Survey Errors - Idea to Fight Back

[Whatatay]

Just took a survey for Palm Research. Of course I got all the way to the end and upon submitting my demographics, I got a "page not found". Of course I couldn't go back using my browser's back button and refreshing did nothing. Naturally I didn't get credit for it. It is interesting how these error always happen at the end and do not allow you to go back a page to where you were, or to refresh and continue.

So here is what I did.

I took the survey over and every place it had a box for me to answer something in like "Why do you not go to XYZ more often?",

I put a brief answer and then explained that I gave a very detailed answer the first time I took the survey but that I was cheated out of compensation for the survey by the "page not found" error. I told them that this is a tactic used by dishonest survey companies to get answers for free by cheating the survey taker out of compensation. I told them that until they use a company that has error free surveys and doesn't intentionally cheat the survey takers out of compensation, I wasn't going to answer in more detail.

Of course you run the risk out of getting an error again and wasting more time for nothing, but this time I made it through. Hopefully the survey answers are passed directly to the companies paying to have the surveys done without being edited or tossed out by these survey companies cheating us out of compensation. Maybe this will help stop these errors or at least put the illegitimate survey companies out of business.

Sure I took the survey twice for single compensation but I feel better knowing I might be sticking it to the survey company who is cheating me.

I would have done the survey for nothing if it gets word back to the companies asking to have the survey done.

[avanbens]

This is the absolute worst thing that can happen after spending all that time taking the survey to get that error message. Each time it has happend to I have sent a message to the company that did it namely surveyspot. They actually compensated me 2 out of the 3 times it happened. Never ever experienced this with Pinecone Research.

[Whatatay]

Some of the better sites will sometimes compensate you but most say they don't get paid unless you finish it and can't compensate you unless you finish it. I think survey sites have a responsibility to pay if surveys they are hosting have errors. Of course we all know these errors are intentional so the survey companies can get errors for free.

As for Survey Spot, they pay you for your unfinished survey by having people complete 20 minute surveys and then telling them that the did not qualify.

[avanbens]

You are so right.