@cubbiecat wrote:

I type 80-90 wpm and it takes me 4-5 hours for a Coyle report. i would be thrilled if I could cut it down to 2-3 hours, never mind 90 minutes.

I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what I’m going to say or how I’m going to say it. I’m writing a report, not a novel. I also edited restaurant reports for a few years early in my career.

Is there anyone else here who can do a Coyle fine dining report in 90 minutes? With no follow up for another 90 minutes from the editors?

chiffon...not always true....My in laws and their friends are wealthy, and they always take home lboxes of leftovers.

@Niner wrote:

Is there anyone else here who can do a Coyle fine dining report in 90 minutes? With no follow up for another 90 minutes from the editors?

I can think of 2.
SteveSoCal and MickeyB

Do you answer all of the 200+ questions in the narrative?

@Niner wrote:

Do you answer all of the 200+ questions in the narrative?

Anything that requires a comment gets 3 words if I recall correctly. Then a quick summary. I do them in Las Vegas and also when I am traveling. When I work in Las Vegas, I can see the other reports. I also edited for another company. I know the quality of work that is out there. I don't get a lot of follow up questions if any. Last 4-5 reports went right through.

@NinS wrote:

Another reason may be to prevent overordering by shoppers, which can be a giveaway to staff that they are being shopped. Ironically I’ve had shops with large ordering requirements and then had to make up excuses as to why I wouldn’t want to take home half of a meal like any normal customer would (“My hotel doesn’t have a fridge” or “We’re going on a trip tomorrow” are standbys).

A restaurant near me is currently being shopped by both MF and Coyle. A typical check for two there is around $75. Coyle offers a $125 reimbursement (which is more than I could possibly spend) and a “bid” fee they say is usually $10-20. MF offers just a $50 reimbursement but they’ll cover parking which in that neighborhood can easily be $30. I can also go solo or invite a second or third guest and there are no ordering requirements beyond one entree. I’m happy to do the MF shop, spend 10 minutes on the report, and if I bring my spouse make up the rest of the check with a $40 burger shop. I have no interest in shopping it for Coyle as I’d spend much longer on the report and lose the fee to parking. Obviously others feel differently as the shop is no longer on the board.

I’m surprised to see ACL reports compared to Coyle reports. I’ve found that once you get the hang of the ACL format they’re pretty quick, even allowing for the likelihood of a few editor questions.

This is the answer I got when I asked a scheduler I had a good rapport with about the "no leftovers" rule.

A lot of stuff in Coyle's instructions are kind of "boilerplate" and applied to all restaurants rather than being tailored to the client. I've learned that a few of those boilerplate rules were basically added because of the bad behavior of a few shoppers pissed off someone at Could who mandated the rule be added to all shops. There was one couple who worked for Coyle who would always go exactly as close to their reimbursement limit as possible and order extra entrees or desserts to take home. That being said, at some high end restaurants (and coyle likes to pretend that every place they mystery shop is high end even if they just sell hamburgers or fried chicken) taking home leftovers is definitely seen as a faux-pas (the target clientele specifically engages in conspicuous consumption so wasting food is a good, not bad, thing).

Fun fact; the specific provision against lobster, fillet mignon and eggs benedict in their instructions is also caused by a single shopper for them who would order nothing but those items if they were on the menu and someone at Coyle got mad at them and banned it. Frankly, if there are more expensive items than lobster on the menu and I come in under my reimbursement requirement (or I just am fine paying the difference out of pocket) I don't see the harm in ordering lobster.

All true, misanthrope.

@shopaholic1 wrote:

They'd also want more detail one how long it took for a beer to get to me. I said one minute. It got kicked back to me saying provide additional detail on the delivery process. What delivery process? The guy went to the bar, picked up the beer, and gave it to me.

lol

As someone else said above, its better to just do high fee shops and eat wherever you please

I got into a rhythm with Coyle shops where I could get them fully done in 2 hours with maybe one follow-up email and still a good score. Then I had a shop where it turned out I knew the manager, and he sent over a ton of stuff. Coyle still wanted the report, even though I told them that I was going to take out all the service flourishes because otherwise I would be recognized. At that point, I realized my odds were getting pretty good that I would know someone working at the high-end places that Coyle shopped in NYC, so I basically stopped.

Plus, I was getting really frustrated with the scheduling.

@shopaholic1 wrote:

As someone else said above, its better to just do high fee shops and eat wherever you please

There are also surprisingly many good restaurant shops that have reasonable reports.

I've never done a Coyle one, but don't want to either. I've heard too many negatives.

The BARE shops I did pre-COVID were fun for my relatives. They loved going to nice restaurants. I got into a groove with their reporting format and didn't mind longer narratives. Sometimes learning the format and doing a shop type regularly for a company can make it worthwhile, as you know what to expect and get faster and faster at it.

From 2006 until 2009, when the MSC shutdown, I completed 176 assignments for five different chains: Applebee's, Carino's, Abuelo's, Red Robin and Jimmy John's. All paid a flat fee. had a short report, a wide completion window. no pics, no guest and liberal ordering requirements. Although my net fee varied by the client, according to my log, it ranged from $13 to $22. I mention this to illustrate the reason why so many shops pay poorly is that people keep accepting them, regardless of the requirements and fee. Every required pic slightly increases the chance the job will be rejected, while every extended report decreases your effective pay.

If Coyle and other MSC have a couple of shoppers who abused the system, why not just ban them instead of making life difficult for other shoppers. It takes me 3.5-4.5 hours to write a Coyle restaurant report. I'm not a slow typist (75-80 wpm). My email follow-up usually has 1-2 questions.

@cubbiecat wrote:

If Coyle and other MSC have a couple of shoppers who abused the system, why not just ban them instead of making life difficult for other shoppers.

Shoppers are easily replaceable. Clients are not.

@shopperbob wrote:

From 2006 until 2009, when the MSC shutdown, I completed 176 assignments for five different chains: Applebee's, Carino's, Abuelo's, Red Robin and Jimmy John's. All paid a flat fee. had a short report, a wide completion window. no pics, no guest and liberal ordering requirements. Although my net fee varied by the client, according to my log, it ranged from $13 to $22. I mention this to illustrate the reason why so many shops pay poorly is that people keep accepting them, regardless of the requirements and fee. Every required pic slightly increases the chance the job will be rejected, while every extended report decreases your effective pay.

Pre-COVID, BARE had $20 fee'd fine dining shops that I did. They were narrative heavy, but worthwhile as I got to order lobster, fresh catch fishes, and higher end apps./desserts/drinks for $150-300 meals. The write-ups took many hours, but I got used to reports and didn't get follow-up questions like people are saying with COYLE.

I miss those BARE shops.

There was a MSC offering Applebee's-level dining shops with a cumbersome report and no fee. No thanks.

@Misanthrope wrote:

Fun fact; the specific provision against lobster, fillet mignon and eggs benedict in their instructions is also caused by a single shopper for them who would order nothing but those items if they were on the menu and someone at Coyle got mad at them and banned it. Frankly, if there are more expensive items than lobster on the menu and I come in under my reimbursement requirement (or I just am fine paying the difference out of pocket) I don't see the harm in ordering lobster.

Heh. Another version is where they reimburse you $x.xx and require you to order an appetizer, 2 entrees, 1 dessert, and 1 alcoholic drink and the menu prices are such that there is no way you can do that and get the lobster, prime rib, etc. and come under reimbursement. They're de facto discouraging you from ordering those top items unless it comes out of your own pocket.

I feel like if they are KNOWN for one of the higher end items, the shop should reimburse enough for you to order that item(s). What's the point of doing shops and not having your famous item evaluated?

@sandyf wrote:

I and the rest of us slowpokes need a class in how to write a fine dining report in 90 minutes or less. I do not work for Coyle but most fine dining reports take me over 2 hours. From what i read i would be closer to the 5 hour group Niner is in with one of theirs.
Anyone want to give pointers? I type slowly, my memory of exact quotes is terrible so i have to note them down and then look them up. Timing of food brought to the table takes a long time to reconstruct for me too. Voluminous notes is my nemesis.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ When I deleted the long, extraneous quote after Sandy's, my comments were included in the quote as you can see, so I'm separating the texts thusly. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Regarding memory of quotes and timings, a small digital recorder or even a cell phone to record does wonders. It can be time-consuming to find the info on a long recording, but it's accurate.

The cell phone can remain on the table face down or up with the screen off and the app not on the home screen (in case a phone call comes in or something else turns on the screen). The digital recorder can be hidden in a small open-weave fabric case to hide it without lowering the sound quality. You could instead put it into your shirt pocket or bra.

@CA senior wrote:

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ When I deleted the long, extraneous quote after Sandy's, my comments were included in the quote as you can see, so I'm separating the texts thusly. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

fyi, you just need to move your comments past the /quote command that's in brackets.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2021 03:29PM by 1cent.

@CA senior wrote:

.

CA, here are some codes to use:

quote: <quote> put text to be quoted here between brackets </quote>
underline: <u> put text to be underlined here between brackets </u>
bold: <b> put text to be bolded here between brackets </b>
italicize: <i> put text to be italicized here between brackets </i>
image: <img> put image link to be uploaded here between brackets </img>

***Instead of the brackets having < and >, they should be done with [ and ]...I could not actually use [ and ], b/c that would actually execute the command and you wouldn't see what I meant. Try them out and let us know if you have questions.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2021 05:43AM by shoptastic.

TY. Will try them.

1cent and shoptastic, thank you. I'll try those suggestions.

Shoptastic, thanks! It worked.

How can I make colored text or different fonts?

@CA senior wrote:

How can I make colored text or different fonts?

Check this page out...it may not have everything you are looking for, but you'll find some cool stuff....
[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

_Thanks, ^guysmom. Whoopie!

What a treasure trove.

Does this forum support font changes? I researched it online and tried many ways of changing the font style, to no avail.