They did the work and wrote a long tedious report, how does that not mean they are not reimbursed. Taking a date or SO and they pay, the dinner was paid for, the report done and the shopper reimbursed who loses.

If a shopper allows someone else to pay, for whatever reason, they are not out any money. If it’s a friend of SO, they can ask them for the receipt and repay them or not. That does not involve the client. Some random stranger pays for your meal and you don’t get the receipt, there’s nothing that needs to be reimbursed. You still got a free meal, if that’s what made the report and time worthwhile for you.
Maybe I misunderstood earlier, but it seemed the prevailing thought in this thread was that shoppers are entitled to the reimbursement even if they don’t spend money.

Thank you to BirdyC for asking her colleagues this intriguing question. I was fascinated by the first post last year and am equally interested in this post. One thing that I think most people are overlooking is that there are actually two contracts in play here, not just one.

The contract that we care about is between us (IC) and the MSC (our client). I think this is the contract that we are focusing on and for good reason as this contract affects us directly. The MSC knows that they could never get anyone to do these assignments for just the measley fee, so they dangle the carrot of a fancy dinner to entice us to take the shop. Therefore, we then value the shop in the whole and not just the monetary fee being offered.

The second contract is between the restaurant and the MSC. That contract is likely structured in such a way that the restaurant pays the MSC a fee (much higher than the $10 we get I suspect) plus the reimbursement of the meal as a passthru. The restaurant provided a meal to the shopper and the meal was paid for therefore the restaurant should be obligated to reimburse the amount spent up to the predetermined expense limit. The fact that someone other than the shopper paid the bill is largely irrelevant. An expense was incurred and a payment was made therefore the reimbursement is due. Now, does the reimbursement get sent to the MSC to keep or should it be paid to the shopper or should the generous payer be tracked down and reimbursed? We don't know if the MSC receives this payment or not. They may receive the reimbursement and then deny the shopper (correctly) for not providing the required receipt. This receipt loophole is cheesy, but legit none-the-less.

I don't know the answer and am not a lawyer, but find this topic interesting. To me, I received my payment and did not pay for the meal, so I am in essence 'whole' from a legal viewpoint. Except I really am not whole because I now have a debt to this other person to pay back at some point in the future (or to pay forward to someone else). This may be more of a moral issue than legal, but I do believe in karma balance and receiving this meal from a good samaritan when I was entitled to this meal from the MSC creates a karma obligation to me personally. When I either pay this karma debt back or pay it forward, I will no longer be whole in legal terms. The restaurant has received a report, that they valued contractually at the fee plus reimbursement, for just paying the fee. They owe the reimbursement to someone. My way of thinking has the money going to either the shopper or the gift-giver. No one else has a claim to the reimbursement in my book.

Thank you, Birdy, for your effort and time to report opinions of lawyers. This forum's armchair legal quarterbacks and experienced shoppers have also been noted.

I have completed shops which went wonky. Submitted/or not, at my discretion, due to issues not covered in the guidelines, it's been my experience that trust and common sense prevails. Working with MSCs with whom I choose to do business, I have not been disappointed.

Practically speaking, I keep coming back to a couple of things. In the event that my meal is paid for by an un-involved party to the contract I have signed, my first thought is that I should not be reimbursed for an expense I did not incur. Legal, ethical, moral? My personal code of honor, which may be unwritten, kicks in. Next, I am not able to report on the payment portion requirement of the report. Check presented, picked up, returned. I would not be able to complete my obligation to satisfy the requirements of my contract.

Shoppers are entitled to the reimbursement if SOMEONE spends money.

To me people are looking at it more of a traditional reimbursement of expenses than it is. When I used to travel for work I would go out to dinner, pay the bill, submit my receipt, and get reimbursed. The meal wasn't payment, I wasn't working during the meal, it was just an expense that occurred because I was away from home for work. If a colleague, date, friend, or client picked up the tab the receipt didn't get submitted. Because there was no expense. Just like if I ate at a friend or family member's house, which occurred sometimes. Reimbursement in that case was more of an ugggg I had to spend this money because I was out of town working so you need to pay me back.

Reimbursement for a meal at a mystery shop is not that. This is not an item that you are consuming as a side expense from doing business. It is something that you purchase in order to evaluate. Just like if you have an oil change shop. You are not doing an oil change shop for the fee. You are doing it because you expect the value of the oil change and the fee. Part of it is the whole "free meal" or "free oil change" mentality of some shoppers. I do not look at an oil change shop as a free oil change and $5. I look at it as a value of $75. Let's say I go do an oil change shop and someone I know is there and says, oh hey, thanks for helping me out with that computer problem the other day, I'm going to pick up your oil change tab. The mentality of many shoppers is "oh you got your free oil change either way.". No. I did not. I got an oil change that someone paid for and I lost the value of someone owing me a favor. Even though the money did not go from my hand to Jiffy Lube doesn't mean that I did not have an expense. For a meal, I am working during that meal, and I am entitled to the full value of what I am expecting for that meal.

@Mert wrote:

Check presented, picked up, returned. I would not be able to complete my obligation to satisfy the requirements of my contract.

This makes many assumptions that often are just not true. I have done many meal shops that did not have specific requirements for these parts of the visit.

@Mert wrote:

Working with MSCs with whom I choose to do business, I have not been disappointed.

This we agree on because the quality companies I work for would reimburse in an instance where someone else picked up the tab unexpectedly.

@Mert I agree with you completely. I have not had this situation happen to me personally which is probably why I find it so intriguing. I think that if this situation does ever happen to me in the future, I will remember this awesome discussion and simply not complete the shop. I would offer to reschedule with the MSC, but would avoid this potential hassle to begin with. I would likely communicate with the MSC first to see what their stance would be on the situation, but would be inclined to cancel/reschedule. I do not believe that I would complete the report under the circumstances described in this thread thereby avoiding this issue altogether.

@msimon-2000 I understand where you’re coming from. But the MSC gets reimbursed just like you do, when they submit a receipt. Trust me, I’ve felt with plenty of subcontractors with pass-through reimbursements. If you didn’t get a receipt because someone else paid, there is no reimbursement. You might feel a moral obligation to pay the Good Samaritan back or pay it forward, but there’s still no receipt, so that’s a decision you make. Yes, the restaurant got paid, but they are not obligated in any way to pay to reimburse because the MSC did not submit a receipt. Just because they budgeted an amount for reimbursement doesn’t mean they are obligated to pay if the conditions weren’t met.

@TroyHawkins wrote:

If you didn’t get a receipt because someone else paid, there is no reimbursement.

Who said anything about not getting a receipt. If you read the original thread the OP was able to get the itemized receipt from the server and there were no observations required for the shop that were missed due to someone else picking up the tab. You are making assumptions.

If your friend pays the bill, you are not off the hook. You now have a social obligation. If you had been reimbursed by the MSC, you got your "free meal" and your fee, and now you are done. If the friend pays, and the MSC does not, yeah, you get your free meal and the fee, but now you have a SOCIAL obligation to your friend...you are no longer done!

@TroyHawkins Good post and well reasoned thought process. And I get the whole receipt thing. The one exception to the receipt issue is technically the restaurant already has the receipt and holds the receipt since they issued the receipt. They easily 'could' produce the receipt and pay the obligation if they chose to do so.

In the OPs case, they were able to get the receipt so that issue is a non-starter.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2018 04:07AM by msimon-2000.

@msimon-2000 wrote:

So, technically, yes -- the shopper failed to provide the receipt and the MSC could reject the entire report for this. For this reason alone, I would cancel/reschedule if the MSC didn't agree to pay the full amount without the receipt.

No. They did not. You have not read the original thread. The OP had the receipt.

Easy tiger, I did read it, but forgot the details. The situation from last year did not have the receipt and the most recent one did get the receipt. My post has been edited to fix this.

@bgriffinYes, I know this isn’t the situation the OP referenced. I was replying to another comment on the thread. This is more of a hypothetical than a specific incident.

@OCyou2 you may or may not feel personally obligated. That’s entirely on you, the shopper. The client is obligated to reimburse the shopper and MSC only per the shopper agreement. Which probably doesn’t include a clause for social debt.

@msimon-2000 the restaurant may have a copy of the receipt. It’s not their responsibility to submit it for you.

@msimon-2000 wrote:

Easy tiger, I did read it, but forgot the details. The situation from last year did not have the receipt and the most recent one did get the receipt. My post has been edited to fix this.

If I'm not mistaken the one from last year also got the receipt

Please send the link to this thread to the MSPA for a response.

They won't respond. Neither will any company. The ones that won't pay don't want to look bad publicly and the ones that would pay don't want to a, be on record in case there is ever an instance where they feel like the shouldn't, and b, annoy their fellow companies that disagree with them. Then you have the small companies that may agree the shopper should be paid but can't afford to pay if the client disagrees.

Just to add my two cents:

Say I accepted a shop that where part of the shop is payment for the shop and reimbursement to a certain amount for expenses incurred.
Where the money is derived for the expenses incurred is not the business of the MSC (unless, I suppose it was stolen).
Examples:
1) I did something for someone and they said they would pay for it via their cash/credit card.
2) I was nice to someone and they in turn bought something for me with their cash/credit card.
3) I found some cash while on another shop. The original owner could not be found. I used it to pay for the expenses incurred. Not so far-fetched - I found as much as $60!
4) I was short of funds, my significant other, friend, mother, father, sibling gave me their credit card to pay for the expenses incurred.

There are more scenarios. The point is, none of them are the MSC's business as to how the expenses incurred were paid. The shop was performed, expenses were incurred and should be paid by the MSC up to the amount's maximum as outlines in the shop's guidelines.

That's my take.

PS, I am guilty of using my sig other's CC (with permission) for shop expenses. In turn sig other received a "service" from me as compensation.

What happens if you do a nice dinner shop with a friend, and for some reason your card gets declined? Say your friend then hands over their card with the understanding you will pay them back in a few days.

Would you not be reimbursed because the friend technically paid in the ‘then & there’? Even though you have the obligation of re-paying them at another time?

@Megs7521 wrote:

What happens if you do a nice dinner shop with a friend, and for some reason your card gets declined? Say your friend then hands over their card with the understanding you will pay them back in a few days.

I would think that an explanation to the MSC along with the receipt would be sufficient.... That situation is different from what the original one was that set off the discussion. I'd guess that if the shopper and the MSC had a good relationship, it wouldn't be a problem, especially since the person paying was with the shopper.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2018 10:26PM by BirdyC.

@Megs7521 wrote:

What happens if you do a nice dinner shop with a friend, and for some reason your card gets declined? Say your friend then hands over their card with the understanding you will pay them back in a few days.

Would you not be reimbursed because the friend technically paid in the ‘then & there’? Even though you have the obligation of re-paying them at another time?

Something similar has happened to me. I was on a route of gas station shops and my gift card ran out with 4 shops to go. The only other card I had with me was my debit card to my 'shopping' account. No biggie, it had almost $300 in there... well three stations put $75 holds and one did a fifty dollar hold. I then had a Texas Roadhouse at the bar shop scheduled to round out the night. I didn't realize ANY holds were placed on my debit card till they swiped it for dinner and it was declined. The manager allowed me to call my husband and took his credit card # over the phone. (And yes I had to pay him back as we have separate finances)

Should I have been reimbursed? I didn't pay for the meal, my husband didn't eat the food either.

@BirdyC wrote:

@Megs7521 wrote:

What happens if you do a nice dinner shop with a friend, and for some reason your card gets declined? Say your friend then hands over their card with the understanding you will pay them back in a few days.

I would think that an explanation to the MSC along with the receipt would be sufficient.... That situation is different from what the original one was that set off the discussion. I'd guess that if the shopper and the MSC had a good relationship, it wouldn't be a problem, especially since the person paying was with the shopper.

I don't think it's any different at all.

Based on this discussion, if I'm not getting 75 dollars, then the MSC is not getting my report. Why should I provide the report if the MSC is not cutting me a check?

Any MSC that will not pay for the meal is not worth their salt and lacks integrity. These discussions remind me why I do not appreciate reimbursement shops.

I have been reading the IRS tax laws. Seems "personal expense" is a key term related to the determination if something is a reimbursement. The laws further describe all payments that do not require proof of personal expense to be reported as income.

Basic bookkeeping would require each reimbursement to have a qualifying out of pocket personal expense.

As far as what is appropriate when the shopper does not have any out of pocket expenses, as far as the client "refunding" the payment they received , it seems the majority here are not keen on redefining what "reimbursement" means.

This should be handled like the appropriate advice given about tax returns or recording conversations, consult your tax advisor or lawyer: Do not take advice based on opinions. No one here is going to testify for you in court as an expert.

If someone else at your table hands over their credit card in payment how would they even know.? I have several credit cards and the msc does not have my credit card numbers. It is common practice for some people to both black out the credit card numbers and the names on the receipt before submitting it. I doubt very much that the client is looking at their copy of each receipt and asking the msc the actual name of the shopper to verify that the shopper was the one who paid.
As was suggested above I would probably check with the msc and not do the report if I was only getting paid a minimal or no fee and not getting reimbursed but even this is problematic from my viewpoint. Had I gone out to dinner on my own I would not be spending so much time and effort timing things and making sure I heard and remembered every comment made by the server and the order in which my items were delivered and who delivered them and what they looked like or said, etc. I also would not have ordered an appetizer and dessert and several glasses of wine with my dinner...I might have ordered the same entree as my dinner guest had because we both really liked the same thing....This meal was not for fun, entertainment and a relaxing night out. This meal was work! So whether or not I decided to write the report I would be out the several hours of work while eating and closely observing.
I hope this never happens to me but if it does I would not feel bad going up to the other person across the room who paid and explaining this was a business dinner and thanking them for the thought but saying I needed to pay this time myself.

@BirdyC wrote:

@Megs7521 wrote:

What happens if you do a nice dinner shop with a friend, and for some reason your card gets declined? Say your friend then hands over their card with the understanding you will pay them back in a few days.

I would think that an explanation to the MSC along with the receipt would be sufficient.... That situation is different from what the original one was that set off the discussion. I'd guess that if the shopper and the MSC had a good relationship, it wouldn't be a problem, especially since the person paying was with the shopper.

I don't think it's any different at all.[/quote]

In this case, there might be a paper trail. I actually did a shop a couple of months ago and used the wrong card by mistake, and it was declined. I just used another card to pay. The receipt showed that the first payment was declined. It made me nervous, thinking that the MSC might question it. I don't know if other restaurants' receipts would show that or not, but if they do, then it would be apparent that your card was declined and that you needed to use your companion's card (assuming you didn't have another one on you). Not the same at all as a person at another table paying and you having to scramble to come up with an excuse to get a receipt.

Regardless of any other issue, I can't help but think that a person asking for a receipt when his/her meal was paid for by a third party who wasn't with him/her is going to raise suspicions. Or, at the very least, make the shopper stand out memorably.

@BirdyC wrote:

@Megs7521 wrote:

What happens if you do a nice dinner shop with a friend, and for some reason your card gets declined? Say your friend then hands over their card with the understanding you will pay them back in a few days.

I would think that an explanation to the MSC along with the receipt would be sufficient.... That situation is different from what the original one was that set off the discussion. I'd guess that if the shopper and the MSC had a good relationship, it wouldn't be a problem, especially since the person paying was with the shopper.

I don't think it's any different at all.[/quote]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2018 02:10PM by BirdyC.

A cost was incurred. A receipt was given as proof of payment. An MSC agrees to reimburse the cost.
Why muddy the waters down the line? This seems like more is being made of this than needs to be.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2018 02:28PM by BarefootBliss.

@OCyou2 wrote:

If your friend pays the bill, you are not off the hook. You now have a social obligation. If you had been reimbursed by the MSC, you got your "free meal" and your fee, and now you are done. If the friend pays, and the MSC does not, yeah, you get your free meal and the fee, but now you have a SOCIAL obligation to your friend...you are no longer done!

Perhaps your paying back a debt to a friend by taking them, they have a lot of money and won't let you pay...
your still doing the work.