Colleen Dalzell, at 1:27pm 3rd Feb 2010, wrote:

This must be one of the worst sites i have ever been a member of,they often want you to do a 20 or 30 min survey for 10p. The only good thing i have to say about them is i won £100 in one of the prize draws last year.

justine kramer, at 3:33pm 3rd Feb 2010, wrote:

hi

i am a member of ciao and i agree with colleen,i have done some surveys for them and that has been for about 30 mins for 10p and whenever theres a survey for £1 or so i start doing it and halfway through it says they have enough people so i cant be bothered to do them anymore

Gary Brooks, at 4:20pm 3rd Feb 2010, wrote:

I have been a member of CAIO for about 9 months and find that the more 10p surveys I complete the more higher paid surveys I seem to get. I have had a number of payments from them ok it takes a few weeks to come through but they have paid. So far i haven't had a problem with CAIO and hope that this continues.

Kate Gilbert, at 5:21pm 3rd Feb 2010, wrote:

I totally agree, I never do the ones which offer 10p but when I manage to get 'through' to ones offering £1 or more, I complete the survey and on the final page I always get the message

Connection : close Cache-Control : no-cache Pragma: no - cache

When I click on again to the survey, I get the message that I have completed the survey. When I click onto my account, I only ever get an entry into the 'prize draw'. Have been a member since 2007 and used to get good payouts over £30 a time. Wonder if they are doing this deliberately to save paying out money.

They are not the only ones doing this, I had £47 pounds owing (needed £50) at New Vista and they found a way to cancel my membership by saying that I had either completed a survey too quickly or had made a mistake.

Be careful, some of the small payers for a few minutes are the best.

Kate

Lilija Filipova, at 9:00pm 3rd Feb 2010, wrote:

i had problems with them too over several months, but finally there is no rewards oustanding. to get to this point i had to write too many emails/complaints. they usually send you a message "please accept £1 reward as an apology"(i got same replies from them also when i simply comnplained about technical problems ar a survey worth 0.10p), but only received it as "manual payment" once. nevermind, i am just happy my older overdue rewards have been finally added to my account. i ve been complaining a lot to be honest to get there and even threatened them to complain/take action which was mainly bluffing lol. but some time ago they started adding points for surveys really quickly plus given me a £15 reward for participation in an online focus group(that was ages ago, and i wasnt holding my breath for it, so it was a pleasant surprise). i got an impression lately, that they are improving, not holding my breath though. and i must say i only take surveys for £1 and higher, and no longer than 20 mins...ust in case

George Davison, at 10:51pm 3rd Feb 2010, wrote:

Im glad i am not alone here with Ciao, but how many of you are aware that Ciao and Toluna are conected. And, has anyone who is a member of toluna noticed that the points redemption for a £10 or £12 voucher (depending on company has increased from 60000 points to 80000 for a £15 voucher. To me 20000 points was worth £4, now due to the increase the extra 20000 points is only worth £3. The points value is certainly coming down, just like the monetry value of ciao surveys. Also it is very noticable that toluna surveys are coming through for less points but time to complete has increased and is now on a par with ciao. Is this a coincidence.

I dont know who the other company thats in with Ciao and Toluna, but i would like to know.

Incidently, once i receive my £15 voucher from Toluna i will unsubscribe from them also.

kate Gilbert says that she had trouble with Newvista canceling her membership when on £47, if you read their blog, you should see how many complaints there are for the same reason, and another reason they give is accusing the member of unsubscribing. Who is going to resign when only a pound or two short of a £50 payout. does not make sense.

I think Kate is right, they do this on purpose to avoid paying out.

Sites such as YSP are far better payers. Average 25p for 3 minutes work, you can not complain about that.

Any good recommended sites to pass on.

justine kramer, at 8:06am 4th Feb 2010, wrote:

hi george,the surveys i do "are your say payes" "consumer pulse""rewarded opinions""valued opinions"toluna and one poll oh and also you gov and my voice hope this helps

George Davison, at 9:38am 4th Feb 2010, wrote:

Thanks Justine, I do the same companies as you and i am more than happy with the surveys and payments.

I used to do GLOBAL TEST MARKET but got fed up of all the "sweepstakes" surveys.

ITS YOUR VIEW, but lack of surveys and trouble getting paid made me stop

SURVEYHEAD, a lot of times you did the survey but never got paid. I also think that Surveyhead and Palm Research are the same company.

CIAO and TOLUNA, ciao i ended yesterday and toluna i will end as soon as my voucher comes through.

Here is a list of other survey companies that friends of mine highly recommend.

LIGHTSPEED

PANELBASE

JUST THE ANSWER

RESPONCE PANEL

REWARDED OPINIONS

Richard - YSP Admin, at 10:31am 4th Feb 2010, wrote:

Wow, I'm amazed at the audacity of canceling someones account just before they hit the payout threshold... that is deceitful! Not to mention downright unfair.

I feel like i should do something about it - but i can't :( Alas it'll never happen here!

sharon thoburn, at 10:40am 4th Feb 2010, wrote:

i have noticed with Ciao that the surveys are getting longer & payments less too! i asked for my £5 to be paid then they said that I hadnt set up my pay pal account quick enough to pay it into! i sent various e-mails & they didnt even have the decency to reply! answering the question of who else they are involved with, it is a company called greenfield but this is just as bad as they get you half way through the survey, then screen you out! A good company who i have signed up with recently is Pinecone Research, only drawback is that you are only invited to fill in a survey about once a month, the good thing is it never takes more than 10 mins to complete & your reward is a luncheon voucher booklet for £3 which is sent to you through the post (only takes a couple of days to arrive after completing the survey) where you can spend at loads of places including "Greggs" which is handy to get them weekend stotties for your bacon sanwhiches LOL!or you can opt to have the cash paid into a Paypal account. Quite hard to make yourself a member as they must be so popular & have a lot of members, so only take so many people on at a time, but keep trying, its worth it!

Mrs S Taylor, at 11:18am 4th Feb 2010, wrote:

I have also had problems with the close cache control message at the end of surveys with Ciao. I queried this & was told it was a security problem & to lower the security on my computer. They also suggested switching off my antivirus & firewall! No way! I was using IE 8, & Windows 7 but am now doing Ciao surveys using Mozilla Firefox & this seems to have solved the problem.

I do some of the shorter 10p surveys, but not the 30 minutes ones. I have just got to the minimum cashout for the 2nd time in 12 months. Last time it took them 2 months to pay out via paypal.

Alicia Holt, at 11:53am 4th Feb 2010, wrote:

Although I am a member of Ciao, it all seemed to change a while ago and after that I hardly ever received any invites to surveys. Toluna however have been a member of for quite a while ans have had several vouchers off them, however this time I ordered one on 29th November and still havent received it.... I was told that they are waiting delivery of the vouchers.....so I had saved up enough points for another, I looked on the site and decided to order an amazon e voucher thinking this would be quicker...after ordering I looked and the estimated delivery time is 2 months...plus I only got £12 for my points instead of the £15 I would have got had I opted for the paper voucher, so a loss all round.....It would almost be quicker to walk to wherever they get their vouchers from and deliver them personally lmao

George Davison, at 12:31pm 4th Feb 2010, wrote:

Thankyou to Sharon Thoburn for posting the third named survey company that go with CIAO and Toluna, it is GREENFEILD. There is definately a pattern in the length and rewards of their surveys, getting paid for the surveys or rather not getting paid.

My answer is they are not worth bothering with and wasting your opinions on.

Stick with good old british companies, at least they seem to have morals.

You would think with the power of the internet that they would play fair with us, but like a lot of companies they do not listen. Their Loss.

pauline davies, at 5:54pm 4th Feb 2010, wrote:

thanks everyone for all this good info i have been thinking just the same thing about ciao I've got £12 with them and now i think I will sick with British companies thanks again

Diane, at 8:23pm 5th Feb 2010, wrote:

If you follow this link you'll see that Greenfield and Ciao are part of the Toluna group of companies - I think this is a recent thing as Toluna US website say that they've just joined up with Greenfield. Best to stop doing surveys for all 3 and try to get your money vouchers. How many millions of us have been stitched up by them?

http://www.greenfield-ciaosurveys.com/html/home.htm

liz chandler, at 10:07pm 5th Feb 2010, wrote:

I have done quite a few surveys with Ciao, checked my account summary the other day, and its says balance £0.00! Cannot understand it! Have now unsubscribed.

Dick Cummings, at 1:40am 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

I know the feeling I am just trying to get enough to cash in and then I will be unsubscribing along with a lot of other folks.

julie collins, at 7:33am 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

julie i have the same problem with ciao and new vista up to £42 told one more mistake and account cancelled why would you make a mistake when trying to earn a little money

Michael Filak, at 8:42am 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

Ciao surveys been on a downward trend over the past year possibly longer, a short list of respectable sites (UK) include; Lightspeed consumer panel / Surveyhead / Response panel / Rewarded Opinions / YSP / Opinion World / You Gov / One Poll / Global Test Market / Harris Poll Online / GFK web and media / TNS online +... and more! I personally prefer Opinion World, One Poll, You Gov, Harris Poll, Survey Head and GFK overall, they all usually offer surveys on varied subjects, oh and always pay out the incentives in good time.

John Murdoch, at 11:02am 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

I've been with Ciao for ages. I have done no end of surveys. I have got 'points'. I have thousands. I now learn that they are worth about £10. This is a complete waste of my time and effort. A lot of work for very little reward. I'm glad to hear other people have the same experience as me. Most surveys on line give you at least £1 per survey, if not more, depending on the time it takes.

Jason, at 12:12pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

I packed in ciao last july due to earned rewards not being paid. Throughout the previous 24 months i had earned £127.50. Eventually when i decided to claim my rewards prior to going on holiday, i was told that non of my surveys had been authenticated so i could not claim, yet i said that them at ciao place the money in your account on verification and not before. I was told that was not the case and that i would have to wait for confirmation before i could claim. 6 months later still no rewards and now ciao saying they have no record of my membership. How can these companies get away with such disgraceful practices.

Maverell, at 1:15pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

I also have given up with Ciao - I was fed up doing a survey for 10p that took about 30 - 40 minutes, and the same as another person here, when I got into a well paid survey it always failed at some stage, sometimes right at the end.

colin palmerton, at 1:21pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

Agree with all the negatives mentioned.

Don't tihnk I am xenophobic but it is a fact that only the British survey companies seem honest in their dealings with survey takers.

Won't go through all the names except to mention Greenfield and all its subsiduaries.

I suspect they all hide behind the fact that they cannot be prosecuted under our laws, which is a shame. The best we can do is boycott them.

Jimmy Gallagher, at 1:30pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

Boy am i glad i had a survey to do with YSP this morning or i would not have seen these comments about ciao.

When it comes to doing surveys i am a virtual virgin and only deal with YSP, Onepoll and Valued Opinions. I was thinking of expanding and trying one or two other firms and ciao was one of those i was about to try. You out there have saved me the trouble and time consuming filling in the application forms.

Thanks to all have voiced their anger at ciao.

john gettins, at 1:40pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

a lot of people having problems with getting paid out a good site for you to use is www.surveypolice.com its free to register and you can do loads vote for best sites,complain about surveys companies and they have a list of good and bad survey providers,hope this is help full

Chrissie, at 1:55pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

Oh absolutely! I've been a member of ciao for 5 years and I used to be very active and loyal indeed. It's a good site Ciao expect loads of work effort time and commitment both in their surveys and written opinions/reviews which is fair enough - IF you are awarded fair compensation.. but the truth is Ciao have "their favourites." in particular those who write electronic or high end/cost consumer reviews.

I also think that they pass you by if you're unemployed or on a low income. There are far too few survey opportunities if you don't work and below a certain living income.- which I believe is truly unfair and prejudiced.

It really is a racket as they never pay you what you're really worth. I've fallen foul to several survey opportuunities promising good rewards that have simply not materilaised or I've been phased out.

U-gov, Lightspeed resaerch and GPK are the top ones that reward you fairly pay consistently and are seldom phased out.

Karen Louise Maccabe, at 2:18pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

I fell foul of ciao months ago and recommend that everyone should withdraw their support for them. At least 6 times they have said they have sent my money earned and 6 times i have not received it. I have given up hope of ever getting my rewards.

Denise Bennett, at 3:45pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

I must be one of the lucky ones, I have been with Ciao for a couple of years and they have always paid me OK, aalthough I do get mainly 10p surveys, and if they offer £1 or more, I always get halfway through then told I don't qualify. I just do the shorter 10p ones, thats safer.

Andrea M Harding, at 4:57pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

I am also currently having some difficulty with Ciao.

Because my personal postal address is correct, but had to change it the other day. But I can't seem to get into my side because it has like blocked it. I also cannot find anywhere to write to them to let them know about the situation. My honest opinion for this company is I think there is a technical area to this survey site. But did you know that Ciao is part of Toluna now!!

I found some cool new sites and Im enjoying them. Try

VALUED OPINIONS

QUICK REWARDS

IPSOS

OPINION WORLD

SYNOVATE SURVEY PANEL

GLOBALTESTMARKET

SURVEYHEAD

REWARD TV

Andrea M Harding, at 5:07pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT I GOT A 10 POUND VOUCHER FROM

VALUED OPINIONS AND A 10 POUND VOUCHER FROM IPSOS. I GAVE THE TESCO VOUCHER TO MY MUM TO HELP PAY TOWARDS THE SHOPPING AND I HAD SOME EXTRA VOUCHERS FROM TESCO ITSELF, BECAUSE I HAVE LOYALTY CARDS. WHICH CAME HANDY TODAY. BUT YOU KNOW THAT FEELING INSIDE YOU GET WHEN YOU KNOW YOU'VE HELPED SOMEONE IN THE END.IT MADE ME VERY GLAD. AS FOR MY DAD I GAVE HIM A WHS SMITH VOUCHER, COS, I KNOW THAT HE LIKES BOOKS. SO I'M HAPPY.

Tracy, at 6:07pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

I gave up them a long time ago. I was invited to surveys for roughly 25 mins for maybe 10p. I don't think so....

gabrielle, at 8:24pm 6th Feb 2010, wrote:

it wont even accept my post code tried every thing from caps to spaces i tried to contact them then says login and guess what your postcode doesnt exist so just gave up!!!

Lilija Filipova, at 12:47pm 7th Feb 2010, wrote:

yeah, i didnt mention that, im with ciao from 1st august 2009(just over 6 months) and i my total earnings so far is £42, and i recently requested 2 payments worth £25. i never had problems with pay outs. it normally takes 3 weeks for the funds to be added to my paypal, only once it taken 4 weeks to get a payment. so on awerage i earned £10/month- so far. i think ill stick with ciao for a while. i dont take 0.10 surveys, but only 15min ones for 50p to 1.00 and higher. i olny start filling 20min-surveys if they offer a reward £1 and higher. i started this strategy about 2-3 months ago and it seems like i spend less time and earn more!

just wanted to add that i am a member of Touluna too. they are a dishonest organization. but i think if you be patient for the first half year with them, then you'll start getting a regular 1 voucher per month. its the thing that in the very beginning, when you start taking surveys it takes a long time before they start adding points. around 1-3 months for some surveys, once you ordered a voucher it takes 2 months to gat a delivery date and 2-4 weeks after that to get the voucher delivered by any means. so, once you joined its a 5month wait for the first actual payout. but from taht point its about 1voucher/month providing you regularry fill surveys all the time.

toluna bribes its members! i noticed on several occasions all sort "coinsidences" like this one- there was a huge wave of complaints about 2 months ago about the value of surveys/points. those who complained the most "coinsidentally" won the great sweepstakes (some worth £75)the following month! i just think i ll complain a bit more in the future

Susie Main, at 3:30pm 7th Feb 2010, wrote:

I agree, Ciao and Valued Opinions are rubbish .. so is Opinion World in my opinion.

Liz Harrison, at 7:49pm 7th Feb 2010, wrote:

I found Ciao and a few other sites weren't exactly honest so just dumped them and now stick to the ones I know either screen you out quick or give you the reward they say. I'd been doing Lightspeed for years before I realised they even gave rewards, just because I enjoyed doing the surveys but I've quickly got a few vouchers which I like to use for either giving to the family or for buying those fancy bits(like Christmas crackers and such)or a luxury item as a treat. I've not been using this site for long but find it as enjoyable as Lightspeed, so I'm tending to ignore all the others now and just stick to these two. At least I know that they're always honest with me. Oh, I do use one other (forgotten the name) but that's only for occasional surveys were I get invited to compare things like insurance prices. As this is when my insurance is due it means I get to find a load of quotes and get a voucher for it so that's fun.Oh, and yes, Opinion World is a right pain! I love the idea of donating to charity, but if I really want to I can do that on a site like this anyway.

George Davison, at 10:40pm 7th Feb 2010, wrote:

It has astounded me as to how many of you out there have fallen foul to the same companies, just as it is amasing at the number of you who prefer certain companies and wax lyrical about them.

So what i have done over the past 24 hours is look at a lot of survey sites to see how they operate with regards to surveys and rewards. I have also looked on a lot of boards to see what feedback there is about all survey sites, and what i have come up with is a list of reputable survey companies whose reputations are very good for their reward values, their actual payments to panelists and the time before screening out

So here it is, and i think i will call it the YOUR SAY PAYS PANELISTS FAVOURED SURVEY COMPANIES

1, Your Say Pays

2, Valued Opinions

3, Onepoll

4, YouGov

5, Lightspeed

6, Consumer Pulse

7, Panelbase

8, Rewarded Opinions

9, Just The Answer

10, Responce Panel.

No doubt some of you could tinker with the list, but this only my opinion and taken feelings of those of you who have added to this posting. I reckon if we all stick to these companies we shall be a happy bunch and earning into the bargain.

Rosalind Brown, at 3:54pm 8th Feb 2010, wrote:

Hi YSP pals

Glad you brought up Ciao as I thought maybe it was just me. I have been with them since July 09 and although I have haven't had any problem with payouts I am getting fed up with the poor rewards on surveys as has already been mentioned. I have been onto moneyexpert which doesnt really recommend them for reason that rewards are so low. Glad found YSP as rewards are reasonable for what is required. Im on panels of onepoll, reward opinions and valued opinions, also panelbase, all these have been great as far as surveys go.

Rosalind Brown, at 5:29pm 8th Feb 2010, wrote:

Has anyone found with ciao that when you fill in a better paid survey that you dont get referred back to ciao site and end up not getting the reward and end up with just a prize draw entry. Ciao one this quite often to me.

Alan Davidson, at 12:03pm 9th Feb 2010, wrote:

I continually get surveys offering reasonable reward, but I have nevr qualified for one in 9 months. Then I get diverted to one of the mini surveys and then on to another offering 10p for anything up to a half hour long survey which I instantly delete. They don`t give up though as I keeep receiving invitations to the same surveys over and over again

Fiona Wright, at 2:49pm 9th Feb 2010, wrote:

I found pureprofile a great site as well, my favourites are about the same as everyone else's above. As for ciao, I never do the 10p ones, but have surprisingly enough found them better over the last year, maybe because of the ages of my kids???

Charles Lippa, at 9:38am 10th Feb 2010, wrote:

I note with interest all the comments and agree with most of you Ciao are the worst in the world everyone should dump them immediately.

I make most money as a member of Shop & Scan

it really is the easiest and most reliable way to earn.I average £6 per week paid in Argos or other mainstreet vouchers,and they have NEVER let me down on payment over 3 years now.

Rosalind Brown, at 3:28pm 10th Feb 2010, wrote:

charles that sounds interesting. is it specific website please

George Davison, at 6:41pm 10th Feb 2010, wrote:

Just looked at the Shop and Scan site Charles, but unfortunately it is by invite only. On the opening page it asks you for your invitation code. This to me says that your invite probably comes via doing surveys etc with another site. i also get the impression that these sites must be good honest firms as they do not just accept anyone without invitation. Good luck with the earnings and if you hear of them taking more panelists put it on a posting here for other YSP panelists to try it. Cheers

CRAIG REID, at 7:35am 12th Feb 2010, wrote:

CIAO IS THE WORST SURVEY SITE I HAVE EVER SIGNED UP TO!! THEY ARE ALWAYS SCAMMING PEOPLE WITH THE SORRY BUT THIS SURVEY IS FULL BUT YOU HAVE BEEN REWARDED A PRIZE DRAW ENTRY.

I CANCELED MY ACCOUNT WITH £10 IN BECAUSE THEY ARE JUST NOT WORTH THE HASSLE, THEY NEVER GET BACK TO YOU ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS, THEY ARE A DOWN RIGHT DISGRACE TO THE SURVEYING WORLD!!

I SAY GET RID OF THEM!!

carol-ann, at 9:57am 12th Feb 2010, wrote:

Well im with ciao and toluna.

i agree about the 10p surveys there a joke, ive even taken the time to complete it only to be told your profile doesnt fit what the employer wants!!! man that was annoying. I have about £4.50 with them when i got enough to cash in i will be cancelling.

I been with toluna for a couple of years had several vouchers, yes they put the rate up to 80,000, but the surveys are 500-10,000 each so doesnt take long to get there. they even gave me a foot spa for christmas. I ordered a voucher in november which im still waiting for, i been told they processed all the november vouchers, but i still not received mine so i contacted them and am waiting for a reply.

i like shopandscan or consumerpulse, ive been with them for 2-3 yrs and get loads of vouchers.

John Hyde, at 11:10am 12th Feb 2010, wrote:

I have found that Pinecone Research and Shopandscan are the best of the survey sites out there. I have been with both sites for a few years now and have always found them very supportive. Each pinecone survey is worth £4 and lasts for no more than 10 mins. Payment is either by voucher which invariably arrives in the post within 3 - 4 days and if payment by PayPal then payment is within 24 hours. On occasion I have received notification that payment made the same day. You also have the possibility of testing products occasionally for which you receive a further payment.

Like a previous reviewer I monitor my shopping activity on a weekly basis for Shopandscan, together with FoodontheGo and Petrolpanel.com which are all part of Shopandscan. I have now built up nearly £400 and will redeem for vouchers once I reach £500. These are simply the best and they are UK based..

Andrea M Harding, at 4:41pm 14th Feb 2010, wrote:

Hi there. Just letting you know that I found 2 new survey companies and which are diffenately paying,

The fist on is called WORLD WINNER and you can find this an Inbox Dollars. WORLD WINNER is not actually a survey site, but where one plays games and gets paid just for playing games. They do ask for a deposit though, but once you reach a good level then you get a life time membership. I paid in $10.00's and got an extra $10.00 for just registering. Which gave me a total of $20.00. So far I am impressed with this side! The rewards are also very good. Check it out!!

2nd one is called Opinion Bar. Had a good look at that site and I like the lay out and I think it is part of the Opinion group. If there is anu new ones I'll let you know, but I shall check it out first before I give false hopes. Then I'll let you know!!

Blessings!!

andrea robinson, at 7:56pm 14th Feb 2010, wrote:

i used to use ciao but gave up on them they were a complete waste of time

Rosalind Brown, at 8:19pm 14th Feb 2010, wrote:

i had a run of decent paid surveys with them at 1 and 2 pound. now ciao back to usual 10p rubbish.