The term "scam" is probably bandied about too often and has very damaging consequences for entire industries such as this one. There are many credible online market research companies and thousands of honest people who are supplementing or making an income undertaking paid surveys.

Having said that there are many reviewers/affiliates and Paid Membership sites that go to extremes in advertising to make a sale. Some of the claims are close to outright lies, some of the testimonials are questionable at best.

As a consumer use your rights; investigate, request information, utilise the contact us details and if necessary get the refund you were promised if you are dissatisfied.

Try to get some truly independent information about any company you are considering paying for a service. If you do a search on Google, Yahoo or the like - look for content matches rather than the paid advertisement links. Seek out forums and ask for opinions.

Contact the company via their contact us link and ask some questions. let them know you are considering joing and ask how you should go about getting a refund should you choose to BEFORE you join. Is the contact information valid? Have you received a response to your queries within a day or two?

If you have any doubts about any company online we suggest you take a look at the following websites and do some searches.

Better Business Bureau - http://search.bbb.org/
Is just an outstanding resource for all consumers. As an example the following information was found with regard to a popularly promoted Survey Membership Site just moments ago...

"
BBB rating ; UNSATISFACTORY

Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to 17 unanswered complaints, 2 unresolved complaints and its failure to substantiate or modify advertising claims.

The BBB contacted the company with the following
advertising concerns:

- Income Claims
- Testimonials
- 60 day risk free trials
- Their email address

The company did not respond to the BBB's requests for substantiation. The BBB suggests consumers obtain pertinent information prior to conducting business.


The Bureau processed a total of 594 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total 594 complaints closed in the last 36 months, 428 were closed in the last 12 months.

These complaints concerned:
38 regarding

68 regarding Advertising Issues

1 regarding Billing or Collection Issues

7 regarding Customer Services Issues

7 regarding Delivery Issues

156 regarding Guarantee Or Warranty Issues

7 regarding Product Issues

278 regarding Refund Or Exchange Issues

17 regarding Selling Practices

15 regarding Service Issues

These complaints were closed as:
17 No Response
6 No Response
1 No Response
10 Company failed to respond to the BBB or to the consumer to resolve the issues.

575 Resolved
124 Resolved
31 Resolved
248 Company resolved the complaint issues. The consumer acknowledged acceptance to the BBB.
45 Assumed Resolved
111 Company resolved the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to the BBB.
1 Administratively Judged Resolved
3 BBB determined the company made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues, but the consumer did not accept the offer.
12 BBB determined that despite the company's effort to address complaint issues, the consumer remained dissatisfied.

2 Unresolved
1 Unresolved
1 Company failed to resolve the complaint issues through the BBB voluntary and self-regulatory process. "

Interesting isn't it?

You may also want to check:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/default.asp

Please note that we provide information about this site in trust that you will view the information contained for what it is - a disgruntled individual's opinion and take that into account when making your decision. However, if you see repeated reports about a company its always advisable to steer clear - "Where there's smoke; there's fire"

Please contact ripoffreport.com or the Better Business Bureau as opposed to us if you feel you have been the victim of a scam.

If you are seeking a refund from a Survey Membership site within the timeframe that the money back guarantee specifies, try contacting the company in the first instance. State in yur email that you will allow 24 hours for a response before taking further action.

Check your credit card/paypal statement. Chances are it was Clickbank that received your payment. If you have had no joy from the Survey Membership site contact Clickbank directly. We have requested refunds directly from Clickbank via email with all the transaction details and received the amount in full within 24 hours. Clickbank is a reputable company and we have read unconfirmed reports that if enough refunds are requested Clickbank will start asking some serious questions of the merchant that has so many unhappy customers.

Here is the clickbank email address recently used to request a refund.
mnm@clickbank.com

Our advice? Read as many different Survey Articles and Reviews as you can. Check out as many different websites as you can and attempt to contact the reviewers, hosts etc and ask questions, ask about kickbacks and affiliate status. Write down the free to join companies and investigate them as well. Use the BBB and ripoffreport. Look for advice in forums and your decisions will be informed.