Thanks for the info. :-)

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.
~Georg C. Lichtenberg

Dee...ditto, got nowhere....

OK I wrote this really long, detailed comment about this company and realized I was probably giving away too much information -- so let me sum up:

TOO MUCH information. My meal was good, but I could not enjoy it due to the number of exact quotes I was required to record. The narrative was difficult for me because it requires you to be redundant. The whole time I'm typing I'm thinking "Really??? AGAIN????" And, I love to type -- which explains why my posts are always really long with way too much digression.

So, if you think a night out at nice restaurant is worth at least 5 hours of your time recreating the event down to the last detail then go for it. I have not even checked for jobs since even though I still get solicitations. I have no idea what my score was because it was not rated. I am not saying this is not a good company. In fact, they were great. Very supportive -- offered a lot of support and assistance for a first timer. They supply you with everything you might need to do a good job for them. They paid me quickly and my contact with their staff was very amiable, yet professional. For me, personally, it just wasn't worth it.

OKAY - that was me summing up. Imagine what the first post looked like.

There are many other mystery shopping types and scenarios, candyj. Some of them hardly require typing - they're Yes, No, N/A, or A, B, C or D !

I think she is referring to specifically a restaurant shop done for Coyle. I recently did one for Freeman and was astonished because the instructions indicate a comment on each N or N/A and 'a few' Y answers to give the client a more rounded picture. Then there is the narrative, which I always expect to be pretty complete on a restaurant shop from the time I see the sign on the street to the time I leave the parking lot. Going through the Y/N/NA I commented on all N and NA and about one in three Y. So I hit 'submit' and what to my wondering eyes should appear but that they wanted comments on about 50 additional 'Y' answers as well that were highlighted as "required" before I could submit! That about totally blew my cool.

Mert -
Flash is right. I am referring only to the one job that I did for Coyle. Again - it is not the company I am knocking -- just that type of job. Coyle is an incredibly supportive company and will go out of their way to help you. I just didn't it find it to be for me.

It's not narrative's in general that I don't like -- so I will do other narrative jobs. And I am aware and have done hundreds of the A,B,C - yes, no jobs to which you refer. I thought that this was just a thread about Coyle. I have not seen any of those jobs on the Coyle board. If they are there, than I will keep looking.

Candyj, my impression was that Coyle, like Freeman, is mostly narrative. I do find that a DVR is useful so I can record quotes and timings etc. while still enjoying my dinner. I have an external microphone in the bra and the unit in my lap under my napkin where I can press 'record' and 'pause' to record only when someone is at the table or a service performed. This limits the actual recording to be listened to later to 20 minutes or less while I am making notes of timings and quotes at home.

Once again, a wealth of information from all of you. Thanks!! I only recently applied and within a few days received a welcome acceptance email from Coyle. I've yet to go further than this, but am ready to venture further after reading everyone's comments.

From my experience of one hotel shop for them, their form and the number of staff interactions required is not much different from most of the high end hotels that I do. I got a top grade, but their shops are so coveted by fulltime shoppers that you practically have to be on their site 24/7 and hear the click of a new posting to be able to get a hotel stay. I don't do dining shops unless they are in the hotel shops that I take, so cannot comment on their restaurant-only shops.

If you don't like long, detailed narratives, hotel shopping is not for you. ME? I love the "frequent sleeper" points that I rack up on the hotel chains that I shop. When an average shop earns me from 1/3 to 1/2 of a free night in a great hotel (in points) I am a happy camper (errr, valued guest!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/2009 10:08AM by walesmaven.

For the most part, unless you live in a specific area where shoppers are needed or have performed a number of successful dining assignments for Coyle, you may have trouble getting a hotel assignment.

Assignments are not dolled out on a first-come/first-served basic. They are usually posted for all to see and assigned to the most qualified shopper after everyone has had a chance to apply.

Like most MSCs, if you want the great assignments, you will need a track record of great work for them.

Regarding the DVR that Flash referred to; Many states don't allow them without the consent of all parties. It is illegal in CA so I just take take notes after the meal, or when I am in the restroom, and type my narrative from that.

I have not been offered any hotel shops. However, I am doing several company cafeteria shops for them. The narrative is long, but not that difficult to do.I have not received any coments or complaints on my work.

I have done a few restaurant shops for Coyle. They are extremely detailed but if one knows that ahead of time, they are good to work for. And they pay well and on time. This one is not for beginners.

I did a restaurant for this company. The report was long and i am still not sure if it was worth the time. My meal was picked up and I received a fee for the service I provided. The report was graded 16 0n a scale that goes to 20. That was acceptable. When I posted for my next shop the scheduler contacted me and asked what would I do different in my next shop to improve. I wrote back what i would do. The problem is that I tried to post for Job #2 and the scheduler sent me back the same Email, What would you do different". My fustration with this company is lack of communication among the schedulers. Oh, by the way i lost 2 points on 1 question because I did not mention the host on the way out. I spent 1.5 hours on the report.

Fine dining shops often take a couple of hours. That is why they pay you and reimburse dinner. If you do not like writing long narratives, you might want to avoid these kind of shops in the future. They are the same from place to place in that respect.

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. A real genius has his original ideas closer together.
~Georg C. Lichtenberg

How do you get points on the hotel shop. I thought after you shop, and check out the hotel will zero out the bill?

Most of the time you don't get them on a credit card when they back out the bill. But not every credit card company always has their act together on getting the points backed out. Sometimes there are also hotel tabs you pay up front and get reimbursed. However you collect the credit for a night's stay from the hotel chain.

I have never failed to collect the "frequent sleeper" points for a hotel shop where the charges were later reversed. What you do lose is the points given by the credit card company that would have been given if you had paid the bill and later been reimbursed, instead of having the charges to your credit card reversed.

I have always kept the points for the stay from the hotel companies as well, and almost always had the charges reversed from the hotels.

You don't keep the points on your card for the cost of the hotel stay, but often there are travel costs involved that are later reimbursed which are much more than the cost of the hotels themselves. If you do a few upscale dinners a month, you can also add around 1000 credit card points for that as well.

With some patience and a lot of shops, you will eventually earn yourself a free vacation.

You know how you're sometimes just reading this forum to relax and the next thing you know you just spent 20 minutes filling out another MS company application? Well.. I did that. Again.

I am confused. If you do a hotel and the hotel reverses the charges, how do you score the points?

Has any one ever not got reimbursed due to an error.

I just got offered some hotels and I have not accepted any yet.

Kittybratt,

Most hotels have guest appreciation programs. You supply your account number when making the reservation and usually get to keep the credit for the stay, even after the charges are reversed.

Many of the hotel chains have a points system for overnight stays--stay 3 nights get a 4th one free. Somehow I have always gotten those points even when the cc charges were reimbursed promptly. It is the credit card points that get backed out when the charges are backed out.

I had one location that took close to 6 weeks to back out the charges so I needed either to finance them on my credit card or pay a couple of thousand myself to clear the card. I was reimbursed eventually for the interest and the charges were backed out of the card.

I was accepted to the Coyle Prophet site but I am unable to log into the main Coyle site.

Has anyone else just been accepted to just the Prophet site?

There are very few jobs listed there. I am wondering, if I do a great job on one of those assignments, will I get access to the main Coyle site?

The two sites are not related, as far as software goes.

You may be able to build a relationship with a scheduler by completing assignments via the prophet site, but I would recommend submitting an application on the main site.

A word of caution for those who are submitting applications; Take the time on the application to be sure you are representing your ability to write well. Unless you live in a hard-to-schedule area, you will most likely be in league with a lot of competition for shops. Sample narratives with significant detail and excellent grammar will put you ahead of others.

I just did my first hotel shop. However, check in only not overnight.

Everything went well. However, I was supposed to see a blotter at the check in desk, which I absolutely did not see. I was sent an email from the editor asking me about it. I think they deduct points. I really didn't want to lie about it.

I applied to Coyle a few weeks ago, but haven't heard a thing. There actually was a question on the application about which I was unsure how to reply, so I wonder if that was it! I fit their profile, so I'm a little disappointed.

"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." – Michelangelo Buonarroti