A Tale of an Angry Surveyee
Written: Jul 15 '04 (Updated Jul 26 '04)
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I consider myself an old pro in the online survey industry. As a member of Greenfield Online since 2000, I have seen the ups and downs of the service.
Joining
It's easy to join Greenfield Online. Unlike Pinecone Research (the far superior, profitable online survey site), there is no invitation necessary. As I see in my junk mail folder nearly every day, they are still trying to recruit even more people...
The Website
I never used to have any problems using the Greenfield Website. Now that they've redone the entire thing (to be "sleek"?), there are endless problems with broken links. As I was preparing to write this review, I attempted to find the FAQ page which I had just viewed, to no avail. I had to attempt to take a survey and be rejected (more to come on that) in order to find that darn FAQ link!
Here's a frequently asked question: Where the heck is your FAQ page?
As a 24 year old, I normally don't have problems with text size, but the font on the survey page is 7.5 point - and the text size option on IE doesn't even bump it up to a courteous 10! “No, here at Greenfield Online, we feel 8 point font is as excessive as an SUV for a family of 3.”
The Surveys and The (Measly) Payoff
Oh, remember good old 2001, when Greenfield was a decent survey site? I once received a $75.00 reward for qualifying and participating in a real time survey! Most surveys offered something like 200 $5 prizes, 100 $10 prizes, and one $100 prize, rewarded via a drawing of qualified participants. I used to bring in probably an average of $1 a month! Somehow, that dollar and the big $75 prize was enough to keep me going… until now.
First of all, I noticed that I haven’t earned a dime since June of 2003 (over a year ago). That glorious month, I won an entire dollar. (Yes $1.00 cash!) I really hit the jackpot 15 months ago when $5 was added to my account. Do I seem greedy? Maybe. I am part of the elite and spoiled Pinecone Research group where I get $5 every time I complete a survey (remember, it’s by invitation only).
Really, the chance of a dollar or two every now and then is enough to keep me going. Taking online surveys is kind of fun. The thrill of having our name in a hat is what makes us human, after all. This is where Greenfield Online goes horribly, horribly wrong!
I have been dealing with the following issue for many months now, and I believe it is getting progressively worse. Today I participated in a survey about online/distance education. They asked for all my specs – gender, age, level of education, specific degree, length of time out of school, current employer – and I went on into the in-depth questions…questions that drove right into the heart of who I am. Why higher education was important to me, how I felt online courses would impact my quality of education, how likely I would be to pursue higher education given certain price tags. I could feel myself nearing the end of the survey. Once you hit a couple of the [Very Likely] [Somewhat Likely] [Neither Likely nor Unlikely] [Unlikely] [Very Unlikely] strings of questions, it’s normally almost over. Here’s where Jill gets extremely red in the face! I had answered 25+ fairly personal questions about my hopes and dreams, only to be directed to a page reading:
We're sorry, but we have reached our quota limits for this survey. Your answers have been received and this survey is now completed.
Their condolences. Really? I was not entered into a drawing for $1.00. My heart was broken – no wait, I mean throbbing through my wide-open eyeballs. I couldn’t believe that I had wasted 5 to 10 minutes of my life while all along, their precious quota had been reached! Where is the incentive to click on the tiny tiny links for these crappy surveys? I rarely am qualified enough to actually complete a survey and be worthy of the one dollar drawing. I would estimate that I reach that coveted qualification once every 15 attempted surveys.
This really was the last straw. I wrote a strongly worded e-mail to the survey wizards about my experiences. It’s best to write this kind of hateful review when the anger is fresh in your fingers, so I will have to let you know if they have any shred of decency in the customer service department.
*Update*
A week and a half after my angry e-mail, I received a response:
"I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you've experienced while trying to complete the survey. I appreciate your effort and to thank you for your time we will place $2.00 in your account. The money will appear within the next two business days. (Please note this is not survey incentive)"
I am not happy that I received no explanation for or intended attempts to remedy their botched-up system. Actually, I'm pretty unhappy that they did not address my concerns at all. That $2 - clearly stated as "not survey incentive" (?) - isn't going to bring me back.
Thank you for reading my rant.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
princessjill
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Member: Jill
Location: North Dakota
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 20 members
About Me:
I'm an overly-emotional math geek.
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