I'm new to mystery shopping, but I rather like it. I've been friends with someone who worked for years with Corp Research and did hundreds of shops for them... most without any problem.
That company just changed the scheduler for a home improvement store. They've done that same shop for years. It was easy to do. They never had a problem before now. The new scheduler, C. Shulaw is NOT a good person to work for, my friend sadly found out recently.
They did 2 long distance shops for them. Both were over 60 miles away from their home. Neither one was accepted, even though they put down all the information required.
My friend said that even if you missed one item, the website wouldn't accept the report. However their report was accepted, but the scheduler, Christine Shulaw would't pay them for it! Well, they tried to contact her, when they were waiting for over 5 days for the report to be even received and no one responded.
The company neglected to tell them, that their scheduler had changed their e-mail addy & those e-mails ended up in their Spam box.
Now who checks their spam regularly?? Most of it is scams.
My friend often has to drive over 100 miles just to get some low paying job done for them. It's quite sad, as their car's really old, out of warranty. From what they've made from Corporate, they cannot afford any major repairs either.
I do see page & pages of complaints about this company, so I wanted to warn others about their evasive and not very honest tactics.
The head scheduler told my friend that they never ever call their shoppers if there is a problem reaching them, via e-mail, although my friend pleaded with them to do so, if they reach them. They had a problem with their ISP one weekend and couldn't even get on-line. Getting in touch via on-line isn't always reliable
Also, why cannot they just give out ALL the e-mail addys they send their e-mails from? Why is that such a problem? Then my friend found out the scheduler C. Shulaw HAD called them, but only gave them like 4 hours to respond, after waiting over a week to even get a notice they had looked at the report, so they never got paid for that report!
Anyway, they had signed up for one gas shop, this week because it paid pretty well. It was also far away, but it was ok, as they had to go out of town anyway.
They also signed up for another home improvement shop, again with C. Shulaw, though, though I warned them not to. They didn't get paid for them the last 2 times they did these shops for C.Shulaw. They were out of pocket over $30, after the gas, their time, etc.
So, my friend gets on the road, with their old car, and the thing almost breaks down on them!
They were freaking out, as they were on a very busy road. My friend told me it felt like the car was going to quit any mintue! They managed to get to a mechanic. While they were waiting for the mechanic to look at their car, they called the scheduler C. Shulaw to let them know they were having car problems & they did not think they could do the shop for them that day. They had 3 days to do the shop though, and the day they signed up for it was the 1st day.
I know my friend e-mailed the company and complained about this dispatcher, before, because they felt they had been treated very unfairly. They've done this same shop for years, it's easy, there's nothing to it, and they had never been guipped out of the shop.
However, when my friend called Christine, and let them know they couldn't do the shop tbecause they've got major car problems, they were told, that they had been terminated! The shop had a 3 day window, so it's possible they could of found a garage to fix the car and gotten it the shop done Saturday instead.
My friend had called that woman, Christine Shulaw only an hour before that call when they were told they were fired, to find out exactly what they had to do for their mystery shop, to ensure they'd be paid this time.
That scheduler, spelled out in detail all this stuff. My friend listened intently and politely, but said they needed to get on the road to get the shop done in time. It was a 90 mile trip one way. The scheduler told them they were being fired because how they had spoken to the schedulers. However, my friend's a very polite person, and it's the other way around! Many of those schedulers are not very polite people to deal with.

Also on the details of the shop report for this same scheduler, the company had first spelled the scheduler's name wrong! When my friend e-mailed and said why hasn't this shop been reviewed yet, after about 6 days of waiting, of course the e-mail never went to the right person, but that was the company's fault, not my friend's.
This Christine Shulaw person, also claimed that the company had tried to call my friend to terminate her, but my friend had just been talking to another scheduler that same day. The other scheduler never told she was terminated, nor would she, because she had planned on doing a shop for her also.
There's no record either of any phone calls from that company on their phone either.

Another thing we both think is cagey is that she got dozens of shops assigned to them, that they never signed up for, for which they never even took a test for a couple of weeks ago!
I'm thinking someone's messing with them badly. They called up one of the schedulers who was easy to work with and told her the situation, but that scheduler said that a dispatcher does not have the right to terminate a shopper!
I mean, what was my friend supposed to do? Try to drive a car, that was barely driveable 75 miles away and hope it didn't quit on them? If it quit on them, they couldn't even get home, let alone go file the report for them.
Also, they don't even know if they've been paid for all their shops, as they did do many of them in the last few weeks, and now they cannot even get onto the website to check them!

This company sounds very fraudelent to me! I wanted to warn others, as now my friend has no job, they are in an area that has no jobs and their car needs major repairs too! Another thing my friend's worried about, is that this same company has just insisted on knowing ALL their personal info.. their S.S. #, date of birth, etc etc.. and now suddenly they get fired right after they give that info this year, just because they are having major car problems.
I think others need to know to not sign up for this scheduler, Christine Shulaw, as I hate to see others get burned as badly as my friend just has.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2010 06:06PM by TomHutchins.

Does this sound very similar to the troll posts done by PollySecretShops/NeedsGoodJobs to anyone besides me? It's even complete with a car that needs repair, a long drive, an area with no jobs, and boldfaced type.

Ma'am, I'm trying to warn people about a scheduler who's so devious, they eliminated a long-time job for someone. Gosh, the whole country is suffering from massive unemployment!
Also, just read another post about people not taking jobs with the Home Improvement shops with Corp. Research.
Isn't that what this forum is for? To help other shoppers know what is a good company or person to work for, and who are the not-so-good ones?
Get a life!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/2010 04:02PM by TomHutchins.

Just to give another view of Christine as a scheduler, I have had nothing but positive experiences working with her. I accept the assignments online and only had my very first report on the big box hardware store rejected because of a mistake I MADE and I didn't see Cori's emails in my spam box. That, too, was my fault because I did not set up the appropriate filters in my email.

I emailed her one time because I had a shop that seemed to be taking a long time to be reviewed - she emailed me back and explained the situation.

So if your story of complaint is true, I would try to contact her and be reinstated.

I like Cori and the more people that complain about them leaves more jobs for me.

well, maybe that was YOUR experience, but my friend entered everything they were supposed to, yet, they were not even given the right e-mail to contact her with. That was Corpri mistake, not my friend's.
Then also, for Christine Shuler, to give out all that detail about how to do a job, then an hour later my friend contacts them immediately as soon as they have car trouble just to let them know, it might be a day or so before they can get the job done and immediately get FIRED, that's wrong on many levels!

anyway.. go read the dozens of pages of complaints about that company. I know my friend's not the only one burned by them.
My friend said some of the schedulers were okay, but there was some they never bothered to sign up with b/c they were nothing but trouble. I wish my friend had heeded my warning... now they're unemployed and with a car that may need hundreds of dollars of repairs. Highly unfair.

Termination with one company does not really leave one unemployed. There are many good and decent companies out there to work with, and there is a wide variety of work to be done both in mystery shopping and in merchandising.

Only with one client of CORI did I ever even communicate with a scheduler about work and that was primarily because we were haggling over how much it would take for me to do the job :^) I had one minor spat with them, but overall there was nothing noteworthy. But nevertheless they are one of the least interesting of companies to work with, in my opinion, because their pay is pretty dreadful unless the stuff is heavily bonused.

TomHutchins Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> well, maybe that was YOUR experience, but my
> friend entered everything they were supposed to,
> yet, they were not even given the right e-mail to
> contact her with. That was Corpri mistake, not my
> friend's.
> Then also, for Christine Shuler, to give out all
> that detail about how to do a job, then an hour
> later my friend contacts them immediately as soon
> as they have car trouble just to let them know, it
> might be a day or so before they can get the job
> done and immediately get FIRED, that's wrong on
> many levels!
>
> anyway.. go read the dozens of pages of
> complaints about that company. I know my friend's
> not the only one burned by them.
> My friend said some of the schedulers were okay,
> but there was some they never bothered to sign up
> with b/c they were nothing but trouble. I wish my
> friend had heeded my warning... now they're
> unemployed and with a car that may need hundreds
> of dollars of repairs. Highly unfair.

I have no great love for this company, and am usually on the other side of this discussion, as the company is so cheap. In this case, I am not seeing the grave injustices being talked about.

You seem to have an intense involvement with something that did not happen to you personally. Have you ever personally worked with CoRI? I have only done 4 jobs for them and usually avoid them due to cheapness, but IMHO they are more willing than most to put up with mistakes that IC's make as due to their pay scale and payment terms they attract large numbers of new shoppers.

While I might empathize with the fact that your friend is immediately out for the gas and any expenses they had for the shops that weren't excepted, I don't see how your friend is "unemployed." MS work is IC work, not employer-employee work. You friend makes their own employment by signing up with companies and applying for jobs.

As to the car, while regrettable and seemingly expensive, it is hardly CoRI's issue if an IC has a car that needs repairs.

I feel sorry for your friend, but I am not seeing the grave injustice here.

Hi, lauralaura, thanks for relating your personal experience. TomHutchins, this forum is for shoppers to share their experiences, good and bad, with other shoppers, about the companies we all work for. But the experience you are sharing is not your own experience. You are sharing a second-hand story told to you by a friend. You may or may not know the whole story. I would be interested in hearing any personal experiences you share, but I don't pay much attention to second-hand stories someone heard from someone else.

I like getting paid weekly by them and the shops I do on my road trips don't get cancelled at midnight or at noon on Saturday when I've been on the road all day on Friday. I just got home from another full day and I'm going to bed for a while. When I get up I'll have a dozen "late" notices but CRI has worked with me on these routes and I'm able to reel them all in. I have not lost a single one due to lateness or been dinged any part of a fee even though I'm usually past midnight. So, I'll keep doing my gas shops and a few of the other bonus shops that I take with them because they DO work with me.

Happy Shopping.

I don't think they ever had a problem with the gas shops, but I hear they don't pay well. they had a big problem with the person who hands out the home improvement shops now, and due to that dispatcher who does the home improvement shos now, they were fired, although another dispatcher told my friend they couldn't do it.
Hopefully they can get it settled after the holiday, but I just wanted to warn others to stay away from this one dispatcher.
BTW, my friend doesn't get on forums. They just told me this, cuz they were so upset after working so hard for them for years. Then to get fired, an hour after they had just spoke to that same dispatcher, b/c they told them their car broke down.. that seems very unfair to me. No one can guarantee their car will work 100% of the time, even if it's a new car. Look at all those expensive Lexxus and the problems they are having.
And yes, now they are unemployed. The unemployment rate is about 17% in their area. But that's typical in the US in many spots.
If I can even warn ONE person to stay away from that dispatcher, I say hurray. I hate to see what happened to my friend, happen to others also. Especially since the unemployment rate is so high.
Just don't jobs with Christine Shulaw, that's all I'm saying, she seems to definitely be trouble.

TomHutchins Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think they ever had a problem with the gas
> shops, but I hear they don't pay well. they had a
> big problem with the person who hands out the home
> improvement shops now, and due to that dispatcher
> who does the home improvement shos now, they were
> fired, although another dispatcher told my friend
> they couldn't do it.
> Hopefully they can get it settled after the
> holiday, but I just wanted to warn others to stay
> away from this one dispatcher.
> BTW, my friend doesn't get on forums. They just
> told me this, cuz they were so upset after working
> so hard for them for years. Then to get fired, an
> hour after they had just spoke to that same
> dispatcher, b/c they told them their car broke
> down.. that seems very unfair to me. No one can
> guarantee their car will work 100% of the time,
> even if it's a new car. Look at all those
> expensive Lexxus and the problems they are
> having.
> And yes, now they are unemployed. The
> unemployment rate is about 17% in their area. But
> that's typical in the US in many spots.
> If I can even warn ONE person to stay away from
> that dispatcher, I say hurray. I hate to see what
> happened to my friend, happen to others also.
> Especially since the unemployment rate is so
> high.
> Just don't jobs with Christine Shulaw, that's all
> I'm saying, she seems to definitely be trouble.


Again, this is not your personal experience. As Austin Mom said for her, it doesn't have a lot of credibility for me, either. Third party news is third party news.

Yeah, I've seen my friend get on their website when they came over, and my god, their pay is pitiful. My friend said they are now paying just $3 now for the gas shops too. Who can afford to leave their home for that low a fee??? :0
No wonder there's dozens of pages of complaints about them.

I have no problem with her or anyone at Cori. I just did a home improvement shop and I got a rating of 5. It was relatively easy.

I have to agree with the others, CORI is the most lenient with the exception of lowering the shopper rating that makes you lose your ability to self assign. I haven't had a problem with any of the schedulers. I also find that it is very useful to use the chat feature. BTW, all of my ratings are 5.

Dear Tom, I feel compelled to say to you what is said to others. Jobs start at $3 and you don't have to take them at that level. When they get to a level a shopper finds acceptable - take them.

But even more importantly - if you don't like a company. Just don't shop them. I am finding it really odd that you keep coming back to bash Cori when your original complaint was about "friends" of yours. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Might I suggest you and your "friends" seek work with other shopping companies - there's HUNDREDS of them out there....and that would certainly be a more productive use of your time.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2010 05:49PM by lauralaura.

Bash Bash Bash, I cant recall anyone putting you top of the bunch know it all's in charge of this Forum. Like a bunch of soshss, cronies. I say yes this is a cheap
company that has alot of nerve expecting anyone to do the jobs for the money they pay. This my fellow peers is my very own experience with Corporippoff.
I said it , I meant it and I represent it. Dont care if I click with the
click or not.

seibahbah Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bash Bash Bash, I cant recall anyone putting you
> top of the bunch know it all's in charge of this
> Forum. Like a bunch of soshss, cronies. I say yes
> this is a cheap
> company that has alot of nerve expecting anyone to
> do the jobs for the money they pay. This my fellow
> peers is my very own experience with
> Corporippoff.
> I said it , I meant it and I represent it. Dont
> care if I click with the
> click or not.


Still don't get the bash. PM me if you can explain.

seibahbah Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bash Bash Bash, I cant recall anyone putting you
> top of the bunch know it all's in charge of this
> Forum. Like a bunch of soshss, cronies. I say yes
> this is a cheap
> company that has alot of nerve expecting anyone to
> do the jobs for the money they pay. This my fellow
> peers is my very own experience with
> Corporippoff.
> I said it , I meant it and I represent it. Dont
> care if I click with the
> click or not.


And exactly what click would that be. From my personal opinion, the majority of people are in agreement with you. So you really are clicking with the clique'. Who would have thunk it? Not I!

I've been doing shops for CoRI on a pretty regular basis and I've never had a problem with them. My feedback is always top score and I've had no problems getting paid, etc.

As for the spam box, I check mine daily just to make sure nothing important found its way in there. I believe that is the individual person's responsibility.

In terms of rescheduling, I have heard that CoRI isn't forgiving when it comes to rescheduling, but I haven't had an experience with that either way so I wouldn't know. I rescheduled one shop so far and the company was very understanding. It's unfortunate that CoRI decided to be harsh, but I guess that is their choice.

I'm noticing that Kimberly Wise (Gilbert) tends to throw a snippy, accusatory tone around in her email messages.

"You took the wrong pic for this shop. I need the correct one sent immediately." (um, no it was the correct one and exactly as you requested).

"You shopped the wrong site. I need a response by tomorrow at noon or you will not be paid." (um, again ... no. It was the correct site, Kim.)

"This receipt does not look like receipts from the other shops in the past at this site." (That isn't my problem. It is the correct place.)


She's been wrong just about every time I've interacted with her on her supposed issues, but she sure likes to throw a bossy, accusatory tone around as if everyone else is stupid, except her ... and of course, never any apology.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2010 01:04AM by mystikwizard.

I've noted a whole lot of attitude lately from a whole lot of companies and I have really had a belly full of it.

Time to vomit !

Recently I had an editor email me and say,
"You went to the wrong store. I need your receipt."

I replied that there was only one of those stores anywhere near the specific location and that I was sure I did not go to the wrong store, but that the receipt was at work, and I would have to send it the next day. I did. And it *wasn't* the wrong store (or even the wrong location of the right store, LOL.) And did I ever hear anything from her? No. No apology, no thank you, no anything else. It might be nice to ask before accusing. Yes, the attitude is out there, and the ones who will keep their good shoppers are the schedulers and editors who treat us like persons and nicely at that. I'm done working for those who act like this.

I just signed up with CORI and will do a movie theater shop for them today. It's only 3$ though. It seems their shops pay very little. I've seen another movie shop going for $0.18. I thought I was browsing mturk.com for a second. LOL

CORI pays weekly though right?

I had a bad experience with CRI and a "home improvement store" shop recently as well. It started when the scheduler had an issue with the fact that I waited 10 minutes for an associate to help me after I had a clerk page someone. She indicated that my interaction should not have happened because I wasn't supposed to wait that long for help. I told her that if that was the case I would be happy to edit my summary and end it before my interaction with the associate.

I got no response to that but received another email a day later indicating that my checkout interactions were the same person which was not permitted. This after I put in the notes that the associate I observed in the front checkout area was at the gardening checkout when I checked out and that I had another checkout observation in my notes if required. I sent this second observation when asked and the next day my job was voided without pay or explanation. That was two months ago and I haven't done another "home improvement store" shop since then. There sure seems to be a lot of them in my area going for $30 - $40 when I used to do them for $10 - $20!

Should've commented on the last one...I still do a lot of shops for CRI. I avoid the Home Improvement shops for now. My main money makers have been craft stores and gas stations.

rhelt100 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had a bad experience with CRI and a "home
> improvement store" shop recently as well. It
> started when the scheduler had an issue with the
> fact that I waited 10 minutes for an associate to
> help me after I had a clerk page someone. She
> indicated that my interaction should not have
> happened because I wasn't supposed to wait that
> long for help. I told her that if that was the
> case I would be happy to edit my summary and end
> it before my interaction with the associate.
>
> I got no response to that but received another
> email a day later indicating that my checkout
> interactions were the same person which was not
> permitted. This after I put in the notes that the
> associate I observed in the front checkout area
> was at the gardening checkout when I checked out
> and that I had another checkout observation in my
> notes if required. I sent this second observation
> when asked and the next day my job was voided
> without pay or explanation. That was two months
> ago and I haven't done another "home improvement
> store" shop since then. There sure seems to be a
> lot of them in my area going for $30 - $40 when I
> used to do them for $10 - $20!

Use the strawberry approach to CRI. If it is fresh and green don't pick it. Let it vine ripen to a vibrant red. I do the same shops every month for them and I average 400% increase over the initially offered rate.

You are not doing anyone a favor by taking shops early at the low pay rates. Minimum wage is $8.55 per hour in my state. If I do not get at least $15.00 per hour including travel and shop submission time, I do not take a shop for something that I have to make a separate trip to accomplish.

If you take the low paying shops all of the time, are you making any money?

The strawberry approach. I like it.

The only way to go with them. :-) And even then, some are more like clams than strawberries...even after cooking, they never open, as they are dead. LOL.

Kim Wise has always been my best scheduler. I agree they have lowered fees too much. They used to pay pretty well to travel to rural areas for gas stations. Now not worth it. Big box retailers usually too low also. Only do their shops if has a high fee and I happen to be in the usually rural area.