I will readily admit to occasionally being full of myself. You take it to an entirely different level. Oh wait, I confused full of yourself with full of @#$%&.

OMG! ROFLMAO! The teacher of logic does not even understand basic logic.

Let's say there are 1,000,000 mystery shoppers in the world.
Now, for argument's sake let's say Coyle is interested in the top 10%. That would be mean they want the top 100,000 mystery shoppers. If they wanted the top 99% they would want the best 990,000 mystery shoppers. If they want the top 100%. THAT"S ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!

Holy cow.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@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've submitted several thousand shops on Mobi with no problems. You would think that's a skill they are interested in considering the number of people in this thread who can't figure it out.

@bgriffin wrote:

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@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've submitted several thousand shops on Mobi with no problems. You would think that's a skill they are interested in considering the number of people in this thread who can't figure it out.

Dude...that's kinda mean. I know how to use the app. The error is in the if/then programming of the form and it shows questions needing answers, despite them needing to be hidden. I can't say if it's a Coyle or a Shopmetrics issue, but the form does not work correctly on the app.

I'm sorry the company treated you that way. I get it that you feel slighted. It's not how I would want the company run...but I no longer have a say in that.

@Hoju wrote:

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

That one is truly just mean...even if meant as a joke. There's absolutely nothing offered in that post other than taking a jab at me. I have never defended unprofessional behavior. I'm sorry for anyone that has an issue with just about any company. I have privately offered BG advice on how to get in the door with Coyle, and done what I could to try to help him.

I have spent a lot of time over the years offering advice to shoppers on how to succeed. I don't do it for any reason other than to be helpful. I don't make any money of get any special favors for posting about my experience with Coyle. I don't sell books or teach any seminars on shopping. Why don't you turn your hatred to the shoppers charging other shoppers for offering similar advice?

There seems to be a lot of internally slung undeserved vitriol here...

For what it is worth, pretty sure I am in the top 1% of Coyle shoppers (and I am definitely in the top 100%!) and I didn't get all of the checklist shops I wanted (and the ones that I did get are definitely some lower tier ones that based on the speed that I got them - pretty sure I didn't have a lot of competition for). Is their scheduling process frustrating sometimes, absolutely! Do they have some great shops - sometimes, yes they do. You take the good with the bad and you win some, you loose some.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

Dude...that's kinda mean. I know how to use the app. The error is in the if/then programming of the form and it shows questions needing answers, despite them needing to be hidden. I can't say if it's a Coyle or a Shopmetrics issue, but the form does not work correctly on the app.

On second thought I take my statement back. Understanding how mobi works is not a skill they would be interested in because they're too full of themselves to think a shopper they don't deem appropriate for their shops may know something they don't. So I doubt they would be interested in my feedback. Also that's an easy fix. You would think a company that screens their shoppers so rigorously would do the same with their employees but it appears not. Actually I wouldn't say they necessarily screen their shoppers that well considering some of the writing skills I've seen by some people who claim to have done Coyle shops.

@MickeyB wrote:

For what it is worth, pretty sure I am in the top 1% of Coyle shoppers (and I am definitely in the top 100%!) and I didn't get all of the checklist shops I wanted (and the ones that I did get are definitely some lower tier ones that based on the speed that I got them - pretty sure I didn't have a lot of competition for). Is their scheduling process frustrating sometimes, absolutely! Do they have some great shops - sometimes, yes they do. You take the good with the bad and you win some, you loose some.

I am not complaining about getting all the shops I wanted. I am not even complaining about not getting shops. At least that's not my major complaint. As far as taking the crap, I applied for the Birmingham @#$%& Alabama checklist shop with no travel bid. Considering they've had to pay people to take New Orleans I can't imagine there is a single Coyle evaluator who applied for that shop. Especially with no travel bid. But that's fine too. If you're not going to give me shops, at least have the human decency to reply to my email and tell me that. Not doing it makes you a weak little child and reeks of unprofessionalism. Which is hilarious considering they only want the 1% or whatever.

I hope you directed them to this thread!

David - "Hi Tammy. This is @#$%&."
Tammy - "Who?"
David - "David. @#$%&."
Tammy - "Who?"
David - "@#$%&, the Private Investigator."
Tammy - "Who?"

If a shop is removed from the full list but is still hanging in your applications folder, does this mean it was assigned to someone else? I wish they could at least check a box that would indicate the job was assigned to someone, or that you were rejected, rather than have you hoping and waiting with a hundred open applications in your list.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2017 03:39PM by hotsauce1.

While I found the post hilarious, I am somewhat torn as typing his full name makes him show up in more google searches, giving him more credibility.

@hotsauce1 wrote:

If a shop is removed from the full list but is still hanging in your applications folder, does this mean it was assigned to someone else? I wish they could at least check a box that would indicate the job was assigned to someone, or that you were rejected, rather than have you hoping and waiting with a hundred open applications in your list.

In shopmetrics when you apply for a shop it is removed from the full list and placed in your applications folder automatically. A shop can only exist in 1 spot on your board. Available, Applications, Inbox. If you apply for a shop it is moved from Available to your Applications list. If you are approved it is moved to your Inbox.

I think the problem with this process in your case is they are incredibly unprofessional. They don't have the balls to just tell someone they don't believe they are a good fit or are not interested in them for some other reason. Which, btw, I would have no problem with.

bgriffin, that absolutely crossed my mind. But if you look around the forum he is posting faster than any other spamming troll we have ever had. Each of his own includes his full name. Until the mods delete his account and his posts, it will just get worse.

I thought the exact same things as well.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@Hoju wrote:

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

That one is truly just mean...even if meant as a joke. There's absolutely nothing offered in that post other than taking a jab at me. I have never defended unprofessional behavior. I'm sorry for anyone that has an issue with just about any company. I have privately offered BG advice on how to get in the door with Coyle, and done what I could to try to help him.

It wasn't meant to be mean, really, but you always seem to find a way to excuse Coyle's business practices which are very unfriendly to new evaluators. You shouldn't have to find a secret way "in" to a company that literally lets hundreds of jobs just sit in wait. It makes no sense and is creates the type of animosity that Griff is exhibiting.

@Hoju wrote:

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@Hoju wrote:

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

That one is truly just mean...even if meant as a joke. There's absolutely nothing offered in that post other than taking a jab at me. I have never defended unprofessional behavior. I'm sorry for anyone that has an issue with just about any company. I have privately offered BG advice on how to get in the door with Coyle, and done what I could to try to help him.

It wasn't meant to be mean, really, but you always seem to find a way to excuse Coyle's business practices which are very unfriendly to new evaluators. You shouldn't have to find a secret way "in" to a company that literally lets hundreds of jobs just sit in wait. It makes no sense and is creates the type of animosity that Griff is exhibiting.

Yet, all the hotels eventually get scheduled, don't they?

I'm not excusing anything and I think if you read through the entire 12 pages of this thread, you will find that there are times where I am very clear about the fact that Coyle has some issueds. I also wait weeks to get shops assigned to me. I'm no longer in charge of scheduling and there's simply nothing I can do about that.

It may not make sense to you, but there is someone that it does make sense to. The animosity is also largely based on people actually wanting assignments and not getting them, so it really just proves the point that there may be some value in going along with their process. The shops are not sitting there because nobody wants them!....

I'm probably the only active forum member that understands the pressure and hassle of scheduling for this MSC. I quit because it was so stressful that it was negatively affecting my health, so perhaps I have a soft spot for people who take on that job. Emails from shoppers demanding shops when my hands were tied on assigning them was a big part of that stress, so how about you realize that there's a group of people trying to do their best while under a lot of pressure and restrictions, and drop the animosity?

The only think that's resulted from all of you complaining is that forum members who were assigned the shops are scared to post here in fear of being attacked, and now they are all PMing me directly for advice.....and that's not very productive. You've basically sullied the opportunity for others to learn from this thread. Please refer to the posting guidelines about making a positive contribution to the community and tell me where you snarky posts fit in.

Thank you Steve for all that you've shared about Coyle. It's definitely helped me and I'm sure others as well.
It's such ashame to see the rudeness and animosity that can be displayed here in this forum. There's already so much negative going on in the world, why does it need to be on this forum too? Aren't we all here because we like to Mystery Shop? We have that common ground. Why don't we try to help others rather than tear them down? The rudeness doesn't serve a positive purpose at all. Especially when it discourages others from asking questions so they can learn and grow.
It's nice to see you continue to help others and share your insight.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

Emails from shoppers demanding shops when my hands were tied on assigning them.

In what way were your hands tied on assigning shops?

I see absolutely nothing that I’ve said that would keep people from asking questions.

Why do you suppose this appears to be almost exclusively a coyle problem?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2017 11:20AM by Hoju.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

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.
.

I know how to measure, he's just faster at it because he does it everyday, and it seems like it might be quicker if I am entering into while he is completing those tasks. I use mobi audit for two other MSCs so I think I'd be ok.

@bgriffin wrote:

@SteveSoCal wrote:

Emails from shoppers demanding shops when my hands were tied on assigning them.

In what way were your hands tied on assigning shops?

I can't go into too much detail on a public forum about all of the issues, but there are forces beyond the scheduler's control; some of them being client driven and others being management driven. It's also a complex process.

I mean, c'mon, if you have 2,000 shops that need to be assigned and applications in for each of them, do you really think it's as simple as going down the list and assigning each shop to the first applicant? That would take about 2 hours of the scheduler's time and then wreak havoc at the company for the next 90 days.

Consider that this is a company that does not employ contractors outside of the shopper base. Editors are employees and have certain hours they work, have scheduled vacation time, need to have work available each day when they clock in, need to have consistent work throughout the month, etc. On top of that, you have a variety of different shops offered, and some have a considerable amount of narrative. Some editors might specialize in restaurants, with others on a certain hotel brand. Newbie shoppers always take more in editorial time so you also need to have a good balance of vetted shoppers mixed in with the newbies.

Then you have client requirements. Clients require the completed report to be submitted to them within a certain amount of time, but some hotel reports might take 8 hours of editorial and require a particular editor, so those have to be parceled out over the quarter. Many clients need the shops rotated over the days of the week so that they hit a variety of staff members and that has to be considered. Others might limit a demographic of shopper, or have maximum rates allowed, and then you get into the travel expenses. If you have 100 hotels that offer up to $100 travel, there's not $10k allocated for travel. There's probably $2-3k and that has to be allocated to the shops which require it, with the majority having low or no travel.

Last, you have the shopper requirements. You are drawing favors from different shoppers throughout the quarter and promising certain assignments in return, and all of that has to be considered. You also have to make sure that all of the regular shoppers get SOME assignments. You can't give 20 to one shopper and 1 to another, so the requests all have to be considered and divided up amongst the known applicants...and one person is doing all of this. That person is going to be careful about adding new shoppers to the group because each new shopper comes with a new set of demands, and you ned to feel assured that they can do the job.

While it may seem more professional from the outside to simply give away all of the shops to anyone who applies, consider the repercussions if 40% of the shops were declined, took longer than expected with editorial or required the company to offer a poor quality submission. Management deemed it more professional to put shoppers through a vetting process, rather than just give them shops, let them fail, and have all that grief to contend with. The grief from the spurned shopper that didn't get an assignment hurts a lot less than the grief from the one who just put $1,000 on their credit card and is having their assignment declined. That is something I struggled with every day on that job.

When i was scheduling, I had posterboards with shopper names and requests covering the walls of my office. I had post-it notes covering my desk with special requests and multiple databases where i kept track of editor hours and the number of shops each shopper received. It was a daunting task! Once I had everything worked out to the best of my ability, I'd assign the shops and of course there would always be some phone call or email from a spurned shopper who did not get the assignment they wanted and felt burned. That's how my hands were tied in satisfying that particular shopper.

If it makes you feel any better, BG, 2 of my 4 hotel requests for that client were declined for the room rates being too high and another was declined for travel being too high, so I'm left with one local hotel that has zero travel attached.

Yes, there are times where I get pissed about how things operate and fight the urge to send that resignation email in. Then I go through my photo albums and see the trips I've taken all over the world, the memories I've made with friends and loved ones on assignments, and I bite my &^%$ tongue, put my big-boy pants on and go about my day, because I know the MSC would continue to operate perfectly fine without me! The ability to shop os a privilege...and not a right!

@Hoju wrote:

Why do you suppose this appears to be almost exclusively a coyle problem?

Why is it so hard to simply apologize for posting a snarky message that offered nothing of substance?

You asked a question at the very start of this thread and I answered it politely and professionally. There's been no other feedback about your experience with the MSC, so your comment has basically only helped to move this thread from one that was informative and helpful, to one that's argumentative...as if we needed more of that here. I can't really say why shoppers are intimidated by posting in threads that devolve into arguments, but based on the number of PM's I've received this week, they are. You may be an unwitting bully, but you are non-the-less a bully. You made a post that is in clear violation of the forum guidelines and have intimidated other members in doing so...and have yet to apologize for it or retract it.

As far as why it's an issue that's exclusive to Coyle; What other MSC offers equally desirable assignments and operates in a similar manner? They have always stood out amongst other MSCs and done things differently, which is what drew me toward them as a shopper in the beginning.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I know how to measure, he's just faster at it because he does it everyday, and it seems like it might be quicker if I am entering into while he is completing those tasks. I use mobi audit for two other MSCs so I think I'd be ok.

It will definitely go faster with 2 people, even if you are measuring and he is entering. I promise the measuring won't take more than 30 minutes for even the least experienced measurer though...unless you have an old crappy measuring tape like it do and have to spend another 45 minutes taking it apart and re-coiling it.

On the other hand, there's a lot less distraction with no guest. I slept more, spent more time at the gym and drank less when I was solo on assignments....

Mmmm, yeah but his computer skills are pretty minimal and he types slow. I am not sure he would be able to use Mobi Audit proficiently and forget him doing anything on my Android phone (he's an Apple guy).

Part of the reason I was interested in doing the shops was to treat hubby to a few nights away from home. There is a casino close by so he would probably spend a lot of time there since he is a pretty good poker player. I like the idea of few interactions for a change so we have more time to explore the local restaurants and music venues. My only reservation was it doesn't pay much (I think $65 for this location) and is about 100 miles round trip from home.

Hubby is an insurance adjuster so he is expert at measuring and owns several excellent tapes. Why don't you go buy another one? They aren't expensive and it would be a tax write off anyway, right?

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Why don't you go buy another one? They aren't expensive and it would be a tax write off anyway, right?

I think it's a sentimental thing. It's part of a tool kit my dad gave me when I moved away from home...

Like most Coyle assignments, the fee isn't really the attraction. If you can get there/back for the $65 and not lose any money at the casino, it's actually a decent free vacation (minus the measuring part). You can get a romantic room service meal, a nice breakfast and drinks at the bar (I take the remainder of my wine from the bar back to the room and then order RS).

You can also instal the Mobi app on an iPone or run Shopmetrics from an Apple laptop.

I've tried it a few ways and for me, this is the fastest:
-Score in Mobi on iPad while taking pics on iPhone
-Upload pics to MacBook and convert to 640x480 (You can use Automator to drag/drop all pictures at once)
-Name photos in MacBook
-Drag/drop photos into Shopmetrics while adding comments

That last bit is especially helpful. Thank you.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I can't go into too much detail....

I understand that it's a complex process. I've never said that it's not. I also don't believe that it's quite as complicated as you make it out to be. Your statement about a scheduler not wanting to introduce a new shopper to the shopper pool seems very counterproductive to me. Why would you want to limit the shopper pool? So your favorites can do top end assignments every month instead of every other month? It seems to me if you have a larger pool of shoppers then it makes your scheduling easier. What kind of ego does it take for a Coyle shopper to expect that they get a specific number of primo shops every month? If you have 30 shops and 30 primo shoppers well it's easy, each gets 1. If you have 10 primo shoppers and 30 shops well now you have to juggle a ton of requests. Wouldn't it be easier to cultivate that shopper pool? I totally understand why client and business constraints cause problems, I honestly think that whole paragraph about managing shoppers is a big stinking pile of stuff.

It does not make me feel better that some of your shop requests were denied. Do you know why? Because you were given the dignity of a response telling you why. I was not given the dignity of a reply stating "no, I'm sorry I'm not able to give you any of these shops." That is 30 seconds out of a schedulers time that makes me MAYBE try a little harder in jumping through the hoops instead of sending a mail to have my account removed.

It's also my personal opinion that if I were a scheduler and I got a nasty email because I did not assign someone a particular shop, that person would not be getting anymore shops. It sounds to me like that's a problem of dealing with prima donnas who think they deserve everything. I also imagine that any level headed shopper who got a response of "I'm sorry, I would have gladly assigned you the shop but I only had specific dates that fit both the client's needs and times when I had editors available and I had to give it to a shopper that fit those times" would be satisfied with that answer. Again, a 30 second email.

I believe, and I always will believe, that for some reason Coyle deemed that I was not a good enough shopper for them. I applied for phone shops and couldn't even get one assigned. That's fine, but at least maybe they could give some feedback on what the particular issue was instead of being children who just tried to ignore me.

To me, Coyle is a similar beast to video shopping. They're different from traditional, written mystery shops that a majority of shoppers do. They're not better, or worse, but they have specific demands and constraints that not every shopper fits. In the video world, MSCs attempt to cultivate new shoppers. Coyle does everything it can to not cultivate new shoppers. There has been more than one occasion when I have asked a video scheduler for a group of shops in a given metro and been told they could give them to me but they had to hold one back for a new video shopper in that area. Coyle doesn't seem to be interested in new shoppers.

Why does Coyle not answer questions prior to a shop?
all they ever say is "read the instructions!" Well, I already did that and still have a question.