Chiming in to say definitely a mix of whatever calendar system you use, plus possibly a spreadsheet. It depends how much stuff you keep track of.
I use iCal, so I put color codes on the shops to let me know when they are paid/reversed (for hotels) and can set follow-ups, as well as reminders for when to leave home, submit the shops, or check on payment, too.
The delayed reversal seems to be the new 'normal' with Coyle. Since May of last year I have had to follow up on every single hotel reversal, and most were in the 90 day realm...even with me pushing.
When it's a few hundred dollars, that's not as much much of an issue, but most of the hotels I do are thousands of dollars for the stay, and I have credit cards I specifically use for MS, so even i
@sandyf wrote:
I think in California if a bar also serves food you can sit there with people under 21. I doubt a container of slim jims and some pickled eggs count as food. Definitely a marashino cherry on your drink would not count either.
I think if there's a food menu it's allowed. The shop in question where it came up was a hotel by Universal Studios and I brought a 12 year with me (goddau
Adding that back when my niece was 17, she had a similar request of me, and I took her to a fine dining shop in San Francisco. It cured her of ever wanting to be a mystery shopper (her mom had also tried and given up on it).
I was also the scheduler for the MSC back then, so it wasn't much of a risk for me, but an adult-acting teen is not a distraction IMHO.
Another forum member once pointe
@hbbigdaddy wrote:
People in Georgia must not understand the amount of business/travel in NV that comes from CA.
In the way back, QSI used to pay me to teach their shoppers how to handle the hospitality shops, since they were getting complaints about them always being made. It was basically a class in how to look like you were from CA.
@hbbigdaddy wrote:
I think I remember @AZwolfman saying that if you shop for Marketforce in Nevada...you cannot shop them in any other state.
Yes; Back when I was licensed for NV, Marketforce made me choose. The code you as a Nevada shopper if you are in that system and then you cannot see any other shops.
It seems crazy on one hand, sine obviously shoppers from NV could come to CA and be us
@BarefootBliss wrote:
I will be in LV area for over a month...
Thats a long time to be based in Vegas...and it's still pretty cold at night. Hopefully warming up on Feb. I was there last week and it was chilly during the day for hiking, but possible. I still had to bundle up to go out at night. We are back to shorts weather during the day in Los Angeles.
If you have a car, take some time
My wife and I often split soup...but usually entree soup (Wonton soup, etc). She will also drink right out of my glass, so it depends on your relationship with your guest.
The Coyle guidelines have been 1/2/1 for appetizer/entrees/dessert for a while, but they will often make exceptions, and be OK if you are still under budget. For the ones that require dessert, you can also just order coffee
@Deedeezthoughts wrote:
@hbbigdaddy wrote:
@metro25782
I know it's nice to make money and or have costs offset....but this is a vacation you wanted. Why ruin it with trying to do heavy interaction and narrative intense shop?
My thoughts exactly.
I think you have to separate the "work trips" from the actual "vacations"...a little bit, at least. I am currently on vacation, but anchored a n
FWIW, none of the Coyle cruise shops I did ever required me to buy a ticket. The room was comped to me and I paid for the travel + extras...but I know the current mid-level clients makes you buy the cruise.
The extras were a spa visit, some up-charge restaurants and visiting every bar on the ship. Most of those (outside of the spa) are things I would do anyways. And you do get a chance to go b
@BarefootBliss wrote:
I belong to a rewards club for a casino and I find the earnings and redemptions to be a little vague...so I am trying to nail those down....
Might be getting OT a bit, but my whole input to this thread is saying NOT to shop the cruises, so here's my take on 'free' cruising:
"Coin in" refers to amounts bet, but it's more easily measured with slots. Truth-be-told, the cas
@BarefootBliss Royal Caribbean has the most transparent system of al the cruise lines as far as gaming comps. The key is getting into the system.
They have a QR code you scan in the casino and it tells you exactly how many points you need for the cruise you want. It's $5 spent for a point.
If you do not hit the required spend in their casino, you will still get promos and such for free/disc
As someone who has done a bunch of cruise shops, I can tell you there are not really worth the amount of work...except for the high-end cruises. You can get a casino comp on most of the major cruise lines without too much investment and not have to do the shop component.
That said, I had to do the spa, specialty restaurants, and all the other upcharge elements for the cruises I shopped.
I w
@mystery2me wrote:
They weren't paying nearly enough for that.
Back when I was looking into it seriously, the pay was almost half what I received as a scheduler....hence my foray into working for a MSC.
It's also not such a great lifestyle. You will have issues creating long-term bonds with people at home because you are gone all of the time.
There are a few options with higher end MS companies, and others like Michelin/AAA and such that might work if you are single, but the pay I have seen is nothing like what SCM is asking for.
You need to live near an airport hub, and most of those evaluators are choosing places with a low cost of living to make that work.
The closest I ever got was being salaried as a scheduler in my "yout
My $0.02; This is not much different than any other shop discussion.
There are better and worse casino shops. More detailed and less detailed shops. Some shops you get with a good MSC relationship and others that are open to anyone who wants to put the work in.
I tend to treat it all under the same umbrella of, "It's business". If the shop will reimburse me to be making $100 bets, I will d
Hi @sandyf and @hbbigdaddy...I was out of town all week and just saw this.
The big issue with the exemption under $100,000 is that you have to register on time to receive it, so if you are late, or did not register, they will send you a bill for around 1% of your gross receipts on everything past due. You can only claim the exemption for 2025 and moving forward.
That said; if you get a b
@CoolMusic wrote:
@SteveSoCal wrote:
... I would argue the arguably part of best Thai in the country.
My source is Jonathon Gold (RIP), the legendary food/restaurant critic, who proclaimed, "It was the best Thai meal I had ever eaten. I went back for the next four or five meals in a row, and I almost cried when I had to get on a plane back to New York."
My kinda guy...
Yeah, I knew the as
@hbbigdaddy wrote:
Those Barstow chinese fast food locations were paying big bonuses at the end of the last period.
i've done some in Baker too.
Yeah....I used to make enough to pay for my fuel on the Vegas trips from the mid-way fast food in the past. I would still charge travel for the hotel shops in Vegas too.
@BarefootBliss wrote:
In a few months, I'll be traveling from LA to LV....
In agreement with @CoolMusic that you should not drive it on a Friday/Sunday. We often do Saturday to Monday trips and those are much easier than flying...but only if you are going round trip. If you are not driving back from Vegas they will charge you a ton for the car rental.
I have used Flixbus to/from Palm Spring
@BayShopper22 wrote:
@CoolMusic wrote:
*We're through Vegas in a couple of weeks on our way to a concert in PHX. Lotus Of Siam, arguably the best Thai restaurant in the country has relocated to Red Rocks, and we have dinner reservations. Haven't had their food in years and I am stoked.
There is still a location for Lotus of Siam on E Flamingo. I have been to Red Rock as well. I prefer Red R
@wyclefsteph wrote:
How much are people bidding on house evals?
You bid what's it's worth to you. That's different for everyone. If I live a few block away and was hoping for a pool to swim in one afternoon, or need a place to sleep as I am passing through a town where one is located, it has some value. If I have to fly or drive to the location, and don't have an interest in being there, there'
@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!
I would say not worth unless you want to stay in a local house for the night, are passing through and need somewhere to sleep, or just want to check out the process of the client membership before committing to a stay with them on your own.
I have done larger and smaller properties for this client. Once you know what to take the pics of, it can be done in 2 hours on property, and another hour
I saw that Coyle returned a bar shop to their job board. Available for today only. Arrive after 7 PM. Inside the curfew area of DTLA.
10,000 foot pole....
I am taking a break from MS right now. Probably for 6 months. I have enough career work to keep me busy right now and have been feeling the burnout coming on. You know you are there when it's time to write the submission and you start thinking of anything else you can do. Maybe the cat box needs cleaning?
I re-caulked the bathroom counter the other day instead of writing a hotel narrative, an
Mystery Shopping Solutions is a legit company. They are not an MSC, but provide lists of available shoppers to MSCs who work with them. Matt Corrow is the owner, and this is the website:
Matt has been in the MS business for many years, and you have nothing to lose from being in his database if you are looking for additional MS work.
On an interesting note, Matt wrote code for the old Coyl
As others have pointed out, the amount of narrative is nothing new with Coyle. It's been like that for over 20 years. You are either someone who is willing to write the narrative for the reimbursement...or not. It can be done, and many do it. It's simply a preference.
The part that's new and getting ridiculous is the bidding for fees, and lack of travel reimbursement. When I did cruise shops f
@BayShopper22 wrote:
@SteveSoCal wrote:
I've had a similar issues with reversals on high end hotels.
Hmm. I just pay it and then use that card after I get a credit back on it. I would not be paying interest. That's crazy.
Some of these hotels are taking payments of $4-5k on my cards, and i was doing multiple properties monthly at one point, so it's not that simple. There was a period of time
I used to work with them years ago when one of the New Orleans clients had an outlet in Los Angeles, and they always treated me well and paid fairly, but it's a small company that can take a while to got shops through editorial.