I love CoRI!

My budget is looking bad this month, and CoRI is helping me dig out of a hole, but....

The website annoys me to no end.

The biggest problem is reporting. I'm on a mac, and apparently their site hates mac. It doesn't look like Microsoft IE is available in a current version for mac either. When I try to report using mac, I have the following problems:
-Pop up errors for EVERY box
-Sometimes I get a pop up error for every time I hit the space bar in a narrative
-Usually when I submit a report, it goes through AFTER I click on the pop up errors.
-Sometimes it says there's an error, but doesn't tell me where this error might be in the report
-A recent shop got questioned because the receipt upload got messed up in transmission and came through half in the negative (black with white text).

In addition to the report hassle, I hate having to click on the details for every shop in order to see what they pay! As others have noted, if you haven't passed the qualification test for the shop, you can't see the fee until you spend half an hour going through the training and test for it. For the gas station audits, you have to click and then scroll down past a bunch of irrelevant garbage before you can see the fee.

These issues are not difficult to fix!

In summary, CoRI please:
-change your code to something universal
-list the commissions next to the shops (just like you do in your "Commission Increases in Your Area" emails and on the history page)

It's that simple!

Thanks for listening. I feel much better now.

I feel your pain with looking at those gas station audit fees. There is way to much crapola to scroll through.

If you want to get an idea of fees prior to taking the tests, wait for the commission increase e-mail. They are sent every morning and after several days you will have a handle on what most of the clients are currently paying. Once you know which clients tend to increase to numbers you are comfortable with, take the tests. Use the standard test with the thumbnails rather than the video. Open the actual test in a different browser and bounce back and forth. You should be able to cut your time dramatically. The more you work for them you will also find new tests may be required with little or no change to the project. At that point you will probably be able to pass the tests without reviewing the training.

If you can get an older version of IE for your Mac it should work out fine for you. With their lack of IT skills, you may have less problems with an older version than with the most up to date anyway.

Lisa,

I may try the older version and see how it works. Good thought.

For the tests, that's almost exactly what I do. Actually, I open both the test and the guidelines and they answer as much of the test as I can before even reading the guidelines. Usually, only a few questions are job specific.

Many of the questions are simple MS 101 questions like: "If I am ill and can't complete a shop I should:
a. not worry about it. CoRI will reschedule when they don't see the report.
b. ask a friend or relative to do the shop for me.
c. call the client and let them know that I can't make the shop.
d. call or email my scheduler to reschedule or cancel as needed."

Those emails are the thing that keeps me coming back to CoRI. When they offer $33.66 for an audit in some obscure town I'm passing through anyway, I just can't resist. Or $17.92 to go eat a hamburger? Yes!

BTW, what's with those odd (unusual) numbers? Is it a percentage? Or a secret code? I don't mind them, but I find them odd.

I have recently emailed them and asked them to consider reimbursing Canadians in Canadian funds, as opposed to U.S. currency.

I hate that I pay xx amount of dollars for a required purchase and am reimbursed in US funds - that when converted, equals less of a payment for me.

Other MCS companies convert. In fact Trendsource last month sent me a separate Paypal payment, with the difference in the exchange rate. Still waiting for a reply.

Andrew, back in the day they had normal rate increases and schedulers could negotiate bonus, etc. They converted to some system where the commissions are supposedly computer generated and based on some complicated system which includes the average rate a job has gone for over a certain number of months. Based on that the increases are supposed to go up by a percentage of that average and we end up with incredibly odd amounts. I've noticed that mVentix has been posting strange amounts as well. I think today it was $15.63.

Dhunt1,

I wonder what they might do if you calculate the exchange rate and write the US$ equivalent on the receipt and also enter this amount in the report. I believe that would be the most simple and ethical way to work with them.

Dhunt1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I hate that I pay xx amount of dollars for a
> required purchase and am reimbursed in US funds -
> that when converted, equals less of a payment for
> me.

I wish we had a local message board where all the shoppers in my area could come to a gentleman's agreement that we won't touch a shop until it's over x amount of dollars. That's how I usually treat it. Once I get a commission somewhere in the $30 range I snag it and then plan a bunch of other $15 shops along the way. Tomorrow DW and I are doing that and stopping at Five Guys (different MSC) for lunch.

I was kicking myself last weekend. I did a gas station audit and they had a fast food place that I shop for another MSC sharing the building. I could have killed two birds with one stone, but was already running behind, so I passed on it.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Andrew, back in the day they had normal rate
> increases and schedulers could negotiate bonus,
> etc. They converted to some system where the
> commissions are supposedly computer generated and
> based on some complicated system which includes
> the average rate a job has gone for over a certain
> number of months. Based on that the increases are
> supposed to go up by a percentage of that average
> and we end up with incredibly odd amounts. I've
> noticed that mVentix has been posting strange
> amounts as well. I think today it was $15.63.

How frustrating Andrew! I really feel for you! The only thing I can suggest is to buy a PC just for your mystery shopping!

Haha!

It's funny because when I used a PC, anytime I had a problem, people would just say, "get a mac!"

Fortunately, I do have my old Dell laptop which is still going strong. I'll be trying my CoRI reports on it next time.

jpgilham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How frustrating Andrew! I really feel for you!
> The only thing I can suggest is to buy a PC just
> for your mystery shopping!

Cori
Home of the invisible emails.
Home of the vanishng uploads.

everyone knows how i feel about cori's non-standards compliant, antiquated, poorly coded website.

AndrewTX ~ I have a Mac too but my husband installed Parallels software so I can run IE and report to companies that don't like Mac. It's easy to do and now I can do anything I could on my old PC (including playing PC based games) and still have the benefit of a Mac.

I used to run Bootcamp, but I think Parallels is better.

I do these exact steps too! I wondered if anyone else does this.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I feel your pain with looking at those gas station
> audit fees. There is way to much crapola to scroll
> through.
>
> If you want to get an idea of fees prior to taking
> the tests, wait for the commission increase
> e-mail. They are sent every morning and after
> several days you will have a handle on what most
> of the clients are currently paying. Once you know
> which clients tend to increase to numbers you are
> comfortable with, take the tests. Use the standard
> test with the thumbnails rather than the video.
> Open the actual test in a different browser and
> bounce back and forth. You should be able to cut
> your time dramatically. The more you work for them
> you will also find new tests may be required with
> little or no change to the project. At that point
> you will probably be able to pass the tests
> without reviewing the training.
>
> If you can get an older version of IE for your Mac
> it should work out fine for you. With their lack
> of IT skills, you may have less problems with an
> older version than with the most up to date
> anyway.

Updates and discoveries:

The older version of IE for mac does not run on the current mac OS.

Using Chrome did not improve reporting much.

IE8 on my old Dell is working great. I may try Parallels down the road, or I may just make my Dell the CoRI computer.

Okay, back to reports. I did 6 gas station audits today for about $108 in commissions. 2 down, 4 to go.

Sometimes I want to stop but there shops and prices are so irresistible. I'm also in Texas

AndrewTX Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lisa,
>
> I may try the older version and see how it works.
> Good thought.
>
> For the tests, that's almost exactly what I do.
> Actually, I open both the test and the guidelines
> and they answer as much of the test as I can
> before even reading the guidelines. Usually, only
> a few questions are job specific.
>
> Many of the questions are simple MS 101 questions
> like: "If I am ill and can't complete a shop I
> should:
> a. not worry about it. CoRI will reschedule when
> they don't see the report.
> b. ask a friend or relative to do the shop for
> me.
> c. call the client and let them know that I can't
> make the shop.
> d. call or email my scheduler to reschedule or
> cancel as needed."
>
> Those emails are the thing that keeps me coming
> back to CoRI. When they offer $33.66 for an audit
> in some obscure town I'm passing through anyway, I
> just can't resist. Or $17.92 to go eat a
> hamburger? Yes!
>
> BTW, what's with those odd (unusual) numbers? Is
> it a percentage? Or a secret code? I don't mind
> them, but I find them odd.

On a Mac also and for some reason there is one specific gas station report that is almost unbearable to do. I have an old mac desktop that hasn't been upgraded and even on that with an older version of IE,it isn't fun.

The other gas station, all the retail, and the treat shop I do for them regularly while aren't fabulous are much smoother, so I think that there is something in the coding for that particular shop. It is downright painful.

I don't have any other MS companies that I have issues with on the Mac, so CORI should be able to figure this out if they want, but I know it is always shopper error or the shopper's computer.

With regard to the error after each space, type in Word and cut and paste. Then your text boxes have one error instead of 40.