Unable to do my usual job following foot surgery, I signed up with SurveyScout on 6/2/04.
In spite of the policy stated on their website — "None of the information that is collected by this web site is rented, sold, or shared with any 3rd parties at any time for any reason — except as required by law." — the disposable email address I supplied them immediately filled up daily with hundreds of solicitations. This is the first way Mark makes money off you.
And so it went for the next month. I spent 5-6 hours EVERY day cleaning out the junk mail and completing the very few, pathetic surveys that came through. There was never any money to compensate me for my time, just my "entry in sweepstakes" which, for all I know, don't exist. $34.95 for the virtually worthless data base is the second way Mark makes money off you.
On 7/2/04 I wrote: " Mark, I joined your survey database and have invested a great deal of time in this. I have some questions/concerns:
The offers that have been generatd are basically asking me to buy a lot of things I don't need... I can put up with continuing to spend many hours and enduring eyestrain IF I can believe that the "survey offers" will improve.
Does it ever get better, or do I just keep answering the same questions over and over — questions that only set me up for more junk mail and junk telephone calls?
Does it ever get any better, Mark? Please address my concerns."
In spite of the fact that he did not answer, like a fool I continued to work the thing for all it's worh. It wasn't worth much. One company did send a survey to me by postal mail that contained a $2. Bill. That was pretty exciting.
I looked at the calendar this morning and realized I am several days too late to ask for a refund. I held out hope too long, and probably worked this harder than anyone.
If it's not too late for you to qualify for the 90 day guarantee I would advise you to go directly to Citibank. I did that on another scam I fell for after the seller ignored my requests for refund. Citibank is forced to behave a little better because they are a BBB member. You'll hold their feet to the fire and get results before you'll get anywhere with a scam artist.
Best scenerio: don't get into this in the first place. I'd like to have all those wasted hours back.
My foot has improved and I'm now looking forward to finding a REAL job.
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