Saturday, December 15, 2012

National Consumer Panel : Your Voice - NO Reward

About two years ago during the height of the Extreme Couponing frenzy, my family and I decided to try out one of the many links that were sent to our inbox regarding "Freebies," a chance to join the National Consumer Panel operated by Nielsen.
I have had previous experience with Nielsen, as they are the ones that used to send cash to your mailbox in order to fill out surveys, test products and review television programs and viewing habits. They were a good company and the money was decent up until the last batch of television books I returned to them and after all of that time and energy spent collecting month after month of television viewing data, I never received the $100 as promised for the combined five booklets I had sent in. In fact, I never received a dollar. But that was years ago, and this is a different program so I figured I would give it a shot.
A little background. Once approved, they send you a little handheld scanner that you scan the bar codes of every single shopping trip that you and your household compile over a weeks' time. It goes by store, sale, discount, coupons used, they also give you a booklet to scan things that might not have a UPC on them, such as fruits, snacks, nuts, fast food and DVD rentals. You simply scan this information, totals and put the scanner back on its' base, which transmits data intermittently through the week. This gives you "points" that you can in time, redeem for "gifts." The amount of points per weekly scan increase the longer you are there, usually in yearly increments. There are also surveys sent to your inbox that usually give you up to 150 gift "points" if you complete them before the deadlines presented in the email, which is usually ample time.
I was a full participant in this panel for nearly a year and a half. At the 90 day anniversary I received a plastic bottle opener worth about a quarter. At the six month anniversary, I received a NCP lunch bag that has a value of about fifty cents. When I came upon the year anniversary, there was no reward at all. That's when I started taking a closer look and exactly what is going on here.
My points weren't accumulating toward much of a "gift" value at all! After a year of this, I was approaching the 30,000 point plateau and had absolutely nothing to show for it other than two things sent to me that were worth about one dollar. I see these posts on the internet regarding "cash for surveys" via this NCP program. I can tell you that they are completely inaccurate. I never received nor was offered one dollar for a survey, a scan, nothing. What these are when you see them online, are glorified "referral" links so that if you do join, the person that sent you to the NCP program to sign up, gets 1500 gift points credited to their account - you get nothing. They tried to give "better rewards and sweepstakes" but the reality is those winners are geared in the upper mid west, where there is a dense population and multiple households scanning themselves crazy.
Also, worse than the lack of a reward for scanning every purchase you make daily and weekly, was the use of the data. Over time I noticed that retailers stopped running the very sales that I had entered into my scanner weekly, stopped distributing the coupons i had used during those shopping trips, and even increased the prices in many cases of things that I purchased most often!! This happened in more than one retail outlet in my area I can assure you. So the eyebrows and awareness were indeed raised on that "voice" or use of data.
This week I ordered my Buffett Server from their "gift" catalog for 38,000 points. You can get this same item in Sams Club or Wal Mart for under $25. About 75-100 weeks of data, misuse of the information received, hours spent scanning to ensure accuracy per the inate amount of emails and newsletters reminding you to "scan everything!," I have decided it is no longer worth the time, effort, reward and effects it is having on my shopping trips on a weekly basis, it just isn't. If you break it down , the reward per week is about twenty-five cents. That's right, a quarter a week for them to take your data, let the retailers use it against you, and give you a very, very minimal return.
So the NCP glorifies "Your Voice, Your Reward" as their motto. I can tell you from first hand experience that the reward isn't worth the time and your voice will be used against you the next time you hit the store looking for that deal you got three months ago. It won't be there. Just like I don't advise anyone signing up for this Nielson National Consumer Panel offering at all.

10 comments:

  1. I agree with what you said. I decided tonight to stop giving them my data for free. Screw 'em. If they want their damn scanner back, they can come and get it. What a complete waste of time this has been for me.

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  2. Just received the invite and am glad I saw your blog first. Thanks for saving me hours of wasted time!

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  3. I actually just got my scanner today. And now after reading your blog, and other websites, I'm not even going to start with it. Thanks for saving me tons of time.

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  4. I was a member for about 28 months, but had a hardware issue (either the base wasn't charging the scanner or the scanner wasn't holding a charge) that prevented me from scanning. I called support and everything seemed good - they were going to send me a replacement set and I would return the defectives in the same box with a supplied shipping label. A few weeks go by and I receive an email and phone calls asking about why I haven't sent my weekly scans, so I call support again and the next person I talk to said they will note on my account not to email or call for a short time because I am still awaiting replacement items to even be able to scan. Another few weeks and still no replacements, and suddenly I get an email saying I was being removed from the program for not submitting data. I call support and find out that the original support order got cancelled in their system somehow and now they cannot put a new one in because the system says I am no longer a member, lol. After a few phone calls trying to get it straightened out, I give up and just tell them to send me a box to return the defective equipment in and I will not rejoin the program. Over the span of 28 months, I had built up 90,000 points that I did get to redeem after the equipment was received from me - I opted for a Kindle WiFi which sells on Amazon for $79 when in stock. I am disappointed in their lack of support for a longer term member, but it doesn't surprise me since the longer you are a member the higher the weekly scans net you in reward points.

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  5. I got a call from them stating I had 4 days to send a transmission or I was off the panel. 2 days later I got a letter in the mail informing me I was no longer a member. Boy, that sure was a short 4 days!! They want their stuff back... they can have it!! when I get arourd to sending it! They couldn't give me the 4 days they promised, now they can wait!!

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  6. I've been a member for a couple years and did get enough points to get a $115 vacuum cleaner. What I do hate is their online surveys. They send CONSTANT reminders that you haven't taken them yet. I have 10 pending surveys and every 2 days each survey sends you a reminder that you haven't taken it yet. You get 150 points to take a survey, thats worth about 15 cents. Surveys take anywhere from 90 seconds to 15 minutes to complete. Not worth my time.

    The best thing I like about it is the 25% AT&T discount for being a member. On a $145 bill, it knocks off close to $30/mo. (some fees don't get a discount)


    So I spend maybe 20 minutes a month scanning stuff and get a $30 discount.

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  7. This program may not be the best deal, but much of the info. in this post is inaccurate. I've been a member for many years. No "cash for surveys" is ever promised, and no rewards are promised other than by redemption of the points earned for scanning purchases and completing surveys. The rewards available are usually worth about $1 per 1,000 points. I've converted them to cash by redeeming points and then selling the items on Craigslist for nearly full retail. Also, the idea that the data are used by specific retailers where your household shops in order to discontinue the sales or coupons you have reported is pure paranoia. Of course the data are used for market research, but sales and coupons don't continue indefinitely, and there's no reason to think that because you buy something on sale and report it to APC, the store will respond by ending the sale! Makes no sense.

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  8. I have to say that I agree with Aerin_S. I have been a member of this panel for 10 years and I think it's great! It has no monetary cost to me. It only costs me some time. I tend to save my points for big ticket items sonit's like I'm getting the item for the cost of some of my time. I take the surveys when I feel like taking them. I used my points to buy a TV with a did player on it last year and, if I recall correctly, it cost 96,000 points. The 25% AT&T discount off of my $200 monthly bill is absolutely fabulous so when I weigh some of my time against what I'm saying on my bill, it makes it worth it for me to remain an active member. I was also one of the people that tested the app when they were piloting it and I love it. It's much better than the scanner and makes the process go much faster. Sometimes, I scan my items while I'm shopping and when I checkout, I enter the total and voila, im done. Finally, I certainly don't believe that our data is causing sales and coupons to stop and prices to increase. That's seems ridiculous!

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  9. The companies are using your data to create a demand curve with each consumer's willingness to pay for a specific item. As a result, the companies may increase/decrease prices in an attempt to maximize their profits. Promotions are used to help determine price elasticity for a particular item (how a change in price affects the quantity sold), which allows companies to better estimate a demand curve.

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  10. Just received a check for over $500.

    Sometimes people don't believe me when I tell them about how much money you can earn filling out paid surveys online...

    So I took a video of myself actually getting paid $500 for filling paid surveys.

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