, walk away from them.

Move on Many mscs will want you to work for them. Do not spend time worrying over this.

Susie, I regret you had a problem with your shop but most of the time the requirement for a receipt will not be negotiable.

Never back down on getting the receipt. Look them straight in the eye and say, "I absolutely have to have a receipt." Insist, don't negotiate or explain. Refuse to leave the counter and they will eventually give you a receipt or trot out a manager. If you're in a drive thru lane, refuse to move your car. You'll get your receipt.

Susie, please reconsider being upset with the MSC and walking away. Think long term for Susie. It's better to maintain an amiable relationship with the MSCs. You can always quietly not pick up their shops for a while until you feel better about this. It's smart to keep your options open.

Susie - Ironically I just had this happen to me.

I got my receipt from the Dine In portion. Then went out to do the Drive Thru.

Now, out of the heaven-only-knows-how-many shops I've done of this nature, I've NEVER not been given a receipt. This time I was not given one. I drove 3 miles to the grocery store before realizing I did not have a receipt from the DT.

I drove back to the DT, got in the long line of cars (5 in front of me), and then had to wait up at the window until they could find my receipt/transaction and reprint me another. What a royal PITA. However, I *knew* I needed that receipt to get paid & reimbursed.

I simply told the employee "my boss needs it for my expense report as I was flying back home to the East Coast" later that day. They found it, took about 10 minutes of scrolling through orders - and of course annoying all of the people waiting in their cars behind me.

Don't back down from the not getting a receipt. I use the "boss/expense report" all the time if I get funny looks.

Thanks for the feedback -- I actually considered making a 'scene' as I demanded the receipt, but have been told previously that doing such things will reveal me as a mystery shopper and then the report would be rejected and I may be banned from the company (who knows?!). We are not talking loads of $$ here, not like a hotel stay, and it is not as though I had no receipt whatsoever. I am just rather peeved and, again, shouldn't this actually be part of the report so that management knows that they are not accomodating with guests asking for receipts?

Susie, I understand what you're saying and certainly the business being shopped should have accommodated your request for a receipt. But, if you don't get a receipt your report is not accepted. As far as making a scene, standing your ground calmly without raising your voice will get the job done without calling undue attention. I understand you did what you thought seemed best and completed the entire shop, and that you've been out time and money. I wish you could be paid, but the report didn't meet client requirements. This is not personal even though it may hurt and feel personal. This is business, and you can possibly do a lot of business with this company in the future.

You're not the first shopper who did a job and ended up with zero money along with some expenses. You can be second, because I'm going to be the first one. I'm here to tell you I've done it myself. I've had reports rejected fairly by three MSPs, and they were absolutely right to reject those reports. I carelessly slipped outside the bounds of the guidelines. All three issues were learning experiences, and I'm thankful each MSC didn't throw me in the ditch over one screwup. If that had happened, I would have thought them grossly unfair. Kind consideration goes both ways and will always pay off.

I hope I can help here. I have had three shops like this where I did not get a receipt from either the dine-in portion or the walk-in portion. I was paid on all three of them.

I called the first time it happened right after I finished the shop. I was told, you only have to ask for the receipt once (they actually do not want you to ask for a receipt more than once). If they do not provide the receipt you notate it in your report and send a message to the help desk explaining why you did not get the receipt. I did this right after I submitted my report.

You might want to try sending a message to the help desk OR calling to see if they can fix this for you.

The answer above is correct if we are talking about a MF fastfoodf shop - but I was under the impression the OP was talking about a different MSC and a different inside/drive-thru shop. What convinced me is that the OP said she asked two different employees. MF's instruction definitely say you should ask only once and if you are not provided a receipt there is a question in the report that deals with whether or not you were provided a receipt with the option to explain. I have several times not provided a receipt from one - usually drive-thru ("It's in the bag!" NOT!) but gotten paid.

That it is what I thought it was (MF). Sorry, I did not realize there was another. I was talking about the MF shop.


AustinMom Wrote:
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> The answer above is correct if we are talking
> about a MF fastfoodf shop - but I was under the
> impression the OP was talking about a different
> MSC and a different inside/drive-thru shop. What
> convinced me is that the OP said she asked two
> different employees. MF's instruction definitely
> say you should ask only once and if you are not
> provided a receipt there is a question in the
> report that deals with whether or not you were
> provided a receipt with the option to explain. I
> have several times not provided a receipt from one
> - usually drive-thru ("It's in the bag!" NOT!)
> but gotten paid.

Beside the whole MS thing, I get more and more frustrated by retailers, most often gas stations and FF, not offering a receipt, asking if I need my receipt and/or generally making it difficult. It is our right as a customer to get a receipt even if we only spend a penny, whether we pay by cash, credit, debit, gift card or in beads and trinkets.

2.cents...I get receipts and do stand there till given one, however, from one Company, the receipts are so light, unreadable. I now have a hassle with MS because they can't read it....would this be my fault, should I jump behind the counter and change their ink....

Back in the day when the CPI was printed and scanned, one could WRITE on the bottom of the CPI "recepit for the DT/WI was not given." If there was a reason, you state it and INCLUDE it in the report. After submitting the report or before, just email the help desk and informed them about the receipt situation.

Sometimes getting everybody on your side is favorable.

But if I wasn't a shopper------->"I can't get a receipt,......Here is your food back.............>I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!! :-)

BTW: I had a shop rejected b/c I ordered soda. The receipt said soda. But I marked coffee on the report. When I contested the rejection, the editors pointed out that I selected coffee on the report . And I marked yes that I would review the summary two times for errors, b4 I submitted the report. He said if I had reviewed the summary a couple of times b4 submitting I would have seen I had selected coffee and selected the right drink. CASE CLOSED. That mistake never happened again!!!

GREAT NEWS!!! First, thanks for listening to my complaints. Second, I begged my scheduler and even asked her to appeal to her supervisors on this matter and they have reversed their decision. Yippee!! She did mention one suggestion: Always use a debit or credit card so that if I am not given a receipt (or lose it, or whatever) I will still have something of a paper trail.

Susie,
Why on earth would you ever use anything BUT a credit or debit card on a shop? Both create a record for tax purposes, as well as for the report! Best to have one credit card that is used only for business use, so that it's easy to know what's business and what's personal.

I agree, but don't always follow that advice For my regular FF route cash is easiest and no purse or wallet because it's imperative that my hands and a purse are not seen on camera. It does require much more bookkeeping and documentation than a debit card.

Wales -

Because the one FF place that I do REQUIRES "Cash Only". I paid with a Debit card one time because I didn't have enough cash to do both the DT & WI portions. My shop was rejected because I used a card - and not cash.

Another restaurant/bar combo I do - CASH only. Required. Casino shop - cash only for everything. I have a slew of shops that are cash only. (Wish I could use just a debit card, it would save a few headaches)


walesmaven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Susie,
> Why on earth would you ever use anything BUT a
> credit or debit card on a shop? Both create a
> record for tax purposes, as well as for the
> report! Best to have one credit card that is used
> only for business use, so that it's easy to know
> what's business and what's personal.

The post office shops also required cash only.

I believe the shop in question does say cash only.

Glad you got it resolved. It should have been in my humble opinion. I usually use a debit card on the PO shops without a problem, but I would check w/ scheduler first.

The guideline read that it is preferred we use cash. I am curious if they lower your score if you do not use cash.

There are several shops that require you to pay cash only. Also Susie, as the other comments have stated you should only ask once for a receipt for this shop. I'll bet that is why they were going to reject your report. Just make sure to read and re-read your instructions to save yourself some hassles!

peachgirl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are several shops that require you to pay
> cash only. Also Susie, as the other comments have
> stated you should only ask once for a receipt for
> this shop. I'll bet that is why they were going to
> reject your report. Just make sure to read and
> re-read your instructions to save yourself some
> hassles!


That would be correct if we were talking about the MF fastfood which requires the use of cash and tells you to ask only once for a receipt. But we are talking about a different MSC and different shop. One of the earlier posters incorrectly made the assumption we were discussing MF. This MSC's shop requires receipts at both inside and drive-thru and allows the use of debit/credit cards. It also imposes no requirement to ask only once.

It's difficult to discuss a shop issue if there is no identification of MSC in the original post.

Oooops! Yet another reason that I don't do fast food shops. (I want a credit or debit card entry as back-up proof and tax record.)

For two employees to have said the same thing, I can only surmise that you went back for the receipt after more customers had ordered at the till. Most tills only have the ability to go back one order and print a duplicate receipt. I've never had a problem with these shops - I give the meals to my son or a homeless person. Had it been me, I would have asked for a manager to write out all the receipt information on the restaurant's letterhead or envelope (for address etc).
Remember to get date, transaction number, till number, item description, cost per each, and total with GST.

Actually most point of sale systems can reprint any receipt. The longer the time in between the more involved the process, but it can be done. Several orders should make absolutely no difference. I have had this happen in the drive through and by the time I got inside there were several orders in between.

I also left a gas station without getting my receipt when I was in a hurry to get a rental car turned in on time. As I was being reimbursed for gas there was no choice but to go back. In this case approximately 30 minutes had elapsed and my transaction was at the pump. The station had a lot of pumps and a lot of customers. Even though it was more complicated the manager had the receipt for me in 5 minutes.

imchaley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For two employees to have said the same thing, I
> can only surmise that you went back for the
> receipt after more customers had ordered at the
> till. Most tills only have the ability to go back
> one order and print a duplicate receipt. I've
> never had a problem with these shops - I give the
> meals to my son or a homeless person. Had it been
> me, I would have asked for a manager to write out
> all the receipt information on the restaurant's
> letterhead or envelope (for address etc).
> Remember to get date, transaction number, till
> number, item description, cost per each, and total
> with GST.

Actually you can go back and reprint even if other customers have ordered. It's a PITA and if 2 employees said the same thing I'm thinking two employees didn't want to be bothered or didn't know how to do it. Time to ask for a manager. A manager would not like being bothered but would likely know how to do it. What I hate is when the employee rips the receipt off the register and throws it in the trash without asking if I want it or not.

cubbiecat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The guideline read that it is preferred we use
> cash. I am curious if they lower your score if you
> do not use cash.

I can say with 100% certainty that they do not lower your score. When I first started doing these, the "cash is preferred" section stuck with me more than anything else for some reason. Probably because I use a card for everything.

Anyway, on one of my very first reports, my reviewer gave me an 8, stating that the client requires cash and that it was inappropriate to bestow decorating advice upon the client, or something to that effect. My jaw dropped to the floor as I said, "Come again?"

I had used a card, of course. As for the decorating advice, what I actually had reported was the weird configuration of tables and counters in this location. It was just strange, like being in an upside down and sideways version of the location in some other universe. And because of this, I had an extremely hard time locating the extra services forms. Any of you who have done these shops know that finding those is usually a matter of just opening your eyes. So I put that in my report, thinking it to be important.

So after receiving that rating, I immediately contacted my scheduler and complained. The cash thing was a no-brainer to anyone who can read, and I just told the scheduler, "Unless I completely misunderstood my directive, not only was I supposed to evaluate the service provided by the employees, it was also a requirement that certain documents be found in the lobby and to give an overall impression of the ease, or lack thereof, of finding the extras that the USPS has to offer."

The scheduler agreed, and removed the reviewer's comments, changed the rating to a 10, and contacted the reviewer's supervisor. The same reviewer apparently just can't help him/her self from commenting on the cash thing though, but now writes this: "Remember, cash is the preferred method of payment"

I still always use my card and 99% of the time get a rating of 10.