UNLESS WE STICK TOGETHER..........

[1957horses]

Thank You gene55 your words soothed the frustration I feel

[Chelsea]

1957horses, you are beating a dead horse! I just looked and 193 people had viewed this thread and only 10 responded. I think it is nice what you are trying to do but look at the stats. There are 14,760 members on this forum, which is very respectable but out of 14,760 members there has only been 12,381 posts and I account for over 300. Even if you had all 14,760 members backing you, it would not make a difference. You are talking about hurting Opinion Outpost, but there is no Opinion Outpost. The company is SSI and they have a few million panelist and they make a several million dollars per year. Survey Spot and OO used to be my top 2 money makers but times change, and we have to change with them. I take a look at the invites and if I don't like the time versus the money then I don't do them. I don't unsubscribe because sometimes they make a comeback. The key is to decide how much you are willing to work for. Personally, I will not do surveys for less than $8 per hour but that is my decision. I tend to do ok because I think my demographics are good but what do I know. What I am trying to say is if you don't like it, don't do it. Unfortunately you nor I cannot push a multimillion dollar company around. If you guys send them an ultimatum, guess who will lose? I do agree with you, Opinion Outpost and Survey Spot sucks but just pick and choose the ones you do. You can't make a "Former" good company, good again.

!957horses, You have nothing to apologize for. You are upset and rightly so, but the only way to combat these unscrupulous companies is to continue voicing your opinions online and maybe a few people will listen. SSI has offices in 30 countries and 51% of their income is derived outside the US. They care nothing about the BBB and they are not even a member so that tells me they don't give a damn. They make millions every year from ignorant people doing their surveys for a sweepstakes entry which I would guarantee does not exist. They get paid a minimum of $3 for every survey that these dumb asses do for nothing. I wish I could be that lowdown and dirty and I could be rich also. You people that do these surveys for free are stupid and I can't believe your input could make any difference. You are just a damn number! At least 1957horses has the guts to try to do something about it. Guys, if you have no respect for yourselves at least have some respect for people like 1957horses and don't be dumb enough to believe anything these lowlifes tell you!

I agree with gene55, no need for you to apologize for anything. I think it's good that you don't want to sit down and take the way these companies treat us. Your idea about picking a company and not doing their surveys for a week was a good one but like gene55 said, it comes down to numbers. We simply won't be able to get the number of people behind the idea that would be necessary to make a dent.

I also completely agree with gene55 that we need to keep voicing our opinions on here. I do disagree about the BBB though as I've personally seen people get their money by filing a complaint with the BBB. You won't be able to force a company to offer fair compensation through the BBB but companies do listen and if you haven't received money owed to you the BBB is definitely worth a try. Even though SSI is not registered with the BBB I would still consider filing a complaint if I was not having any success through emails/phone calls.

About the sweepstakes entries; I agree with you. I do not do surveys for sweepstakes entries anymore and any chance I get I recommend that others do not as well. That said, I wouldn't say that people that do them are necessarily stupid but that they are probably misinformed or they're just not thinking. When I first started doing surveys I did a few surveys for sweepstakes but it wasn't long until I stopped. I was so excited in the beginning that I did any survey I could get my hands on. It didn't take long to realize that sweepstakes entries are unacceptable. That was due in part to me getting more involved with survey taking/understanding the market research industry and reading others experiences here and in a few other places on the internet. That's why it's so important for us to post here! There are some people that will never get it through their heads that they shouldn't do surveys for sweepstakes entries but I bet there are plenty that just don't know better.

I also agree that we need to decide what we're willing to do surveys for and not do the ones that are below that-whatever that level is for you.

First step is refusing to be treated poorly on an individual level and the second is to post here and elsewhere (other sites, twitter, facebook, wherever!). Posting about our experiences and how we won't do surveys for sweepstakes entries/low compensation etc., might inspire others to do the same. I know I've learned a lot through coming here and I know I'm not the only one.

[mafresh24]

Well it looks like I am a day late and a dollar short, but I am disgusted by what these companies are doing. Survey Spot pisses me off the most!! They just keep sending their "take me for free" surveys and I just keep deleting them!! I am about ready to throw in the towel, as I can make more money looking in my couch cracks!! And these people that just keep taking the surveys for free need to pull their head out of their arse!! Really people, do you think the ones working for these non-paying sites are doing it for free?? They get their paycheck but we are suppose to be okay with no pay surveys, lame excuses, no answers, rude remarks, lies, you name it and these companies are doing it! Just remember, they don't make crap without our input! We need to figure out a time frame and a place to post this "do not take surveys" so that it reaches the majority of survey takers, but where that needs to be posted is beyond me (not that savvy unfortunately). Since I am fairly new to survey taking (started late August of this year), I do not know if there is an answer to this question but does anyone know if there is a time of year that the survey companies really crank it out and need your input the worse?? If so, that is when the "do not take surveys" needs to come into play. Granted, not everyone will participate for whatever reason, maybe they are financially strapped and need the money so bad they are willing to do these for next to nothing. But I also believe there are enough of us who are doing it more for some extra spending money and I, for one, am ready to take a hiatus from surveys. To make me aware of how bad these companies are, my husband was invited to a survey site because of his line of work (director of food services for a very large car manufacturing company) and the site that sought him out pays anywhere from $10.00 to $30.00 per survey and he has never had a survey much longer than 10 minutes!! Of course, it is by invite only so it cannot just be joined, but my point is companies are willing to pay but the sites sending out the surveys are not! We are getting so screwed...trying anything is better than trying nothing.

[bunsmac666]

Yes lets stick together and let all the survey sites know who we are so they can terminate our membership...

[bunsmac666]

I thought survey spot and OO are no longer active..They are scam sites now..I send them to my junk box.