I was just wondering if there are a lot of shoppers that scored the perfect "20" on Coyle evaluations.

Which shops are you talking about? The telephone, restauants, or hotels. They are different. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

I mean restaurants and hotels.

Does Coyle do casinos If not who, please?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2012 03:53AM by cynb.

yes. i'm sure there are a lot of 20's. There has to be, the hotels are so competitive to get.

I haven't seen any casino shops. Try Bestmark.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2012 12:17PM by audrialyn30.

It's pretty rare to get a 20's on hotels, 'cause once you get to the point where you get 20's, they stop scoring your reports and you just have a blank space where a score would be.....

SteveSoCal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's pretty rare to get a 20's on hotels, 'cause
> once you get to the point where you get 20's, they
> stop scoring your reports and you just have a
> blank space where a score would be.....


You mean you dont get 20's on your hotel assignments.

I normally get 10/10 or 100% scores on restaurant shops. Did a restaurant for Coyle and got a 16. I'm not too sad, but I'm not planning on doing too many more of those because the reports are SO intense.

audrialyn30 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> You mean you dont get 20's on your hotel
> assignments.

To literally answer the question....No. I never get a 20. I get mostly 19's, an occasional 18 and blank spaces where a 20 would have been.

For those that know me any wonder why I don't always score 20....I sometimes take liberties that create a deduction in my score. Other times editors have a difference of opinion with what I believe is correct. On occasion, I've even been known to make a mistake :^)

I also don't sweat the score. A 16 or 17 is good your first time out.

The idea behind making the scores go to 20 was to point out that there's a lot of room between a 9 & 10 in the 10-point scale. Those differences may not be problematic when you are editing a checklist of 20 questions and one paragraph of narrative, but it can mean an extra hour to two of editorial in a 40-page document, so it has more meaning for Coyle reports.

17 on the first one (restaurant), then 20-20-20-19-20 so far.

My secret was to make the narrative look VERY similar to the sample Coyle gave me.

If they want Eyes, Teeth Tone for the busser - fine. If they hate the word "very" in a report then I'll do a MS Word search and delete all mentions of that adjective.

My 19 was because I forgot to delete the "very" word. Also I didn't conform to some other linguistic hurdle they wanted.

I don't mind the length of the Coyle reports; they help me become a stronger narrative writer in my other, more frequent client reports. I look at writing them as a mini-seminar in report writing - one I am getting paid to take.

I've also gotten 20s from Coyle. Similar to the above poster I make my narrative look and sound close to their sample. Also, no verys, no contractions and only my opinion when they ask for it.

Having said that, after working primarily for Coyle for the past year, I did a fine dining shop for another company last month and it was like some sort of beautiful vacation. I didn't have to time every glass fill or checkin and the narrative sections were positively terse. I will definitely be looking there first for jobs in the future!

I am up to 19 now. Did a couple of 18's before that. It is funny, only for these shops you feel you have achieved something when you get a good score. I look forward to their comments and scores. It is really intense.

As for the reports, if you follow the directions well, the reports are quite easy to write. Again, after the first time, it does get easier.

I scored an 18 on the first one and 19 on the second one That I did for Coyle but not a perfect 20 maybe the next one. I can say attention to detail and sequence of events is the thing I focused on...It's a doozie :0) takes a bit of time to be thorough but I like the challenge:0)

I've gotten a 20 and also 18 and 19 for a few restaurant shops. They have exacting standards and use them to separate fine reports into grades of 16 to 20. They say this is to better evaluate shoppers for their more demanding (and rewarding!) hotels, spas and cruise shops. To get a 20 you must follow those standards exactly. As you might imagine they include a certain use of verb tense, proper use of grammar and punctuation, and certain details presented in a very specific way. However, all is not lost. The instructions and guidelines are very detailed and clearly written. Use them as a form on which to base your report.

Good luck.


PS: A bonus point for those who can identify the "fault" in the above paragraph.

vlade5394 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've gotten a 20 and also 18 and 19 for a few
> restaurant shops. They have exacting standards
> and use them to separate fine reports into grades
> of 16 to 20. They say this is to better evaluate
> shoppers for their more demanding (and rewarding!)
> hotels, spas and cruise shops. To get a 20 you
> must follow those standards exactly. As you might
> imagine they include a certain use of verb tense,
> proper use of grammar and punctuation, and certain
> details presented in a very specific way.
> However, all is not lost. The instructions and
> guidelines are very detailed and clearly written.
> Use them as a form on which to base your report.
>
>
> Good luck.
>
>
> PS: A bonus point for those who can identify the
> "fault" in the above paragraph.


Two things that jump out without examining the paragraph are a contraction leading the whole thing off, and the use of "very" in the second-to-last sentence. Do I get a bonus point?

I'm doing my first Coyle shop next week. I was soooo excited to accepted by them as a Shopper.... it took a few trys. My first shop is a Spa evaluation... nervous and excited.... a bit scared...... Wish me luck!!

I've got 16 on my first with them and 18's and 19's thereafter. You almost have to know what color socks the people have on as the reports are super detailed. I've performed fine dining and hotel assignments for them. Reports are extremely time intensive but the locations are wonderful. I like the participants recommendations above to use their report as the template. I was always afraid they would coin the report "canned" if I followed their example closely. Don't want to be accused of that!

I have gotten 20s on my telephone reports and 18s on most of my restaurant shops. Completd my first hotel shop last month, but it still shows a blank for my score. I did get a couple follow up emails asking additional questions afer I submitted my shop. I did receive an email thanking me for an excellent first hotel shop and offering me another one, so I was wondering how I find my score. I do like how quickly they pay. The hotel charges were reversed on my credit card quickly and received my expenses via paypal today. The report, for a 2 night hotel stay, did take me a long time to complete.

I got 18 on my first, and 19 on my second restaurant. I can never relax until I get the score and paid lol.

Very expensive restaurants that I would not have otherwise gone to on a regular night. Nice experience.

I did my first evaluation two weeks ago (restaurant), and scored a 20. It took a couple of extra hours to complete, so I chose to submit on-time instead of giving it a once over before the 5:00 PM deadline. The next day, I took a quick look over what I submitted and saw numerous instances where I failed to meet the required format, I would have maybe scored myself a 16. I would venture to say the score depends on who your editor is for the evaluation.

I did my first restaurant shop with them and only got a 15. Does that pretty much disqualify me from doing anything else for them if I want? Although I doubt I will want to anyway is it is a bit too much of a hassle for a 15 dollar shop fee. I don't care how expensive the place is to eat if they are only paying 15 to do it then I don't think it is worth it.

liloh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've also gotten 20s from Coyle. Similar to the
> above poster I make my narrative look and sound
> close to their sample. Also, no verys, no
> contractions and only my opinion when they ask for
> it.
>
> Having said that, after working primarily for
> Coyle for the past year, I did a fine dining shop
> for another company last month and it was like
> some sort of beautiful vacation. I didn't have to
> time every glass fill or checkin and the narrative
> sections were positively terse. I will definitely
> be looking there first for jobs in the future!


Hi all, new here. Liloh, Which other company? Also, I agree, it seems to depend on the reviewer regarding Coyle's scoring system. I have had one who gives me great scores - 19s. Another who I cannot seem to please who gives me 17s. I have been with Coyle for a few years now. One caveat is that you can only review one of their "brands" once per year. So now I am ready to find another company as I am done reviewing Coyle's. Is this against their contract?

Yes...I agree about the Coyle reviewers. I got a 20 on oneshop
And then a 16 on a more recent shop. The review that got the 16 was really very good but the reviewer asked so many follow up questions...many of them that were ready thoroughly answered in the narratives. What can you do? Just suck it up and give the same information again. I am hoping for a different reviewer next time around...

You have to follow their framework exactly as it is in the sample narrative. I won't tell you what I got on my first one but my last one I got an 18.

Well folks,
I would love to say that I scored ANYTHING with them, but I haven't been accepted by them. I don't what's up with that. Anyway, it's good to see that this company does hire people.

zeta1993 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well folks,
> I would love to say that I scored ANYTHING with
> them, but I haven't been accepted by them. I don't
> what's up with that. Anyway, it's good to see that
> this company does hire people.


From what I understand they are pretty hard to get into. They hire MSers with lots of experience and who give an excellent writing sample.

Now, that may be part of the problem. I'm not sure but I was hoping to work with and for them. It's ok, I'm making my money anyway.

cake... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> zeta1993 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Well folks,
> > I would love to say that I scored ANYTHING with
> > them, but I haven't been accepted by them. I
> don't
> > what's up with that. Anyway, it's good to see
> that
> > this company does hire people.
>
>
> From what I understand they are pretty hard to get
> into. They hire MSers with lots of experience and
> who give an excellent writing sample.

I was approved by Coyle, but they don't offer any restaurant shops in my area. Whenever I apply for a hotel shop, the application shows in my applications, but then disapears the next day. Are they rejecting my application and I just don't get a notification?

Never done a shop for them yet, so just curious what is going on...

I think it's stated pretty clearly as the first point on the application page that they prefer shoppers to start with phone/restaurant shops, so it's safe to assume requests for hotels will quickly be deleted from unproven shoppers.

Why not consider some of the phone shops if there are no restaurants in your area?

When I started with Coyle, there were no phone shops and I had to wait until I was in New York on business to get enough restaurants under my belt so that I could be trusted with a hotel.

zeta1993 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now, that may be part of the problem. I'm not sure
> but I was hoping to work with and for them. It's
> ok, I'm making my money anyway.
>
> cake... Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > zeta1993 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Well folks,
> > > I would love to say that I scored ANYTHING
> with
> > > them, but I haven't been accepted by them. I
> > don't
> > > what's up with that. Anyway, it's good to see
> > that
> > > this company does hire people.
> >
> >
> > From what I understand they are pretty hard to
> get
> > into. They hire MSers with lots of experience
> and
> > who give an excellent writing sample.


Zeta,

Not every MSP will take every shopper that applies to them. Some will be selective in order to get a certain type of shopper to offer thier clients. Some won't consider shoppers in geographic areas outside their client's locations. Others won't add shoppers if they have enough in a certain area. Often, it is these selective companies that are the best to work for and Coyle is certainly one of the better ones.

As for Coyle, they also prefer shoppers with restaurant and hotel experience (as employees) and those that travel frequently.

If you want to add Coyle to your list of MSPs, I wouldn't give up on them so easily. Perhaps you can reapply with more qualifications that they like. If not, try again some time down the road.

Happy shopping!

They also prefer people with restaurant and hotel experience (as employees)