OpinionOutpost frustration

[avemaria]

Okay so can someone please help me or is there anyone else other than me going through this particular problem. But anyway for some reason, the past couple of days now..... every time I complete a survey and get taken to the complete screen where your suppose to rate the survey experience that screen for me does not load up, it just stays completely blank and eventually I have to actually go back to the dashboard only to see that my points for that survey aren't there, and they don't show up until after 24 hours. Is there anyone else going through this problem?

Which browser are you using, and does the issue happen with other browsers [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Seamonkey, etc]? Do you have browser settings and/or browser extensions that may block cookies or javascript?

it happens from time to time.. usually if you refresh it will show up.

[wordsofwit]

I am the new kid here. I have taken surveys with Harris for years. I am newly retired and had been a senior research analyst in business technology. I designed and analyzed surveys and research. What many people don't get on here is one principle and more importantly, one relatively new dynamic in the survey marketplace. The principle is specific demographics (types of people) the client wants to query and they will have quotas on them. The new dynamic is that everyone is partnering with everybody. That casts a huge net yielding many potential respondents. You need to be diligent and get there fast. If the client wants 50 respondents of your type, be #51 and you're SOL. You snooze, you lose

[avemaria]

and that's the same attitude most of us have when it comes to putting in good data anymore.. we're not valued individually so why care? like you said, it's a race, so why spend time thinking about my answers when I know the company won't check data anyhow and i need to rush to finish first?

[SeriousSurveyer]

What many people don't get on here is one principle and more importantly, one relatively new dynamic in the survey marketplace. The principle is specific demographics (types of people) the client wants to query and they will have quotas on them. The new dynamic is that everyone is partnering with everybody. That casts a huge net yielding many potential respondents. You need to be diligent and get there fast. If the client wants 50 respondents of your type, be #51 and you're SOL. You snooze, you lose

Honestly, it doesn't matter. Many survey companies have gotten greedy and conceited, acting as if they are doing you a favor by compensating you the little that they do. Survey taking is hardly lucrative and doesn't even resemble a minimum wage part-time job as it might have in previous years. There are better ways to make money online, so if I have to miss a survey, oh well. I'm sure I can make up that $1 somehow.

That's one area where I will say Opinion Outpost outshines other panels: if you finish a survey and the quota fills, you can contact them and they'll usually give you the points.

and that's the same attitude most of us have when it comes to putting in good data anymore.. we're not valued individually so why care? like you said, it's a race, so why spend time thinking about my answers when I know the company won't check data anyhow and i need to rush to finish first?

Agreed. By encouraging this "dash to the finish" attitude, in the end the only people market researchers and survey panels are kidding is themselves.

[Sherry67]

Believe it or not, I actually just joined Opinion Outpost yesterday! I am late to the game where they are concerned. I used to belong to SSI (I don't even know if my account with SSI is still active or not), but it took too long to earn the 2 payments I earned, so I kind of let them fall to the wayside long ago.

Throughout all the years I have been doing surveys (even back when they were on paper, sent out in the mail), I don't think I had ever joined Opinion Outpost! I've joined a lot of survey panels and rewards sites, and some of them I've dropped completely (or just became so inactive that they dropped me). Some I've held onto because of the steady and/or reliable, fast payouts of even tiny bits of money. (You have to kiss a lot of frogs in the survey swamps before you get to the real princes, as you all know!)

So, after reading threads and researching a bit on this very helpful forum, I decided to join Opinion Outpost, Survey Savvy and Mindfield yesterday. Right out of the gate - in less than 24 hours' time - I had earned 95 points with Opinion Outpost. Apparently, all I need to cash out for my first $10 PayPal is another 5 points (even though I've read that those PayPals can take a long time to appear)?? I couldn't believe it! I should be able to earn that 5 points in no time!

For a minute I was thinking, "This Opinion Outpost is fantastic! I can't believe how quickly I got to 95 points and will be able to get paid!" And then....the frustration set in. After I finished a survey about glass cleaners and Windex (which I answered honestly, to the best of my ability and had not taken before, for any other survey site) I got to that infamous page that I have read about...the one that says my survey could not be completed (or whatever it says) because I was "flagged for data concerns." Lol. Outrageous! None of my answers were inconsistent. I answered honestly and did not cheat on anything. And yet, just shy of that elusive 5 points I would need to get to a $10 PayPal, I am suddenly flagged for data concerns.

I wrote to Opinion Outpost and complained. Whether they actually credit me for those lost survey points or not, I don't have a good, confident feeling about going forward with them if this sort of nonsense is happening only one day into my membership. I realize they must get a LOT of people who are so desperate to make money that they will cheat and give crazy, inconsistent answers or speed through without reading things, but -- although I am desperate for money!!! -- that is not how I roll. I do not waste my time trying to cheat on surveys! I think that the measures they have implemented to 'catch' the cheaters is in hyper-drive and is probably also catching many innocent people who just want to earn a few bucks.

[SeriousSurveyer]

Believe it or not, I actually just joined Opinion Outpost yesterday!

Welcome! You'll have fun.

Apparently, all I need to cash out for my first $10 PayPal is another 5 points (even though I've read that those PayPals can take a long time to appear)??

No, not at all. The first couple of times or so you cashout with PayPal it may take 24 hours (almost exactly 24 hours from the time you requested), but once you've cashed out a few times it is instant. Amazon is also instant.

As for the data concerns, you'll get that many times with OO. Errors like that and the fact that they pay less than other panels is the downside of working with them. However, they'll give you the points if they see you've put the time in (but not if you rushed, in their opinion).

[avemaria]

(even though I've read that those PayPals can take a long time to appear)?? I couldn't believe it! I should be able to earn that 5 points in no time!

it's instant cashout with paypal on that site.. it's their redeeming quality...

don't forget when you screen out of a survey and it asks if you'd like to try another, click the 'no' button first so it can 'allow' you to try the instant win game

[Sherry67]

Okay, here is my update on my new OO account...

1. I still have not heard back from them about that first survey I didn't get credit for (because I was flagged for data concerns), which I mentioned a couple of days ago, and the points have not appeared in my account.

2. I did another survey for them yesterday - it was a long, 40-minute diary of some kind requiring remembering what exactly I was doing at which times of the day, and for how long. I finally got through the ending classification questions and finished the survey - only to get a generic white page and reply that said "Thank you for your participation" or something similar. I did not receive credit for it on OO, so I assume that the quota was filled before I completed it. But I wasted 40 minutes of my life on this tedious diary. I didn't know what the survey # was for it (because I was routed to it after a couple of other DQ's and I did not get routed back to the OO landing page upon completion), or I would have written to OO and complained about it too. I figured they wouldn't listen to me unless I had the survey #.

3. I tried 3 times to claim my first 100 points as a PayPal before it actually worked. Yesterday I wasn't able to claim it because a message popped up that said my new account was "being reviewed." Today I tried to claim twice and got a server error message. Finally I switched browsers and managed to successfully claim the money -- and you guys are right! It posted immediately. In fact, the money was in my PayPal account before I even got back to my e-mail to see the payment notification from PayPal.

So, the speed of payment -- once I was actually able to get my cash-out processed -- was great, but it seemed like I had to jump through some hoops to finally be able to cash out without issues. I can see that OO is the sort of site that -- when it is working effectively and efficiently -- can be great and rewarding as far as survey sites go, but it seems like there can be a lot of hassles along the way too.

[avemaria]

2. I did another survey for them yesterday - it was a long, 40-minute diary of some kind requiring remembering what exactly I was doing at which times of the day, and for how long. I finally got through the ending classification questions and finished the survey - only to get a generic white page and reply that said "Thank you for your participation" or something similar. I did not receive credit for it on OO, so I assume that the quota was filled before I completed it. But I wasted 40 minutes of my life on this tedious diary.

you didn't necessarily lose credit for it.. if it said complete then it went through and you'll get credit for it.. they're good about adding the proper points you've earned so just keep track of it.. on your survey list it'll show once you click the first answer as 'started'.. or it'll say 'entry'.. but they have record of your time doing it so it shouldn't be a problem.

[Sherry67]

2. I did another survey for them yesterday - it was a long, 40-minute diary of some kind requiring remembering what exactly I was doing at which times of the day, and for how long. I finally got through the ending classification questions and finished the survey - only to get a generic white page and reply that said "Thank you for your participation" or something similar. I did not receive credit for it on OO, so I assume that the quota was filled before I completed it. But I wasted 40 minutes of my life on this tedious diary.

you didn't necessarily lose credit for it.. if it said complete then it went through and you'll get credit for it.. they're good about adding the proper points you've earned so just keep track of it.. on your survey list it'll show once you click the first answer as 'started'.. or it'll say 'entry'.. but they have record of your time doing it so it shouldn't be a problem.

Maybe the points will turn up, but when I have encountered that same blank white page with "Thank you..." after doing surveys through other companies in the past (like Quick Rewards), I was never credited because I was not routed back to their landing pages. The thing that concerned me was that when I got to the end of the 40-minute diary/survey I did not go back to any kind of Opinion Outpost landing page (not even the "flagged for data concerns" page). It was like I just ended up in that generic no man's land that doesn't acknowledge that your account will be credited.

In my list of survey participation on the OO site, there are a whole bunch of "Started" surveys on there and I don't remember starting that many and not getting to some sort of end point, either via completion or disqualification. So I have no clue which one was the 40-minute diary out of all of those that were supposedly started. I remember being caught in a loop at one point of being routed to this page, then that page, then that page, then another survey, then another page, then another page, etc. It was hard to keep track after a while as to what I was actually being disqualified from and what was being read as "incomplete." Normally it is more cut and dried than that for me - it's usually very clear at the end whether I have earned points, DQ'd, not earned points or whatever. This 40-minute diary was in the middle of that endless loop of re-routing.

So, we'll see what happens. But at least the actual PayPal came through very quickly as soon as I was able to jump through the hoops to actually cash out! That is a very good thing!

[avemaria]

http://s15.postimg.org/y6gpyqv3f/image.jpg

[avemaria]

wow the price of high value...

[Sherry67]

I'm already sick of Opinion Outpost! I told you guys less than a week ago that I had joined them. When I got to my first cash out (3 days ago), I encountered one of those pesky "Runtime Errors" on their server and couldn't cash out. I switched browsers and that did the trick. I was able to cash out for the $11 that I had earned.

Fast forward to 3 days later -- today -- and I have $12.50 ready to cash out, just sitting in my account. But I continually run into the Runtime Error and it won't work, on either browser, no matter how much I refresh or clear cookies. It won't work. Is this a technical issue on their end, or is it OO's sneaky way of preventing more than one cash out in a week?

And I've already mentioned here before about the 40-minute diary/survey that led me to a blank Thank You page...which never credited.

All of this fun and merriment in less than one full week! Yay!

[Huntress]

I just joined OO yesterday based on its high-ranking on this site. I answered a few questions (might've just been profile surveys without points) but then I started running into some of the problems listed here when I began taking surveys:

survey on cell phones for 15 points which took me ~30 minutes--I got to the end and was asked if I wanted to continue with another 19 minute section not for any points, but for an additional sweepstakes entry. Well after about 8-10 minutes, I got the infamous 'unable to record participation--this could have happened because you were either flagged for data concerns or someone else already participated using this computer'.

As far as 'data concerns'--I answered the questions as truthfully and as accurately as I could. I might've misinterpreted a question, but I certainly was not trying to rush through the survey or answer dishonestly. I could understand not receiving point for the second optional section--but apparently I received no points for the initial survey which I completed either!

I wrote to them and am awaiting a reply.

Then today--another issue some of you are having. I just spent at least 10 minutes on a 10-15 minute food survey, answering a series of questions. Then received the following message:

Thank you, we have all the responses we need for this survey today.

Now, we would like to ask you a few questions about another topic.

went on to the 'other topic' and received another message (can't remember, maybe it was another full quota message) but the bottom-line is that I answered 2 parts to the survey and ended up with no points. I must've been at least near completion of the first part since I was answering questions for at least 10 minutes and the survey itself was only supposed to take that long.

I really have to question the high rankings of this company.

[Sherry67]

Huntress -

As a fellow new member (I'm now about 9 days into my OO membership, I think), they have already annoyed me more times than I can count.

Here are the three main things that make them worthwhile, IF you want to stick around to jump through all the hoops to get to these points:

1. It's fast and fairly easy to rack up points in a short amount of time. Since you only need 100 points to cash out for a $10 PayPal, the points actually add up very fast if you put in a little time each day. In the week+ that I have been with OO, I have already cashed out twice - once for $11 and once for $12.50. That's how quickly I earned points. (I am one who needs and wants to cash out as soon as I reach the cash-out point, rather than letting money sit and accrue. I don't trust most of these places to stick to their existing set-ups and cash-out minimums, and they could change their rules at any time. So I'd rather have my money as I earn it than let it accumulate.);

2. When you finally get through the cash-out process with OO, the money shows up in your PayPal account right away. Literally, as soon as you cash out your money will appear in PayPal (at least that's what happened both times for me - and I'm very close to a third cash-out either today or tomorrow so I will see if the money appears quickly again); and

3. The majority of the surveys -- while long in some cases -- are often interesting, and involve food or some sort of entertainment (those are the fun ones for me). I have encountered an occasional mobile phone survey (I hate those) or cable TV provider survey, but the bulk of them have been good.

On the other had, the bad things that I have repeatedly encountered are:

1. "Flagged for data concerns" messages at random times -- sometimes they happen at the end of a survey; sometimes they happen before I start a new one. I think their system gets suspicious when it sees that someone is doing multiple surveys in one sitting, or too many surveys over a few days, or whatever;

2. There's no way to tell if a quota has been met on a survey before you waste your time. You could spend 40 minutes on a survey, only to end up at a generic white page because the quota had been filled and OO didn't take the survey out of their queue;

3. The Cash-Out process. Although you will get paid quickly once you manage to actually cash out, you could encounter repeated problems. For my first cash-out of $11, I had to try several times on two different browsers before I could get through the process because I kept encountering these stupid "Runtime Errors." It didn't work in Chrome, so Explorer did the trick. The second cash-out, for $12.50, took me 2 or 3 days to finally get the money into PayPal because I kept getting the Runtime Error page in both Chrome and Explorer. I finally had to re-install Firefox on my PC (which I had removed long ago because it kept crashing) JUST TO GET THE $12.50 INTO MY ACCOUNT.

There is no earthly reason why a person should have to try 3 different browsers and repeatedly clear their browsers' history and caches just to get a cash-out. And even when I did those things it still didn't work! I do not have problems with PayPal in any other area. And I don't have problems cashing out with any other place (in terms of technical ease, not necessarily timeliness). I never even had trouble with Survey Sampling in terms of being able to seamlessly execute the cash-out transaction; and

4. OO has been giving out quite a few Pinecone surveys. Personally, I think this could cause a problem for Pinecone members who are honestly trying to earn extra cash through OO. If I find out that the reason I have not gotten my points from Pinecone for the survey I did on Thursday is because of some confusion in their system when I ran into that same exact survey on OO, I will know for sure that there is a conflict. And I will probably cancel my OO membership on the spot to avoid that happening. I would rather keep my Pinecone membership for as long as they'll have me than deal with OO.

I should point out that I have dealt with this kind of conflict/issue before. I belong to both Quick Rewards and One Opinion. Quick Rewards offers One Opinion surveys under the name "Live Sample." For a while I was doing Live Sample surveys through QR and not getting paid for them (until I wrote in and complained). It was happening because I had a One Opinion membership and was doing surveys for them as well. It caused a conflict in the system between QR and One Opinion. It took a while (months) before it finally got ironed out and now I can do both Live Sample surveys through QR and One Opinion surveys and get paid for both.

I believe the same conflict can and will occur between the Pinecone - Opinion Outpost connection, if it hasn't already occurred with my non-payment from Pinecone for the Thursday survey.

As for Opinion Outpost's customer service? Well, they will write back and they are friendly if you call them. But they were of NO actual help at all in solving the Runtime Error issue when I tried to cash out. They are clueless. They had me e-mail a screen shot of the Runtime Error page. When I did that, then they had me e-mail them the link/URL to the page I was accessing. They also suggested that I try 3 different browsers.

I said to OO, "You do realize that no one should have to go through 3 different browsers to get a PayPal to work, and that you guys need to fix something on your end, right? You're making it difficult for your members." The girl on the phone just giggled nervously. After I e-mailed them the link/URL to the page I was accessing when I got the Runtime Error, they never wrote back. They didn't fix anything. They were absolutely useless at troubleshooting. All they did was make me send them things to appear as though they were "working on it." They did nothing. It was only my re-installation of Firefox that got this recent cash-out to work, and the one before that required Explorer because Chrome was not doing the trick.

So, again, as a fellow new OO member, I would say that if you like the idea of earning points quickly and instant PayPal payments as soon as you cash out, this is a good site. Otherwise, as you can see, in just over a week I have had different problems with OO just to be able to get those PayPals -- and I would now say to anyone who wants to join OO to 'enter at your own risk'!!! Lol. Good luck!!!