I would love to do another shop for them. I did one buffet breakfast shop and never heard from them again. How does one get shops for them?

I can't get into Coyle..period.

I just completed my third high-end restaurant shop for them within in the couple of weeks. They have been very hard on me. My first report for them nearly a year ago was scored an 18 out of 20. My second score, however, ended up being a 12. It has been ages until I was approved the third shop and this was probationary. I had to state my case for being allowed back in. I scored a 19 on this latest one and I hope my high marks get me more respect from Coyle.

The key here might be to express interest in a shop through a scheduler. Never heard back on my last attempt to apply, then I got notice of a Coyle shop through a scheduler. Voila! I'm in.

Lauri from Coyle posts regularly on the job board here for cities where they need evaluators.

There's a link to the application in her posts.

If you are in a location where they need someone and haven't been accepted, I would PM her to make sure they have your application. If you still don't hear back, you are probably not a good match.

There are rather stringent standards for writing with Coyle and they take the application as an indicator of how you will perform on assignments.

I have a shop coming up pretty soon for this company. Any tips? (And yes, I will diligently go through the written materials they provide!)

nicelytwicely Wrote:
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> I have a shop coming up pretty soon for this
> company. Any tips? (And yes, I will diligently go
> through the written materials they provide!)


Be very detailed and thorough. Do not forget to check the restrooms and time everything. Time the server, when the food arrives, when you use the restroom, etc. The more detail, the better. Follow the narrative examples as a template and then expand on them when needed.

Isn't that basically the rule for any fine dining? These are minimum data points for the FD shops I do, which are not for Coyle. I had the impression they were MORE exacting than most.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2010 04:59PM by dee shops.

This is another company that is screwing shoppers out of payments based on nip pick issues on reports. Stay away from Coyle folks.

Arch Stanton Wrote:
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> This is another company that is screwing shoppers
> out of payments based on nip pick issues on
> reports. Stay away from Coyle folks.


Arch, are you saying that you turned in a report that was within the guidelines for the shop and were denied payment?

While Coyle is demanding, I have always found them to be fair with not rejecting any report that was within their power to submit.

i have done a few restaurant shops for them. They have extremely detailed reports that are a minute by minute report and take a long time to complete. Where I have an issue is, when you apply for a job with them, they want you to give a list of dates you can complete the job, then it is quite a long time before you hear back from them on whether or not you are assigned and the dates you are assigned. I schedule shops daily and quite often have already scheduled the date I applied for by the time they get back to me.
I would apply for more jobs with them if they could notify in a more reasonable timeframe.

My experience has been similiar to Steve's - I have never experienced a situation personally with Coyle as you describe Arch. EVER.

I have had a client dispute part of my report and Jim Coyle called and we discussed it - but never, ever, did he do anything but 100% back the report and me as the shopper.

I also have a friend and while he is 100% ethical and a great writer (he is an attorney in his day job) and he regularly turns in late reports (not hugely late, but still) and/or other minor things (basically pushing the envelope with them). They have been more than fair with him (honestly, more fair than I would) working with him, rescheduling, giving him more time - etc. And they still give him 20s (perfect scores)...

I can add that I also recently had a report questioned from a Coyle client and had Coyle staff call me to confirm the details before going to bat for me in defending my observations. There was never a question about not paying/reimbursing me.

I never had aproblem with them, but a shopper friend who is highly educated and advanced shopper did and I take his word for it 100%

Well, we are just debating heresay then.

I will not say Coyle is without fault, but if all MSCs had the ethics that Jim Coyle runs his business by, we would have very little to talk about here. I would trust his judgement 100% and if your friend in fact was unfairly denied payment, it would be the first time I have ever seen that happen with Coyle.

In the interest of full disclosure; As well as being a shopper for Coyle, at one time I was the person there who made those calls to shoppers denying payment for unacceptable shops. As few and far between as they were, each one was very painful for me to make and I can assure you that every step was taken to give the shopper the opportunity to rectify the problem, if possible, before denying payment.

Of the few shops where I was ever required to deny payment, most were actually to experienced shoppers. They were people that were very set in their ways and had not taken the time to read the shop specific directions they were provided. They were essentially victims of their own arrogance.

I didn't want to weigh in until my shop and review process were completed.

There is a feedback sheet, which shows exactly how the grade was determined. It breaks it down quite well, with corresponding areas for comments in the event anything did not meet expectations.

It's so specific that I can't imagine a report being rejected over something "nitpicky". There is some room for subjectivity, but for the most part, it's pretty black and white.

While I don't doubt your friend is a great shopper and had a problem with the shop, I'm inclined to believe that he did not give them what they wanted. You can't wing these shops by doing what you do for other MSCs, you have to read, read, read. And read.

Doing my first restaurant for Coyle the end of Sept. I will be studying my tush off and then some. Wish me luck.

I work with Coyle and they are a great company. They do pay in 30 days and the reports are detailed, but they give you examples of what they want so you learn quickly.

Good luck, Irene!! Have fun, be detailed and follow the template they provide expanding on that heavily to score a 20/20!

Thanks, I feel this is a whole new level....finally!!

Good luck, Irene! Assuming this is Coyle direct, and not the ones they do through a scheduler, just refer to the supplied format/sample report and you'll be fine.

Coyle direct, all set up...now let the work begin. This is in Vegas. Thanks for your support NT and JB.

What is the difference between Coyle through a scheduler and Coyle direct. I am doing Coyle lunch shops through a scheduler. I have been offered hotels, which I never accepted. However, I have never been offered any fine dining shops. Is their a different application?

After never hearing back after I applied, I was offered one of those lunch shops through a scheduler. If we're talking about the same thing, you sign in through a Prophet site. (The Coyle site is different.) After I completed that shop, I was officially activated by Coyle, and able to sign into their site and apply for shops.

inderruth Wrote:
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> I have been rather disillusioned about them.

I am disillusioned with them as well. They don't have much in my area either. They do have one cafeteria about a half an hour's drive from here that I have done a few times. They list this on their prophet website. Except for that, they don't seem to have much except phone shops. I've done a few of those. They accepted some of my reports, rejected others and now it seems they won't assign these to me any more. I never did like the way the instructions for these phone shops seemed to be sort of all over the place with some instructions being on the website, some being in emails, some in email attachments. It got me to wondering if they do that on purpose because it increases the chances that the shopper will miss something and thus they have an excuse to refuse to pay the shopper. One time they even told me in their email instructions to contact a certain individual via email for further instructions, but the email address they gave me for this individual got bounced back by the mailer daemon. I tried three or four times. The email always bounced back. I emailed the scheduler once or twice to report this problem and got no response. I went ahead and did the phone shop anyway. I submited the report and got a response back asking for more detail. I gave them more detail and they still rejected the report. I spent hours on this assignment and ended up not getting paid.

I wouldn't mind doing the cafeteria shop again, but it seems that they will not assign me any more phone shops (I've applied for a few and not gotten them). I do not consider this a great loss because with the amount of time I put into some of these phone shops, I figure I was getting two dollars an hour.

I accepted a shop from Coyle. I called the restaurant confirmed the hours.When I got there they had decided to close earlier and so I was told that I had to make all my buffet choices at once including desert and had to line them up on the table. It was a challenge to recall the name of the dish but the temperature except for the mystery soup was easy to report : cold. My guest had to memorize half, there was no time to run potty to record notes. I got a 15 rating but given the opportunity to redeem myself by answering "what would YOU do differently?" before getting another assignment. Although I responded quickly, took the blame without sarcasm or criticism and threw myself at their mercy I did not get the offered "emergency" assignment. I got paid and reimbursed after 90 days!
I love upscale restaurants so I'm not giving up and this Friday I'm doing one for another MSC ,right in town, walking distance no parking fees, wish me luck.

Hi, I just registered with CH. Before requesting a shop, I just wanted to confirm, they reimburse for your fully stay at the hotel? for example if staying 2 nights they'll pay you back for those two? the website says pays 50/75 plus up to 125 for travel. Id appreciate any info. thankyou

My advice is to email the scheduler for clarification. I have never seen their offerings with a cap on hotel costs. Is the "travel" perhaps for fuel or airfare?

I agree with Walesmaven; contact the scheduler with any questions. They have assistants who do their grunt work, so you should receive a prompt response.

As with most MSC's there's good and bad. The good on Coyle, is that they write the shops for you. Just follow the sample narrative and insert your experience. I found that the editors don't want allot of extras or flourishes that many other companies love.
Just stick to the script, and follow their formula, and you'll do fine.
Do not deviate; not one iota.

The bad? Well, in the States I look at, the shops are few, and the restaurants too mediocre for me to invest so much time and effort to get a free meal.

Now, if a great restaurant was offered, or if I was traveling to an area where they had something fabulous, I would accept the shops in a heart-beat.
Why not?
They pay in 45 days, and the report was easy to follow...no complaints.

With many hotel shops and most offered by Coyle, your charges from the hotel are completely reversed off your credit card and you are only due your travel expenses, any required cash outlay and shop fee as a payment.

They don't generally 'reimburse' the actual expense of the hotel because of that, and the only charges allowed at the hotel are those which are part of the assignment.

I like that system because is means you usually have your credit card charges cleared well in advance of getting paid for the assignment, and can take multiple assignments in a month without being owed thousands of dollars.

The negative is that when the hotel has to reverse the charges, it's not likely that you will ever be allowed to perform a shop at that hotel again, since they know who you are. That also comes with an upside that if you happen to stay there on your own, you will probably be treated very well.

I spent Xmas eve at a hotel I have shopped in the past and was upgraded to the largest suite they have, even though I booked the smallest room category available :^)