Coyle Restaurant Shops
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BirdyC,
My experience with Coyle is the same as stated in the thread. They are insanely interested in minutiae which is what most of the editors questions are asking about.
I have found that depending on the market, Dallas, TX and Rochester, NY, they are more forgiving because they need to get the shops completed with fewer shoppers in Rochester.
I've always looked at it as the reimbursement for a place I normally wouldn't put out that much for a nice meal offsets some of the aggravation I have in doing the detailed reports..
However, that has to be balanced out by the possibility of spending for an expensive dinner and the shop gets rejected. However, I've never had that happen.
I think they just bombard you with questions until they feel the shop is acceptable because it would be too hard to get another shopper to do a re-shop.
My experience with Coyle is the same as stated in the thread. They are insanely interested in minutiae which is what most of the editors questions are asking about.
I have found that depending on the market, Dallas, TX and Rochester, NY, they are more forgiving because they need to get the shops completed with fewer shoppers in Rochester.
I've always looked at it as the reimbursement for a place I normally wouldn't put out that much for a nice meal offsets some of the aggravation I have in doing the detailed reports..
However, that has to be balanced out by the possibility of spending for an expensive dinner and the shop gets rejected. However, I've never had that happen.
I think they just bombard you with questions until they feel the shop is acceptable because it would be too hard to get another shopper to do a re-shop.
I travel to Rochester often, so before I go next time, I'll check the board and see what they have available there. I used to live there, and I see that their are so many shops available there all the time. Bank shops, restaurant shops, and others. I'm surprised there seems to be a shortage of shoppers!
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
If you are okay with ACL...you will be okay with Coyle. Coyle is similar to ACL...but COYLE will pay $. ACL expects FREE work. That is my experience between the 2. The reports from both are way beyond out of control. Great for the client...sucks for the shopper.
I don't work for ACL. I started the sign-up process a couple of times, but ended up deciding that the whole thing wasn't worth it.
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
One more difference between ACL and Coyle is that Coyle is generous in their reimbursement maximum, usually with left over to spare, while ACL is very, very tight, expecting you to pay out of pocket. For example, one semi-casual restaurant, not even "fine" restaurant, they will only pay $65 reimbursement to cover signature cocktail at the bar ($12-17), 2 beverages at the table, appetizer, 2 entrees, dessert, tax and tip, all for $65. They offered $5 for 2-hour parking. One time I was charged $7 for parking because doing the bar, dinner and checking the bathroom, took over 2 hours as the service was slow. ACL paid back only $5, and I was also out of $12 for bar and dinner. The required Signature Cocktail is a must, they made it very clear that tap beer or wine is not acceptable. It has to be one of their signature cocktails, priced at $12-17.
Good heavens! Even where I live, which has a fairly low COL, you'd pay more than $100 for a meal and cocktails like that!
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.
@BirdyC wrote:
Coyle has no dining shops in my immediate area, so I'd have to travel some to do one. They did have a take-out lunch shop in Baltimore that I was tempted to try. I sometimes go partway down there for other shops, and I thought it would be practice for me to do what seemed to be a fairly simple shop for them to get my foot in the door. But having read this thread, it sounds like it's not worth it.
I'm a professional writer and like narrative-heavy shops. But these seem so not worth it! But I used to do a shop with a tiny fee and not-so-generous reimbursement that called for all the timings you all have said Coyle requires. I'd rather get $100 reimbursement to do such a shop than $35 (or whatever it was).
Honestly, i don't get why people seem so scared of Coyle! Based on what you wrote here, you will have no problem with a Coyle shop, and especially not one that is for one of the fast-casual concepts. Those barely even require writing (well, each restaurant is different but at least most of the fast casual ones I've done have had barely any writing. Only the more high end fine dining did I have paragraphs of narrative).
I mentioned earlier on in this thread, but the fast casual / take out meals with Coyle are among my favorite. They're easy, reimburse typically $50 + fee, and I get a delicious meal out of it.
@ShopperFun99 wrote:
One more difference between ACL and Coyle is that Coyle is generous in their reimbursement maximum, usually with left over to spare, while ACL is very, very tight, expecting you to pay out of pocket. For example, one semi-casual restaurant, not even "fine" restaurant, they will only pay $65 reimbursement to cover signature cocktail at the bar ($12-17), 2 beverages at the table, appetizer, 2 entrees, dessert, tax and tip, all for $65. They offered $5 for 2-hour parking. One time I was charged $7 for parking because doing the bar, dinner and checking the bathroom, took over 2 hours as the service was slow. ACL paid back only $5, and I was also out of $12 for bar and dinner. The required Signature Cocktail is a must, they made it very clear that tap beer or wine is not acceptable. It has to be one of their signature cocktails, priced at $12-17.
Yeah seriously!!! i did one for ACL last year and decided no more! Will only do it for Coyle (even though not all their restaurants reimburse so generously... had a meal the other weekend that only reimbursed 175 but cost me ~250 with valet!... though that is the exception and not the rule
)
@asleep wrote:
@BirdyC wrote:
Coyle has no dining shops in my immediate area, so I'd have to travel some to do one. They did have a take-out lunch shop in Baltimore that I was tempted to try. I sometimes go partway down there for other shops, and I thought it would be practice for me to do what seemed to be a fairly simple shop for them to get my foot in the door. But having read this thread, it sounds like it's not worth it.
I'm a professional writer and like narrative-heavy shops. But these seem so not worth it! But I used to do a shop with a tiny fee and not-so-generous reimbursement that called for all the timings you all have said Coyle requires. I'd rather get $100 reimbursement to do such a shop than $35 (or whatever it was).
Honestly, i don't get why people seem so scared of Coyle! Based on what you wrote here, you will have no problem with a Coyle shop, and especially not one that is for one of the fast-casual concepts. Those barely even require writing (well, each restaurant is different but at least most of the fast casual ones I've done have had barely any writing. Only the more high end fine dining did I have paragraphs of narrative).
I mentioned earlier on in this thread, but the fast casual / take out meals with Coyle are among my favorite. They're easy, reimburse typically $50 + fee, and I get a delicious meal out of it.
I honestly think its not about being scared of Coyle. It is more about when you start going down the rabbit hole with them knowing that every single time you get better and better at writing that narrative, then someone somewhere will still find something wrong to question you every single time. For me it just stopped making it as fun as it could be.
Is Coyle getting fewer high end clients everywhere or just in my area? There used to be a ton in Washington DC, now there are barely any. Baltimore has an upscale restaurant group client but they are snapped up quickly even with new lower pay. Most of the shops I see are a fast casual chicken place where the reimbursement is only barely enough for the requirements. The hotel offerings are less-than-business class too.
I haven't been seeing any restaurant shops from ACL and very few from Coyle. I used to do like twenty or thirty a year for Coyle.
In SoCal it seems HS is stealing (trying to?) a long time Coyle client.
Coyle is really not that bad if you can write and have decent grammar. I was scared initially due to comments from other shoppers, but I've always gotten 90+ on my reports. Its not going to be click, click, click on an app, but totally worth it for the fees they pay.
ACL I never use for food shops because they don't pay/reimburse that well. They are pretty good for some retail and daycare shops in my area.
ACL I never use for food shops because they don't pay/reimburse that well. They are pretty good for some retail and daycare shops in my area.
Lots of high-end restaurants shut down, so Im not surprised Coyle has fewer of those shops.
I did a fine dining shop recently. First time visiting the venue. Fabulous. Yès, I have noticed it's slim pickings. Years ago, wow!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2022 05:17AM by Madetoshop.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2022 05:17AM by Madetoshop.
@hotsauce1 wrote:
Is Coyle getting fewer high end clients everywhere or just in my area? There used to be a ton in Washington DC, now there are barely any. Baltimore has an upscale restaurant group client but they are snapped up quickly even with new lower pay. Most of the shops I see are a fast casual chicken place where the reimbursement is only barely enough for the requirements. The hotel offerings are less-than-business class too.
I'm gonna assume you are ordering for 2 with the chicken place?
What happened to Coyle? Has anyone received any emails or shop notifications for March or April ? My last email from Coyle was in February.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2022 09:47PM by ShopperFun99.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2022 09:47PM by ShopperFun99.
I saw restaurant email for Southern California area in the past few days.
I checked their website, but I see only 3 shops for a mexican chain restaurant, and a lot of a chain drug store, paying $4 each. This drug store shops are totally new. What happened to Coyle?
Coyle is not only not worth the time (in terms of shops), but the company exudes a fairly arrogant attitude. There are many other companies that offer better shops (restaurants, hotels, etc.).
I used to do a lot of shops for them before we had our baby. They have a strict rule that forbids kids on shops… I find it amusing since families do frequent at these places. When a recent client of theirs moved to a different MSC, we were able to go and take our kiddo. Makes me wonder if the no kid rule is theirs or the clients. Anyway, I did a ton of shops for them, did them on time and accurately… but too bad can’t anymore.
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