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Valued Opinions New Policy--charging $5 fee on $20 visa code


Huntress

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I cashed out with Valued Opinions last month and went with the Macy's gift card because I refuse to let them rip me off like that. Next step is to cancel my account with them. Once they announced the extra fees, I only did two more surveys so I could reach cash out and now I am done with them!

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Huntress -I would agree if it were an actual physical card which it is not. It's merely a virtual credit card--i.e., a number and an expiration date of 6 months from the time you request it.

I didn't know about the expiration date good info to know.Plus the physical Visa gc you buy at the stores is good for a lot longer then that.

I recently got a visa gift card from 20/20 research (mailed) and it only had a shelf life of 4 months (I think) anyway I wonder why these codes expire so quickly? Plus who gets the money if you don't use it by the due date?I would think Visa gets to keep but maybe not if the GC has such a short shelf life.Does anyone know?

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I would agree if it were an actual physical card which it is not. It's merely a virtual credit card

Yes, if it were a physical card it would make more sense. Still, to me, charging anything for people to cashout is terrible business practice. A company which is not greedy and doing well should be able to absorb these small fees and surcharges while still turning a tidy profit. I've taken tons of different surveys, on and offline, with and without survey panels, and it's clear to me that these third party companies are taking on average 25-80%+ of the compensation for every survey a panelist takes. Every time you are paid, they are paid. So why would they then turn around and take some more money from you? Another reason why no one should take those surveys that "pay" in sweepstakes entries -- whether they are paying you or not, they are still getting paid. So you're essentially paying them.

And charging for Amazon -- lol. I don't believe they have given a real response to anyone inquiring about why they are charging a fee for an Amazon gift code when they didn't have to pay any fee to get that code.

I just wonder what it will take to get people to leave them and other shady companies, en masse. What, an $8 charge for Amazon? $15 for Visa? It seems some people just suck it up and take whatever new charges survey companies throw at them.

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As soon as they get around to crediting some of my pendings, I'm cashing out and getting out. Why should I pay them 10% of my earnings to pay me?

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I love that everyone in this thread is planning on ditching them. There are so many other panels out there that do not charge for a gift card, virtual or physical.

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Maybe it works differently on certain websites, and the transactions/check out pages could be laid out differently. I don't know what to tell you other than the Visa code worked for me when I used one online, and I did a split transaction. And then I used the small balance that was left on another Visa virtual code for yet a different transaction (it was less than $10, I think.) There was a "card number" I could enter so that the system thought it was a credit card, and there was a 3-digit security code that mimicked the codes on the back of plastic cards. It was a while ago, though, so maybe the Visa codes work differently now. I honestly don't know what they do now, today, but it worked for me in the past with no trouble.

This is an example of what I did -- I went onto my wireless carrier's website to the usual Pay My Bill section. When I got there, I selected the box that asked me if I wanted to pay the "Other Amount" instead of the total monthly amount that it was defaulted to. I entered $20 (or $25, or whatever my Visa code was for) in Other Amount and then entered the "Visa card" information from the Visa gift code, as though it was an actual card. I completed the transaction.

Next, I went back to the Pay My Bill page and paid the remaining balance of my bill (I can't remember what the balance was, but let's just say it was $37 for the sake of this example) with another card, indicating that I wanted to pay $37 in the "Other Amount" section.

I had to break the transaction up that way and manually tell the system what I was paying for each payment, rather than just giving the card number and letting the website's checkout system try to figure out what could be deducted from the gift code/card. (This method was also recommended to me by someone else.)

There are a lot of utility, cable, etc., sites that will ask you how much you are paying or will have that "Other" box for a one-time payment, and that's where you could enter $5 or $10 or $15 or $20. You could even enter $13.67 or some odd number! Then you go forward with the transaction as though you were paying with an actual card. And then you go back to the page to pay the balance with another card.

I know that Valued Opinions is totally screwed up and shady. I agreed with you and posted my comments about that yesterday. I just wanted to make sure to let you know that the Visa code for $20 - or $15, or whatever it is by the time it gets to you - is (was??) manageable if you use it on one of the sites that has the "Other Amount" or the "How Much Are You Paying" types of boxes, and you enter in the amount you're paying manually.

I hope that helps somewhat. I'm a moderator on another forum (not a survey-related forum), so it's in my nature to give as much information as I can, especially if it is something I have experienced myself!

Thanks so much Sherry for your thorough and thoughful information and for the detailed response.

serve.com which is from american express is one example.. you combine all cards into one account.. no fees or anything

Good to know--I'll have to check this out. Good solution to the low-denomination issue--the 25% surcharge from Valued Opinions notwithstanding.

Yes, if it were a physical card it would make more sense. Still, to me, charging anything for people to cashout is terrible business practice. A company which is not greedy and doing well should be able to absorb these small fees and surcharges while still turning a tidy profit. I've taken tons of different surveys, on and offline, with and without survey panels, and it's clear to me that these third party companies are taking on average 25-80%+ of the compensation for every survey a panelist takes. Every time you are paid, they are paid. So why would they then turn around and take some more money from you? .

Exactly. I think they underestimated their operating costs and/or revenues and now are trying to make up the difference on the backs of their panelists. There is no other explanation for making the new policy retroactive (i.e. applying to past rewards).

As soon as they get around to crediting some of my pendings, I'm cashing out and getting out. Why should I pay them 10% of my earnings to pay me?

I totally agree--we have to pay them to get our own cash rewards. If they had awarded points, they might have a better case--it would be similar to a price increase for merchandise--but the survey rewards had an absolute dollar value to them and now they are reneging on that amount. It's like an employer charging his employees 25% of their salary if they want to get paid.

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the sad part is they were trying to be honest about dumping the cost on us.. they wouldn't have had such a backlash if they would have just hidden the new costs in the survey payouts.. on average it takes about 10 surveys to reach cash out level.. that's quite easy to hide $2 in... they already pay slightly higher than other companies as far as i can tell.. most that I get are $1.50 to $2 and they're not that long really.

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the sad part is they were trying to be honest about dumping the cost on us.. they wouldn't have had such a backlash if they would have just hidden the new costs in the survey payouts.. on average it takes about 10 surveys to reach cash out level.. that's quite easy to hide $2 in... they already pay slightly higher than other companies as far as i can tell.. most that I get are $1.50 to $2 and they're not that long really.

Except for two facts:

1. there was no warning to allow us to cash-out on previously-earned rewards, thereby devaluing those rewards literally overnight by 25% (in the case the the visa code)

and

2. implying the cost of acquiring a visa code is 25% of the face value when it isn't even an actual physical card. Even the 10% fee associated with the amazon GC is highly questionable. Therefore I do question their honesty. I simply do not believe their costs are as high as the fees they are charging us imply.

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Yes, if it were a physical card it would make more sense. Still, to me, charging anything for people to cashout is terrible business practice.

Totally agree--it is a terrible way to do business--but it's a very good way to alienate their panelists.

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The cost gets even worse if you have VO mail you a Visa, not only do they charge 5.00 but you lose another 3 for requesting a physical card which means 8.00 dollars for a visa. Awful high for the pleasure of doing business. Actually its classified as RAPE lol

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The cost gets even worse if you have VO mail you a Visa, not only do they charge 5.00 but you lose another 3 for requesting a physical card which means 8.00 dollars for a visa. Awful high for the pleasure of doing business. Actually its classified as RAPE lol

Once they give me my money earned and I have enough to cash out they can keep what little money I have in my account. I wont be doing anymore surveys for them.I think it unethical to go behind peoples back and change policies.They should start expecting some back lash.Apparently that's why they didn't notify people.I think there should be a law against this.

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I think it unethical to go behind peoples back and change policies.They should start expecting some back lash.Apparently that's why they didn't notify people.I think there should be a law against this.

I feel the same--unethical not to notify members prior to the policy change so we could receive the promised value of the dollar (not points) rewards earned to date--not a 25% devaluation. I don't see how it's legal myself. That's like promising to pay a contractor X amount of dollars for completing a task, and then once it's completed, informing them you're charging them a 25% fee for writing the check--which oops wasn't disclosed prior to the work being done and which is just something you decided to do unilaterally without the other party agreeing to it. Shameful and yes, imo, unethical.

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well i just look at it as i don't have to give much effort at all on the last survey before cash out.. but they pay better than OO so i'm basically losing 20 cents on a $2 survey that OO would only pay me $1.50 to do.. i still gain with VO oddly enough.. is it right? no.. but until i find better i just do them in that frame of mind knowing my time is being paid more than if I was sitting on OO waiting to get a survey that doesn't cut me. It's a good time to multitask.. when you're in a survey you know you're going to finish and are coming in short on time.. it's then that i go through the OO router trying to get one from them.. by the time i get one, it's time for me to complete the VO survey.. then i go on to the OO survey i spent 10 minutes trying to enter.

There's a method to survey madness :P

but you get really good at managing your personal time in doing this.. sometimes I have three tabs open at once.. OO, VO, GTM.. which basically allows me to be 'earning' at all times in at least one of them for the time I commit to doing surveys.

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well i just look at it as i don't have to give much effort at all on the last survey before cash out.. but they pay better than OO so i'm basically losing 20 cents on a $2 survey that OO would only pay me $1.50 to do.. i still gain with VO oddly enough.. is it right? no.. but until i find better i just do them in that frame of mind knowing my time is being paid more than if I was sitting on OO waiting to get a survey that doesn't cut me. It's a good time to multitask.. when you're in a survey you know you're going to finish and are coming in short on time.. it's then that i go through the OO router trying to get one from them.. by the time i get one, it's time for me to complete the VO survey.. then i go on to the OO survey i spent 10 minutes trying to enter.

There's a method to survey madness :P

but you get really good at managing your personal time in doing this.. sometimes I have three tabs open at once.. OO, VO, GTM.. which basically allows me to be 'earning' at all times in at least one of them for the time I commit to doing surveys.

We all look and do things different but I wont allow a company to charge me to get access to what is owed to me.Especially when they change the game plans in a the middle of a play.If we let them get away with it then we are telling all the survey companies that we think it's fair for them to screw us.You can do what you like but I personally cant justify them getting away treating me this way.But you see I'm not with OO because I find them to be unethical too.If it means I make less so be it but I wont work for less then what I think is fair.

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If it didn't so #$@! long to have the Pending Credits credited with Valued Opinions, I would say that all of us here on Survey Police shoudl stage a 'Mass Exodus' from them, all on one day. Of course, after all of us have cashed-out with them and received our GC's. This would be kind of hard to do since like I just stated, it takes them forever to credit Pending Surveys, or even reply to an e-mail!

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