You know those websites your friends and family warn you about? The ones you spend time on reviewing products, answering questions, completing surveys? The ones that are usually scams? Maybe The Panel Station isn't one of them, maybe it is.
The Facts
I signed up for this after it came up as a recommended app on Google Play store. Their website states that they are operate in these countries:
Source: http://thepanelstation.com/za/about_us
At first there are a number of questionnaires - mostly personal information like your age, gender etc. You get to 1500 points quite easily. They also e-mail you when new surveys become available. Great! Right?
WRONG!!
Here are some of the e-mails I have received from them:
You can complete the surveys from the app on your phone or on your computer. The problem is that more often than not, you don't qualify for the survey.
In one case they wanted only vice presidents of companies with more than a million dollar turnover to do it. I don't want to sound negative, but which VP will waste his or her time on this. I have to mention that this is one of the better wastes of my time. At least they told me before the survey that I don't qualify.
In some of these cases, I immediately opened the e-mail and completed the entire survey only to be told at the end that they have already received enough responses. This is what appears:
WHY then did they let me complete the survey? Also, if this only happened once I would've understood. Twice is bad lack. But four or five times is unacceptable.
Maybe it's just bad luck. Maybe it's a programming error on their side. But one thing that is certain is that they should get their house in order. I won't be making use of them again.
Of cousre I gave them a one star rating on the Play store and saw that others were having the same issue.
I will continue doing the fortnightly survey on Streetbees which pays out directly into your Paypal account in a day.