New Freebie RegulationsEarlier this month GPT site admins (Cash Duck, Deal Barbie Pays, Rock Hard Cash, Pocket Cash GPT, etc.) sent out PM's/emails announcing that there had been a rash of users doing freebies (particularly surveys) on one GPT site after the other. The message went on to say that this was considered fraud and would be taken very seriously. Anyone found to be doing this would have their account placed on hold or worse, completely deleted.
Needless to say, this had everybody scared. After all, how many of us really keep track of the surveys we do? I sure don't. Have I done surveys on all these sites? Yes. Did I intentionally try to commit fraud? No.
Surveys AffectedFurther PM's/emails came explaining that because of this, users would now be limited to doing one survey from these "survey families" per week. The surveys affected were:
Big Buck Surveys
Consumer Beat
Consumer Expressions
Survey Network
Winning Surveys
So fine, if those are the rules those are the rules. Still, many users were confused as to which surveys they could do, waiting times, etc.
Affected Surveys Marked
Then came the PM from Cristina, the Deal Barbie Pays admin, explaining that she had marked the affected surveys so that they would be easily recognizable by the users. All other freebies/surveys could be done without spacing them out by a week. She was the first to do so - but the other site admins quickly followed suit.
Mass ReversalsWell today, there are new PM's announcing that there will be reversals. Massive reversals. Kira, the site admin of Cash Duck even went as far as to say that they were coming faster than she could keep up with and that they were in the thousands. Here's more:
You can bet that the advertisers are PISSED. Things that piss them off: doing the same survey more than once on different sites, using false information such as fake names, addresses, phone numbers, and using garbage emails that bounce. Hopefully the freebie restrictions will keep the same thing from happening next month, because this is BAD.
-Cash Duck Blog
Of course this sucks, because everyone knows that payday is just around the corner and now noone is sure how much their payouts are going to be affected. I took a quick glance at my Cash Duck account and saw only small amounts reversed so far, but I know it could get worse. I have 100+ referrals in my downline (70+ are Level 1 referrals) so who knows how much I'll end up losing.
No Reversals on Deal Barbie PaysHowever I did notice something interesting on the Deal Barbie Pays site. Here's the PM from my inbox:
Some of you may have seen some freebies reversals. I have decided not to reverse the rest. I don't feel that you or myself has done anything wrong. I am not going to punish my members for something that I do not agree with. Please be assured ALL of the offers with these issues were pulled several days ago. So you can continue to complete offers on DBP without worry of uncalled for reversals in the long run.
-Christina
Christina from Deal Barbie Pays seems to be on top of this freebie ordeal and doing her best to put her members at ease by pointing out the high-paying freebies, promoting contests and refusing to do any reversals. I'm sure that her members will be more likely to stay loyal to her site. Members on other sites seem to be confused and holding off on doing any offers until they (and the site admins) know more.
So we'll see. I'll keep you informed if I see any reversals on my accounts and feel free to post your own. I'd love to know how widespread this is and how this is going to affect the GPT world in the future.
Labels: freebies, gpt sites, reversals, surveys
