Hmmmmmm... after not doing anything with them for years, I have taken an upscale Italian chain assignment as I thought it would make for a nice Saturday night dinner out with the GF. Thinking I should review the report (first scan did not look so horrible) before heading there next weekend.

The one with a family style menu? If so, reimbursement is generous but they limit you to one shareable entree that is not shareable in my opinion. Unless you order a spaghetti entree that is mostly comprised of spaghett. Enjoy.

Anyone know the timeframe for how long it takes Coyle to assign a shop? I hate the "waiting" game.

Most of the shops I do are self-assign (not Coyle shops). I so much prefer self-assign (except when I'm not paying attn to a shop posting).

Because I have a corporate job and am tied to a desk, i can pretty much jump on the desirable self-assign shops and get them without a problem.

It's a chain in NY state and they usually share a building in a strip mall. I don't know how much I can say without violating the agreement since the MSC has been given. Try searching zip codes in Central NY.

Coyle has always been ridiculous. I take their shops knowing they want detail, more detail, and repetition of the detail. Was always fine with it. I’m naturally detailed and loquacious. My turning point was when I was on vacation, ate at someplace that had great service, but awful food. I wasn’t home so I saved that report every 10 minutes, religiously. And poof, it disappeared. I was 90 minutes in, almost done. Their not-so-helpful center said it was a glitch. I started it again the next day and another glitch. Haven’t bothered again. Their shops locations aren’t worth doing their shops twice. Their shops go undone in my area. No surprise.

Today something happened that I had never before experienced while doing a Coyle dining shop: I went to the restroom and when I returned the server had nicely refolded my napkin and placed it on the table! I need to remember to not automatically hit "no" on the survey as I have done with that question on every other Coyle shop I've ever done.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2025 03:14AM by NinS.

@NinS wrote:

Today something happened that I had never before experienced while doing a Coyle dining shop: I went to the restroom and when I returned the server had nicely refolded my napkin and placed it on the table! I

I think I have probably had the napkin folded about a dozen times in the 20-something years I have been doing fine dining. It's nice when they get it right!

1. Coyle is ass. always has been.
2. 'write a short note to support your application'? Like wtf is this? I usually just put in 2 words (it won't let you put nothing) but can anyone tell me what they put here. Like are you supposed to BEG? Beg to be up all night writing a POS report?

@non sequitur . You have been silent recently (or at least not active on the threads I have been reading), but came out with a vengeance today. Several different posts. I guess you got irritated enough to send off several posts.

Thanks for missing me
I had multiple posts only because I can never resist jumping on a Coyle hate-wagon when I see one (which, sadly, is pretty frequently). But seriously, what DO you put in that note - I'm dying to hear what other people think of it - it's sooooo weird.

I am assuming your applications have never been accepted with two words? If it's not the MSC for you, why apply?

I asked this recently in another thread because I’m new. I have started putting what other dates I’m available, and mention the number of shops I’ve completed recently in a similar category with a 100% score. Plus any other relevant details, i.e. I work a corporate job so I’m familiar with an office building environment and can blend in.

I usually put "i can do this." the big "I" has shops on shopmetrics as well as sassie. it does not matter what you put in there. It will assign it to you right there after going thru some algorithm. at least for the stagecoach bank shops it does. i cannot say it does it for all the clients listed on the shopmetrics side since I do not do shops for all those clients.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I usually put "i can do this." the big "I" has shops on shopmetrics as well as sassie. it does not matter what you put in there. It will assign it to you right there after going thru some algorithm. at least for the stagecoach bank shops it does. i cannot say it does it for all the clients listed on the shopmetrics side since I do not do shops for all those clients.

I didn't realize Coyle did the Stagecoach shops and I didn't realize IPSOS now had a box where you had to say why you wanted the shop.

But, Bigdaddy, I haven't been on either of the IPSOS sites in a while.

Justifying why you want the shop has only been a Coyle requirement for me so far

Maybe I'm confused?

Coyle does NOT have the bank.

I'm saying that the big "I" will auto assign on shopmentrics for the stagecoach assignments regardless of what you put in the box.

The Coyle shops wait for someone to assign a shop to you.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2025 11:00PM by hbbigdaddy.

Well, I realize that I might be in the minority here, but I love Coyle dining, hotel, and parking shops. At least, I love the ones that I choose to do, and I have done around 200 in the last three years. Here is what I usually put in the application for most parking and restaurant shops:

"I would be happy to perform this evaluation for a bid of X. Thank you for considering my application."

If it is a hotel shop, I follow the instructions of also including the dates that I am available as well as noting that I am, or am not, requesting travel expenses.

In the past, I have tried adding other comments, but I found they made no difference whether I was assigned or not. So I no longer bother.

Laloweryshops,

I'm guessing with a track record of 5-6 shops a month for the last 3 years the scheduler is happy to see you apply.

And I would guess you would be more likely to get granted travel expenses than most of us that might do 1-3 shops a year for them.

@wrosie wrote:

Laloweryshops,

I'm guessing with a track record of 5-6 shops a month for the last 3 years the scheduler is happy to see you apply.

And I would guess you would be more likely to get granted travel expenses than most of us that might do 1-3 shops a year for them.

wrosie, Oh, please understand, my success rate of getting assigned by Coyle is maybe around 50% for dining shops and much less than that for hotels. Only parking shops are the ones that I get 90% success at getting assigned, and those account for over half of the shops that I have done for Coyle. (I often double up parking for Coyle with a restaurant shop for another company.)

And I actually STOPPED asking for travel expenses for most hotel shops, in hopes it would increase my chances of getting assigned, and it seemed to me that the strategy worked. That being said, even when I do not ask for travel, I always explicitly state, "I am not asking for travel expenses." The reason I include that line is that, after being turned down for many hotel shops in the past, I emailed the scheduler if there was anything that I could do to improve my chances, and she told me that I should always include whether or not I was asking for travel. She said that she turns down good evaluators if she is worried that they might not mention travel expenses but then ask for them after being assigned.

But I stopped mentioning other comments that one would expect would support the application, because even when I thought that the reason was helpful/useful, I would STILL get turned down. I, personally, never found any other comments to help me. But others might have a different experience.

Thanks. That was very informative and helpful.

My experience has been within a few hours or the next day. I have had applications hanging although far and few in between. I delete those applications
rather than wait around after 3 days.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

Anyone know the timeframe for how long it takes Coyle to assign a shop? I hate the "waiting" game.

Most of the shops I do are self-assign (not Coyle shops). I so much prefer self-assign (except when I'm not paying attn to a shop posting).

Because I have a corporate job and am tied to a desk, i can pretty much jump on the desirable self-assign shops and get them without a problem.

@Niner wrote:

I used to have more time and completed loads of Coyle reports. They would take me hours to write, at least four hours, often longer. I lack the patience and desire, and would rather go to the $50 steakhouse.

I completed a Coyle dinner for $260, and it was worth the experience and the 4-hour report. The following week, I completed a 2-night stay at a 5-star hotel. I must have spent 20 hours on the report, as it included breakfast, IRD, bar, and lunch.

New to Coyle. How much are people bidding on house evals? Considering check in is 4pm and check out is 10 am with 4-6 hours of eval/report, not much time to actually enjoy the house/area, so I would like to be compensated for my time at least.

This thread helped me make up my mind. I went ahead and had Coyle delete my account. There are plenty of other people left who can do all this ridiculous work for them.

I am open to doing only a handful of clients for Coyle. I do not have the time or desire for extremely long reports. I do not find it fun having to document the times and what happened with every visit to the table by any employee during a dining experience. It detracts from the experience when it becomes burdensome like this. I do not mind the takeout scenarios provided with minimal interactions.