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Buckalew Beginner vs Intermediate

May 20, 2016 07:58PM
Those of you who have shopped for Buckalew in the past... what is the workload/requirement differences between beginner and intermediate for them?

I have only shopped their "beginner" hotels. Even then, the amount of tasks was almost overwhelming. I'm jusy curious how much more difficult it is to do an intermediate hotel. Thanks!
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May 21, 2016 02:42PM
Linda,
If you found the number and content of the beginner tasks close to overwhelming, I strongly suggest that you do enough more of those to become entirely comfortable with the tasks and timing for the report and get excellent scores/reviews. That will get you ready to move up to the intermediate level. Buckalew is the only hotel MSC that I know of that actually will give beginners a really good chance chance to grow by having some shops on which to hone their skills. Many others are pretty much "swim or sink" for new hotel shoppers.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
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May 21, 2016 03:40PM
@walesmaven wrote:

Many others are pretty much "swim or sink" for new hotel shoppers.

I've always heard it as 'sink or swim', but that's probably not relevant to the topic.

I think the beginner hotels are classified based the amount of reporting required and not necessarily based on the pace of the hotel stay. I've done the one-night stays that are supposed to be easy, but have you eating 3 meals and include a few interactions as well, so there's no time off from the moment you arrive, but an easier reporting process o the backside.

Two and three night stays, though they have more reporting in the end and are classified as harder assignments, actually give you a little more free time at the hotel to get things done in my experience.
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May 21, 2016 04:56PM
I personally do not "get" how they classify these hotels. I have done intermediate and advanced level hotels for them that were easier than one of the beginner hotels. I think Steve has a point that the 2-night hotels are often classified as harder for this company, when to me - the extended time in which to get everything done and reported makes it "easier" for me. While in general I don't often agree with their classification, there is one hotel that is classified as advanced that does have a management meeting post-stay... while certainly not hard at all to do, if you are not comfortable meeting with a lot of people in suits in a conference room, this certainly would be something to avoid. In this case, I can understand why they say it is 'advanced' but it has nothing to do with comfort level of performing and reporting on evaluation tasks and everything to do with comfort levels of detailed reveals in a professional setting.
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May 21, 2016 06:25PM
There is also the risk factor to consider. A newbie may not want to risk failing a two night hotel shop because of the out of pocket cost involved.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Reply
May 21, 2016 07:40PM
One other thing to consider with Buckalew. He's small and does not have the resources to coddle shoppers. If you screw up, you're done. In this way, he rewards reliable shoppers by culling the others. Do the beginners until they're second nature and you're confident that you can complete the intermediate or advanced ones.

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.
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May 21, 2016 08:32PM
Thanks for the insight. I've completed two "beginner" hotels for them so far. I just happen to be in an area where they have an "intermediate" hotel available. I have always gotten a high score with them, within a few points shy of perfect. However, due to the overwhelming amount of interactions, I find them less enjoyable than say a hotel shop for Coyle, FiveDiamonds or BBS, all of which I have completed 10+ hotel shops each. Interestingly, I find the shops for FiveDiamonds to be much more enjoyable despite others on the board saying how tedious they can get...

For the Buckalew beginner shop, the reports were quite easy. However, I had to do a lounge, a manager reception, a dinner and an in room dinner all on one evening, in addition to the regular inspections... Quite ridiculous.
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May 21, 2016 08:44PM
That was a bit OTT for a "beginner" shop, IMHO.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
Reply
May 23, 2016 06:11PM
FiveD and BBS must have a ton of off the board work. Don't think I have seen 10 total shops on either job board.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
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June 03, 2016 10:23PM
I recently did my first assignment with Buckalew. It was submitted on time and when I proofread it- I was happy with it. Then I got my score....
Yikes.
I was not expecting my score to be so low. It wasn't under 50 (so I'm not kicked out) but it wasn't 70+ (preferred shoppers). I've done shops with Coyle and once I got the hang of their reporting style I did quite well. However, I have not done any hotel shops with them. Does anyone have advice? I'd like to do one again so I can get a better score but since I didn't get a 70+, I'm afraid I won't be awarded with one.
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June 04, 2016 12:14AM
What was their feedback?
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