We're told the UTellUs Panel is unique compared to 99% of other survey sites out there, but are they really?
They call themselves an invitation only survey panel with carefully selected members who are generously rewarded for their time.
So if you've got an invite, keep reading.
If you haven't, take a look at my top-recommended beginners course and I'll show you how to start earning online.
In this UTellUs review I'm going to be digging deeper into this company to answer the question:
Is UTellUs Panel a scam or is UtellUs Panel legitimate?
And let me say right off the bat, I'm not sponsored by or affiliated with UTellUs in any way and they're certainly not paying me to write this review.
I'm just a successful online entrepreneur who helps people avoid time-wasting scams and find real work from home opportunities.
That being said, let's get on with the review!
UTellUs Review At A Glance
About: Precision Opinion Inc's invitation-only research platform.
Price: Free to join but you have to get invited and get a code to sign up. Only for US residents too.
Pros: Nothing.
Cons: It's hard to get in, limited surveys, pays little.
Verdict: UTellUs is not a scam. However , the odds of making money here is next to none. It lacks adequate surveys and pay little for each if you every get invited to participate.
OVERALL RATING
What is UTellUs Panel about?
UTellUs is a unique, invitation only online research pane for US Residents only. They tell us members are carefully chosen and are generously rewarded for their time.
If you try to sign up at UTellUsPanel.com without an invite code you're not going to be able to get in. Trust me, I tried. 😉
The idea is simple, with the tagline,“We are excited to hear what you have to say!” as a member you'll be invited to participate in surveys that shape policy and make an impact.
The creators of UTellUs, Precision Opinion Inc., are the same people who launched Toluna Surveys in 2000. When I heard this my heart dropped…
Toluna is by far the lowest paying site I've come across so far with 10 minute surveys paying just $0.03 a pop, though UTellUs surveys have slightly better payout rates.
How much money can you expect to make?
I should clarify, you're not working for money here, but gift cards…
You take surveys for points you can then use to redeem for gift cards at places like Amazon, Target and Starbucks once your balance is $20 or more.
Exactly how many surveys you can expect is difficult to find out.
On their About Us page, UTellUs Panel say you can realistically expect to receive 1-5 survey invites per month, whereas on their FAQs page they say you'll get surveys once or twice a month.
Either way, you're not going to be rolling the cash here as you only get paid 100-400 points or $1-$4 per completed survey.
Let's say for example you received invites for 2 surveys and you managed to qualify for both of them. Now let's say each paid out the average of $2, that means you would've earned a not-so-whopping $4 for the month.
At that rate the $20 cashout limit could take you a good 6 months to reach.
I'm not even going to talk about how much time these surveys take you but you and I both you're getting paid way less than the national minimum wage.
Where did all the surveys go?
A complete lack of surveys is not just a problem with UTellUs. I'm finding this is a huge issue across all online surveys websites and the number of surveys made available to members is dropping month on month.
Survey-takers on sites like SurveyBods and Epoll Surveys average out at just 1-3 surveys per month with a maximum monthly income of $1-$6.
Why?
Because companies are cutting out the middle guy and taking a more direct approach in their social media campaigns to get quicker and more accurate feedback in real time.
People still relying on surveys as a source of income are resorting to registering with dozens, if not hundreds of different survey websites and working all the hours God sends doing mind-numbing work to try and keep up.
The main issue you have with this is that because the payouts are so small, it's taking months to reach the minimum $5, $10, $20 thresholds for each site. It's a lot of hassle and a major headache.
UTellUs Panel reviews: What others say
UTellUs Panel have an F rating with the Better Business Bureau with a total of 30 complaints. Reading through them, it's clear to see a handful of issues crop up time and again.
1. You have to chase your gift cards
People sign up to paid survey sites because they're told it's a free and easy and “fun!” way to make some extra cash on the side.
The reality is you have to wait for a rare invite, fill out the pre-qualifiers and spend the next 20 minutes or so answering repetitive and dull questions to earn $1 or $2 on a lousy gift card.
To make things worse, a common complaint of UTellUs Panel members is that they then have to chase the support team when their gift card doesn't arrive.
2. This member got 3 survey invites in a year
If you really want to know how many survey invites you'll get with UTellUs, here it is 3 in a year!
Another common theme thoughout all these complaints is that when you have an issue you can't rely on the support team to back you up or offer any assistance, as this review goes to show:
Is UTellUs right for you?
As I said in the beginning, unless you've already been invited, UTellUs is definitely not for you.
After looking at the pros and cons, UTellUs Panel is not a scam but I think they are taking advantage of people trying to make an extra buck online.
They could make more of an effort to reward the people generating feedback for them to make it more worthwhile.
When you look at all the so-called paid survey sites out there, you're very rarely going to make you more than $10 a month, which is why in 2014 I quit taking surveys altogether and learned how to create my own internet business instead.
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I tried to call and the person who answered seemed baffled why I called.
I then hung up to get another representative who sound at least half alive and was repeatedly hung up on.
After seeing the comments. I beleive this is a scam.
I didn’t read the fine print and lost over 5000 points because they expire every 12 months. Most of the cards are for junk food places and places I don’t shop anyway. Not recommended. I quit, btw.
Thank you for sharing Robert and I’m sorry to hear that happened to you. I really don’t know why they expire points after 12 months – you have earned the points and you are owed them. I think to treat people like this is disgraceful and not a good way to motivate the people working for you.
I agree with you too that gift cards are a lousy way to pay people. I know survey sites do this because they can get bulk discounts from stores and minimise their outgoings, but when I work online, I want money in my account. Which is why taking surveys can never be more than a side hustle.
Worse still. After I posted the previous note, I tried to redeem the remaining points for a gift card at Amazon for $20.00. Amazon told me the code I was given by UTellUs was invalid. Moreover, I tried to complain to UTellUs support and received no reply. I probably completed 50 surveys and didn’t realize a dime.
I’ve had less than 3 surveys in the last 12 months. All of their surveys seem to mostly be about AARP. I did one of their telephone surveys once and it was a disaster.
The person who called me had no idea what he was doing. After 30 minutes I told him I couldn’t spend any more time on the phone. A lady called me to try and do the phone survey a second time. It took 20 minutes to complete.
After all that wasted time on the phone, I was never given ANY points for that survey.
I called (that took quite a few attempts) and when I finally spoke to someone, they told me they would look into it and let me know. I never heard from them again. I sent an email asking for my points and an explanation for why the telephone survey was handled so poorly and when I would receive my points. Again, no response.
What a huge waste of time.
3 surveys per year seems to be the average number of surveys you can expect from this site – just not worth it.
I fear you’re not the only one who’s been messed around like this. They market themselves as a quick and easy way to make some money but the reality is it’s very, very low paying and as you say, a huge waste of time.
I would definitely not want to be part of a website like UTellUs, even if I got an invite. This seems like a total waste of time to me and I would rather get a part time job instead of making 20$ every 6 months. And to top it all off, support seems very bad. If the pay is low, at least support needs to be on point to want to keep these survey takers. And 3 surveys a year is ridiculous. Thanks for sharing this website with us and for showing us that this is not worth our time.
Thanks Reyhana, I’m glad you found this review helpful. Don’t be offended you haven’t got an invite lol, it’s saved you hours of time so you can go out and do something way more worthwhile 🙂