Vindale Research is an online market research company that allows it’s members to earn extra cash in a variety of ways. These days consumer data is a massive business with both large and small firms paying top dollar for any information that could give them a competitive edge.
Online Survey companies provide a massive database for these companies to mine from. They build up these databases by providing their members with a variety of perks or cash payouts for each survey they complete.
In this seeming win-win-win situation Vindale research gets paid for sorting and maintaining a massive database of shoppers, you can earn extra money in exchange for sharing your demographics and spending preferences, and the company funding the research can improve their product through feedback.
How Does Vindale Research Work?
After you sign-up for Vindale you will have to fill out information about yourself, this let’s the company categorize you and serve you with the best fitted surveys.
Vindale claims to have the highest paying surveys in the industry along with a large frequency of surveys. They are also leading the way in tech by allowing you to participate in surveys on a variety of devices.
If you do get selected for a survey and successfully complete it you will be able to claim your cash reward through either a check or Paypal.
Vindale also makes a big distinction between them and their competitors by stipulating that their surveys are worth real cash. Many survey companies compensate their users with points that can later be redeemed for cash or prizes.
In many cases this can turn into an exploitative situation where the company may change the requirements needed to cash out or users simply give up because of the shear amount of points necessary to reach the payout level.
However Vindale claims to have a simple to use payout center where you can earn real money quickly and easily.
Their surveys cover a wide variety of topics including everything from vehicles to health & beauty products.
Ways to Earn?
In addition to participating in paid online surveys Vindale Research lets you earn through additional avenues.
You can get paid for:
- Referring a Friend
- Finding reward codes through their community blog
- Submitting photos of your payments
- Reading emails
- Watching advertisements
Through all these different methods Vindale claims to have paid out over 5 million dollars in cash.
Keep in mind that by opening up yourself to these additional streams you will be subject to offers and ads that will be pitching you products that cost money.
Customer Service:
If you have any issues with your account, getting credited for surveys, or problems with payments you can reach someone at 1-855-VINDALE (846-3253) or by email at [email protected]. If you have technical issues you can also submit a support ticket through their website.
Keep in mind that you are only eligible for payouts once you have accumulated $50 in your account and payments may take up to 3 weeks to process.
Online Reviews/Complaints:
A lot of survey sites generate many complaints for a variety of reasons. Some of the most common are a lack of surveys, not being able to reach payout, or not qualifying for surveys.
In many cases these may be legitimate gripes and in others people are expecting too much from this opportunity. Remember doing online surveys is a fun way to make a little bit of money in your spare time – it should not be looked at as an income stream.
Often times companies are looking for a very narrow range of people to participate in their studies. These demands can get very specific; ie customers who buy product A 2-3 times per week, have never used product B and have seen an ad for product C.
Survey companies then send out generic questionnaires to their users to see if they can provide people who qualify for the study. This means many times you will not qualify for the survey even though you answered some preliminary questions.
Competitors and Alternatives:
If you are interested in surveys there are a variety of online survey companies for you to check out. Some other big names include Swagbucks and MySurvey.
You can also look into finding local marketing companies that run focus groups. These are generally more involved but end up paying much better.
To date I have over $400 in charges because these "trial survey offers" do not allow cancellation in writing (which I believe is against the law); they expect you to call them to cancel. If you cancel right around the time for the next charge to appear on your credit card, they charge you for the following billing term as well. For Instance a company called "Critic's Choice". There are several of these company names out there, so make sure you get the correct one. They tell you not only if you do not cancel within the allotted period of time that you will also be added to their affiliate; which is another company and you will also be charged so much per month for the added affiliate, in this case I believe it may be "Network Agenda". Neither one of these companies would I ever use for anything in my personal life, but do not send them an email to cancel and heaven forbid if their phone number is not on your credit card bill.
Some of the companies I have tried to reach to cancel, they put you on hold, forever.......as if you are a forgotten entity waiting to cancel something you cannot afford. Do you remember the reason you began taking these online surveys? To make some extra money from home, but the minute you begin you need to keep a running agenda of what survey you just took, which part you completed, did you give them a credit card to charge your initial charge to and if you did, read the part about terminating your trial period. If they say that you "MUST CALL" they do not look at their email; do don't read messages that you leave for them to cancel your trial...you have to call and make contact. As it stands right now, I stand to lose over $400 because I did not read the fine print closely enough. Although I do believe I think that I am protected by the three day cancellation clause and I do intend to put the Better Business of the people who are absolutely not going to give me an inch off of the money they just took away without any authorization whatsoever. Thank you. Good Luck and be very very careful. I have found that PandaResearch.com is exactly the same way as well.