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Toluna becoming much worse


vercetti2021

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So I've been suspended for the 2nd time this year. Not sure what their excuse will be this time. I'm sure fraudulent will be the top choice for them to slam on me. Been a member for 10+ years and never had a problem until this year. I stopped doing surveys for a while after my account was reactivated. But I started doing surveys much more lately and then I got suspended again today. Not just that, but their new system has included sweepstakes entries more than points. Am I the only person here having constant issues? Or has anyone else been suspended for no reason? Twice in one year after being with them for a decade is a very big coincidence.

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They appear to have made changes with their surveys in the last couple of weeks. And one of the changes like you said is more surveys that reward sweepstakes entries instead of points which is not good. But my biggest concern right now is the surveys I have done recently are not crediting and most of their surveys used to credit within 24 hours with a few exceptions. Now nothing is crediting except for the quick surveys which credit instantly. I checked my records and 18 surveys that I did in the past month are still showing as pending. I am still able to complete a lot of surveys with them and most of them I believe are for points and not sweepstakes entries. As a matter of fact I did one a couple of days ago that took me about an hour for 12000 points. I am about 15000 points away from getting a 30.00 PayPal cash out and when my pending points get processed I will have way more points than I need but what is the holdup now? Is there a problem with their system ? But like you I have been with them a long time and they have been a consistent payer for me over the years but I am starting to get frustrated with them. How long will it take for me to get my points? I never have had a problem with them suspending my account but I do wonder if other people here are dealing with a lot of pending surveys like I have.  They do have a large inventory of surveys and most days I can do at least 1 or 2 but if I don't get my points on a timely basis that is going to be a big problem. 

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You better watch out. You did 18 surveys? They probably will end up suspending you for "speeding" This is the email I got from them. 

Quote
We have received the voicemail you left on this subject but because our helpdesk customer service is based on support that needs to be tracked through our system, we can only assist by e-mail.
 
We are sorry for this unpleasant situation and we confirm your account was suspended yesterday based on evidence stored in our database and after receiving notifications from our clients regarding the quality of your responses. As you know, due to this behavior your account was closed in the past but afterwards we decided to re-activate it on probation (on 26 January 2017), expecting you to supply only true, accurate, honest, current and complete information when accessing surveys provided by Toluna. Unfortunately, you failed to adhere to Toluna Terms again.
 
Since 26 January, you were flagged for speeding once (for survey 1446996-US, on 18 February) and on three separate occasions for potential fraud and data quality issues (while participating in survey 1304100-US, on 18 February, then for 1424073-US, on 10 February: you qualified after 3 minutes, the estimated length of the survey was 8 minutes and 1451472-US, on 18 February, completed after 3 minutes, estimated length of the survey: 7 minutes).
 
Between these findings, and the past issues with your account, I’m afraid just too many red flags have been issued regarding your account and activity, and sadly, the decision to close your account was made permanent, and we can no longer invite you to be a member. Your account is now closed, and we will no longer be inviting you to participate in our surveys.
 
Best regards,
Chloe Storm
The Toluna Team
 
Yeah so based on doing surveys faster than the normal time. Which I do sometimes on my other sites and not had one problem. I got suspended for it. Funny it's their surveys that are easy and puts them at fault for it. Lately their site has taken such a bad turn. I contacted the BBB, FTC and my state attorney general. I've never had this issue before and have done their surveys the same way for years. Just now they have an issue with "speeding" 
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I hope not. The 18 surveys I completed were within a month which I don't think is a lot. They do limit you to 4 or 5 completions in a day not sure which and occasionally I do hit my limit. And as far as speeding goes I do wonder how they estimate the time for each survey. My experience with all panels is some surveys take much longer than the estimated time and others don't take as long. Some people may be fast readers so they may complete the surveys in a shorter amount of time. Just because you complete a survey quickly doesn't necessarily mean you are not reading the questions. And what do they mean by potential fraud  and data quality issues? One thing you have to be careful of is being consistent with your answers. They may ask you the same questions multiple times in a survey possibly wording them in different ways and if your answers are not consistent you will likely be screened out of the survey.  Did they pay you for the surveys that were questioned? Did you have any money in your account when they closed it? I had this issue a few years ago with Survey Savvy I believe. They suspended my account and I had to go to the BBB to get the money that they owed me. It was only something like 9.00 but it is the principle of it. They wouldn't agree to reinstate my account but they did pay me the money that was in it. I thought I gave quality answers to their surveys but they thought otherwise. I think with any of these panels they can terminate your account at any time for any reason. They can say you were speeding and not giving quality answers to the survey questions and you really can't dispute it even if you disagree. The BBB likely can't get your account reinstated  if the panel refuses to do it but they may be able to help you as far as getting paid the money that is in your account at the time your membership was terminated.   And I don't think trying to sign up again using a different email address would work if you are thinking of doing that. A number of years back I was permanently suspended from a sports message board site for being too negative with my opinions. I then tried to sign up again using my roommate's email address and it didn't work. Their computer system picked up on it  probably based on the IP address.  

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They have been bad for many years.Not giving people their earned money and keeping it in pending has been a major downfall for them .I quit them like 3 years ago and have not been disappointed.Like I said watch your back what they are doing to you is nothing that they haven't done to many others before you.I think it's their way of weaseling out what they owe you.

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Honestly I have had no major problems with them in the past but I see some things now that do make me nervous. That is a lot of surveys in pending. Could be the precursor to suspending me as vercetti2021 suggested. Who knows? . But I don't trust survey panels just like I don't trust other kinds of businesses as well. Everybody is out to make money And all decisions they make are with the goal in mind of increasing profits. I have said this before and there is no way to prove but I do believe that with some panels once you earn so much money they will find a way to get rid of you. And the easiest way for them to do that is to say they are suspending you because you are either speeding or not giving quality answers to the questions even though you know in your mind you are not doing anything different than you did before. And if that happens you can ask them to reinstate you but they are under no obligation to do so and if they don't you are left with little or no recourse. But survey panels these days at least a lot of them are doing one or more of the following. Lower payments for completing surveys, increased thresholds for cashing out and generally making it more difficult to earn points or money on their website. I seem to be finding less and less higher paying surveys. Also less special projects seem to be available that would give me a chance to earn a bigger payout than a regular survey does.  I love online focus groups or interactive surveys but haven't been invited to any of those in a while. The payments from Toluna are still on the slow side even though they do PayPal now. I think you are looking at about 3 weeks on average.   I remember years ago when they did checks it seemed to take forever to get your money. But I always got it. Never had an issue with not getting it. I have been a Toluna panelist for many years and have earned a good amount of money from them but knowing what others have said about Toluna and what I know about survey panels in general I do wonder if they are up to something with so many of my completed surveys in pending status with a number of them being that way for a while. 

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I really wish I knew. I did get a response saying they'll send me a check for the points I had left on my account. But that's besides the point. I had a lot of people I talked to on there since it is also a community. It wasn't just for the points. It was the people too. As for signing up again? I'll wait a good while before trying to sign up. I can change my IP no problems there. But I don't know what is going on with them as of late. I've never had issues before this year. I became heavily active in 2011 - 2017. Doing what surveys and polls they offered me. But this speeding thing and data thing is ridiculous. I'm a fast reader, yes. But I always make sure I don't give a different answer if the questions are the same. Its like when they offer the same survey a week or two later. Yeah it might be different answers based on what the questions are and what goes on in my life.

 

Point is that I've never had issues until this year for some reason and it happened to be when they changed their survey system to give you more sweepstake entries rather than points. I had to scout out the point surveys and I closed whatever sweepstake surveys they offered. I got one when I didn't qualify for one. But it's like 3 data issue surveys? Because completing them a minute early now is considered fraud. No it's called knowing what you're doing and answering. It's so ridiculous now. Like I guess you don't get penalized for taking forever in a survey over the amount of time they suggested. Just when you finish it early is when they have a problem. 

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I know that Toluna is both a community and a panel but I signed up just to do the surveys. I hope you get your check on a timely basis for the points left on your account. But knowing what I know about Toluna I am not sure it will happen. Even for routine payments they are one of my slower panels which I wouldn't expect given that they do PayPal now. But if you do have problems getting them to pay you make sure you contact the BBB. I am sure they will be able to help you. I had to get the BBB involved a few years ago with Survey Savvy not wanting to pay me after they terminated my account. It was only like 9.00 dollars I think but it is the principle of it. I earned the money legitimately and expected to be paid which eventually happened but not until I had to contact the BBB. Were you ever paid for the surveys Toluna questioned? If you were my guess is Toluna deducted the points from your balance. But be careful if you decide to try to sign up with them again. Use a different email address even if you have to set a new one up like gmail and a different IP address. If you do that hopefully their computer system will not pick up on it but their are no guarantees. It is possible they might pick up on both your name and physical address. So I don't know if it will work.

The speeding and data things are nuts. I am sure you are doing nothing different than you have always done. I am convinced if a panel wants to get rid of you they will do so and just use speeding and data concerns as a lame excuse. But if a panel terminates you there is little you can do other than ask them nicely to reinstate you. You don't have any other recourse. I don't know what they consider speeding. It is possible that if you do a survey in a minute's lass time than what they expect it would be OK but if you do it in half the time that might be a problem. Just a guess on my part because I really don't know for sure. And you are right. Taking more time than expected never seems to be an issue but less time can be. And some people are fast readers. Somebody might be able to read a book in four hours and another person it might take them 2 hours to read and comprehend the same book. I am sure when you went to school some of your classmates were fast readers, some were slow and some were average. So there often was a big difference in how long it took students to complete the same assignment. 

I am convinced that Toluna was looking to get rid of you. Maybe because they have paid you a lot of money through the years. 

I just thought of something else. People have asked me if it is possible to fake your way through a survey. I said yes but you have to make sure you are consistent when answering the questions. There were a couple of times in the past when I faked my way through a survey and got away with it. It was when I was close to a cash out. But 99% of the time I answer all the questions honestly.

There were a few times I completed a survey and a message came up right away that my points were denied because of speeding. I believe it was through Univox. So if you belong to that panel you better be careful. You might complete a survey and not get your points. 

I also contacted Toluna about all of my pending surveys. Will post if I hear back from them. 

I will do the surveys for sweepstakes entries if they are 5 or 10 minutes long. Otherwise I won't bother. But with Toluna now there seem to be a lot of surveys that are 20, 25 or 30 minutes and there is no cash payment. Do they really believe anybody is going to do those? And how do they determine the length of a survey? I have found surveys not only with Toluna but other panels as well that say they should take 10 minutes and take much longer than that even if you answer the questions quickly. My point is you have to question the accuracy of the times given. There are some surveys that would be impossible to complete in less than the stated time. I have done surveys for many many years so I would know.    

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Well lucky enough they decided to open my account again. I guess my plea did work. So this is my last chance. I'm honestly not going to do any surveys for a good while. 

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I don't blame you. I wonder why they reconsidered and reinstated your account. It sounds like to me they are playing games with you. I don't think they closed your account because of speeding or giving false info on surveys. Just my two cents worth. As to why they are doing what they are who knows?.Maybe they have determined you have earned too much money from them and are looking to get rid of you. If they wouldn't reinstate you a person would be left with little or no recourse. The BBB wouldn't be able to get you reinstated. They could only help you in getting any payment due you if they refused to send you a check or put the money into your PayPal account. But as for me I did hear back from them. They said it was a glitch in their computer system as to why I had so many surveys pending . Had to do I think with them changing their surveys. Now I have been paid for most of them so everything seems good at least for now.. 

Edited by mikedorb
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Didn't think I'd be adding to this thread but here I am.  :-(    I've been building points at Toluna for... well, probably years because I'm basically interested in communities.  But that aside, I finally have almost enough for their ridiculously high cash out.  So I'm doing a "20 minute survey" this morning... and after 35 minutes of a LOT of thinking, writing content for the answers, and work, they didn't need my demographic!  Not setting very well with me, I'll tell you!  :shock:

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  • 6 months later...

Well the same thing happened to me recently, and my account has been de-activated and my points forfeited, with no explanation other than I have violated their Terms & Conditions, although when asked how I had done that, as I had always answered honestly and truthfully, they refuse to give a reason saying

"The details of our detection techniques, including specifics about your individual case, is proprietary information that we do not share externally"

So they make accusations, pinch my hard earnings (I estimate this to be approximately 15 hours of work which does not include all the time spent on the many surveys I have been screen out of), then refuse to say what it is I have done wrong so I can defend myself.  I am so angry about this, I have posted on several other sites, have tried tweeting them several times but get told to contact Support, but Support will not answer my emails now.  My next step it to contact BBB as it seems others have mentioned this.

I think there must be some truth in the fact that they do not like anyone who has previously complained, I have had to do a few times after completing a survey and it freezing on the final page therefore not registering, or being screened out at the last minute.  Or they cannot afford to pay me, so find a way out of doing so by accusing me of something I have not done.

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Just a thought, but even if an offer of reinstatement was made, I would have no confidence or trust in a company who treats me in this way, and would not do another survey with them.  I just want my money for the work I have completed, and as it stands at rather less than £1 per hour then I think I have more than earned it.  Minimum wage anyone? 

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8 hours ago, DeniseSC said:

Just a thought, but even if an offer of reinstatement was made, I would have no confidence or trust in a company who treats me in this way, and would not do another survey with them.  I just want my money for the work I have completed, and as it stands at rather less than £1 per hour then I think I have more than earned it.  Minimum wage anyone? 

No that will not pay minimum wage- they are the only companies who can get away with this because we are not actually employed by them.It's free will and when you enter to do a survey you are basically saying that you are agreeing to the pay that they have stated at the beginning of said survey.Hey do I think they should pay more?Why yes I do, but don't count on it. If it wasn't for us they wouldn't have a business ,so I call them ungrateful.For every one of us who walks away from the little pay they give us there will be another one to take our place.Just my humble opinion.

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On 13/03/2017 at 5:22 PM, penangel said:

Didn't think I'd be adding to this thread but here I am.  :-(    I've been building points at Toluna for... well, probably years because I'm basically interested in communities.  But that aside, I finally have almost enough for their ridiculously high cash out.  So I'm doing a "20 minute survey" this morning... and after 35 minutes of a LOT of thinking, writing content for the answers, and work, they didn't need my demographic!  Not setting very well with me, I'll tell you!  :shock:

Toluna have done this to me too many times now via other sites,won't do their surveys anymore 

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