Steve,

I did a couple of checklist hotels last year. I have not recognized any in the system lately. Is there an easy way to see which are checklist without going into each posting?

Thanks

I saw a couple, wonder if they're easy?

How did you see them listed? And...yes. I found them to be easy when I did them. I like completing checklists with photos, so it was fun.

If you know the client, you can remove your state and ZIP preferences, then select the client from the drop-down menu and it will show you all of the options.

FYI for shoppers hoping to take these hotels for the points; you are not supposed to book the rooms under your rewards account, but if you use the hotel credit card for the booking, it automatically tracks to your account a few days after the reservation is made, so you get the benefits as well the points!...and bonus points because you're booked in at the higher non-member rate!!

Thanks Steve!

Oh my. Those look like nice shops. The shop listing says for 2 guests but I'm curious if the second guest is required or not?

@bgriffin wrote:

The shop listing says for 2 guests but I'm curious if the second guest is required or not?

Second guest helpful, but not required. I've done them both alone and with a guest.

Nice. I applied for 2. Will probably apply for 2 more next week. Might apply for 4-5 more at the same time. I doubt seriously I'll get any but oh well.

I'm looking at a couple of checklist shops in my area but based on what Steve posted earlier doesn't sound that easy. My husband is better at measuring than me so maybe if I take him it would go better? It's the hidden question decoding thing that makes me uneasy.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

My husband is better at measuring than me so maybe if I take him it would go better?

I'm not really sure how to answer that one. Too many variables....

What specifically do you find difficult about measuring? You pull the tape measure from one corner of the TV/towel/mattress to the diagonally opposing corner and record the resulting number. There's no math involved.

The hidden questions thing doesn't require a lot of decoding. Just some patience, and a decent amount of internet bandwidth. It's mainly a function of shopmetrics being a memory hog in most browsers. A question might ask if you were upgraded to a suite, and if you answer yes, and new series of questions that pertain to suites might load into the form.

Understand that these are not typical mystery shops. Only a small number of questions actually involve the actions/responses of the staff members you encounter. Most questions are about physical characteristics of the property, and the majority are specifically about items in the guestroom.

Oops wrong thread

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2017 06:03PM by eyelove2shop.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

Understand that these are not typical mystery shops. Only a small number of questions actually involve the actions/responses of the staff members you encounter. Most questions are about physical characteristics of the property, and the majority are specifically about items in the guestroom.

Right in my wheelhouse. Exactly why I want them.

I have an upcoming hotel shop where I need to call the front desk to tell them something isn't working in my room. When the front desk offers to come fix it, I am supposed to decline.

Can you give me an example of something that could be broken/that I can't figure out how to use, that is important enough to call about but not important enough to have them fix it? The only thing I can think of is the coffee maker? I am not allowed to use the internet/wifi as an example per the instructions.

Hi Steve! I just stumbled upon this thread. I did one of Coyle's checklist shops in another country last year. It felt like a lot of work but I think with repetition it gets easier...right?! Did you use the Mobi Audit app or just a laptop? I couldn't get the app to work to my advantage but maybe it's a time saver that I haven't mastered.

@laur371 wrote:

Can you give me an example of something that could be broken/that I can't figure out how to use, that is important enough to call about but not important enough to have them fix it?

How about; I just wanted to let you know the toilet keeps refilling every 15 minutes. I'm going to bed right now, but you should have someone check it out after I check out tomorrow.....

@jen3126 wrote:

Did you use the Mobi Audit app or just a laptop?

The Mobi app doesn't really work right, despite Coyle's advice to use it. I just checked out today and it keeps asking me to fill in portions for the suite additions, but I have selected that I was not upgraded to a suite.

I use the browser on my laptop for reporting and uploading pics (also because I can't force the phone to take [ics the preferred 640x480 resolution), but use the Mobi app to quickly check what tests still need to be scored (If you use the "jump to" function and the select items with errors, it will show you only the un-scored sections.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have both the laptop version and Mobi app open, you may wipe out sections of your report. Close the report in the laptop browser before opening Mobi and visa-versa. I learned the hard way......

I think the reports for this year are even easier. One thing I have learned from experience is to do the bed sheet pics and measurements last, right before check out. That way you don't have to remake the bed, you make the housekeepers job easier, AND you don't have to deal with a suspicious housekeeper when she sees that you've taken the bed apart during the stay.....

As far as free time (for the non narrative shops). I left the hotel for 6 hours on Thursday night, another 6 hours during the day on Friday and still managed to have everything but the check-out completed at noon today. The invoicing and that are less than an hour of work after check out.

Thanks, Steve! I didn't get the Mobi Audit to work right either so good to hear a second opinion. Good suggestion about the sheets too. Also, glad it's maybe been fleshed out a bit since I did the assignment last November. It felt tedious but I also had jet lag (11 hour time change) and the assignment was sandwiched in between two other narrative hotel visits for a five night run. Without the added factors I think the checklist assignment should 'feel' easier this time around. I hope!

@jen3126, If you know what pictures to take in advance, it will definitely go faster.

I would not have a problem stringing many of these shops together in sequence, but tend to start getting behind when dong that with narrative heavy shops. I was also combining separate narrative dinner assignments with the my shops last year and didn't do that this time in order to see how much time the shops actually took.

Once could conceivably check in at a decent hour, perform 75% of the shop the first evening, have the entire next day free, and perform the remainder of the assignment the following morning before check out. I'm going to attempt that with another hotel next week, because then I know I could string assignments together and only have to be reporting/working every other day....

@bgriffin wrote:

Nice. I applied for 2. Will probably apply for 2 more next week. Might apply for 4-5 more at the same time. I doubt seriously I'll get any but oh well.

Even though it's sometimes hard to know what your schedule will be when you apply for hotels, just apply for as many as possible! I've been with them 2 months and have done 6 (non-hotel) shops. I have about 40 shop applications pending (local hotels, local restaurants, non-local hotels, phone shops) and haven't gotten a single assignment in 3 weeks. Just obsessively waiting my turn to get something.

For the first time in my mystery shopping career I have asked to be removed from a company's database.

I did that with GfK last year.

What is shocking is an email with a question about a shop went unanswered for 3 days while an email asking to be removed from their system got a reply in less than 2 hours. Makes me think for some reason they decided I wasn't a shopper for them and was never going to give me a chance to. Honestly I think this is a very crappy company.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2017 10:21PM by bgriffin.

Steve will find a way to defend them. Don't you worry.

Yes of course.

I'd love to know why. If there was a specific event that triggered it, I'd love to know to try to learn from it.

I have been applying and applying for shops for them for 3 years. I applied for hotels and was told to do "easier" stuff first. I applied for phone calls and the apps sat and sat even though these particular phone calls were hard to schedule. I applied for hotels that did not require food and beverage. I applied and applied and applied. They have current shops that are more brand compliance audits. I have tons of brand compliance experience. Their "preferred" shoppers are not the type to have this. Their shops stated they preferred evaluators that took multiple shops. I applied for about 15 of them. The apps sat and sat. On Sunday I sent an email asking about the status of a small amount of them that I wanted to add to a route I'm about to start. That route requires me to book appointments with agents. If I was going to be assigned those hotels, it would influence what time I made those appointments. I am making those appointments this week and simply asked for a yes or no so I could make those appointments. Three days and no reply to my mail. I got tired of cancelling applications as I made appointments in those cities so I just cancelled all of them and asked that my account be removed from their system.

THAT got a reply in 2 hours. What a shitshow.

@@#$%& wrote:

Coyle is after the top 100%.

Uh. Everyone is the top 100%.

I am sorry for your experience. About 4 years ago, I applied for them. I got accepted within a week. I got my first evaluation (a restaurant) within a month, and fine dining within two months. They were my first mystery shopping company ever and I have never worked for another one. It is possible that my demographics were more interesting than other applicants (age, salary). I am not sure.

I only look to do one evaluation every few months. I get a 95% or 100% score on every one.

I am not saying everything is perfect with working with them. I have challenges too.

I do not know why I had it easier than you.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2017 02:54AM by laur371.