Free meals out for the family

[NatEmMum]

My partner and I enjoy going out for diner but since having the baby we have been a bit strapped for cash.
I've been looking into ways of going out for dinner but saving money at the same time.
One of my friends said she saw a post on Facebook the other day talking about the Mystery Dining Company. Apparently you can eat out for free with them at some well-know restaurants?
Has anyone ever done this before? Want to make sure it's all legitimate before I get my hopes up!
Thanks!

I always go by the rule - if something sounds too good to be true - then it probably is. Especially if it is facebook related.

Could be legitimate. I do lots of mystery shopping with another company, mostly at places like Pret A Manger, and looking at their website it seems the same sort of thing.

The questionnaires are usually time consuming but I get free coffee and food and they pay me. I wouldn't be able to justify stopping for a coffee most of the time if I had to pay for it.

Sign up to it, do one assignment and see how it suits you. Worst case they don't pay you for it and you've had a meal out (choose a cheap place if cash is tight!). I think I will sign up for it.

Most assignments do have a reimbursement cap which may not cover the full meal - something to keep an eye on!

I've just signed up. Amongst other things I had to write a review of a restaurant I have recently visited. Will let you know if they get back in touch

So you get the whole meal paid for then? or just one persons?

Looks like you pay first then get reimbursed 4-6 weeks later.

RECEIVING PAYMENT. You need an account that we can use to reimburse expenses related to your visit - in nearly all cases, you will need to upload a copy of the receipt as evidence. During the application process, you will be asked to supply account details. Our preferred method is to pay into a bank account in GBP - for other currencies, please see the international section.

The website says the meal is for two people and depending on the quality of your reviews and attention to detail etc, you get to eat in progressively nicer places. The bill is paid by the restaurant as they are hoping to promote better service, improve the quality of their food and so on.

I hope this does turn out to be genuine as it sounds fun!!

i've recently registered and became a Mystery Shopper with Ipsos, and I am quite happy with it. You always get paid and/or receive a reimbursment, depending on the task. If you would be interested you can register on their website www.ishopforipsos.com/en_GB/ it's quite simple and worthy.

I did mystery shopping as a student. I loved it, but you do need to be alert during your meal. For example I did several branches of a pizza chain and they wanted to know things like how many minutes between being seated and being asked for your drinks order, how many minutes between ordering and it arriving and so on, so I always had to have one eye on the clock and the other on my dinner guest.

Yes they are legit - I work for them. But there are a tiny number of meals where you can take the family. Like one a year. Most are for singles, or couples. Many specifically say in the brief no children. (And that means babies or toddlers who aren't eating too).

I used to do this but it was places like Pizza Hut, KFC etc. We used to get an allowance which you paid for then claimed the money back,