Beware MyPoints

[forHISglory]

I have worked with MyPoints for quite a while. I have earned some very nice gift cards, and in general I have enjoyed the experience. But..... I had a recent experience that I wanted to warn you about.

I received a survey form last week; the kind that says if I qualify, I can earn 50 points, and if not, I earn 10 points. It plunged me into the survey from the beginning, instead of asking the qualifier demographic questions. It was a political survey, and VERY detailed. It took me about 25 minutes to complete. When I was finished, it then asked me for my demographics, and then informed me that I didn't fit their demographic needs, so I was disqualified. That meant that I did not get the 50 points.

I felt that it was very unethical to run a survey in this manner as the company got all of my comments and opinions, but didn't have to pay for them. I contacted MyPoints, and they only said they would look into the matter. I seriously doubt that they do.

I had one other survey problem with them earlier. One survey company that used them must have been foreign, as their grammar was all scrambled, and some of the questions made no sense at all. For some, there were no possible answers. Or they would do things like ask "Do you have children in your home? Yes or NO" I would answer NO, and the next question was "What are the ages of your children in the home?" Huh???? I pointed out that problem to MyPoints, also, and again got a standard reply that they would look into it. Again, I don't think they ever did.

So in summary, MyPoints does pay honestly in gift cards, but the surveys warrant a wary eye.

[knitnmom]

Thanks for the heads-up. I usually just skip all the surveys, now I'm glad I did!

[Ceashels]

I've noticed this on many of their surveys over the past four to five months. I've also noticed many more emails that get you points only if you accept the offers or register at the site, not for just visiting the page.

My points are racking up more slowly since I am more selective with what I survey and look at but in the end, I still come out a little ahead of the game. I was able to receive two - $25 gift cards this year for gifts.

[Neeley]

I'm another who never does their surveys. But, I do use them for shopping, if I don't use Ebates or Swagbucks.

[forHISglory]

I taught journalism for many years and worked in publishing the school paper and yearbook. So I know the ethics of polling. MyPoints violated all ethical rules here. I've decided to not do the surveys anymore, as I can earn points faster by just clicking through.

[many houseapes]

Thanks for letting us know....personally, I hate the surveys.lol

[mauimagic]

Mahalo for the warning!!

[Telephus44]

I've done MyPoints for years. They aren't actually running the surveys themselves, they are just getting compensation for directing you to another site that does run the surveys. I've stopped doing them because I rarely qualify.

I used to do a lot of different survey sites, and I have found that lately all they do is bounce you back and forth - you sign up with one site, but they just re-direct you to a "partner" site - kind of annoying. I've scaled back in recent years, and limited the number of surveys I actually do.

I've always had pretty fair luck with MyPoints. This year I got a $50 Amazon GC and almost had enough for a second.

[josantoro]

Here is a tip - to disqualify yourself from all MP surveys, say you are 85 years old, live outside of any countries they have for you to pick from, and answer "prefer not to answer" to as many questions as possible, works like a charm - get your 10 points and don't be bothered with their stupid underpaid surveys.

I do surveys for E-rewards, Synovate, VAlued Opinions, and Mysurvey as well as on Mturk. They pay much better.

[Ceashels]

lol at josantoro... I just started disqualifying myself this past week.

[ncarr]

I had a similar experience with a makeup survey on mypoints this week. i spent about ten minutes answering questions about makeup and THEN they said I don't qualify. Weird.

[AmyBoz]

I love MyPoints, but I never do the surveys. It couldn't be easier to just click on an email and get some points, but I don't have time to do the surveys...glad now that I've read your email.

[lll]

Inbox dollars does the same thing on surveys, I stopped doing them all together. I usually disqualify myself from the surveys to get 10 points. I also, like the others, noticed more e-mails that you have to buy to get points.

[chris w]

I skip the surveys.

[pinetree]

I don't do the surveys either, but was thinking about starting to do some to pick up more points. I think I will just delete them after reading this, thanks for the info.