Surveys Or Scams?

Discussion in Scams = To Good To Be True started by Zyni • Mar 7, 2015.

  1. Zyni

    ZyniWell-Known Member

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    Some of those survey places should be considered scams. They collect all of your personally identifying information and then proceed to ask you a bunch of personal questions. Then, they just tell you that aren't qualified to continue, so they don't have to pay your or give you the free item offered. It's just a scam to take your info and not have to pay you. They should have to delete your info if you don't qualify. At the very least, ask the pertinent question first, and "screen" you before collecting name, address, phone, etc. to spam the heck out of you. If I don't qualify, you don't get to spam me.
     
    #1Mar 7, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2015
  2. Rosyrain

    RosyrainActive Member

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    I just had one of those this morning and reported it to the survey site. I completed a $0.70 survey and was not paid for it after I spent about 20 minutes completing the thing. Oh, and by the way, the time allotment listed next to the survey was 10 minutes, so the time was actually doubled and I did not get paid for it. Some of the surveys are such a rip off, and there is nothing that the survey site can really do about it except for investigate the issue. Does the survey site get their commission when we don't get paid for taking the survey?
     
  3. Zyni

    ZyniWell-Known Member

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    That is a really good question. If I had to guess, I would say they do. If they were the ones not getting paid, you can bet something would get done about these ripoffs. I can't swear to it, but it makes sense if you ask me. Now, I will say that not all surveys, and not all survey sites, are bad, but the ones that are give them all a bad name. I usually don't bother, but I get sucked into trying a survey now and again. I usually end up disappointed, so I really just need to leave them alone.
     
  4. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

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    These sites that ask for email addresses and phone numbers then screen you out shouldn't be allowed to use the information if you haven't completed the survey. I did this once and then the next page was a survey for 40 minutes so I closed the browser thinking I haven't done the survey and nothing will be kept. Then I started getting calls about PPI and other things. I know it was the survey as it's the only place I have used the land line at my parents. Tricksters so now I don't bother as it's not worth the grief of the cold calls.
     
  5. pafjlh

    pafjlhActive Member

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    I haven't really thought of it that way. I have always thought that I just didn't qualify for the survey in general. But when I stop to think about it, if that were the case why didn't they tell me this earlier. For example one survey I attempted to take last week at the very beginning asked me for my birth date, shortly after I put it in I was informed I didn't qualify. This didn't bother me because I was told right away, but it did get me to thinking why some survey websites would ask me tons of questions through tons of screens, only to receive the same question. Now I have to wonder if what the OP is saying is true, that they are having me fill out the survey for them but told me I didn't qualify so they wouldn't have to pay me, something to ponder I guess.
     
  6. May102014

    May102014Active Member

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    We should be really careful of online surveys.Getting hold of your personal details such as name, education,contact number might go to the spamming list. You will be bombarded with offers and advertisement instead of survey forms. So we should be very smart. Scammers are everywhere.
     
  7. Diane Lane

    Diane LaneWell-Known Member

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    I've signed up for many of the sites, but don't bother using the majority of them now that I've had similar experiences. I miss the days when market research companies would actually pay a decent amount for your information, and most of these fly by night scammy and spammy sites didn't exist. I do stick with paidviewpoint, even though i don't get many surveys, because I make a little money on the trait surveys, and will occasionally get a survey that pays a decent amount for the time spent. I'll be cashing out of there for the first time soon, so my opinion might change, but hopefully not.
     
  8. Rosyrain

    RosyrainActive Member

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    Scammers are everywhere indeed and I too am very careful about which surveys I fill out. I only go for the ones with long reputations of being good sites. There are a few that are really good and almost always pay out. Global Test Market and Toluna are good survey groups to join.
     
  9. missbishi

    missbishiWell-Known Member

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    I do fill out a lot of surveys but I stick to those from reputable survey sites. I never do anything on an offer wall (apart from Peanut Labs)as they are quite often just ploys to get as much marketing information out of you as possible. Stick to dedicated survey sites and you should avoid the scammers and spammers.
     
  10. Brenda Barnousky

    Brenda BarnouskyActive Member

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    I don't even bother with them anymore. I've never made enough money to make it worth my while. I started getting burnt out on them when I started to see, "Sorry you don't qualify," and as Rosyrain said, they tell you a 20 or 30 minute survey will take you 10 minutes.
     
  11. RapidRaven

    RapidRavenMember

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    Well, most of the surveys I try to do even at the reputable sites end up with disqualification messages. However, those that do work, pay out nicely enough to outweigh the time and effort spent on the failed ones. I tend to use some fake information while signing up, and utilize spare emails to prevent spam being sent to my main email accounts. There are definitely scammers out there who just want your personal information or clicks for monetary reasons. So be wary when filling these out.
     
  12. Zyni

    ZyniWell-Known Member

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    Most of them check the information these days, so you probably won't get away with giving fake information much any more. I've tried just using an alias, not even bogus info (it was a pen name I had set up for a content mill) and it didn't work. I definitely use a separate email address though, if I bother any more. It's WAY too much spam to have to sort through in my regular inbox. The calls are the worst though.
     
  13. Diane Lane

    Diane LaneWell-Known Member

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    Does anyone here use loop11? I signed up with them a while ago and took a survey, but when I hit enter, I got an error message. I emailed them to let them know, and have never heard back. It's been at least 2 weeks since that happened, and still nothing, although I still get emails about other surveys, which I'm obviously not going to take.
     
  14. rightct

    rightctActive Member

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    Don't use them. I tried registering and completing a survey at their website, but I noticed two odd things:
    1) The actual waiting time isn't accurate;
    2) You don't get qualified for every single survey available, and if you do, you don't get fully paid.

    There are more serious sites which you could potentially opt out for, trust me on that. :)
     
  15. Diane Lane

    Diane LaneWell-Known Member

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    I don't get qualified for most surveys, regardless of which site I'm on, and I've noticed the time difference on several of them also, but you're right, loop11 is worse than the others, and as soon as I got that error message, my heart sank. I had a feeling right then that I'd never hear back or get paid, and I was right. I'm definitely never using them again.
     
  16. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    With survey websites, I find that it is imperative that one does their research. There are many many companies out there that are looking to screw you out of your information and not pay you. There are others that will allow you to complete surveys, give you the points, and then take eons delivering your Paypal payment to you - probably in the hopes that you will get tired of them not responding, and they can keep the money in the end.

    I am having an issue with UK.MySurvey right now. They do not like to respond to emails, and have some of the absolute worst customer support teams that I have ever come across on the internet. I signed up to loop11 because I thought it was a user testing website, but it is just a survey website. I have accumulated £2.40 with them so far, over the course of five surveys.

    Diane, you need to send them an email and have screenshot proof ready. I did this, and I did not get the full money that I was supposed to have gotten for the survey, but they awarded me some money for it.

    Rightct, which other websites would you recommend??
     
  17. Diane Lane

    Diane LaneWell-Known Member

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    @DreekLass@DreekLass Alas, I have no screenshot. I believe the screen shut when I got that message. It's been a while, maybe a month, so I have no proof, and I've written them off. I hope they enjoy the $2+ they screwed me out of, because I will make sure everyone knows they are not worth messing with, unless the person enjoys working for nothing, or fighting with a crappy company to try to get paid.

    I keep getting emails from I guess the US version of MySurvey, and now that I see they won't respond to your emails, I am going to send them straight to the Spam bin. I've done a few surveys for them in the past, or attempted to, but rarely qualified for anything there. There's really no point in going to their site, and closing my account, since they already have my information.

    I've about given up on survey sites. I'm going to focus more on postloop, my shops, online panels, etc., since they are less of a hassle, and actually pay.
     
  18. Dora M

    Dora MWell-Known Member

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    Yes, I came across this kind of behavior often when I tried to make a few extra dollars with surveys a couple of years ago. I quickly got frustrated and regarded it as a waste of time. Also, the repetitive questions in surveys soon got on my nerves. I just felt drained after answering questions for half an hour for a ridiculously small reward. I think that there are better and more rewarding ways to make money online.
     
  19. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    I learned, and pretty fast, from my days working with Swagbucks, that the print screen key on your keyboard is your best friend. I screenshot proof everything, and it almost always pays off for me, because these companies are full of supposed errors and glitches, and will use any excuse not to pay you your money.

    I was getting many survey invites from the UK MySurvey at first, and then I made the mistake of visiting their website on my smartphone, just to check whether any surveys were available, because I'd discovered that they do not always send email invites when surveys are available. So I began to check on my phone instead, and was earning a lot more money that way. I then later received an email telling me that they had deactivated my account, because it looked like I was operating from outside of the country - all this because I was accessing the website from my smartphone on the SAME WIFI as my laptop uses. After figuring out that I was not abroad, they reactivated my account the same day. That is the last time that I have heard from them. I have had more queries for them, but I have not gotten a single response and that is going back to May 16th. They do not answer emails, and if they do you are lucky. It is a real shame because the pay is really good.

    Since they reactivated my account, I have received the My Survey welcome email again, and I have not received a single survey. I have not given up on the site. Too much hassle.

    I have tried the online panels, but I never get selected to participate. Even when my criteria matches up to the assignment perfectly, I never get selected, so that seems to be a waste of time too.
     
  20. Diane Lane

    Diane LaneWell-Known Member

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    So many of the sites have similar sounding / looking names, and I think they do that to confuse us, and piggy back on the good reputation of the other sites. I have joined so many that I'll click the link I receive in my email, thinking it's one I've heard good things about, then end up at some look alike site where it takes twice as long as stated, and I never qualify. It really isn't worth the time and trouble many times.

    The online panels seem to pay much better, especially the online focus groups and bulletin board type projects. Those are the ones that actually could knock out a few bills, if we could qualify for them, rather than pennies here and there, that take forever to add up.