ZoomPanel.com

~~ UPDATED FEBRUARY 2006 ~~

I joined up with ZoomPanel through ipoints in December 2003. Quite frankly, I was most unimpressed with them at first. Despite promising the potential to earn rewards and cash through ZoomPoints, the first 10 or 11 surveys they offered me only qualified me for entry into a sweepstake or prize draw. I'm afraid that I very swiftly pull the plug on any survey company only offering entries into prize draws, ...
...yet to win anything from any survey company prize draw or raffle. I fail to see why I should spend my valuable time completing a survey for which I get little or no reward, when you can bet your bottom dollar the company hosting it is being handsomely rewarded. However, I am most glad that I gave them the benefit of the doubt, as ZoomPanel have proved to be a good, consistant earner.

** COMPANY BACKGROUND **
ZoomPanel was set ... more

~~ UPDATED FEBRUARY 2006 ~~

I joined up with ZoomPanel through ipoints in December 2003. Quite frankly, I was most unimpressed with them at first. Despite promising the potential to earn rewards and cash through ZoomPoints, the first 10 or 11 surveys they offered me only qualified me for entry into a sweepstake or prize draw. I'm afraid that I very swiftly pull the plug on any survey company only offering entries into prize draws, as in over 2 years of survey work, I have yet to win anything from any survey company prize draw or raffle. I fail to see why I should spend my valuable time completing a survey for which I get little or no reward, when you can bet your bottom dollar the company hosting it is being handsomely rewarded. However, I am most glad that I gave them the benefit of the doubt, as ZoomPanel have proved to be a good, consistant earner.

** COMPANY BACKGROUND **
ZoomPanel was set up by Market Tools Inc, a US online marketing research company in 2001. They're a mainly US based outfit, but have expanded to open offices in London, Sydney and India. They are a privately owned company currently employing some 300 staff worldwide. Their head office is based in Mill Valley, California.

** WEBSITE **
To join up you need to go to www.zoompanel.com. Membership is offered to participants in the following countries - USA, Canada, Australia, UK and France. Once you've logged onto their website, the first thing you need to do is select your country of origin from the drop down menu. For the purposes of this review, I'm going to presume you live in the UK. There are several choices on their home page:-

~ About Us - A little bit vague as it doesn't tell you a lot about them
~ Join Now - Online registration form
~ My Rewards - tells you what you can earn from them
~ FAQ - Comprehensive & tells you everything you need to know
~ Privacy - Again most impressive and through
~ My Profile - Change or update your registration information

** REGISTRATION **
The registration process is very quick and simple indeed. You click on your country of origin and then fill in quite a short online form detailing name, age, and email address. They also ask for the usual information on family members, education, job, earnings, ethnic background, TV area, level of education and your internet connection. Finally, they ask you to mark the types of products and hobbies you are interested in. Obviously your choices here are important, as you will maximise your chances of survey work if you show an interest in a large range of products, as well as a broad range of subjects.

** REWARDS **
Payment is made in a currency called ZoomPoints. ZoomPanel will automatically enter you into their ZoomRewards programme as soon as you complete your first survey. Unfortunately, the ZoomRewards programme makes you eligible for some truly horrible gifts you most probably wouldn't want (more on that later). However, they do also offer gift vouchers, but only if you are extremely patient. Anyone who does a lot of online survey work will recognize that ZoomPanel are running the same sort of incentive scheme as Harris Poll Online and their HIPoints scheme.

The ZoomRewards home page will welcome you by name once you have logged in. The website is well laid out and easy to navigate:

~ My Account - Check your balance
~ What I can earn - Detail on number of surveys you can expect
~ Redeem my ZoomPoints - (but not until you reach 1,000 ZoomPoints)
~ How ZoomPoints work - FAQ
~ ZoomPoints support - Contact details
~ View Account History - List of surveys & dates taken
~ Change Password/Edit my account information
~ See what my ZoomPoints will earn - Portfolio of gifts on offer

If you want to go and have a nose around the ZoomRewards website the address is: www.zoomrewards.com. You cannot log in at this stage, but you'll get an idea of the sort of incentives on offer. For ease, I have detailed below a selection of the "incentives" available from the ZoomRewards folio.

~ 1,000 ZoomPoints = CD case, pen set, leather wallets, charity donation and so on.
~ 2,000 ZoomPoints = Pepper mill, baseball cap, computer tool kit and $25 Globo Gift certificate.
~ 2,500 ZoomPoints = Travel clock, knife set, cargo bag, $35 Globo Gift certificate.
~ 3,000 ZoomPoints = Wine opener, $50 Globo Gift certificate or his and her watches.

On the whole, the gifts are rather naff, but if you like the look of them, when you have the required number of points to claim your incentive you can order the gifts online and ZoomRewards will arrange delivery to you. Personally, I prefer good hard cash or gift vouchers for online survey work, and the Globo Gift vouchers are well worth having. Once you hit 2,000 ZoomPoints you can claim your $25 Globo Gift voucher. This can be redeemed in the currency/country of your choice and can be used in loads of different UK high street stores (Boots, Debenhams, Woolworths, Waitrose, WH Smiths to name but a few). It's really easy to claim; you are emailed a Globo Gift code by ZoomPanel and the vouchers are issued in the currency of your choice and posted to your home. Claiming the gift voucher from ZoomPanel to the actual delivery to your home takes 2/3 weeks.

** SURVEYS **
Most surveys will reward you with between 50 to 150 ZoomPoints depending on their length and whether you qualify for the full survey. However, please be aware that not all surveys offer ZoomPoints. Some do offer the ubiquitous prize draws or sweepstake rewards. However, their emails do specify what is on offer, so there is no reason why you can't pick and choose; if you don't like prize draws then ignore those emails and respond only to those offering ZoomPoints.

Survey invites always come by email, and you have to click on the link to enter survey - there's no access via their home page. The email will let you know what the survey is about. Unfortunately they fail to tell you how long it will take, and in my experience it can be anything up to 25 minutes. The email will tell you that there are Zoom Points available for doing the survey, but not how many.

The surveys themselves are easy to complete - mostly multiple choice by clicking on a button with your answer. Some of them require you to clarify your answers by completing text boxes. All of them have proved fast and efficient with pages loading quickly. They are powered by Market Tools which put together some of the easiest and most professional looking surveys that I have ever seen. ZoomPanel always ask for your comments/feedback on their survey and whether you feel it has been a worthwhile use of your time. Reassuringly, ZoomPanel often credit the ZoomPoints into your account within 1 hour of completing the survey by sending you an email telling you how many ZoomPoints you have earnt.

** MY EXPERIENCE **
Surveys are quite frequent - approximately 2 to 3 a month. Since I joined just over two years ago, I have received over 100 surveys and earned over 6,000 Zoom Points. I've recently cashed in my second 3,000 ZoomPoints for a $50.00 GloboGift voucher. The first gift voucher I exchanged for a £25.00 gift voucher….which I had no trouble spending in H Samuel jewelers, and the second was used in Waitrose.

If you fall at the first fence with a ZoomPanel survey, they always enter you in their monthly prize draw. However, I tend to find that I qualify for the full survey more often than not. I've completed surveys on any number of different products from cereal products, contact lenses, canned goods, feminine hygiene products to ISP's and kitchen towels. The fun thing about ZoomPanel is that you are often invited to survey new food and drink products. As you complete the survey, you will sometimes be asked if you would like to take part in an actual product test on the new drink or snack. It's definitely worthwhile saying yes, as you not only earn additional ZoomPoints, you also get some free stuff to trial. To date I have participated in product trials on various different breakfast cereals, some tortillas and cans of tinned tomatoes.

** PRIVACY & CUSTOMER SERVICE **
They have a good security policy - no spam, no banner adverts and no passing of your details to any third party. They are a member of CASRO (Council of American Survey Research Organizations) which sets down strict guidelines designed to protect panel member's confidentiality.

ZoomPanel are polite and quick to respond to you in the event of a problem. Their customer support system is by far the best of any online survey site I am a member of. Queries on any missing ZoomPoints have been dealt with politely and efficiently.

** REFERRAL PROGRAMME **
Exsisting members can refer up to 4 new members to ZoomPanel per month. You can earn 200 ZoomPoints per person that you refer to ZoomPanel. It's limited to four referrals per month, but you can refer additional people during the next calendar month.

** WHAT DO I THINK? **
ZoomPanel offer a fairly steady stream of survey work that requires minimal effort for a better than average return. The surveys are not particularly lengthy, and are easy to complete. It does take a while to build up enough points to reach the minimum claim threshold level, so don't sign up unless you are in it for the long haul. Like most online survey work, there is no quick buck to be made. You do have to be patient and bide your time, but you do get your reward in the end. All in all, I believe they are a professional outfit with well run surveys and decent rewards.

** CONTACT DETAILS **
Websites: www.zoompanel.com or www.zoomrewards.com

Parent Company Details:
MarketTools Inc
25 Floral Street
Covent Garden
London
WC2E 9DS

Phone: 0207-189-8360
Fax: 0207-031-8101 

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