Corporate Research Int.

I have just severed my affiliation with this company. I followed all instructions for the shop and filed the report on time. It was my first shop with them. I have been doing mystery shops for over two years. They came up with the most lame excuses for rejecting my shop. I believe they used the information I provided and then rejected it so that they would not have to pay the very low fee that I was due. It is not worth the trouble. I will stay with the excellent companies that I have always worked with.

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Sorry you have had a bad experience with them. On here and on Volition there seems to be a mixed bag of reactions to this company - some love them and some hate them. I have signed up with them and gone through a few of their tests but have not found any jobs that pay enough for me to change out of my pajamas yet.

Hope you didn't have a big out of pocket expense with this shop.

SDG
Sorry about your bad experience. Not sure it would hurt any less if it were a decent paying shop. Injustice is hard to swallow.
I have only done one shop for them, as it was way too much work for way too little $. It didn't get rejected, but I have had shops rejected. Sometimes you did everything right-almost-but not quite. Not quite is what gets ya. Sometimes the MSC folks are just difficult and not worth the effort to deal with.

It happens to everyone, but to good shoppers, very infrequently. So just move on and don't give their low fees another thought. There are ones worth repairing, but this one is probably not it. :-)

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
I check their website periodically, but have yet to accept any shops becuase of the pay involved. I don't do in-store shops for $5.00, period.

I emailed them, explaining that I live within 1 mile of many of their shops, and would be happy to take them (since they are always on their board as a RUSH) but before I take the training (gas station, bath/home store, movies, and more) could they please tell me the rates for the shops?

Never heard from them. Based on the $5 shops I see, with all of the work involved, I never bothered with them. So, in my opinion, it sounds like a company that you aren't losing much by severing ties with.
They do have a mall store that is reimburse only, with no directive that the item cannot be returned. I'll wait a week or two, and return it for a refund. Easy, $14 in the pocket.
I did a few shops with them when I first started. They were the first agency I worked with, and, being green, I thought $5-$10 was the norm. That said, I never had a problem being paid, and I appreciated being paid in two weeks instead of 2 months. I just did an assisted living facility shop for them for $20, which is more of what I'm looking for these days.

Intellishop, on the other hand, is way too demanding for too little pay.
I signed up with them and took a couple of tests, then saw how low the pay is for the shopsand never applied for any. I still get their e-mails but haven't wanted to spend a lot of time taking their tests for the little the shops pay. I have noticed the pay seems to be getting higher. I just got an e-mail saying "commission increases in your area." A couple of the home improvement shops that are usually $6 were bonused to $14 and $16.
I am signed up with them, but their pay is so low. I have not bothered to apply for any of their shops. It is not worth it. $5 and $6.00 shops.
Bonuses can reach a nice amount, but not often here, as they're quickly snatched. A few times I've done $5 shops bonused to $17. "Commission increases in your area" emails currently bonus a $5 shop to $5.80. Yippee.
For the first time in about a year I note a mangled pizza is beginning to build a bonus. If it gets to the point it is worthwhile (the pizza has no takers in my household) I am likely to play, but at the moment it is only up to around $10.
It seems to be an auction. The $5 shops went to $5.80, $6.20, $6.80 . . .

Patience, peoplesmiling smiley
And $7.86! What's up with those odd numbers? There are apparently a lot of Austin shoppers who are willing to take these low jobs. Most shops for all the companies are snapped up pretty fast and these are no exception, even as low as they are. The only ones increased or bonused - and they are not bonused to a really high amount here - seem to be the ones in the far-away-out-of-town locations.
I never see anything bonused here from them. I don't know if anyone actually does these jobs. Maybe people do them once, and never again. :-)

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
Ok, so this is weird. I did a movie shop for them (wanted to go to the movies anyway, so this seemed like a good opportunity). I haven't done any other jobs for them due to their stupid quizzes and low pay, but I digress. Anyway, I received my "rating" from their editor and I received a 5, which is their highest rating. I wasn't sure if their rating system went up to a 10 or not, so I logged in to have a look-see and saw my only shop was rated a 5 out of 5, but MY personal rating as an auditor was a 4! What the heck does that mean? Should I dock them for their own inconsistencies?
Don't pay much attention to their ratings. There are things evidently working into their total number that are beyond your control at all. The max you can get for a shop is 5.
It varies by company. Most are 10, some are none that you will ever be let in on, and some are five. They are five.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
Their max is 5. I think its a shame they are doing increases in parts of a dollar now. Its Mystery Shopping, not an Auction House...:p

Shopping Bama and parts of Georgia.
I'm still learning 24/7.
I've completed two shops for them and have been graded 5 on both, but my auditor rating is 4.3. Explain that one!
tgb,

You start with a 3.0. Add two 5's and you're at 13. Divide by 3 and you get an average of 4.3.
they are a mixed bag... i did several shops for them that were very easy... but one was incredibly hard (only paid me 5 bucks and 16 for the pizza reimbursement and took almost 3 hours to do)... if you are looking for something simple than they are good ... it says a payment pending on my account... should have it by the 17th according to their records... will tell you guys about it later...

shopping north west PA and south west ny
I told them off and told them I didn't want to do any more shops for them. My password was cancelled within an hour and I can't get anywhere near their site anymore. They simply demand too much from the shopper for the very small fee they pay.
Pay starts at peanuts. My last month's shops though, was over $100 for 8 shops. Pick, choose, wait for commissions, or pass.
my attitude towards them has improved... i think the reason why the shop took so long was cause i had no image stabiliser on my phone... oh well... doing 10 of their phone call shops 2 weeks from now... those are pretty easy and you dont have to get out of bed t o do it... only 2 bucks a piece though... but hey 2 bucks for 10 min... thats 12 an hour more than i make...

i also like their fast pay... makes it easy to buy the things you really want... not papa johns pizza... mmm not the best... hard to ruin pizza though...

shopping north west PA and south west ny
I don't understand how this company gets shoppers. They have $5 shops, have many demands. I get notifications that would not even pay for my gas to the store. its a joke.
It is a place where shoppers get started until they learn better. It evidently takes a really bollixed up shop not to get paid. And then shoppers learn that the shops start off really underpaid as CORI tries to bargain shop the work. As shoppers resist, the prices go up. If nobody takes them, they do rise to eventual outrageous bonuses to get done. Unfortunately there are enough shoppers in my area who are either desperate or haven't figured out the system, so grab the shops at absurdly low fees.
absurdly low...maybe true but the time to do the shops is short and the forms are as well..

but i have seen way to many posts in this forum about shoppers having trouble getting paid... and no one has complained yet about the same happening at cori... and the speed is unmatched.. so if you ask me its a bit of a trade off...

the only other shop i have seen that was really good offered to me is one for 130 bucks that was for rating a best buy shop... but at the same time they had 35 different pages on what needed to be done during the shop.. so they expected you to spend 12 hours in the store over the course of 2 days... not good...

shopping north west PA and south west ny
But wait! If you do over 50 Exxons in a month - we'll raise the rate from $4 a shop to $5 !!! (yes, folks - this is true example)
Wait. I got a notice about an increased fee. It went up **2 cents!*** WTH? You gotta be kidding.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton
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