The bribe a shop was here in LA recently when I did my annual fancy way too expensive cupcake shop that I would never pay that much out of pocket for. I did the last month of the pizza shop for that one. They did not have to bribe me though as I would have done the pizza shop anyway. I wonder what the next bribe will be as the pizza shops are gone now. And my scheduler mentioned this is the last month for the middle east food shops. Never got around to trying them but always meant too. Oh well. Too many other food shops I went over to that neighborhood for and did not want to double up on lunch while I was nearby..but not near enough for second lunch.

@sandyf wrote:

The bribe a shop was here in LA recently when I did my annual fancy way too expensive cupcake shop that I would never pay that much out of pocket for. I did the last month of the pizza shop for that one. They did not have to bribe me though as I would have done the pizza shop anyway. I wonder what the next bribe will be as the pizza shops are gone now. And my scheduler mentioned this is the last month for the middle east food shops. Never got around to trying them but always meant too. Oh well. Too many other food shops I went over to that neighborhood for and did not want to double up on lunch while I was nearby..but not near enough for second lunch.

I've been bribed with the cupcake shops too. I wanted the pre-order dozen so I took the make your own pizza because that was in NoHo and the cupcake was at Americana at Brand. Now that you mention it, I do not recall seeing those pizza shops. Did they lose the contract?

Nobody has bribed me to do a shop to get a better shop and I'm a little upset about it. =D

Don't be upset if that means the shop itself is available for you to get. The cupcake shop has a pre order where you can get a dozen. The walk in shop you can only get 6 of them and I expect the report is about the same. That one you can do without a bribe. In fact they may become the next bribe shop but probably not because there are so few of them. The pre order cupcake shop was worth $46 worth of cupcakes but I think there were only 3 or 4 locations in this city with multi millions of people.
Yes Calicakes the pizza shop is not in Kansas anymore. Not in LA either. There is a whole thread about their demise.

If you resist that temptation you can save a LOT of money. I can't remember the last time I ordered a soda from anyplace (other than a reimbursable mystery shop purchase). I do tend to keep bottled water or bottled juice/sports drinks in a cooler in my car, though. Just sayin'.

@calicakes wrote:

@sandyf wrote:

I never eat at McD so I have not seen the kiosks yet but have no doubt they are coming. One of the mystery shops I do has kiosk restaurant shops but they are all on the east coast. It's a burger joint 5x as expensive as McD.

I actually don't eat there either, but I do go in for the 1.00 sodas.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

If you resist that temptation you can save a LOT of money. I can't remember the last time I ordered a soda from anyplace (other than a reimbursable mystery shop purchase). I do tend to keep bottled water or bottled juice/sports drinks in a cooler in my car, though. Just sayin'.

@calicakes wrote:

@sandyf wrote:

I never eat at McD so I have not seen the kiosks yet but have no doubt they are coming. One of the mystery shops I do has kiosk restaurant shops but they are all on the east coast. It's a burger joint 5x as expensive as McD.

I actually don't eat there either, but I do go in for the 1.00 sodas.

Only about 2x a month.

California is so wound up tight lately. Everyone I know and work with uses a hydroflask. Bottled water is so "last-decade" here. The only time I use bottled water is in a hotel room.

@SoCalMama wrote:

California is so wound up tight lately. Everyone I know and work with uses a hydroflask. Bottled water is so "last-decade" here. The only time I use bottled water is in a hotel room.

My daughters just bought hydro flask. Two of them went hiking yesterday and left them in the car for hours on a hot, sunny day. The water was still cold. ????

I do treat myself every once in a while to a coke zero from a machine and get multiple refills so at $1 it seems a good deal. Then take one refill home for later. Or my final refill before going home is something else from the beverage bar that my daughter likes. They usually have all sorts of new age drinks to choose from.

It's a required purchase for convenience stores this month and the end of last month, and it was a required purchase several months ago as well. I have well over 100 bottles of water. I have 1 for me and several to hand out to the homeless when I leave home. Sports drinks were a required purchase at the beginning of last month so I have a lot of those left, too. I prefer water because the sports drinks are so high in sugar.

@SoCalMama wrote:

California is so wound up tight lately. Everyone I know and work with uses a hydroflask. Bottled water is so "last-decade" here. The only time I use bottled water is in a hotel room.

Most mornings I go through the drive thru at McD's for their senior coffee (1.00), and it;'s a no heartburn situation for me, not having as much acid as Starbucks. I still drink water from a small thermos, guess I'd better get with the times. I love 0 calorie Snapple for driving.

A little new to this, but I'm a little confused. If the company is covering the cost of your dinner, why is tipping so painful and challenging? Your server has no idea who you are and fights cheap tippers everyday. Just seems like when your dinner is pretty much complementary, leaving a decent tip, whether or not the company covers it, is the price of doing business. Much like the company not covering the gas it costs to get there and back, maybe? Or mass transit costs?

It's not complimentary. We are working for that meal. I will always tip well if the service is good, but really, the reimbursement should be large enough to cover that as well.

Userati, It has been a while since I read the beginning of the thread, but as a new shopper you will soon realize that your "free" meal cost you several hours of work. So not free at all. I have done a few meal shops at sit down places where one would generally always leave a tip and yet tips were not reimbursed. For the others the free meal has a limit on it reimbursement wise. Sometimes they will say you can only leave 15% and if you choose to leave more it is out of pocket but more likely the amount of money they allow will only get you the least expensive entree and leave little left for any tip. So the entire tip might be out of pocket. If we are to pose as real customers we should be reimbursed for what a real customer would do and a real customer would leave a tip. The percentage you leave is up to you when you are dining. People's ideas of what is appropriate vary widely on this. Personally I feel the server is doing the same amt of work if I order the best steak or seafood on the menu for $55.00 and several glasses of wine or the spaghetti special of the day for $20 plus a couple of refillable sodas for the kids at the same restaurant or often times I go down the street and get the $5.95 dinner that requires the server to come and deliver an appetizer, dessert, drinks and the works. But look at the difference in the tip based on a percentage.

Re: the $12.75 burger shops. I do these. Yes, the burger I get makes the total about $14.35. But they pay $12.75 reimbursement plus $8-10 fee. I do them when I feel like eating their food anyway.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2019 05:29PM by unclebobg.

I have been a server and know how different it is to work in a place where the food is $5.95 than it is to handle customers and orders in a restaurant with $55 steaks. Believe me, high-end restaurant servers earn their tips.
Now, on the subject of reimbursements that don’t pay the full price of a meal. I think anyone is saying that the meal is “free.” When you have to do a report that takes an hour or more, you are working for the money. But you shouldn’t be taking these shops for the money, since there are no fees paid in the majority of cases. I take these because I and my guest like to eat at good restaurants, and, now that I’m retired, I can’t always afford them on my own dime. I don’t mind doing an hour-long report and spending $20 of my own money to have a dinner that would have cost me $120. I consider that a good deal. I do as many of these ACL shops as I can.
The only one I won’t do is the place that wants to pay with a gift card to use on your next visit. Hey, you want me to review your food and service, at least reimburse a good portion my meal. I guess if it was a place I went to regularly that would be okay, but it’s not.
Anyway, I like ACL and find them easy to work with.

Go during happy hour and ask if you can order appetizer at bar.
We usually get chicken for one entree and a good steak for other. Take chicken home for next day lunch after a few bites.
I usually wind up paying tip out of pocket but enjoy a nice evening out.

If budget is $100 + tip is 18% subtract and you have $82 to spend. Look at menu online and plan ahesd.

Ask your scheduler, they would rather have you ask then guess. I would rather have you not spend more than you need, or cheat yourself out having enough money to cover the shop AND tip. They are notoriously cheap, but are also the best at getting back to to shoppers quickly. You can also cc info@, if you are up against a time frame.

You have to be careful with those shops. One of them doesn't actually reimburse you it gives you a gift card to attend their same restaurant again. So, in essence, they get the report for free just by giving you the free meal, over and over. I've never eaten at that restaurant and I've never done the shop.

12 cupcakes for $46??? That's insane. I could make 12 cupcakes for $2 or less. Total.

What labor dispute?

I've never had a problem getting the cost of dinner or lunch and the tip also paid for with the reimbursement allowed. Just be sure you notice how much of a tip they will allow. Some assignments you can only leave up to 18% others are 20%. Either way when you include the tip your total must be under the total reimbursement stated in the shop. I live down south, so it could just be that the restaurants in my area don't charge as much as in a more metropolitan area. My husband and I are both retired so spending $100 on dinner without the tip is not anything we would do, we had drinks, appetizer, two great entrees, could not eat another bite. Our total bill with tax and tip came out to about $85.00