Oh, and they have that Skinnylicious menu now. Still really big portions but under 600 calories.

any hints on who does this?

Wish we could give a hint, but you know the rules... ;-) That being said, the shops won't likely appear on your available list for this company until you do some of their other shops. At least that was how it was for me. Once I had a couple of the retail shops under my belt, suddenly the Cheesecake Factory ones appeared...

What kind of retail? Haha

JD - Never had to do retail to be offered any of TCF jobs. Those were self-assign as soon as I signed up last October.

Then again, TCC and one other restaurant - fine dining - are the only things available in my area!



jdfg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wish we could give a hint, but you know the
> rules... ;-) That being said, the shops won't
> likely appear on your available list for this
> company until you do some of their other shops. At
> least that was how it was for me. Once I had a
> couple of the retail shops under my belt, suddenly
> the Cheesecake Factory ones appeared...

I never had to do any other shops either before these were available to me. They were available right after I signed up.

You don't have to spend a lot because I do the lunch visit and always tell the person with me that we aren't going to order big portions because of the limit and we normally stay within what's returned on the gift card.

I used to love to do the Cheesecake Factory but have since changed my mind though, after I did my last dine-in report, which took forever to complete!! I'll still do the take-out, which I don't see much of anymore, because there's not much you have to do other than order, check the restroom and talk to the bakery person when you pick up your order. I figure the gift card will pay for the next take-out or "non-shop" visit I make, which one I did on a Sunday afternoon when me, my daughter and my grandchildren went to lunch and I used one of the cards I had to pay for my lunch and help her with somebody elses.


dktomb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Cheesecake Factory visits are a racket! You're
> expected to spend around $50-$60 but your
> "reimbursment" is only a $30 gift card! That would
> never fly in the business world. CF is getting
> away with murder by not paying for their OWN
> evaluations. I think that's such a sham. Thoughts?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2012 03:22AM by SoCal Shopper.

I'm holding on to my camera case after reading this one. What if I lose the receipt? What if I lose my car in the parking lot?

I started out with them doing the Cheesecake Factory. I guess it depends on what area you live as to what they offer. Not too long ago they started offering the Disney store here.

jdfg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wish we could give a hint, but you know the
> rules... ;-) That being said, the shops won't
> likely appear on your available list for this
> company until you do some of their other shops. At
> least that was how it was for me. Once I had a
> couple of the retail shops under my belt, suddenly
> the Cheesecake Factory ones appeared...

It's almost impossible to keep to the gift card limit with 2 people, unless you have water instead of coffee/soda. We had two non-alcoholic drinks, 2 lunch portions and with tax and tip, it was $35.

Did a to-go shop one monthh, lunch the next and then had enough gift cards to do dinner....repeat. during the lunch shop we got appetizers, one soft drink and a salad and CHEESECAKE. Tax and tip was $36 but we could have left off an item and stayed within budget. To-go shops require only an appetizer or entrees so the gift card has leftover money for a very nice dinner shop. There is that initial investment in a couple of shops but it has become one of my favorite places because of all the unique menu items.

I am very cautious with their shops and only do the CC factory...my kids are too old to take along on the retail shop here and one of the other restaurants which is literally across the street from where I work has only that one location. I do not want to invite someone, put out the $30 or $40 for the first meal and then after that depend on my coworkers not having to cancel due to a meeting or some scheduling problem or tell them it is a mystery shop and have them roll their eyes. So for all those on the other string about high end suggesting gift cards, it really does make me think before I do a shop to get repaid with a gift card I may not be able to or want to use again for another shop. One of their clients a few years ago dropped them after I did it only twice, went over the limit both times but that was okay as I used it to take family out for celebrations but now I am left with a $40 gc. I am planning to use it for happy hour but it means that I paid for 1/2 of the 2 shops out of pocket at a very nice restaurant with prices I would never pay for myself. "Food" for thought before doing one with gc reimbursement. Make sure you will be able to do others or you are out of pocket. Their other shops are 12 miles away and a hassle to park. 12 miles may not sound like a lot but in LA traffic the hassle is really not worth it for me as I only schedule one shop at a time. I don't want to do the first one out of pocket and then rarely do them again. Now, if they sent the gc up front that would be nice. I worked for a high end chain that did that for a while but after about a year they went to reimbursement by paypal. Maybe lots of people took the card and never sent in the report!

They only ask you for a few items to order and even if you do not spend the $30 or $40, they will send you the GC for the 30 or 40 pending on the type of assignment. And you can use the GC for further shops there. The report is easy and short. And I can self assign them to myself so that makes it easy. They never asked me to clarify anything and I have done a bunch of these for them. Look at this a a way of getting paid to eat out in this place that has a very extensive menu and decent food.

iblessyah Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Did a to-go shop one monthh, lunch the next and
> then had enough gift cards to do dinner....repeat.
> during the lunch shop we got appetizers, one soft
> drink and a salad and CHEESECAKE. Tax and tip
> was $36 but we could have left off an item and
> stayed within budget. To-go shops require only an
> appetizer or entrees so the gift card has leftover
> money for a very nice dinner shop. There is that
> initial investment in a couple of shops but it has
> become one of my favorite places because of all
> the unique menu items.


That is very smart to capitalize on the gift cards. I also try to do the to-go shops because there's less writing, tip is smaller and no beverage required. I can comfortably keep two entrees under the gift card amount.

Giving you a bit of history on Cheesecake Factory. They started in a small town in L.A. called Calabasas, (which grew as did Cheesecake), where we lived and built our home. They had a tiny shack and made cheesecake and salads only. They were amazing, our Saturday afternoon lunch outing for years. They then opened their first, second and third, and for years grew and became popular. I was their biggest fan. They then opened on the 6th floor of Macys in San Francisco and spread their wings. They have kept the quality of their food, and lunch menu's with 10.00 salads, I think quite reasonable. My wish
was I should have gotten stock in this company I followed for so many years.

Hopefully the "stock" you got is not on your hips. I am glad they have instituted the skinny menu. It has some great items on it for under 500 calories. Small enough in calories to convince yourself you can have a piece of cheesecake for dessert. Especially if you order with a diet soft drink. Perhaps that is their plan. Similar to my idea that cake crumbs have no calories. I have been known to chip away at a large slice of cake with that in mind!

Splitting a piece of cheesecake works, and is filling, and ordering dressing on the side or light.....then don't, I repeat don't eat dinner. When I do this calorie mound stuff, it's my one meal of the day. I am careful, but when I eat, I enjoy!!

Ummmm, cheesecake for dinner. I wonder if they would consider that the one appetizer or the one entree. Maybe we can convince them. That would work for me.

I love their Firecracker Salmon rolls (appetizer) and enough for two, then splitting a cheescake, how bout lunch.

One recent problem I have had with payment for bonuses for this shop is that they send a $10 VISA card, unactivated, and I have to activate it with the special code THAT THEY DO NOT PROVIDE! My first one required phone calls and e-mails to get the special code, and now I have a second one sitting here frustrating me.

Carol, that's awful, I'd complain to the MSC. When do they post, anyone know.

The May shops were posted about a week ago. There are still some not picked up ones in my state.

Thanks, Irene. I have a May shop scheduled.

57carol Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One recent problem I have had with payment for
> bonuses for this shop is that they send a $10 VISA
> card, unactivated, and I have to activate it with
> the special code THAT THEY DO NOT PROVIDE! My
> first one required phone calls and e-mails to get
> the special code, and now I have a second one
> sitting here frustrating me.


I am still waiting to get notice of my second bonus which should go on my card in May but my understanding was they would just put it onto the card you already have that has already been activated. I will check back here after I get my bonus added to the card. I was able to easily activate it the first time so maybe they missed something when they sent it to you. But then again, i have not yet spent the $$ so who knows if it will work.

Well I got a second card.

I usually prefer gift cards than reimbursements because the latter is usually delayed and sometimes taking 5 to 6 months. I hope mystery shopping companies give an upfront payment to encourage better performance from the mystery shoppers.

Some of their locations have happy hours with discounted drinks and appetizers. We can get a full meal way below the reimbursement. Thus, we love the dinner at the bar.

57carol Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well I got a second card.


I checked the balance on my card which i activated a couple of months ago. They did just add my new bonus to the balance I already had (but I never got an email about it). They say on the website you should not lose your card as they will charge for a second one. I gather since you got two they are not following their own advice.