Exactly. We actually had a manager sit and talk to us for over a half hour at a steak house near us. We got along great. I would be surprised if he did not know us. Forcing this contact makes it hard to return. I always hope that the managers stop by and quickly ask about dinner at these restaurants.

@Misanthrope wrote:

Coyle added to their boilerplate about a year or two ago that if a manager doesn't visit our table we now have to ask to speak to them.

I think that rule has also passed since most of my recent assignments have been to simply document any management presence, with no required interaction.

My suggestion was to take shoppers out of rotation if something notable transpired. I found worms in a sushi roll on a shop for ACL a few years ago and they just put a note in my file that I wasn't allowed back for 5 years...since the manager came over and comped the meal. Not that I really wanted to go back after the worms.

I had the server spill a glass of red wine on my white shirt at a steakhouse shop more recently. I self-selcted out of repeating that shop since the manager not only comped the meal, but offered to cover my drycleaning bill if I brought back a receipt! That was for CI and they made no notes about my rotation, but I haven't been able to get a shop assignment with them since (I did not take the manager up on the drycleaning, bill, BTW. There are plenty of drycleaning shops in LA too)

Those situations few and far-between for me, though. Most of the time I feel like I could come back a month later and not be recognized. I do use different phone numbers and email address for repeat shops, and almost always take different guests. I think NYC probably has enough restaurants you don't need repeats, but it's more limited in L.A., and smaller cities may only have a few restaurants, if any.

I tend to think it's a silly policy. A rotation of a year is MORE than reasonable unless there is a 1) a truly memorable incident (such as worms in one's sushi roll -- ick!) AND there has been no turnover in the restaurant's management.

I just got an job opening email today. It states one year rotation; not a hefty reimbursement. Maybe it's a client policy rather than Coyle's. P.S. I concur with SSC's manager interaction requirements. I have never had to force an interaction with a manager whether it be $100-$315.

I had a shop that required an interaction, as recently as a week ago. I sat there silently hoping the manager would come over and say something, which she did. I think it depends on the client. For the next two we are doing, I do not have to force an interaction.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2019 01:10AM by Niner.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@Misanthrope wrote:

Coyle added to their boilerplate about a year or two ago that if a manager doesn't visit our table we now have to ask to speak to them.

I think that rule has also passed since most of my recent assignments have been to simply document any management presence, with no required interaction.

The last two restaurants I did had that as a requirement. In one case my "manager interaction" was "he passed me when I was going to the bathroom" and for the other, the manager was out by the time I was finishing the mystery shop.

Having to ask to speak with a manager easily blows our cover. Hope Coyle will remove this requirement. I don't see that this is a common practice from regular diners. I used to work in an industry that dined out very frequently, no one ever asked to speak to a manager unless a major issue occurred and they needed to make a formal complaint.

Asking for a manager and shopper rotation are set by the client and not by Coyle. The client is the one who sets the standards. Some clients do not want the same evaluators EVER going there again.

@felix wrote:

Asking for a manager and shopper rotation are set by the client and not by Coyle. The client is the one who sets the standards. Some clients do not want the same evaluators EVER going there again.

Are you a scheduler/ editor / client manager for Coyle?

Does anyone know if this applies to the corporate/museum cafes shopped by Coyle, or just the fine dining clients?