Company Overview: It really is not CoRI anymore.
Stericycle ExpertSOLUTIONS is a branch of Stericycle Inc.. That parent company is in the business of disposing medical and bio-hazardous waste. However, any further discussion must include Corporate Research International (CoRI). Mike Mallett founded CoRI as a mystery shopping company in 1997. It utilized automation and technology to realize efficiencies not previously seen before in the industry. As it grew it acquired clients from all industries including a number of large national chains. The result was a mystery shopping giant. Shoppers loved to talk about this company on the forum. Topics discussed included quick payment, very low initial fees that gradually increased throughout the month for unfilled shops, hard to find fees, and issues dealing with the website. In 2011, Stericycle purchased the company. For shoppers the transition was initially seamless as the website looked the same with the only change being the addition of a Stericycle logo. Later the CoRI name was dropped and replaced first with Stericycle and then Stericycle ExpertSOLUTIONS.
ExpertSOLUTIONS offers clients “a vast array of recall services and quality audit solutions that protect your brand.” These services include recall solutions, retrieval solutions (for expired or unused products) and auditing (mystery shopping). This company is based in Indianapolis. It offers a large variety of shops all over the US and Canada in most industries. New shoppers may apply here. https://www2.mysteryshops.com/
Personal Experience: This was one of my first MSPs and I have completed more than 50 shops mostly before CoRI was acquired by Stericycle. Self-assignment and video training were great assets for this new shopper as the former provided a way to get lots of shops and the latter provided a great visualization of the steps of a shop. I found it easy to reschedule if I admitted errors in advance or it came back to me because of shopper error. I also learned about their fee plan. At the beginning of the month (or cycle), shops are listed with a low fee, often resulting in below minimum-wage earnings. As the month progresses, fees are raised until remaining shops are filled. The result is high fees can be available. However, fees are not conveniently listed on the job board. To find fees, one must have first passed the test. Then you must click on each shop and scroll into the shop instructions to find the fee. I also learned the hard way the website was designed to work specifically with Internet Explorer (IE) as it would sometimes crash when using other browsers. I found the employees responsive but not always helpful. As time went by and I acquired more options from other companies, this company became less relevant for me. In addition, this company has lost a number of its major clients to competitors but still has a list of at least 35 clients, some nationwide.
What others have to say: Despite the fact CoRI is out of business, many longtime shoppers still think of and refer to this company on the forum as CoRI. Problems using browsers other than IE are reported. The low fees are complained about as driving fees down for the industry. Fees are still buried in the shop paperwork and shops are not bonused as much as they used to be. Payment is quick. Responsiveness by employees is reported as less helpful than with CoRI. Shoppers report this company has lost several national clients resulting in significantly less work available. This development has spurred laments about the good old days with more available work and speculation that it might go out of business. The BBB lists but does not rate Stericycle Inc. based in IL and has no listing for Stericycle ExpertSOLUTIONS.
Overall: New management and the loss of many significant clients makes Stericycle ExpertSOLUTIONS unquestionably not the industry giant that was purchased. However it is undeniably relevant with a large number of shops nationwide. The fact that in a matter of hours one can sign up, learn from the excellent video training, and self-assign shops in many parts of the country makes this company one of the best for beginners to learn and gain experience. The experienced shopper can use this company to fill in routes as the fees go up to more acceptable levels. However, please note this company does several things differently from most MSPs with the fee structure being the most notable.