We all have points plus or dining dollars, especially those of us, like myself, living on-campus. And most of us have used Points Plus or dining dollars to order from one of the establishments on Merchants on Points (MOPS).
Chances are that those of us who have used the MOPS program have not been entirely satisfied with it. Yes, MOPS is extremely convenient for ordering dinner and late night snacks and for those of us short on cash, but at what cost?
I recently ordered a calzone from Espresso Pizza. The order was placed at about 6:45 p.m., even though MOPS restaurants "cannot" take points until 7 p.m. on weekdays. I was told that my order would arrive, conveniently, at my door step within 45 minutes. An hour later I was still waiting, so I placed a call to Espresso. I was told that my order was ready and that it would be out the door as soon as the next driver arrived.
As a resident of Hillsides, practically across the street from Espresso, I expected the food to arrive shortly. Twenty minutes later, still waiting for my food, I placed another call to express my frustration with Espresso's poor service. Again, I was told that my food was ready but that they were still waiting on a driver. Thankfully, five minutes later, my food arrived - but to the dismay of my suitemate and me, with whom I was sharing the meal, our calzone was lukewarm at best.
This was not the first time that this has happened to me with Espresso, nor do I think this is a unique occurrence among MOPS restaurants, but it is the first time that I am doing something about it.
With the way that MOPS is currently run, Tufts has set up its students for failure. The convenience is certainly attractive, and most of us can convince our parents to give us some money that will go toward food. But with this convenience comes a complete lack of accountability for MOPS establishments, inferior service and a taking for granted of all of the money that Tufts students are pouring into these businesses.
The establishments on MOPS have little incentive to run their business as they should because they are assured continual business through the MOPS system. I am fairly confident that if there was no MOPS system and local delivery restaurants acted in the manner in which Espresso treats Tufts students, who account for about 40 percent of their business, they would not be able to stay in business.
If you order food from a restaurant at your home away from Tufts and that food does not arrive piping hot or in a timely manner, chances are that that business will be extremely apologetic. They may even offer to compensate you in some manner, whether it is some sort of discount or even a free meal. Why? Because they need your business in the future.
Here, a business like Espresso can deliver cold food after an hour and a half because they know that, in the broad scheme of things, it will not have an effect on their business. Sure, they may upset a customer, but later that week or the following week when dinner time rolls around and that upset customer wants to avoid the dining hall and has little cash on hand, what are that customer's options? He or she has already spent money on MOPS, so he or she orders out.
Even if the order comes from a restaurant other than Espresso, which I feel is the most guilty, but by no means the only guilty party, chances are that that business will not treat its Tufts MOPS customer fairly. They have no incentive to.
I think there is also a significant problem with the lack of transparency of the MOPS system. There are two parts to this problem. First, yes, the menus are online, but those on TuftsLife.com differ from those on the Dining Services Web site, adding to confusion over which menus and prices are correct. Because Tufts students do not know what the actual menu prices are, the charges often seem arbitrary. The problem was even worse in the past, when, until some Tufts students took some initiative, there were no menus online at all.
The second half of the transparency problem arrives when our food does. When food is delivered and we get our MOPS receipts, they are not itemized. We have no idea what we just paid for. MOPS restaurants could easily add a dollar here or a delivery charge that they should not, and no one would notice.
It was only two years ago that our friends over at Espresso charged MOPS patrons a surcharge of 15 percent. The hundreds of dollars that Tufts students were overcharged for the two months that the surcharge was in effect were never refunded. In short, there is no way to tell whether or not we are being charged an accurate amount.
Well, what can be done to increase the accountability and transparency of these establishments? Those of us that are upset with the system need to make our voices heard. The main reason that we are being taken advantage of is that the MOPS establishments think they can get away with it. Once we get our food, they expect us to sit back and enjoy the calzone, or the crepe, or the wings that, for the most part, our parents' money paid for.
We should not let them think that we will be so acquiescent. Student action was effective in removing the surcharge from Espresso's orders, and it could be equally effective in holding MOPS restaurants more accountable.
Steven Ross is a senior currently double majoring in political science and history.
