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Vindale research Pay for product reviews


rtsl35

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So, I got an email today from vindale research about how they are sending out products and you get paid $75.00 and have the option to keep the product your reviewing. I don't believe this, but has anyone done this for this company?

I also read online that vindale is a big scammer.

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This company is questionable, and I am being nice about that. I joined and did a couple of surveys. The only thing I could get after that was offers to buy this or order that and then complete a survey or them. I had one that I had to sign up and get new auto insurance and they would pay me $25 to do it. The insurance would have cost me $145 more than I was already paying. RUN as fast as you can from these guys. The points also expire so you end up with NOTHING!

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Not only is Vindale a total waste of time, but there are also lots and lots of spam emails that come from Vindale impostors so it can be tricky to know what you're clicking. Today I got 2 emails from the real Vindale and I don't know how many emails from the fake Vindale. It's like the fake Vindale people know somehow when the real Vindale starts sending emails and they piggy back on!

Anyway, they're (Vindale) not a good company to do anything for when there are so many better survey and rewards sites out there to deal with.

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Not only is Vindale a total waste of time, but there are also lots and lots of spam emails that come from Vindale impostors so it can be tricky to know what you're clicking. Today I got 2 emails from the real Vindale and I don't know how many emails from the fake Vindale. It's like the fake Vindale people know somehow when the real Vindale starts sending emails and they piggy back on!

Anyway, they're (Vindale) not a good company to do anything for when there are so many better survey and rewards sites out there to deal with.

I completely agree. I think I am getting the fake vindale'rs. But either way, it seems vindale stinks!

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  • 5 months later...
:cry: I have attempted 20 surveys in a month and have not received ONE thing from this company! Some surveys need you to purchase something or sign up for a credit card, etc. It is more about trying to get something out of you! -don't do it, you will receive so much junk!
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I have been with them for quite a few months now. Since I am presently under-employed, I have a lot of time on my hands, so I'm able to devote a couple of hours a day to surveys. This one has actually been really great; I have made $200 in the past year or so. They have never been slow paying, and I've never had problems with their site. They have always been on the up-and-up. Since I belong to a less than optimal demographic (52 yo American Indian male, single, no dependents), I do have to be persistent. They also offer surveys, which is where I spend most of my time. The product reviews are OK if you want to try them, but I would check out the products on line elsewhere first, vis a vis customer reviews. I highly recommend this site.

Not sure how you are making $ with them, all I ever got was offers to buy stuff and I would get a percentage back. I don't trust them at all. But if you are making $$ then you are the first I have ever met, good for you. I earned a few bucks and they took them back when I didn't have enough to cash out after 6 months. Somehow my money expired.

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Vindale can be a little confusing I agree. But here is the deal, what they call "surveys" are actual offers and most require spending money or using a credit card. What we call "surveys" they refer to as "studies". They seem to use Samplicious and Global Test Market quite a bit. The first time I cashed out I got if fairly quickly , it all depends on what time of the month you request. I cannot for the life of me though remember how I found the actual surveys on Vindale but they are there and they pay a dollar each. I can't do "offers" because I don't have a credit card, so I try to avoid sites like Minds Pay, Panda Research and sites like them.

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Vindale Research appears to be a survey aggregator that functions as a middleman between survey takers and survey companies such as Samplicio or Global Test Market and others. They take the lion's share of each survey reward and leave crumbs for the survey takers. I have seen many surveys that Vindale offered $1 for on other sites for $5 and $10. They also offer "panels" that have you PAY to make a long term commitment (1 year or more membership) and offer to reimburse you for your sign up costs (usually the first months membership charge). Of course they say NOTHING about reimbursing you for the other 11 months you will owe.

In my first month at Vindale I was able to accrue a balance of around $75 with another $150 or so surveys that were mysteriously rejected after completion as "not qualified". I requested a check which I received about 1 week after requesting it. Since my balance was quickly approaching the magic $50 number again, I decided to hold the check until I got the second one I knew I could get on the next payment date. As I neared the magic $50 number to receive a second check, suddenly all the surveys that USED to be $1, now became 20 or at most 30 CENTS! I started to get rejected for more and more surveys with words like "over quota" in the http addresses of the rejection page. Luckily a few of the legitimate surveys I took that were sitting in "clicked" were cleared and it pushed me over the $50 needed to request another check because the "over quota" headers changed at first to "security" and then to "terminate".

Both checks have now been deposited. IF they do not clear, I will be contacting the NY Attorney General's Office and the Federal Trade Commission to bring criminal charges against this company, otherwise I will just chalk it off to lesson learned and not waste my time with Vindale again.

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Vindale Research appears to be a survey aggregator that functions as a middleman between survey takers and survey companies such as Samplicio or Global Test Market and others. They take the lion's share of each survey reward and leave crumbs for the survey takers. I have seen many surveys that Vindale offered $1 for on other sites for $5 and $10. They also offer "panels" that have you PAY to make a long term commitment (1 year or more membership) and offer to reimburse you for your sign up costs (usually the first months membership charge). Of course they say NOTHING about reimbursing you for the other 11 months you will owe.

In my first month at Vindale I was able to accrue a balance of around $75 with another $150 or so surveys that were mysteriously rejected after completion as "not qualified". I requested a check which I received about 1 week after requesting it. Since my balance was quickly approaching the magic $50 number again, I decided to hold the check until I got the second one I knew I could get on the next payment date. As I neared the magic $50 number to receive a second check, suddenly all the surveys that USED to be $1, now became 20 or at most 30 CENTS! I started to get rejected for more and more surveys with words like "over quota" in the http addresses of the rejection page. Luckily a few of the legitimate surveys I took that were sitting in "clicked" were cleared and it pushed me over the $50 needed to request another check because the "over quota" headers changed at first to "security" and then to "terminate".

Both checks have now been deposited. IF they do not clear, I will be contacting the NY Attorney General's Office and the Federal Trade Commission to bring criminal charges against this company, otherwise I will just chalk it off to lesson learned and not waste my time with Vindale again.

So sorry you got caught up in that. I got to $6 and that was it because I wouldn't agree to sign up for this or that, I just knew it was going to cost me money. And after a while I noticed that my $ had decreased and then it was nothing. So at that time if you couldn't cash out quickly, your points would expire. UGH!

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  • 2 months later...

Wish I'd known about this site before I started with Vindale. I made about $6 and then I wasn't getting anymore of their "studies" which are the free ones. E-mailed them about it and the studies began appearing again. Now I'm over $37 and the studies have disappeared again. The only ones that appear are the 3 that are always there and you can try multiple times a day. I have never qualified for any of those. I get so far into them and there is either an error, or I don't qualify. I e-mailed them again today that I am not willing to pay for anything and asked them to fix my account, again, so that I can continue doing surveys through them. If I ever manage to get to the $50 pay out I am definitely closing my account.

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  • 4 months later...

I have been a member of Vindale research for about a year or less, not sure. But I have had no trouble getting surveys, I have had trouble getting paid. I recently reached the $50 level and requested payment and they sent me an email saying that payment has been held with no explanation. They said I had to email them to find out why. So I did and I received a response asking me to send them a copy of my driver's license. "We could not process your payment request. Please respond to this email for more information. We will work with you to clarify any issues we've identified with your account. If we find your account to be in good standing, we will release your payment in the next pay cycle NOTE: If we need further evidence to verify the validity of your account, we may ask that you submit personal information such as, but not limited to, a driver's license. Sincerely,Member Services Vindale Research." I have been a member of survey sites for years and never have I been asked to do that. Having recently been a victim of credit card fraud I would never send my ID to this company. I am chalking up all my time and effort to one bad experience and terminating my membership with them. Very annoyed.

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  • 3 months later...

I, too, just got the "we cannot process your payment" email. I sent back a reply asking why, then noticed that the email was sent by "[email protected]" instead of their normal support email address ([email protected])...so I just now emailed that address and asked if they had sent the other email. I also said that I have had a PayPal account for over 10 years and never had any problem with anyone paying into the account. Plus, like you, I pointed out that the email sounds like an identity theft scam, so why on earth would I send them any identifying information via email?

Haven't heard back but if I don't, or if I don't get a satisfactory answer, I am going to call them 1-855-VINDALE (846-3253). Might not help but at least I will feel I did all I could. I wonder if they do this so they don't have to pay.

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The saga continues....They contacted me, finally, and told me to print out a form they attached, fill it out, get it notarized, and send it back. Of course there was no attachment so I had to go to the site and hunt down the "Notarized Identification Form". Pretty standard thing but there is one line I can't fill out BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS! They want a "Vindale Access Code". So I wrote them another email and asked them what that was. No reply. So I tried calling their number in NY - the recording said they don't do customer service over the phone. Then I left a message on their wall in Facebook - nothing. Finally I messaged them on Facebook and, as of this date/time, I haven't gotten an answer. I thought about going back to the site and filling out yet another ticket, but the site said I had already filled out 3 (what?!) and asked was I sure I wanted to fill out another one? Knowing that "excessive tickets" is one way to get your account terminated without them paying you, I left it alone.

I am disabled and do not have a car. In order for me to get this thing to a notary, I had to schedule a service van for Monday (which costs money) to take me to a notary and back. And of course the notary is $5. I found an envelope in a drawer but not stamps - and the notary doesn't sell stamps, which would mean I would have to spend even more money for the van, that charges $6 per trip (to and from) for each place you go. That runs up the transportation cost to $12. When I realized this as I was on the phone to the notary, I burst into tears. She said she thought she could find one stamp for me in her purse or something.

Even after I go through all this...I still don't know how to fill in the question asking what my Vindale Access Code is. Since their instructions stated the form had to be filled out exactly as directed or they wouldn't accept it, I can just see them using this as an excuse to not pay.

Is it worth spending $11 ($26 if I have to take another trip to get stamps, and the cost of a book of stamps) to get $50? Add the aggravation and I am leaning towards "no". Especially since they might not pay me anyway. How hard is it for them to answer a question about what a Vindale Access Code is?

I am very frustrated and fed up. This is all because they told me my account had "suspicious activity". I use one computer, from one IP address, and I don't speed through surveys or lie. I do tell them about surveys that don't work, but I would think they would want to know when that happens (I don't always ask for credit, just tell them there's a glitch). Yes I did get a bit snarky in my ticket (the subject line was, "excuse me??") but geez. I don't know what's the matter with them.

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