Ardent Inconsistencies

I am getting frustrated with this company regarding their burrito shops. I've done 8 of these reports so far. The editors are very inconsistent. One tells me not to mention hair color in giving crew member descriptions. I check the Ardent paperwork and sample report and they DO want you to mention hair color (as well as piercings and tattoos). Another editor tells me that I should mention hair color as well as glasses.

One editor tells me to mention shirt color, but when I do on another report, I'm told NOT to mention shirt color.

Does anyone else run into this? I'm beyond frustrated at this point with this msc. I'm wasting a lot of time trying to guess which editor wants which info.

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They have a certain style they're look for, I agree. For me, I figured out that we just need to be able to differentiate the crew members between each other and be able to identify who's who.

The simplest way to do this is to detail at least four things:
1. Gender
2. Hair color and length (I usually leave out length unless there're multiple crew members with very similar descriptions)
3. Shirt type (usually a crew shirt, unless they're a manager. Managers typically where something OTHER than a crew shirt. Ex. henley's, polo's, button-up's, etc.)
4. Other unique features (tattoos, piercings, height, etc.)

I also think the overall report as two separate parts: The individual questions and the narratives. For both areas of the report, I provide full details of the crew members. After that, I condense the descriptions as long as they're simple to identify which crew member you're talking about throughout your report.

Hope that helps!

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

That does help, thanks! I agree with you on Gender, Hair, Shirt, Tattoos/Piercings. What caught me off guard was the editor who (in a rather snippy tone) chastised me for using hair color. I re-read all the docs from the training class and it DOES state to reference hair color.

I just wish there was some consistency between the editors.

I have done dozens of these reports and always add hair color and length. My training several years ago said not to add some of these things but whoever does editing for the west coast has no problem with either. For the first few years my description of every one on the line was the same...female, long dark hair secured and usually around 5'4" but that might vary by an inch or two. Never glasses and never tatoos and always early 20's also. Now I see males often.
My issue is with the new website. I did my first report the other day and found it difficult to navigate. I tried to copy and paste some items and then make changes but every time I did so the form would disappear from the page and have to be found again. It was not completely gone but just did not stay on the screen. The paragraphs seem to have less needed in them so I left the first few and last sentences off where we used to add the entry and exit information. That seemed okay but I also left off some other details they did not seem to ask for anymore and one of them they wanted. I will have to look at the training info from the start all over to see if anything changed there but I am wondering if this new format seems better or worse to most shoppers.

I'm pretty new at this, so I'm not familiar with their old site. I was also told not to reference height.

I'm on the east coast, so perhaps I just have different editors than you.

I'm not sure why they wouldn't want us to reference hair color or height. Based on this, I would have a lot of descriptions that simply read "Female."

I'm indifferent with the old vs. new websites. What browser are you using? I found absolutely no issues with either website using Chrome on my Windows 7 (or 8) computers.

@Phoebe70 wrote:

I'm pretty new at this, so I'm not familiar with their old site. I was also told not to reference height.

I'm on the east coast, so perhaps I just have different editors than you.

I'm not sure why they wouldn't want us to reference hair color or height. Based on this, I would have a lot of descriptions that simply read "Female."

I've details just 'female' if she was the only female crew member during the visit. Like I said before, I learned to avoid filler when I can. If I can get by and identify which crew member was who, that's always been enough for me for my particular editor(s). Note that I'm in the Mountain region.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

I really thought that I read somewhere that you didn't have to list the shirt color of the crew if they were all dressed alike in their black T's. I only describe the managers who always dress alike too which cracks me up.

Most MSCs don't want you to describe jewelry, tattoos, etc., but this one wants to know. They don't want race, and they no longer care about height, but they do want a description of jewelry like nose rings and multiple earrings, chains, and tattoos. The jewelry and tattoos are not a negative, they use it as an identifier. They also want to know about hair, color and length, and beard/mustache/no facial hair. For females, they want to see if long hair is pulled back and restrained. They want to know if someone is wearing glasses.

Sometimes there are 4 line crew members, all female with long black hair. The only distinguishing factor between them might be tattoos and jewelry.

I don't say anything about shirt color unless they are the manager. I describe the shirt the manager(s) is wearing. All the others all seem to be wearing identical collarless black t-shirts. OMG, has anyone else noticed they have a lot of managers? The last shop I did, there were 6 employees. Three were dressed like managers!

Funny, I only put the briefest of descriptions (female, glasses) or (male, beard, glasses) or (male, arm tattoos) and have never gotten dinged. I only mention the shirt if it's a manager or a different color.

Of course, now that I write this out, I'll have the editor come back to me for more details.

@shopsuey wrote:

Funny, I only put the briefest of descriptions (female, glasses) or (male, beard, glasses) or (male, arm tattoos) and have never gotten dinged. I only mention the shirt if it's a manager or a different color.

Of course, now that I write this out, I'll have the editor come back to me for more details.

Eh, I think you'll be fine. What matters most is that you can clearly distinguish who's who when commenting on a crew member.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

We used to be required to mention hair length and color as well as height but this changed several months ago. Now I only mention sex and other identifying items such as glasses, piercings, tattoos, etc for crew members. For Managers they also want to know the type and color of shirt. I have never been asked for more information or clarifications.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2015 10:25PM by kenasch.

I have been asked for more info on crew members...but perhaps not in the last few months as I always give them so much just so I won't be asked. I think I will email my most frequent editor and ask her as the instructions are not the same as what they tell me they actually want.

I always include hair color, never had any comments about my reports

I signed up with them in 4 years ago but have never done a shop. This has to be frustrating for you! It seems each editor wants a certain thing. If it were me, I would tell the editor, that on page 2 it says: "hair color"--whatever the case may be ---and send her the guidelines verbatim

They are such a nice understanding company that I bend over backwards to help them out if they want an additional amt of info. So I just jot down the entire hair, glasses, sex, height thing just in case. It is easier and nicer to them to just answer them. But that is just me.

@sandyf wrote:

They are such a nice understanding company that I bend over backwards to help them out if they want an additional amt of info. So I just jot down the entire hair, glasses, sex, height thing just in case. It is easier and nicer to them to just answer them. But that is just me.

I agree that they have always been polite in their correspondence to me. I just think it's frustrating that every single report I've submitted has always come back to me with comments about the employee descriptions. One editor told me not to mention hair color, while another tells me to mention hair color. A little consistency between the editors would be appreciated

I was recently trained on these shops and the trainer specifically said that the ONLY descriptions that they now want are:

(1) Male/Female
(2) What kind of shirt (to distinguish manager from others)
(3) Line Position

*tattoos & piercings are noteworthy also

I was surprised by these requirements because in my other experiences with shopping they want height, age, glasses, facial hair, race, name, etc.

I am on the East Coast and I have only done four shops for them, but they have gone well. They have a Facebook Page (private group) for this company, which has been somewhat helpful, if that is something that works for you.

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Ardent Inconsistencies

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