Corporate Research International
I detest this company, the pay is truly too, too, low and the time you spend, trying to pass there stupid little test, you have already spent at least 2 hours researching the shop it is NOT worth it. I did the pizza shop and they rejected it (Of course) because my slice of pizza was not cut in half. The payment was 13.50 for a sausage pizza that cost 21.50 and, at the time the had a special for a large meatlovers for 11.99 I wish I would have gotten that!! My suggestion is that no one do there shops so they can go out of business!!!!!!!!

I feel your pain on this one. I refuse to do them. Cutting the pizza up with a break away knife is unsanitary. They then expect you to eat it...:p

This has been dubbed the 'mangled pizza shop' and I don't do them either.

Only did one. A fresh single edge razor blade made beautiful, clean cuts. They were excruciatingly clear about their photo requirements so I spent significant time doing the pictures. The pizza was just nasty so the only reason to do these in the future is when the fee reaches decent bonuses--not likely here where everything gets grabbed at list price. Otherwise the price and quality of the pizza is a strong incentive to make pizza from scratch at home.

They do not do pizza here. NSS has that pizza. There is nothing here worth shopping for them for the fees they pay, and they NEVER bonus here, to my knowledge.

I stopped also, poor pay and a few months ago they wanted you to take and upload a photo of all outsides of your shop! For the money they pay, forget it!

I hear you all!!!. The shop fees are ridiculous. I did take the long "stupid" Exxon test but I never signed up for the $4.00 shops. I thought, "Well it I need gas then maybe it won't be so bad to have passed the Exxon test and do the dumb shop." However, I guess they got desperate and called me and offer me $12.00 per shop for 3 shops. Well for $36.00 in this business it might be worth taking the "stupid" test and WAIT

blessedbridget Wrote:
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> I did the pizza shop and they rejected it (Of
> course) because my slice of pizza was not cut in
> half.

I can understand the frustration at not being paid for a shop, but in all honesty, they could not be more clear about the photo requirements.

It is not CoRI that requires the cut view. Another MS company also shops that same pizza place and for that shop too you have to have a cut view photo. AND they don't even pay as much as CoRI does for the shop.

I'm one of the few that actually enjoys the "mangled pizza shop." My husband likes to order pizza,and as long as we're not paying for it, he'll take it however it comes. We do let the commission go up on these though before doing them because we know no one else wants them. Using a breakaway knife isn't unsanitary if you wash the blade first in hot soapy water. I am a little neurotic about things being clean so I always do this first. Anyway, I don't take them till the commission is up over $15.00 and then the pizza gets reimbursed too, not to mention CORI pays very quickly.

I do think the commission on the gas station shops is a joke. Now they have it on an automated system that gradually increases the commission based on the location. This annoys me because the ones at my house stay at $4.00 for 2 weeks, but the ones in weird, far off locations go up above $6.00 pretty quickly. Personally, I think every company should just have an across-the-board figure for each type of shop.

Oh and don't even get me started on those training tests! Thank god I could do the gas station in my sleep because that training video is long. I think they make you retake that test every year but I can remember all the answers, thank god.

I will say though that I do peek at this company's board toward the end of the month. It just isn't worth it for me to shop them at the beginning of the month though (unless they have a highly bonused shop from the previous month.)

poofoo80. Using the breakaway knife is unsanitary. Most of these knives are made in china. The main problem is with the oil that the knives have been treated with. Even a wash with hot soapy water is questionable. Sadly, there are some well documented cases of illness caused by use of these knives to cut food...

I would suspect that hot and soapy wash prior to use should remove any of the surface stuff and it is not as though there is daily ingestion of materials cut with the knives or that enough cuts are made to begin deteriorating the knife much. I know that my preference for the cuts was a single edge razor blade, which made beautiful cuts without crushing or smushing the crust (which is what they are aiming for). My blades are made in China I'm sure and likely to be subject to the same issues. But with a fresh one, washed, I'm certainly not concerned about it. And then the blade moves on to the paint scraper I use when cleaning my flat top stove.

I agree. The pay i sdefinitely not worth it. Maybe okay for a newbie.

Flash-

That's kind of how I feel too. I mean, at most, I only eat pizza that the knife has touched maybe once a month. I also have used a regular box cutter (with a fresh blade of course). Both give me the exact same edge on the pizza.

Mr. Computer-

I was thinking too if you don't want to eat anything that the blade has touched, you could always cut the edge off with a regular knife or pizza cutter after you have taken all of the needed photos.


One thing I think is silly about these reports though is that they ask you how the pizza tastes. Yes I know they are concerned about this, but it would taste a lot better if it wasn't cold and mangled by the time I was allowed to eat it.

poofoo80 Wrote:
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> One thing I think is silly about these reports
> though is that they ask you how the pizza tastes.
> Yes I know they are concerned about this, but it
> would taste a lot better if it wasn't cold and
> mangled by the time I was allowed to eat it.

I would sure hope it tasted better fresh because it was certainly awful cold or reheated!

It all depends on what you prefer. Me, I like a crusty pizza with good sauce. My husband actually prefers a super thin crust pile of greasy cheese. Ewwwww!

poofoo80 Wrote:
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> I'm one of the few that actually enjoys the
> "mangled pizza shop." My husband likes to order
> pizza,and as long as we're not paying for it,
> he'll take it however it comes. We do let the
> commission go up on these though before doing them
> because we know no one else wants them.

I like them too. That was actually the first shop I did with CoRI and I've been doing them since. Luckily in my area, the fees go up quickly.

Does Pizza Hut get shopped? They are my FAVORITE! If they do, I still haven't found who shops them yet. If anyone knows and wants to offer suggestion, PM me please!

poofoo80 Wrote:
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> Does Pizza Hut get shopped? They are my FAVORITE!
> If they do, I still haven't found who shops them
> yet. If anyone knows and wants to offer
> suggestion, PM me please!


I shop with the company that does revealed audits there, but I have never seen mystery shops for them.

Revealed audits.. hmmmm.. don't like those so much. I like to remain anonymous. I also like eating pizza with crispy buttery crust.

poofoo80 Wrote:
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> Revealed audits.. hmmmm.. don't like those so
> much. I like to remain anonymous. I also like
> eating pizza with crispy buttery crust.
>
>

Haha, nope, you don't get any pizza with the audits.

I like CRI. There are plenty of shops near me or where I travel which I can do on a regular basis. Because I travel to so many places, I'm able to do a lot of highly paid gas shops, and because I do them so often, they don't take me very long. I have a perfect record for that particular shop, which might not mean very much, but I'm glad to have my work recognized. They also pay quickly and regularly.

I've seen those pizza shop requirements. I'm with Flash. Unless the pay was extraordinarily high, I wouldn't do them.

Lee

I have not worked for them yet, but they have many kinds of jobs. I agree on the pizza thing and the low pay. However they do have bonuses and towards the end of the month many things go up in shop fee's. Again, I have not found anything I wanted to do yet with them.

I have had nothing but Tsouris with these people. Their pay is pathetic, the shops require you to take idiotic tests. They should put an iq limit on their shoppers to a high of 90. Anyone who is smarter than that should run.
I did a series of exxon shops for them 5 in a row, traveled 60 miles and then when I tried to upload the shops, they cancelled the shops not paying me. I promptly sued them in small claims court and they settled right away and paid me. They acually de activated me and I just could not understand that action. ) Sure thing.!!!!!!!!
If they were boycotted then others would not try to emulate their dastardly actions. This is not even for Newbies as they will get sc---- and we as a group lose a good group of potential shoppers. In case no one has noticed, I have absolutely no use for these people. I can't think of anything else to write without becoming more vituperative.

I've done one shop for them in the two years I have been signed up, and only then because it was highly bonused and in my home town. I found the shop to be relatively easy to complete, and the survey didn't take overly long to complete. I was also paid quickly for the shop, with no questions asked. I don't know if I will ever shop for them again, but this one experience was not a negative. I have done the pizza shop for another provider, and they are just as picky about the photos with them. I completed quite a few of them over the first year of my shopping, then had a senior moment and forgot to turn the pizza over for the cut photo. The shop was rejected due to my error, so I just don't bother with them anymore. Too much hassle. I may shop for CRI again, but only if they make it a very sweet invitation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2009 09:05PM by upthecreek2471.

i agree too much work for so little compensation.Stay away from the K-mart you won't get paid.'
Also beware of Kroger shops,not what they seem.


Happy Shopping,
Cheryl

I have only done one shop for these folks. It was a blue light special. However, the amount of time necessary to track down names of associates who do not want customers to know their names for the ridiculously low paid made me say, "never again." However,I had no issues getting paid, in fact I got a thank you note from the editor. I have not heard a lot of shoppers complain about not getting paid from CoRI.

I find them very good this year I have earned over $21000 with them and have only had one shop rejected due to a bad photo.

I never worked for them.I live in Sydney Australia.I applied a couple of month with them and the headoffice in Bangok contacted me if I would do some Duty free Sydney Airport departure in November(I fly to honolulu) and Arrival in december for them.I agreed,but dont have details of pay and exact location yet,only the dates ,I fly on the 23.11 come back on the 1.12.
She seemed quite nice,she gave me another job(25.000 watches !)I could select it out of an large list first she gave me the wrong assignment I live in sydney west she allocated me sydney east,but it is understandble,they are in Bangok,they dont know all the different areas.The job seems quite easy,they send me already all the deatils and pays $25 Aus,probably like $23 ameerican(roughly 1-0.90c in the moment)I agreed to do this job for her and then she asked me friendly if i know somebody else who would like to do the remaining jobs ,like city,north sydney,burwood etc.
I emailed all my friends and 1 friend was willing to do some(she never did Market research before).I emailed her back and she said thanks a lot of times in the email. and was overwhelmed.
This company seems quite o.k to me,so far so good
Daniela

I totally agree that the pay is too low. Also, I have lost out twice because Cici's receipts are printed so light that they cannot be read when scanned. Of course, you don't find out until you have already paid and committed to the shop, so you lose!

I have also done a Kmart shop in the past, and it was impossible to find 5 associates to get their names for the 10-foot rule. I doubt if my local Kmart even has 5 employees out on the floor at one time.

You guys should edit your posts to remove the names of the clients in threads headed with the name of the MSC.