Corporate Research International

Mark   New York

I have performed hundreds and hundreds of shops successfully with this company. Just one time, with one low paying shop I misunderstood a purchase requirement because it was not clearly stated in the instructions. I accepted the loss, no big deal but to receive a straight out rude and unprofessional email (Unfortunately my spouse deleted it because she wanted me to forget it)telling me I was stupid and shouldn't be mystery shopping. WHAT? I did over 400 top rated shops to get this response from Jen Lieber? If you want to see unprofessionalism then you should check out her facebook page! Rude and unprofessionalism at it's best.

Mike   CA

I have read all the reviews on this site and with gas rapidly approaching $5.00/ gallon it doesn't seem to be worth the time to become an auditor, (fancy name)for $4-$8 job. Thanks for all the feedback before I wasted my time.

John   usa

The point here is that CRI is not a scam but the employees are in fact very rude and short on most days. Just follow instructions and you'll NEVER have to speak with them! And newbies: please stop taking jobs so cheap. Let the fee go as high as possible! Each job has the potential of hitting their $50 cap!

Kell   NY

I am visiting my Sister here In sunny Orl. I am also training applicants for Vshops. I must say the attitude of this company, CRI if applicable does no service to the industry. No you should NOT have confusing paperwork, videos or the like on any shops, No you should not put up with rude or short tempered staff. And to justify it with they have a bad day too. No no. This is a professional industry and if you act, professional and do your job as expected, then you should also be treated with such. Ladies and Gentlemen, do not be bullied or intimidated, there is no need. There are professional companies that will act accordingly. If I had only seen one or two negative reports on this company, I would do as most and brush it off, but this is a reoccurring issue with this ill run company. This many people all across the boards with the same issue , cannot be a fluke. I would look elsewhere and be happy I did so.
SLK

HD   Maryland

I started new and finished few shops. I have to say that payments are usually on time. But the instructions sometimes are differnt from the presentation to what is actually attached with the shop. I had an issues like that and when i talk to them about it they simply responded that you should do everything.
"IF THAT IS THEIR ANSWER THEY SHOULD EXPLAIN THAT TO THE AUDITOR SO THAT THE PROCESS WILL BE SMOOTHER".
Another thing i noticed is that some shops start low and as weeks progress they go higher,so it is better to wait a bit when choosing the shops.

Rolling O   United States

I have been shopping for CRI for more than 5 years. The deposits always come on time. The schedulers are, for the most part friendly, but they have good and bad days like everyone else. On the following directions statement: The instructions say to follow what is on the printed sheet versus what is on the video. For the most part the instructions are not outrageous, but keep in mind, some of the things that they ask you to do are to get a certain response from the people that you are shopping--such as how they handle a complaint or don't handle it. I am never found the ladies to be rude but they can be short sometimes, especially if they are having a bad day. There are hundreds of companies that you can shop for. If you don't like what this or any other one wants you to do, no one is forcing you to do any work for them. Just delete your account and you won't be troubled with them any more.

Holly K.   New England

I have had both ups and downs with this company over several years. I follow every detail to a tee because you dance on eggshells with them. I too have found that the few times I needed to speak with anyone there they were in fact very rude and short with their answers if they even responded. Totally unnecessary. The shops all start at $4 and go up as the month goes along and there is always a newbie who's gonna take those jobs and ruin it for the rest of us. I was once told I was banned from one shop's location and without pay because they say they knew I was a shopper. They went by what the client said with no proof behind it and no satisfactory answer. This store happened to be packed with customers and there was NO way they knew it was me. Anyway didn't get paid but after challenging it my rating has been stuck at the same spot for two years now even with hundreds of perfect scores. Just follow everything to a tee and avoid having to speak with them is my advice! Document EVERYTHING!

Sally Drew   Winchester

I have been doing work for Corporate Research for a few months. I think that they keep the best paying shops for their favorites because all that ever seems to be on the list are gas stations for 5 bucks or less. If you call to ask them any questions and get Theresa watch out. She will tell you you can either do the job or not and if you do something wrong or enter it to late you will get canned. She always blames it on what the client says. She is always hateful when you talk to her and if you ask a question she gives you an off the wall answer that contradicts what the video says or what they have told other shoppers who asked the same question. Not being able to change a date without talking to someone is bad too. This company gives you a 3 day window but makes you pick the exact day you are going to do it. Things do come up and you can't get it done on that date but who wants to call and ask for a date change knowing that you are going to get yelled at by her. There are so many companies out there that do this you would think they would do a better job of keeping the shopper happy and help them. Also they want your social and bank account information. I paid extra for LifeLock bank account monitoring just in case this outfit tries to take any money from my account I will know it.

un-known   Ohio

CRI is not a scam. IF you are getting checks in the mail then you need to contact them and let them know. They only pay by Direct Deposit and Paypal they never send out checks.The scheduler are very nice you could not ask for a better bunch of ladys to work with. If you email then you have to remember you are not the only one emailing them there is 100's per day plus they have chat and phone calls to go along with the emails.

The ladys do have weekend off but then so do we. You can choice you time to work they can't you have to remember that. If you email them Directly you will get a fast responce then if you email status. I love working for them I pay my bill's while I work for them and I can make my own hours to work.

If I have something to do that day I do not need to work can you do that at a normail job? Yes the jobs start out low but they do move in price. So if you don't like that you see or hear then get a real job and don't mystery shop. Dont put them down and don't put the ladys down they are great and busy all the time. 15 Sunoco for today and I can not wait to get started... Love CRI!

mary   wichita ks

The fees/commissions are very small and the reports can be lengthy. You can work for experience shopping but will not get financial reward. Try one of the other better companies. They are out there

Nikki   Ohio

They are a legitimate company, but they have caused hundreds of their editors to lose their jobs as they outsourced all of their editing to India. Why pay a local employee $1 to edit a report when they can pay someone an ocean away $.05??

Steve   FL

Low low pay. Under Cuts shopper pay of all other shopping companies!

Joanne   California

$350 on 20 assignments? You think that is a FAIR payment?

How much time did you spend on each assignment? How much of your own gas money, driving expenses, printing, scanning, camera...and they didn't have to pay insurance or taxes or Social Security for you? I can see very clearly WHO is making out and who is too dumb to know when they're being &@%!ed. Good luck with that!

Amanda   Oakland, CA

Well, they don't pay much. And if you figure out how much time you spend taking tests and trying to get help from ANYONE at their corporate office, you will find that the kids at McDonald's where you might end up doing a shop report, are making WAAAY more per hour than you do working for these people. But if you want to work for Third World wages, go for it.

Mary   Minnesota

The schedulers are HORRIBLE. Rudest bunch of women ever!!!

The work is fine - just don't call the office. They are the most unpleasant bunch of women I have ever encountered, and I have worked in this industry for a long time. I won't go out of my way for them again.

Pamela   CA

I have worked for Corporate Research since 2002. I find their schedulers to be easy to work with and although their pay for jobs start out relatively low, they increase as the month goes on.

I highly recommend this company. Corporate Research was a recent sponsor at the last Independent Mystery Shoppers' Conference. They support their shoppers and they strive to have a great working relationship with them.

PamInCa, IMSC President

Shannon D   Atlanta, GA

I worked and will continue to work. So far they are the only ones I know that really pay and you dont have to pay to work for them.

Stephanie   San Diego

I have worked for Corporate Research for a long time and never had a single problem. The auditors & schedulers have been in regular contact via e-mail, whenever I have questions. If someone doesn't like this company or doesn't think it's fair then they didn't follow the shop rules!!!

James   Robertson

This company is a terrible company. They will lie cheat and steal to get out of anything they can. Run, Run, Run! For a company that is built on finding out whether other companies are good or bad in customer service, they sure don't seem to care much about how they treat their customers/employees. I don't understand how a company like this can survive with such disregard!

david   us ohio

i used to actually work in the company as a scheduler... it is in no way a scam and if you think it is then obviously you didnt follow the rules right for the procedure to get the commissions. each job has different instructions and when you complete the job and send in your receipt and picture to the company within the time frame of the job you get paid automatically right into your debit account or you can get a check sent to you. before i worked there i even did a few jobs myself and always got paid. stop trying to lie to people about stuff like this just because you screwed up on the job and didnt do it right. this stuff is done all over the world with different companies. my main client was papa johns pizza which is one of the biggest clients that pays huge amounts of money to make sure their customers are happy. i worked on a team of 5 people giving out jobs to people that were direct with papa johns. papa johns gives jobs to the company with exact details on what they want done. then they pay the company for the jobs. then when you do the job that the company gave you, you get a certain percentage of the pay that we got from papa johns. its 100% legal and in no way a scam. again... read the instructions because just about every job you do has different things that need to be done. if you dont follow the details... you dont get paid just like a normal job. if you dont do what you are supposed to do you can get fired and no longer get any more jobs.