Have You Had a Hotel Shop?

August 12, 2014 11:26AM

Hotel shopping is actually my ultimate goal. =) Based off what I have been reading, I am positive I am signed up with companies that do these type of shops. So based off personal experience, How many assignments did you have to complete successfully before You were offered a hotel assignment? I know it's not a set number for each company so can you give an idea about how many?Also how long had you been shopping with the company before receiving your first assignment? Were you contacted personally or did it show up on the job hoard?

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August 12, 2014 04:44PM

Of course there is no flat answer for that one, even for any particular company.

Hotel shops most frequently have you pay by credit card and somewhat later the charges are backed out of your card. But there are also hotel shops where you are reimbursed for your room rather than having it backed out of your card. In either case, the shop must be accepted before your cost is covered. For that reason, no responsible MSP will assign you a hotel shop until you have shown that you can systematically produce acceptable work.

The same holds true of fine dining or other high outlay shops. No MSP wants to throw out an unacceptable report, but sometimes they have to. And you can bet that the shopper will be on this or some other forum or Facebook or other social media in an instant announcing to the world that they did NOTHING WRONG and the company rejected their shop without cause so they are out $$$$$. BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE.

August 12, 2014 06:55PM

Thanks for the reply. I know it's a hard one to answer but I was just trying to get an idea from personal experience from some seasoned shoppers. =)

August 12, 2014 08:48PM

After you have done a few hundred shops for upscale clients, with high marks, look for hotel shops.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

August 12, 2014 09:06PM

Whoaaa. Are you serious? That could take an especially long time to achieve.

August 12, 2014 09:31PM

There are 'hotel shops' and there are 'hotel shops'. There are ones that are a cut above fleabag where your nightly cost will be $40-$50 and although there will be a lot of 'yes/no' questions, there is not an extensive amount of narrative. Then there are the ones that are a couple hundred bucks a night with all those 'yes/no' for all hotel services and amenities and a narrative that is likely to be 20-25 pages single spaced. The cheap hotels you may land after doing a dozen or two good shops. The others are more what Walesmaven is referring to.

August 12, 2014 11:46PM

Wow, I imagined a couple of pages but that seems quite extensive. I guess hotel shops aren't for everyone. Also would depend if you are in it for the fees or the hotel points. I can't imagine being able to enjoy your stay when that type of report is expected.

August 13, 2014 11:22AM

You are starting to get it. Searching the forum for threads on hotel shops will help you understand further.

Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut

August 13, 2014 01:52PM

BMoss,
The mid-level hotel shops, where I get a free room service dinner, a very nice breakfast buffet and do 8-12 interactions can be quite enjoyable. But, it takes a lot of experience before a shopper is ready to do even those. I do them for all three reasons: fees, rewards points, and some very good "free" food and drink. Once you know what is expected, you can relax and enjoy most of the interactions.

But, I do not do Coyle hotels. They require that the shopper do a lot of FD shops in order to even qualify for a hotel shop, and I do not have a partner for fine dining, so cannot qualify. However, from what I hear, I may not be missing a relaxing hotel visit by not doing Coyle.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

August 13, 2014 02:47PM

Thanks, that sounds feasible. I've done a regular shop for Coyle that took 15 minutes, but the report took two hours. So I can imagine their hotels. Once I identify the mscs that I would like to be afforded a hotel opportunity for, I will work to do more shops for them.

August 15, 2014 01:11AM

Hi. I started shopping part time in February. Since then, I have done 68 shops, including seven hotel shops: one Ritz, two regular Marriotts, two Courtyards, one Residence Inn, one Park Hyatt, and I have a Grand Hyatt coming up this weekend. I am signed up with over 180 companies, and the most shops I have done for any single company is five. All of my assignments, except for the one this weekend, were on the job boards. It really depends on your area, though.

***************************
Thanks to all the forum members!

August 30, 2014 04:09AM

I did an upscale report for a resort in Aspen that was 82 pages long. I got paid $72 and I paid for gas for the 10 hour round trip drive. Never again.

Mystery Shopper since 1998; Author of Make Money Mystery Shopping available on Amazon in the Kindle Store.

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