Get paid to take online surveys...
...or, sign up to be a sucker and waste an inordinate amount of time. Considering my current status as a dirt poor chick, I've been wondering about those "get paid to take an online survey" things. I searched the subject and found that you had to pay to gain access to the web sites with the information. Of course, I wouldn't do that so yesterday, when I saw a link to one that didn't require payment up front, I clicked on it.
I immediately figured out that the entire concept was scam. But I spent a bit of time doing it so that I could sort of "investigate" what is was all about, for the purpose of writing this post to inform anyone out there who might be curious as to what these things are all about.
In case any of you have been considering doing it, or if you were simply curious, here's the deal. Basically, the "surveys" were web sites where you give all of your personal information and your credit card information. The sites themselves were selling you their own products.
Even the few that didn't require a purchase at that point did require that you give them a credit card number. At Stamps.com, I tried to sign up, using a maxed out credit card that is currently in collections and they didn't take it. So, even though they say you needn't purchase a thing, they do access your credit card company in some way. If you don't have a valid card with room on it for further purchases, you can't complete the survey.
The surveys that didn't want you to buy something consisted of a lot of links to other sites that DID want you to buy something, or at the very least accept a free offer for which you had to pay shipping and handling. If you did find one that actually LOOKED like a survey, each question that you answered took you to a link where they asked for money in some way. For example, if the question was, "Do you plan on purchasing a new television in the next year?" and then answered "Yes", a pop-up ad for Circuit City popped up.
There wasn't one of the links that didn't want your personal info and as I said, most of them want your credit info. The only actual survey that I did take was one that I took using the user ID and password that I found on my receipt from my trip to Home Depot, where I purchased my new trash can. They asked about my experience at Home Depot and my shopping habits. So, I DO know what a real survey looks like, but not from anything that I saw online.
There were a few sites that did seem to really offer you something for completing a survey, but after 45 minutes of answering the questions, all of the sites suddenly disappeared after I finished. 38 pages worked perfectly, but the LAST page didn't. Hitting the back button did no good because the "time had expired". That happened far too often to be a coincidence.
You might think that I had such an experience because I accessed a free online survey. If so, read on. When using G-mail, G-mail has the ability to recognize certain keywords in your e-mails. So, when you open one, you see small links to related web sites. Since I had a bunch of online survey e-mails, there was a link to a site that said something to the effect of, "Online Surveys are a Scam" so I clicked on that link in the hopes of learning more about the subject. Clicking on THAT link actually evoked a pop-up ad for an online survey. I read the site itself and saw that it, in itself, was an advertisement for another online survey site. Of course, this one discussed the racket and said that most of the paid sites offered you links to sites that no longer existed. They said that most of them are fly-by-night operations that take your money and shut down before you can get your money back, that is if they've even offered a refund as an option and most of them don't. Of course, sooner rather than later, they simply revamp and start again under a new URL.
All of my work wasn't for naught, I did earn "points". Those points were redeemable for merchandise or cash but I couldn't redeem my 110 points for so much as a Burger King coupon. The site said that you had to accrue 1000 points in order to convert the points to cash, but it didn't say how much cash my 1000 points would be worth.
I've seen many sites that offered you a gift or prize if you completed their survey but after a half an hour of answering questions, it said, "Now, sign up for your CHANCE at a plasma TV!" There was another site that offered me $50 immediately for taking their survey. It said that it would put the $50 in my PayPal account. But, after answering all the questions, I checked my PayPal account and there's nothing in it but the 4 bucks that's been there for over a week. If I thought it would work, I'd go back and complain, but I don't have the slightest bit of confidence that it WOULD work or that it would even be there today.
If there is ANYONE out there who has had a positive experience with these surveys, I would LOVE to hear from you at megbkelso@gmail.com but I don't expect to receive any e-mails telling me anything like the things that they post on their ads...
...Jeff G. from Walnut Grove Minnesota-
"I was wondering how I would feed my 12 children and down to my last $4 when I found your web site. Since joining, I've purchased a new home, three cars, traveled the world and I have more money than I can spend!"
So caveat emptor and if it looks too good to be true it probably is. I'm sure that most people are too smart to try these things but if there's anyone out there who is desperate enough to try anything to earn money, just keep up with the job search. Taking online surveys is, in reality, an very stupid and tedious way to shop.
Meg
...or, sign up to be a sucker and waste an inordinate amount of time. Considering my current status as a dirt poor chick, I've been wondering about those "get paid to take an online survey" things. I searched the subject and found that you had to pay to gain access to the web sites with the information. Of course, I wouldn't do that so yesterday, when I saw a link to one that didn't require payment up front, I clicked on it.
I immediately figured out that the entire concept was scam. But I spent a bit of time doing it so that I could sort of "investigate" what is was all about, for the purpose of writing this post to inform anyone out there who might be curious as to what these things are all about.
In case any of you have been considering doing it, or if you were simply curious, here's the deal. Basically, the "surveys" were web sites where you give all of your personal information and your credit card information. The sites themselves were selling you their own products.
Even the few that didn't require a purchase at that point did require that you give them a credit card number. At Stamps.com, I tried to sign up, using a maxed out credit card that is currently in collections and they didn't take it. So, even though they say you needn't purchase a thing, they do access your credit card company in some way. If you don't have a valid card with room on it for further purchases, you can't complete the survey.
The surveys that didn't want you to buy something consisted of a lot of links to other sites that DID want you to buy something, or at the very least accept a free offer for which you had to pay shipping and handling. If you did find one that actually LOOKED like a survey, each question that you answered took you to a link where they asked for money in some way. For example, if the question was, "Do you plan on purchasing a new television in the next year?" and then answered "Yes", a pop-up ad for Circuit City popped up.
There wasn't one of the links that didn't want your personal info and as I said, most of them want your credit info. The only actual survey that I did take was one that I took using the user ID and password that I found on my receipt from my trip to Home Depot, where I purchased my new trash can. They asked about my experience at Home Depot and my shopping habits. So, I DO know what a real survey looks like, but not from anything that I saw online.
There were a few sites that did seem to really offer you something for completing a survey, but after 45 minutes of answering the questions, all of the sites suddenly disappeared after I finished. 38 pages worked perfectly, but the LAST page didn't. Hitting the back button did no good because the "time had expired". That happened far too often to be a coincidence.
You might think that I had such an experience because I accessed a free online survey. If so, read on. When using G-mail, G-mail has the ability to recognize certain keywords in your e-mails. So, when you open one, you see small links to related web sites. Since I had a bunch of online survey e-mails, there was a link to a site that said something to the effect of, "Online Surveys are a Scam" so I clicked on that link in the hopes of learning more about the subject. Clicking on THAT link actually evoked a pop-up ad for an online survey. I read the site itself and saw that it, in itself, was an advertisement for another online survey site. Of course, this one discussed the racket and said that most of the paid sites offered you links to sites that no longer existed. They said that most of them are fly-by-night operations that take your money and shut down before you can get your money back, that is if they've even offered a refund as an option and most of them don't. Of course, sooner rather than later, they simply revamp and start again under a new URL.
All of my work wasn't for naught, I did earn "points". Those points were redeemable for merchandise or cash but I couldn't redeem my 110 points for so much as a Burger King coupon. The site said that you had to accrue 1000 points in order to convert the points to cash, but it didn't say how much cash my 1000 points would be worth.
I've seen many sites that offered you a gift or prize if you completed their survey but after a half an hour of answering questions, it said, "Now, sign up for your CHANCE at a plasma TV!" There was another site that offered me $50 immediately for taking their survey. It said that it would put the $50 in my PayPal account. But, after answering all the questions, I checked my PayPal account and there's nothing in it but the 4 bucks that's been there for over a week. If I thought it would work, I'd go back and complain, but I don't have the slightest bit of confidence that it WOULD work or that it would even be there today.
If there is ANYONE out there who has had a positive experience with these surveys, I would LOVE to hear from you at megbkelso@gmail.com but I don't expect to receive any e-mails telling me anything like the things that they post on their ads...
...Jeff G. from Walnut Grove Minnesota-
"I was wondering how I would feed my 12 children and down to my last $4 when I found your web site. Since joining, I've purchased a new home, three cars, traveled the world and I have more money than I can spend!"
So caveat emptor and if it looks too good to be true it probably is. I'm sure that most people are too smart to try these things but if there's anyone out there who is desperate enough to try anything to earn money, just keep up with the job search. Taking online surveys is, in reality, an very stupid and tedious way to shop.
Meg
posted by Meg Kelso | 8:39 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home