Time yourself doing a Chipotle report
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Generally about 30 - 35 minutes. My reports are almost always accepted and praised for detail. You will get quicker!
Mystery Shopper since 1998; Author of Make Money Mystery Shopping available on Amazon in the Kindle Store.
I have been doing Chipotle shops for about a year. Based on what I have seen on the forum, I know my reports in most cases are generally slower than others. I just finished one that took just under an hour and a half. It would have been faster if I had completed it right after the shop, but I had to wait to enter it until today. Also, this month we had a stupid two-part knowledge question that required more attention to reviewing my recording and writing up the answers. I tend to comment on things even though they are "Great" without required comment, but that doesn't take me much time. What takes me the most time is writing the two paragraph narrative. I try to write that and then borrow pieces of it to answer some of the individual items that are redundant. I then review the whole thing over again, since I have a habit of writing a comment that the steak wasn't pink or the carnitas were dry, but then forget to change the rating from the default of "Great." I could see myself getting down to an hour on these. My store tends not to score as well as the ones I have done in nearby towns, so I think this adds some extra time. If I didn't like the food, I might not do these because of the time involved for the pay left after expenses.
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Could I have a receipt please?
Could I have a receipt please?
I can do it in 45 minutes but I rarely do. I typically save it and finish at another time.
Evaluating and mailing packages since 1994
I've done 11 Chipotle shops. I type quickly, and copy/paste. It still takes me between 1 - 1.5 hours. I no longer do them anymore. Too much effort and stress for $27. I'd rather pay the $10 out of pocket and enjoy a stress-free meal. 
49 minutes for my last one, but I've done around 50 reports so far. When I first started, I took anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours.
The report should still be drastically reduced overall, too much belabored, redundant nonsense...
For the type of restaurant it is, the Marketforce method should suffice!!
I have done many and it still takes me 1.5-2 hours. Much of the time is spent scrolling back and forth between the upper questions and the narrative..I have tried the copy and past method from an assortment of saved previous reports where I change various things and that does save some time but not too much. I have only done the new format twice but it seems like the scrolling is shorter now. My narrative varies widely from 2 servers to 5 servers with or without or with part time expo and linebacker so each report needs different sentences in the narrative.
Let's get a little more accurate with this.
In the "Reports" section on the dashboard, you can click on the blue eye and it brings up the details of your completed reports. There are timestamps of when you began and finished entering the report. I've done two:
The first took me 1:34.
The second took me 1:27.
So my average is almost exactly an hour and a half. Anyone else care to pull up your actual timestamps and share your exact times?
In the "Reports" section on the dashboard, you can click on the blue eye and it brings up the details of your completed reports. There are timestamps of when you began and finished entering the report. I've done two:
The first took me 1:34.
The second took me 1:27.
So my average is almost exactly an hour and a half. Anyone else care to pull up your actual timestamps and share your exact times?
"The future ain't what it used to be." --Yogi Berra
Time myself?
Not going to happen - at least so that has any value. It is because I am constantly doing other things while doing a Chipotle report. After the first 10 or 20 questions, I'll check email and go through them, check the forum, read the local newspaper, etc. Often I split them up into different days. I'll do the part before the narratives on the same day as the shop - then the narratives the next day.
Sounds like ADHD, huh? Not really. It's just the way I work. I did time myself not to recently. I think I did it in about 70 minutes.
Not going to happen - at least so that has any value. It is because I am constantly doing other things while doing a Chipotle report. After the first 10 or 20 questions, I'll check email and go through them, check the forum, read the local newspaper, etc. Often I split them up into different days. I'll do the part before the narratives on the same day as the shop - then the narratives the next day.
Sounds like ADHD, huh? Not really. It's just the way I work. I did time myself not to recently. I think I did it in about 70 minutes.
Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut
vlad5394, I do my Chipotle reports the way you do. I have been doing them for a couple of years. I estimate I spend about an hour actually working on one.
@sandyf wrote:
I have done many and it still takes me 1.5-2 hours. Much of the time is spent scrolling back and forth between the upper questions and the narrative..I have tried the copy and past method from an assortment of saved previous reports where I change various things and that does save some time but not too much. I have only done the new format twice but it seems like the scrolling is shorter now. My narrative varies widely from 2 servers to 5 servers with or without or with part time expo and linebacker so each report needs different sentences in the narrative.
Have you tried opening two windows and placing them side-by-side on your monitor?
What helped me with Chipotle shops (and other shops that have narratives and yes/no questions) is opening multiple windows to avoid me having to scroll back and forth.
With that being said, have you tried writing the narrative first, then using it as a base for the rest of the questions in the report?
Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
@Tarantado wrote:
With that being said, have you tried writing the narrative first, then using it as a base for the rest of the questions in the report?
Starting about two months ago, changing my process to start with the narrative has cut the report time notably. My last report was between 45 - 50 minutes. The new instructions even encourage copy and paste for consistency. I'm "cheating" because I have two monitors and type the narrative in Word on one then paste into the report open on the other. I generally do not comment for GREAT items, but do go into detail on what was said and how the crew acted down the line. I'm shopping one tonight, so I will probably do the report in the morning. Now I'm interested in how long it'll take...
I confess that I do not enjoy the reports, but I like the food and really, really, like Judy, my scheduler. I enjoy interacting with her and find her to be humorous, gracious and understanding. (Turns out she shops, too!)
"If a train station is where trains stop, what are workstations for?"
I love their food but the reports took so long that it wasn't worth it. Now I'm just a regular customer of theirs. I was impressed with the training the company provided.
Well, tonight I went to Chipotle on my own dime. This was the first time I've been to a Chipotle in the last 6 months that was not a shop. It was so enjoyable. I was able to actually concentrate on my guest and not counting how many times the employees washed their hands or the exact wording of the cashier.
I have found writing the narrative first saves a ton of time. I have created a template where I can update it for each shop. For example "I entered at xx:xx, there were xx tables occupied inside and xx tables outside..."
@Phoebe70 wrote:
Well, tonight I went to Chipotle on my own dime. This was the first time I've been to a Chipotle in the last 6 months that was not a shop. It was so enjoyable. I was able to actually concentrate on my guest and not counting how many times the employees washed their hands or the exact wording of the cashier.
I have done this at times. It is nice to enjoy the meal without forcing myself to make all the observations. Nonetheless, I find myself doing many of the observations out of habit.
Today, I was out shopping, not working. I was hungry and in the parking lot near a Chipotle. I accessed the website and saw that restaurant had an available shop for the proper time period. I thought about it and said, No. No work, and no extra calories. I went home and made a salad. But I'll get my assignments on the 1st and go from there. Just a break from shopping and it felt good.
Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut
Man, I wish I could get a free and paid dinner or lunch at Chipotle for the cost of an hour of my time. Too bad you can't tell me what company.
#burntoutinthebigapple
You are right, I can't tell you which company. But I can tell you to google it or search the forum. You will find it quickly.
Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut
It takes me hours, and I usually split it up over the course of 2 days. The MF method would not suffice as they are looking for other information, but I agree that there are definitely ways to streamline the report. Some of it is definitely redundant, and some of what is expected to be in the narrative could be in the body of the report. The recent changes actually implement some of that, but IMHO, there's still room to simplify. I still love the company and company that shops it, but the pay could be better. The prices went up, the fee didn't.
I did one in one hour and seven minutes on Tuesday, and got a good review on it today.
I wrote the narratives first and then went back and did the food grading portion second, and it was indeed faster that way.
I wrote the narratives first and then went back and did the food grading portion second, and it was indeed faster that way.
"The future ain't what it used to be." --Yogi Berra
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