Nielsen ratings survey

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

marine65

Joined
Nov 27, 2014
Messages
806
Location
Denver
I got an envelope in the mail to take a Nielsen survey.
I opened it and it said we will pay you $2.00 cash to take the survey and send you $5.00 cash after you mail it in.

Inside the envelope were 2 crisp dollars bills. Score!
I filled it out and will mail it.
then they will send me $5 cash.Score!

And no i dont mind them having my name,address and phone number.
Anyone can find that out with a search engine real fast anyway.

I just want the $5.00! Score!
 
Now that you can retire, what will you do with all your free time?
lol.gif
 
Originally Posted by dishdude
Now that you can retire, what will you do with all your free time?
lol.gif



Watch T.V. and be ready for the next survey.
 
1. I got one of those last winter, filled it out, and mailed it in.
2. Promised $ not received.
3. Received another letter containing $1, stating they never received my response. Enclosed was another booklet to fill out, with promise to send $20 if I did.
4. Mailed in second survey booklet.
5. No $20 received.
6. Wrote to complain, months later.
7. Their spokesperson e-mailed that they had received both my responses, and would send the $20.
8. Still awaiting $20.
 
I keep getting these because I once filled one out saying I only watched antenna TV and had no pay services.

They completely ignored streaming video. They know who their paymasters are, and blindly ignore sea changes in the industry.

They asked six ways to sunday if there were any Spanish speakers in my household and if we watched any of Maine's fine Telemundo/ Univision over-the-air affiliates. Gonna need a bigger antenna.
Trolling.gif
 
An antenna guy told me there are plans readily available on the internet for a powered (9v battery) dipolar antenna made of foil. He said the bigger the better.
 
My parents went through this with Neilsen and they were asked to step up a notch and participate in the next level survey- more money that first round. It went fine, they paid promptly. Arbitron is a big employer near me and I think they have a similar process.
 
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
My parents went through this with Neilsen and they were asked to step up a notch and participate in the next level survey- more money that first round. It went fine, they paid promptly. Arbitron is a big employer near me and I think they have a similar process.


Arbitron was purchased by Neilsen in 2012. When the acquisition took place, they threw a big party and welcomed the Arbitron staff to their new family. A few months later in 2013, about 1000 employees were asked to go to various auditoriums and meeting rooms in the building... In one straight shot, they were released and told to leave the building. Over the next few months, another few hundred of the remaining Arbitron employees were let go.
 
Originally Posted by Kira
An antenna guy told me there are plans readily available on the internet for a powered (9v battery) dipolar antenna made of foil. He said the bigger the better.

Weird... well you could run a preamp with a 9V batter but I'm dubious it'd last long.

Real antennas are directive and need aiming. Omnis have their place but you're not going to pull stations out of the mud with one.

Not sure why I kept my TV antenna, we didn't use it before I took it down and I don't see that changing. Feels good to not throw things out I guess. I recall it being cheap though, like $30 cheap for a halfway decent many element beam. Think I bought the rotator for similar money (used). Hard part is getting it up high since I don't like heights--that's the other issue with antennas.
 
Originally Posted by marine65
I got an envelope in the mail to take a Nielsen survey.
I opened it and it said we will pay you $2.00 cash to take the survey and send you $5.00 cash after you mail it in.

Inside the envelope were 2 crisp dollars bills. Score!
I filled it out and will mail it.
then they will send me $5 cash.Score!


They got you now, lol. They will start sending more surveys needing more info. I did that survey a couple years ago. I think I got $30 on the larger one, but the survey was a pain in the rear. They sent you a booklet for each TV in the house and you had to fill out every show and time watched. Oh well, "easy" $30.
 
I got one about 15+ years ago. It was my TV watching habits. I don't recall the $2 on the initial envelope, but they did send me $5 in cash.

This was before DVR/etc....

I skewed the survey, as I didn't always have time to catch my favorite shows, but I sure as heck made sure to put them down that I watched them.


And I still do that today. We always record the shows we like, sometimes I will go turn another TV on in the house with that show on live, while we are watching another show recorded. Just my way of using their info-grabbing tools to submit my thoughts. I also make sure to change the channel when we turn the TV off if we leave the cable box on and it's not a channel I like or know the shows I don't care for will be airing later (i.e.: daytime TV, national news, etc.) If we leave the main room watching the local news at night and turn the TV off, I will change the channel to velocity or History or something other than the local channel that will air all that daytime TV garbage the next day.
 
Originally Posted by thooks


I skewed the survey, as I didn't always have time to catch my favorite shows, but I sure as heck made sure to put them down that I watched them.



The ad buyers know this and discount appropriately. Biggest offenders IIRC was late night shows like "Letterman".
 
Originally Posted by RayCJ
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
My parents went through this with Neilsen and they were asked to step up a notch and participate in the next level survey- more money that first round. It went fine, they paid promptly. Arbitron is a big employer near me and I think they have a similar process.


Arbitron was purchased by Neilsen in 2012. When the acquisition took place, they threw a big party and welcomed the Arbitron staff to their new family. A few months later in 2013, about 1000 employees were asked to go to various auditoriums and meeting rooms in the building... In one straight shot, they were released and told to leave the building. Over the next few months, another few hundred of the remaining Arbitron employees were let go.


Really ? [censored], I go by there all the time and did not notice, and I had a few ex coworkers that went to work for Arbitron. I will have to pay closer attention to their ex-HQ building.
 
Take your unsolicited gift of $2 and spend it. I would keep the money and laugh at those nitwits. If it were me the envelope would be tossed into the trash unopened because anything with less than a first class stamp on it goes right in the trash.
 
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
Originally Posted by RayCJ
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
My parents went through this with Neilsen and they were asked to step up a notch and participate in the next level survey- more money that first round. It went fine, they paid promptly. Arbitron is a big employer near me and I think they have a similar process.


Arbitron was purchased by Neilsen in 2012. When the acquisition took place, they threw a big party and welcomed the Arbitron staff to their new family. A few months later in 2013, about 1000 employees were asked to go to various auditoriums and meeting rooms in the building... In one straight shot, they were released and told to leave the building. Over the next few months, another few hundred of the remaining Arbitron employees were let go.


Really ? [censored], I go by there all the time and did not notice, and I had a few ex coworkers that went to work for Arbitron. I will have to pay closer attention to their ex-HQ building.


Yep Really... Of the company's 1500 employees in the US, only a couple hundred were retained. The big glass building on Patuxent Woods Dr was their property. I'm fairly certain Neilsen now owns/leases the building. The very few remaining employees in the area (mostly engineers) were relocated up the road on Gateway Dr. but according to the last reports of a few months ago, people were told their jobs were being relocated to the Neilsen HQ in Florida. Relocation packages were not being offered. Real upstanding company there...
 
This is just a beginning. Soon the crisp bills you are getting in the mails will start reducing and one day someone will knock on the door to tell you that you are chosen for TV surveys. We have been contacted several times but DW doesn't want their equipment in the house. She thinks its a listening device. I personally don't mind. I don't think its a listening device but they refuse to divulge details.

They also hook up this equipment to the TV by cutting some speaker wires and hooking equipment to it. I don't want to mess the TV for sure. Hence we refused the option but they just don't quit. They visit every few months.

Its not much money, won't even cover our monthly gas of $100 but I am like, any money is good money. Still, I understand where DW is coming from so sticking to her position.
 
Originally Posted by RayCJ
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
Originally Posted by RayCJ
Originally Posted by rubberchicken
My parents went through this with Neilsen and they were asked to step up a notch and participate in the next level survey- more money that first round. It went fine, they paid promptly. Arbitron is a big employer near me and I think they have a similar process.


Arbitron was purchased by Neilsen in 2012. When the acquisition took place, they threw a big party and welcomed the Arbitron staff to their new family. A few months later in 2013, about 1000 employees were asked to go to various auditoriums and meeting rooms in the building... In one straight shot, they were released and told to leave the building. Over the next few months, another few hundred of the remaining Arbitron employees were let go.


Really ? [censored], I go by there all the time and did not notice, and I had a few ex coworkers that went to work for Arbitron. I will have to pay closer attention to their ex-HQ building.


Yep Really... Of the company's 1500 employees in the US, only a couple hundred were retained. The big glass building on Patuxent Woods Dr was their property. I'm fairly certain Neilsen now owns/leases the building. The very few remaining employees in the area (mostly engineers) were relocated up the road on Gateway Dr. but according to the last reports of a few months ago, people were told their jobs were being relocated to the Neilsen HQ in Florida. Relocation packages were not being offered. Real upstanding company there...


That stinks. I used to work on Gateway drive myself, which was really nice as my commute was less than 10 miles.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Zee09
Manhattan Health Insurance
2
Replies
21
Views
693
99Saturn
A
Do people still fall for these internet scams?
2
Replies
21
Views
674
Snagglefoot
GON
  • Locked
Character counts- a example from China
Replies
12
Views
661
M56959
A
How and when do you pay your property taxes?
2 3 4
Replies
68
Views
3K
John105
Donald
Renewing passport rant
2 3 4
Replies
74
Views
3K
John105
Back
Top