I have done many jobs for this company and in many ways I greatly enjoy working for them, but their website sometimes drives me nuts. I was just wondering if there was anyone out there who can explain what happened to me tonight. I ran the job search engine for phone shops and found five or six shops which were available immediately. The only thing I had to do was take the test. I did so. Then I went back and put the jobs in my cart thinking that if they were available immediately I could make the calls tomorrow. I selected the calendar in order to assign my self a date and there is nothing clickable on the calendar. I could not assign myself any dates for any of these shops. I took them out of my shopping cart. I checked the list of jobs available again and they are still there listed as available immediately.

This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened to me with CRI. I have taken and passed tests and then learned that I do not meet the age parameters for the client (This has happened twice). I have taken and passed tests and then learned that the client has no locations in Western Massachusetts or Northern Connecticut where I live. And now I have taken a test and learned that for some reason not explained to me, there are no dates that I can assign myself. I am really frustrated with this and wonder if anyone else has had similar problems with the company. I also wonder if anyone knows why these AAMCO phone jobs are listed as available immediately although there seem to be no dates available.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/2010 02:44AM by alannajm.

alannajm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have done many jobs for this company and in many
> ways I greatly enjoy working for them, but their
> website sometimes drives me nuts. I was just
> wondering if there was anyone out there who can
> explain what happened to me tonight. I ran the
> job search engine for phone shops and found five
> or six AAMCO phone shops which were available
> immediately. The only thing I had to do was take
> the test. I did so. Then I went back and put the
> jobs in my cart thinking that if they were
> available immediately I could make the calls
> tomorrow. I selected the calendar in order to
> assign my self a date and there is nothing
> clickable on the calendar. I could not assign
> myself any dates for any of these shops. I took
> them out of my shopping cart. I checked the list
> of jobs available again and they are still there
> listed as available immediately.
>
> This is not the first time this sort of thing has
> happened to me with CRI. I have taken and passed
> tests and then learned that I do not meet the age
> parameters for the client (This has happened
> twice). I have taken and passed tests and then
> learned that the client has no locations in
> Western Massachusetts or Northern Connecticut
> where I live. And now I have taken a test and
> learned that for some reason not explained to me,
> there are no dates that I can assign myself. I am
> really frustrated with this and wonder if anyone
> else has had similar problems with the company. I
> also wonder if anyone knows why these AAMCO phone
> jobs are listed as available immediately although
> there seem to be no dates available.


It means that there are no dates currently available for whatever reason. Sometimes by using the chat feature you can get someone to assign something, sometimes it is sitting in someones' cart and you have to wait it out.

The client's name should be edited out of both posts, so as not to be in violation of your ICAs.

I have had the same experience. Some assignments may be posted but it may be too early to select the shop. There's probably a green date on the calendar. That's the first day the shop can be selected. Especially if the shop is related to Fitness.

Their Web site is an absolute joke. I am always wondering why they do not allow shoppers to reschedule on their own, if their is room in the rotation per the client specifications. So odd! Not to mention other issues with the site. I've learned to really just wait for increased shops; it's a science.

The same thing happened to my wife this morning. Nothing but green and red dates unclickable on the calender.

Having just been approved by Corporate Research International, I'm not understanding where on the job list the fee is stated. Also - do you have to take and pass a test for each assignment?

Yes you do take a test for every new client. I think only then you are allowed to see the fees, but I may be wrong on that, it has been a while for me. Good luck,

Carol

You only see the fees after you complete the test. This means you might waste alot of time reviewing the guidelines and taking the test only to find out the job pays $5.00 and you wouldn't take it for that amount. On the other hand CRI typically raises the fees on a daily basis so that if it does get to an acceptable amount you have already taken the test.

thanks for the info
I thought I was done with school a long time ago! They do seem to have a lot of shops in my immediate area. I guess I gotta go study - ugh!

Damselfly, it's safe to assume they will be relatively low paying shops. If the assignment is one that you would consider doing, take the test. You'll then be able to shop it for the fee. Or, if the fee is not acceptable, you will have already qualified by testing, and will be ready to nab it if it gets bonused

Good point Mert - thanks!

Hurry on over for the craft for a whole $single digit! And during Christmas. Waiting in teh checkout line will be over 30 minutes!

I did 10-12 shops for them and was very happy because they were right near my workplace, and I was doing at least one dinner shop a week. Then I had trouble with m y computer and couldn't upload the receipt right away. So now my ranking is so low I can't get shops. I miss the free meals.

As for your rating being low here is how I suggest you take care of the matter. Sign in and you will be on the shoppers home page. From the shoppers home page click on live support and another box will open up then select the client from the drop dowm that is marked Question For and the word required in red and highlight the client the shop is for that you wish to do and make sure it is marked online to the right of the clients name. If it isn't marked online go to the one that says General and if is says online use it. I have used any of them that says online if either of thise 2 are not marked online. This will send your info directly to the person taking care of the clients account if you click on the clients name or if you use general or one of the others they should be able to help. Then type your message in the box which needs to include your shopper ID, Job number and the date you wish to perform the shop on. The next thing is to send it live chat which means you wait till they answer you and some times that could be a while but it will time out in 15 minutes. The other choice is to click on it as a message and it will go as a regular message to the person working the account. The thing is Live Chat and the message feature only works if someone from the office is working usually regular business hours including saturday mornings but on saturday you usually need to use the general link. The hours are posted on the main shoppers home page. I was in your situation and had no issues to do it this way till my rating came back up so I could self assign again. One other way if the chat people are gone for the day is to look at the detail page of the shop you wish to do and usually at the end of the information there is a scheduler to contact with questions and I would send them the information and sometime the next morning they would send me an answer which usually said your set to do the shop. I have been doing shops for them for mulitple years and like how fast they now pay. If the number of shops you have done for them isn't many it won't take long and your rating will be 3 or above so you can self assign again. Best of luck as it seems you liked doing the shops since they were very convienient for you. Bob

I am new at this . Is anyone making any money? If so can anyone help me get the hang of this. Thx much.

Hello go4itall. Yeah, I'm making money! I am not getting rich, nor will I as a shopper.

Finding this forum can be a big boon to a shopper. If this is something you feel can work for you, read everything here. Start with the New Mystery Shoppers' section. Good luck!

what I don't understand for CRI is that some of the increased fees jobs they send on the daily email are not available on the site. I thought maybe people were snatching them before I could see them but I've noticed this only happens to the higher paying gas shops. For example I got an email yesterday about a gas shop at $27.00. The email was sent at 7:05 am. I went to look for the job on their website at 7:10am and surely enough it was not there. Not even listed as a backup assignment. This happens all the time too.
I am starting to think that they do not list every job on their site. Some of the jobs I guess you are not able to self assign? Does anyone know for sure that this is what is going on? Am I better off calling them about the job in question than going to the site?

Thanks for anyone that tries to help me out with this.

I am reasonably sure that the job was available when the email was composed, though it may have been gone at the time it was sent or within moments thereafter. I have noted with one particular company (not CRI) that jobs are posted very late at night. In the morning an email announcement of available work goes out. I have never found THE JOBS I WANT even if I am up in the early morning when the email goes out. I have learned to guess when those jobs will be posted and take them directly from the board prior to the email going out.

I suspect that the actual sequence is: During the day the jobs are queued into the system; when the nightly backup is done, updates to software and queues are uploaded into the system; during the processing the system is queried for shoppers in the areas relevant to the new jobs and the automated emails are prepared; at the end of recycling the system, the emails are sent out. There is a time lapse of 5 to 7 hours between the uploading of the new work and the release of the emails.

I have little reason to believe that the sequencing of events for CRI or any other company that has early morning emails to me is any different. So if there is a CRI job that is becoming interesting, check it late at night or early morning before the normal email time to see if the price has been raised to where you are interested in taking it.

kleefton Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> what I don't understand for CRI is that some of
> the increased fees jobs they send on the daily
> email are not available on the site. I thought
> maybe people were snatching them before I could
> see them but I've noticed this only happens to the
> higher paying gas shops. For example I got an
> email yesterday about a gas shop at $27.00. The
> email was sent at 7:05 am. I went to look for the
> job on their website at 7:10am and surely enough
> it was not there. Not even listed as a backup
> assignment. This happens all the time too.
> I am starting to think that they do not list every
> job on their site. Some of the jobs I guess you
> are not able to self assign? Does anyone know for
> sure that this is what is going on? Am I better
> off calling them about the job in question than
> going to the site?
>
> Thanks for anyone that tries to help me out with
> this.


This has happened to me and I just emailed them with the job numbers and was able to get them - for some reason it happens most with one brand of gas station most often for me.

I have also noted though that typically the prices of the shops increase sometime just after midnight but the email doesn't come out until closer to 6am so if I am up and keeping an eye on something I check after midnight.

Liz

Liz

I finally gave up on trying to get work from this company because the dates are never available (even the green ones) for choosing. I click on them and nothing happens. It is a waste of my time even tho they had shops I would have done.
Also they advertise a price increase and then days later it still isn't listed with the new price.
I was talking with a scheduler/editor but she refused to help me get the assignment as well. So I delete all of their emails. It is too frustrating.

BEWARE their software is junk if you have Yahoo. If you take the Exxon shops and have more than 4 pictures they say they don't get them.

beware this company will rip you off if you let them or if you say something that one of there people did they will fire you and not pay you.

I take the *** **** and bey*** shops with them because of the $8 I can spend at a time. My kitchen is full of stuff from there. You can bank on the tire rotation and brake check shops if you wait until the end of the month!!! They are one of the quickest paying companies!!

I like working for CRI and they pay fairly quick. They have a lot of jobs in my area so I pick and choose the ones I want. Even if I have already taken a job and then it gets bonused I get the bonus when I do it.I use the direct deposit.

This is my second least favorite mystery shopping company (behind Bare International). They do have a terrible website and those follow up emails with your shop grade are a joke too. There's never any comments. As for the calendar, that happens to me sometimes when I just did the same shop for them the month or two before. They have a rotation on a lot of their shops. Try again next month.

I never had any pproblems with Bare. They don't have many shops in my area, but when there are some, they pay well.

ANy suggestions on the test for ***/**** and ******.

monarch2003 Wrote:
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> I take the *** **** and bey*** shops with them
> because of the $8 I can spend at a time. My
> kitchen is full of stuff from there. You can bank
> on the tire rotation and brake check shops if you
> wait until the end of the month!!! They are one of
> the quickest paying companies!!

I do alot of shops for CRI. I just wait until they raise the fees though. The opening rates are ridiculous for the amount of work involved. Point in question... the $3.00 gas shops. lol

However, WHERE ARE MY GAS SHOPS? They were never posted for January so there was nothing to wait for????? Anyone know what is up?

They can't give the people where I'm from enough money to do the gas shops. I stopped doing the gas shop unless I need a fill shop.