Pinecone- Is Anyone Else Having Trouble Contacting Them?

[Sherry67]

I decided to write to Karen Scott this morning about some points I did not receive for a survey I took 2 days ago (which is very unusual). I was going to wait until Monday, but something told me to write to her today.

I used the same e-mail address for Karen Scott that I have used every time I've written. The e-mail I sent today bounced back to me as undeliverable. I tried a second time. Also undeliverable. I wonder if something is wrong with their servers, and perhaps that's why I didn't get points yesterday and why the e-mail wouldn't go through today.

I know that no one writes to Karen Scott unless they have a reason to. Does anyone have a reason to write to her today, so they could test it out and see if the e-mail bounces back? I am wondering if I am the only one having this problem. There's really no other way to contact them than via e-mail, is there? They don't have a Facebook page, as far as I know.

[avemaria]

which address did you use? i got a reply yesterday to my email i wrote the day before

[Sherry67]

which address did you use? i got a reply yesterday to my email i wrote the day before

I only know of the one e-mail address for them - the one that's in every e-mail they send me; the one that Karen Scott says to write her at if we have any questions. Is there an alternate e-mail address?

It's odd because one week ago I had the issue of trying to access a Household survey they sent me and their system didn't seem to recognize me as being on the list of participants. But, after reading some posts here on this board, I saw that it happened to at least a couple of other people as well so I knew I wasn't the only one who had the problem. The problem resolved in a couple of days.

Still, Karen Scott never replied to the e-mail I sent to her about it.

Then, this past Thursday I did the survey for Pinecone. The points did not appear in my account the next day (yesterday), as they always do, which was very odd. This morning was when I e-mailed twice about it and the two e-mails bounced back as if it were a server/technical issue. My account is still active and I can access it. It's just that the points didn't show up, and the e-mails bounced back! Lol. Even the people who have been booted out of the panel have been able to send e-mails so I don't think that's the issue.

I'm pretty sure the e-mails bouncing back is a technical glitch on Pinecone's end. Maybe it just started today or overnight, after your response from them? The missing points issue may or may not be related to that. Hmmm.....

[SeriousSurveyer]

Do they send payment on the weekends?

I ask because I finished one of their surveys yesterday and it's been about 24 hours but I haven't received payment for it. I actually started the survey on Thursday but didn't finish until yesterday because I had to do a few things. I've never done one of their surveys on the weekend so if they do send payment on Saturdays and Sundays that may mean we're having the same issue.

[Sherry67]

Do they send payment on the weekends?

I ask because I finished one of their surveys yesterday and it's been about 24 hours but I haven't received payment for it. I actually started the survey on Thursday but didn't finish until yesterday because I had to do a few things. I've never done one of their surveys on the weekend so if they do send payment on Saturdays and Sundays that may mean we're having the same issue.

I don't think I've ever gotten any kind of "payment" (including the points) from Pinecone on a Saturday or Sunday, assuming I finished a survey on a Friday. They always seem to do everything during the Monday - Friday work week, so if I finish a survey on Friday I would be paid on Monday. But when I finish a survey on a Thursday, even if it is at night, they always "pay" on Friday. It never fails. And they seem to have gotten in the habit of sending me surveys on Thursdays lately (unless it's a PT follow-up, which could come at any time), so I've always finished those right away and they've been great about sending the points and/or money the next day. That's why it was so odd to not see anything pop up yesterday. I finished the survey on Thursday in the mid-afternoon.

Interestingly, I went back to the Pinecone website and into the FAQ section, and then clicked the Contact Us link...which brought me to a form page. I think I've only used that form once or twice a long time ago. More recently I have just sent e-mails straight to Karen.

I submitted a form about the survey that did not credit -- and I mentioned the e-mails that bounced back while I was at it. I got an e-mail auto-response/confirmation that my form had been submitted and that they'll get back to me within 48 hours, etc., and the confirmation came from the same exact e-mail address that I had tried to write to earlier in the day.

So, either there was some sort of a temporary glitch in their server -- or maybe someone was working on their website -- and that's why my e-mails bounced back, OR perhaps they are fixing it so that they can only be contacted through the form in the Contact Us section of the site, as opposed to directly e-mailing. I am baffled! Lol. I just want to make sure that my 300 points are credited. I rarely have to e-mail about anything as long as I'm credited on time!

[Huntress]

yes--I wrote to karen scott regarding an error message last week (4/28/13) and never received a reply. In the past I contacted them regarding technical problems and always received a prompt response. Btw the error message I received was pretty frightening:

Sorry, we do not have this username on file.

However, I was able to take the survey and subsequent ones later without any problems. So I guess there was a technical glitch. Doesn't mitigate the lack of response to my email at least explaining or apologizing for the error.

[SeriousSurveyer]

I don't think I've ever gotten any kind of "payment" (including the points) from Pinecone on a Saturday or Sunday, assuming I finished a survey on a Friday. They always seem to do everything during the Monday - Friday work week, so if I finish a survey on Friday I would be paid on Monday.

Okay, good to know. I've always gotten my surveys during the week and finished them the same day so I didn't know how they worked as far as payment on the weekend.

Personally, I find Pinecone to be an okay survey panel, but not living up to the hype at this point in its existence. They do send fast payment but their surveys are (becoming?) longish and repetitive.

[Sherry67]

Okay, so it's Monday. Here is an update to my original post of a couple of days ago:

My direct e-mails to Pinecone are still bouncing back as undeliverable. I haven't received anything other than a canned auto-reply from the form I submitted through the Contact section on the Pinecone website.

Finally I left a voice mail message this morning, with all the details -- because, of course, I couldn't reach an actual person on the phone -- and after the voice mail was received, I got an auto-reply via e-mail. (I get the feeling that Pinecone is inundated with emails and calls from people who want to join, and so the legitimate members who have complaints or issues are having a harder time getting through and getting personalized responses. To me it seemed like they must have their voice mail rigged to automatically issue e-mail replies.)

The e-mail reply to my voice mail only said:

"Hi,

I have received your voicemail.

I have received your completed survey #----------. Thank you for your

participation. Incentives are now being processed.

Thank you for your patience."

And there was a 2-digit reference number at the bottom.

There was no mention of why the e-mails were bouncing back. There was no mention of why the survey was not showing in my "Survey History." There was no mention of why the payment of points was delayed. It was another auto-reply. And the points are still not in my account.

On Facebook (not an official Pinecone page but a page started by other people to discuss Pinecone) I found a comment from a guy who said he hadn't gotten paid at some point in the past, even though he was told his survey had been received. After he contacted Karen about it (even though I'm sure Karen does not read these e-mails anymore), I think he was told to take up the problem with PayPal...and then he was booted from the panel, if I recall correctly.

So I am not holding out hope at this point.

[SeriousSurveyer]

Sherry, don't assume the worst. That's just one person's situation. Who knows what happened in your situation.

Anyway, I was coming back to the thread to say I received the points in my account this afternoon for the survey I completed on Friday.

However, that doesn't mean you won't get your points. Karen is running the show over there alone, it seems. So she may not have gotten to your email yet. At this point you've done all you need to, so if I were you I'd just wait for some response: your points are deposited and/or Karen gets back to you.

[Sherry67]

Right after I posted that last update I went back to my e-mail and saw that I had finally been credited (so I quickly rushed over to the site to redeem the points)!

See, the main thing that was odd about this was the fact that the e-mails were bouncing back every time (which had not happened in the past), in combination with the fact that the crediting of the points was late, which had also never happened. Then, last week was the issue with the link to a survey that didn't work (which more than one person encountered). So it seemed there could be some technical issues at play, and if that is the case there is no telling if any emails or form submissions online will be read or replied to if things get lost in the servers. (I think I am extra-paranoid after years of e-mail recently disappeared from my Yahoo account due to a major server issue! Lol.) So I'm glad I pursued it because, if I hadn't, I might not have gotten the credit. You never know.

SeriousSurveyer - Do you think Karen is by herself? I thought she may have started out that way, but now I actually don't think that Karen is alone over there. If anything I think that Pinecone is probably expanding (hence, the new points system). A lot of survey places reply with names of one person (usually a female) so it seems more personal that way (i.e., Lynne Morrison with NCP, Janet whats-her-name with NPDOR, Anne Parks with ACOP, Carol Adams with mysurvey, Marie Brighton with Synovate/Global Opinion Panels, etc.), when in actuality it could be any staff member responding.

Oh, by the way - I went to Opinion Outpost to try to get to cash out #3 after I redeemed my Pinecone points and, sure enough, a Pinecone survey popped up through OO. As soon as I saw the telltale page, I quickly exited out of that survey before starting it! Lol.

[footfree]

Pinecone is owned by Neilsen so I don't think it's only being runned by 1 person sitting behind the desk answering all questions.I think that since they implemented this new system that they have been running into glitches.With all new things it takes time to work out the kinks.

[SeriousSurveyer]

Well, I had an issue with redeeming when the points system was introduced and I sent an email. The response I got didn't help so I sent a separate email at a later date about it and the reply seemed like they remembered my first email. So I assumed it was the same person, Karen. Like she was the "face" of Pinecone and others worked behind the scenes. But who knows? They do have an international panel so they'd need more than one respondent. But if it's actually not Karen who is answering those emails, but random people, even men, let me say I find that somewhat creepy. Lol.

[Sherry67]

Well, I had an issue with redeeming when the points system was introduced and I sent an email. The response I got didn't help so I sent a separate email at a later date about it and the reply seemed like they remembered my first email. So I assumed it was the same person, Karen. Like she was the "face" of Pinecone and others worked behind the scenes. But who knows? They do have an international panel so they'd need more than one person. But if it's actually not Karen who is answering those emails, but random people, even men, let me say I find that somewhat creepy. Lol.

Lol. You never know. It could be a guy named Albert posing as Karen!

I have a feeling -- as I'm sure we all do -- that Pinecone (and Albert or Karen or whoever is manning the offices!) is getting bombarded with e-mails and form submissions, etc., in response to the new points system. People either want to know more about how it works, or they want to complain about it, etc.

Also, I think that so many people are trying to get accepted into Pinecone these days because they have heard buzz about it being so exclusive. There is a sort of mystique, I suppose. People are literally lying and cheating to get on this panel because they feel like they will be missing out on something amazing if they are not included in the "club." In reality, as we all know, it's a nice panel to belong to -- and they tend to send out good, useful products to test -- but it's not the best thing since sliced bread...or since the George Foreman Grill...or since ice cream!

So I think that whoever the staff is in that office is probably overwhelmed with all of the contact. They should really somehow set up a different e-mail or a different page for only the members to contact them, and then a general page for non-members to contact them.

I am already assuming that my shelf life with Pinecone is limited and that one day I will wake up to discover that I have been unceremoniously booted off the panel (like so many others have), but I want to enjoy it while it lasts, for as long as it lasts!

[sparksy2k]

I decided to write to Karen Scott this morning about some points I did not receive for a survey I took 2 days ago (which is very unusual). I was going to wait until Monday, but something told me to write to her today.

I used the same e-mail address for Karen Scott that I have used every time I've written. The e-mail I sent today bounced back to me as undeliverable. I tried a second time. Also undeliverable. I wonder if something is wrong with their servers, and perhaps that's why I didn't get points yesterday and why the e-mail wouldn't go through today.

I know that no one writes to Karen Scott unless they have a reason to. Does anyone have a reason to write to her today, so they could test it out and see if the e-mail bounces back? I am wondering if I am the only one having this problem. There's really no other way to contact them than via e-mail, is there? They don't have a Facebook page, as far as I know.

She always gets back to me. BTW they have a new rewards program, the paypal cashout now takes a week and you have to manually request it, it's not automatic

[footfree]

I used to do Homescan which is also owned by Nielsen who owns Pinecone and have dealt with these people on and off for over 8 years.Well not anymore because I quit Homescan.They do have men and women answering their phones at least when I have called that's who I talked to.I have even talked to people who sound like they are from India.Some of the people I have talked to act like they could care less about the my issues.So maybe they have combined these 2 subsidiaries into one call and or email center.I mean it really is all speculation on our parts to why they are the way they are now.I just find it funny that they now have a prize center like they do at Homescan.Guess they figure they can keep more money by giving us a option for the gifts.I've been with them 6 years or more and I remember when they were bought out.It was around the time they went from $5 a survey to the $3 they offer now.I just wonder if they will weed out offering money?If they do I'm out.