Re: ~~Questions for JoeC ~ Part Deux~~

by BzzAgentJoeC Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:23 pm

Scar wrote:Alot of the current frustration among the Bees is a lack of information, not lack of rewards or freebies.

Honestly, I don't think this is true. Sure folks are frustrated because of lingering questions, but most of the criticism here has to do with the system itself. The points don't have the same value, MyPoints doesn't carry the right cards, prizes are more fun than cards, Womlets are spam, there aren't enough golden keys in the new tiering, etc.

We are aware of the concerns that some agents have. Truly. And I don't fault anyone for voicing their displeasure. It's your right as a "Netizen" and as an Agent. But what I am failing to communicate properly is this: we need to solve for the majority of Agents. You may be our most passionate, our most loyal Agents. You may care about this company as much as those who work here. I truly believe you are so committed to this issue not because you dislike the company, but rather because you want to see the company succeed. I believe that very deeply. And it's the reason I am here. But we cannot run a successful company by catering solely to our top .001% of Agents - no matter how passionate they may be, no matter how much they may care, no matter how earnest their counsel is - at the expense of the everyday Agent. And from what we have heard, the everyday Agent prefers the new system.

Scar wrote:Joe can we expect an updated FAQs from the hive addressing some of the above mentioned questions?

We know there are still outstanding questions, and we are discussing how to best answer them. I hope to know more next week.

by Scar Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:33 pm

Thank you very much Joe,
I'm truly grateful for your input and I hope you don't feel attacked or beaten on.
I can see how disheartening it would be to work so hard on a project then have to face all this grumbling and mutiny.
I took your suggestion and emailed customer service with a shortened version of all the questions.

by JeepMom Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:59 pm

That response answered NO questions.

by thebigscott Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:59 pm

BzzAgentJoeC wrote:Yes, of course free stuff and rewards are part of BzzAgent. But the free-ness of the items isn't the value we perceive in BzzAgent. Providing the opportunity to try new things, to get your opinion heard, to influence massive brands. These are the qualities that we believe make BzzAgent unique. Not just free stuff.

The thing is, I don't really think that we get to try new things, have our opinions heard, and influence massive brands. Because when I look at the products, very few of them are new to market products. I have only had one not already on the shelves campaign out of 18. And reports have less value if they are simply our opinions, rather than WOM. We might infulence the producers, but I haven't seen any changes in any of the products that I Bzz. So to me, it feels more as if it is simply another type of marketing. The goal is to increase sales, not improve the product. Perhaps this is not the case. Perhaps you are working to change this and provide us with those things. That would be great. But my experience with BzzAgent tells me that this is not the case.

However I'm not nearly as upset about the new changes as I was about Shaloha. I made a post to that effect, buy you may have missed it in all the fuss. I don't love the new system, but I at least know what I'm agreeing to or not agreeing to when I sign up for campaigns and make my reports. My problem with Shaloha was that I had made the reports expecting that they would have one value, but was only able to redeem at a substantially lower value.

Anyhow, I'm glad that you came back here (because I've missed you!) and I hope that you'll stick with us as we decide what these changes will mean to our relationship with Bzz.

by Scar Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:14 pm

Joe's posts sound like he's really getting very tired & discouraged. Crying or Very sad

by Rebecca1340 Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:20 pm

I disagree again. But you knew I would. LOL!
I have never thought of this place as anything more than somewhere where everyday agents can meet up to chat and I truly don't believe that the top 0.001% of agents are the only ones posting here. As a Canadian there is no way I am -- we don't get that many campaigns up here! Yes, we do have some who were in the top 100 and they were always very generous in sharing how they got there. Everyone is on an equal field here whether they were top 100, top 10, or brand new.
I know you'll disagree with me, Joe, and I understand that there is a group of people who made the decision to handle it this way, but from where I'm sitting -- and I think that's where BzzAgent and the Agents are losing each other is that no one over there is seeing this from our point of view -- this whole change was done in a sneaky way. That's where the slap across the face happened. That's where the majority of the agents got mad. It actually has very little to do with rewards. I forfeited all my points in the change over -- reward points don't matter to me personally any more.
I was one of the first to applaud the decision to use a third party rewards partner, actually I still support that idea, but what we've been given isn't what we were led to believe it would be. There was a lot of word play and spin to hype it up, but as soon as the plan was revealed people saw through it.
To finish up let me agree with you on a couple more points -- yes, we are here to make BzzAgent a better experience for all of us. We don't want the company to fail. We asked for an official board, the request was denied, and UB was born. Everyone was invited -- including the hive and obviously that invitation still stands. Honestly, the boards and the chat archives could be a very good tool for BzzAgent to use to gauge how happy agents are and see what's working and what's not either by asking us directly or by sitting back and watching. Personally it sounds like some people have lost touch and could learn a lot by coming here and saying, "hi, I'm so and so from BzzAgent. My job is this and I was wondering what your thoughts were on this project."

by chiquita55 Fri Jun 13, 2008 5:34 pm

I think I understand Joe and what the company is doing and frankly, I agree with what they are doing and am all for it. They are trying to do what is best for the WHOLE COMPANY AND ALL THE AGENTS here. Being a relatively new agent that has only been here about a year or so, I never paid much attention to the reward points I received. I never felt they had a particular $$ amount worth like most of you agents that have been here a long time. In fact, the reward points had 0 value to me because there was NEVER, in the whole year I was here, a time I could turn them in for ANYTHING. By the time the lower tier agents got a campaign and turned in a report, any rewards were gone. Bzz has tried to rectify this. Its obvious they could not afford to be providing all agents here with merchandize so only the very top people were getting something for their work here. All the others had nothing and were never going to see a reward. Bzz had to try and even this out. Bzz has never said a report was worth $$. The lucky few were just able to turn in their points for something.

I joined Bzz because I wanted to try out new merchandize and imput my thoughts about the stuff. Someone above said that none of it is new. Well it has all been new to me and things I probably would not have bought or tired were it not for Bzz. Any rewards are just gravy. I got a few nice gift certificates for my work last year and I am thrilled. I don't mind My Points except their site doesn't work well alot of the time and their customer service is poor. I don't know why 55 points per report was decided on but those points add up and now instead of just you few guys getting a reward for writing reports and doing bzz ALOT of agents will now be getting points and rewards so the points needed to be lowered. Its sort of a 'share the wealth' approach. I don't mind it. I hope I made some sense. I do the reports because I feel I owe the company that after getting some very nice free items and I don't mind doing them even if I never got a reward (I have never gotten a reward til now but was very happy getting my campaigns and bzzing). I hope everyone else can come to the same conclusion.

by Scarlett Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:01 pm

Rebecca1340 wrote:I disagree again. But you knew I would. LOL!
I have never thought of this place as anything more than somewhere where everyday agents can meet up to chat and I truly don't believe that the top 0.001% of agents are the only ones posting here. As a Canadian there is no way I am -- we don't get that many campaigns up here! Yes, we do have some who were in the top 100 and they were always very generous in sharing how they got there. Everyone is on an equal field here whether they were top 100, top 10, or brand new.
I know you'll disagree with me, Joe, and I understand that there is a group of people who made the decision to handle it this way, but from where I'm sitting -- and I think that's where BzzAgent and the Agents are losing each other is that no one over there is seeing this from our point of view -- this whole change was done in a sneaky way. That's where the slap across the face happened. That's where the majority of the agents got mad. It actually has very little to do with rewards. I forfeited all my points in the change over -- reward points don't matter to me personally any more.
I was one of the first to applaud the decision to use a third party rewards partner, actually I still support that idea, but what we've been given isn't what we were led to believe it would be. There was a lot of word play and spin to hype it up, but as soon as the plan was revealed people saw through it.
To finish up let me agree with you on a couple more points -- yes, we are here to make BzzAgent a better experience for all of us. We don't want the company to fail. We asked for an official board, the request was denied, and UB was born. Everyone was invited -- including the hive and obviously that invitation still stands. Honestly, the boards and the chat archives could be a very good tool for BzzAgent to use to gauge how happy agents are and see what's working and what's not either by asking us directly or by sitting back and watching. Personally it sounds like some people have lost touch and could learn a lot by coming here and saying, "hi, I'm so and so from BzzAgent. My job is this and I was wondering what your thoughts were on this project."

Rebecca.. that was very well said. Thank you.

On that note.. YO JOE.. you still haven't said how we can fill more combs. Ok, I accept it is what it is. But to only be able to fill 1 comb a month is ridiculous. I did my 3 froggies.. now.. Aveeno ends this month.. I'll do that poll. What happens come july? I do my 3 froggies gain a comb and there I sit. Waiting... for a campaign of some sort. . or a poll/survey. You said there was no cap... but never elaborated as you said you would in a few days.. it's been a few days.

by Missy Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:39 pm

I am in that situation right now...

No campaign... did my 3 frogs.

i see new frogs, but want to save them for when i will advance.

i used to do one or two frogs a night, and now I can't. I log into bzz to see if i have an invite, if my status says i can do more frogs or not and then i leave.

Very discouraging for an agent that loves the company.

i am not in it for the "freebies" as some call it. I am in it to have my voice heard. I am loud, I am proud and I want to be heard.

So, my main question is, when I have no campaigns, how can I advance? I already did my 3 frogs and it is June 13th... still 2 more weeks before the month ends. I would hate to sit here and watch some frogs leap away, when i could have caught them and put them on the lilypad. so to speak

I think I am going to copy and paste this and send it in an e-mail form.... well, basically. If I do, i will let everyone know what comes of it. I am tired of sitting around and losing out.

by mrschia Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:51 pm

Has anyone asked if there are more campaigns coming next week?

I am sure all of us would love to know Smile

by Connie Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:48 pm

Im going to be so unpopular here but I agree with Joe. This new system is more fair to the regular everyday agent.

I have really been astounded by the amount of people who say they submit 20-25 reports per campaign and are complaining that they are in lower levels now.

As a bzzagent I have never turned in points for a reward (never made it in time) and I always did it for fun and the free product. I have always turned in 1-3 reports per campaign. This will make some angry but I am a level six and that is exactly where I feel I should be.

I can't imagine that anyone in real life REALLY talks to 25-30 people INDIVIDUALLY about any product that we have bzzzed.. Most products just don't come up that way in real life. Did you really talk to 25 different people in individual settings about a toothbrush?

I talked to 10 different people all at once about the aveeno campaign.. I submitted it as ONE report with each persons responses. I suppose I could have broken it up into ten reports but that would have been crazy for the hive and they give us the option to say we bzzed a certain amount of people.

So to make it short.. there really is hardly any reason for 300,000 people to submit 25 reports per campaign. It had to be overwhelming and while the RARE person may have really had that experience the majority really would have just been "playing the game"...

Okay.. let the flaming begin.. Wink

by Honey Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:05 pm

thebigscott wrote:
BzzAgentJoeC wrote:Yes, of course free stuff and rewards are part of BzzAgent. But the free-ness of the items isn't the value we perceive in BzzAgent. Providing the opportunity to try new things, to get your opinion heard, to influence massive brands. These are the qualities that we believe make BzzAgent unique. Not just free stuff.

The thing is, I don't really think that we get to try new things, have our opinions heard, and influence massive brands. Because when I look at the products, very few of them are new to market products. I have only had one not already on the shelves campaign out of 18. And reports have less value if they are simply our opinions, rather than WOM. We might infulence the producers, but I haven't seen any changes in any of the products that I Bzz. So to me, it feels more as if it is simply another type of marketing. The goal is to increase sales, not improve the product. Perhaps this is not the case. Perhaps you are working to change this and provide us with those things. That would be great. But my experience with BzzAgent tells me that this is not the case.

However I'm not nearly as upset about the new changes as I was about Shaloha. I made a post to that effect, buy you may have missed it in all the fuss. I don't love the new system, but I at least know what I'm agreeing to or not agreeing to when I sign up for campaigns and make my reports. My problem with Shaloha was that I had made the reports expecting that they would have one value, but was only able to redeem at a substantially lower value.

I pretty much agree with all you wrote. In fact it makes me angry that Bzz keeps saying it is otherwise. It is a marketing tool, not a survey company sending out product tests. Those are where you truly affect the market with your feedback and are trying brand new products. WOM is a needed new form of marketing for many reasons. One of the biggest being Tivo and personal dvr's. So many people fast forward through the commercials now, that companies have needed new forms of marketing. WOM is just one form. Another is product placement on shows themselves. Like you see your favorite family eating Cambells soup for lunch. They show the label and may even talk about it in the dialog of the show. I could go on, but you get the idea.

by tara Fri Jun 13, 2008 11:39 pm

Connie wrote:Im going to be so unpopular here but I agree with Joe. This new system is more fair to the regular everyday agent.

I have really been astounded by the amount of people who say they submit 20-25 reports per campaign and are complaining that they are in lower levels now.

As a bzzagent I have never turned in points for a reward (never made it in time) and I always did it for fun and the free product. I have always turned in 1-3 reports per campaign. This will make some angry but I am a level six and that is exactly where I feel I should be.

I can't imagine that anyone in real life REALLY talks to 25-30 people INDIVIDUALLY about any product that we have bzzzed.. Most products just don't come up that way in real life. Did you really talk to 25 different people in individual settings about a toothbrush?

I talked to 10 different people all at once about the aveeno campaign.. I submitted it as ONE report with each persons responses. I suppose I could have broken it up into ten reports but that would have been crazy for the hive and they give us the option to say we bzzed a certain amount of people.

So to make it short.. there really is hardly any reason for 300,000 people to submit 25 reports per campaign. It had to be overwhelming and while the RARE person may have really had that experience the majority really would have just been "playing the game"...

Okay.. let the flaming begin..

No flaming from me, nicely put and I happen to agree.

by Guest Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:46 am

BzzAgentJoeC wrote:All,

Honestly I can't answer all of the questions that have been posted on this board. You can email our customer support staff individually, and they are trained to answer a variety of questions related to these changes. Some answers we can give; other answers MyPoints will give.

Here's what I think has happened: I think BzzAgent (the company) has one view of what it is, while many of you have a somewhat different view of what BzzAgent is. You see, we don't percieve BzzAgent as a "rewards" company or a "freebie" site. When I first began working here -- as a contractor -- I received a call from Good Morning America. They wanted to feature us in a story about freebie sites. I turned it down (and turning down GMA is a VERY hard thing for a PR person to do!) because it would set a false expectation with Agents who would have signed up as a result of the show.

Yes, of course free stuff and rewards are part of BzzAgent. But the free-ness of the items isn't the value we perceive in BzzAgent. Providing the opportunity to try new things, to get your opinion heard, to influence massive brands. These are the qualities that we believe make BzzAgent unique. Not just free stuff.

So one of our goals of the new rewards program was to return to our core focus on getting you involved in word of mouth programs. We are doing this by freeing up internal resources by transitioning the rewards part of the company to MyPoints and by trying to place a higher emphasis on the status aspect of the system -- the more engaged you are, the more opportunities you will have. The Womlets thing? They are just little "thank you for reporting" offers. If something catches your eye, check it out. If you don't like any, you don't have to click. It's just a little extra something. It's not the lifeblood of the new rewards system.

I know many of you are disappointed in BzzAgent. But it's really important to realize that we are trying to create a system that works for as many agents as possible. We have so, so many agents, with such varied perspectives and values. For those that see us as a rewards community, the ability to get the most or highest value "stuff" matters most. For those that see us as a way to try new things and be listened to, well, other aspects of the business matter most. We are trying to strike a balance.

I hope this explanation helps. I know it doesn't drill deeply into your specific questions, but we have a staff that handles those questions. I am just trying to let you know the spirit of this new system and share my perspective on the source of the disconnect.

Yours,
JoeC

Thanks Joe for the clarification. I understand now what BzzAgent is trying to do. They want to get away from the whole freebie thing and be more genuine with its WOM. I understand and I agree. I look forward to more campaigns and to be more helpful to BzzAgent.

Someone mentioned here that they don't receive new items to bzz about. I don't know about how things run in America, but up here in Canada, I have bzzed about things that are brand new. Sometimes I even have to wait a month before they are in the store for me to try. But almost all of my items have been new.

Just my personal opinion...

by Guest Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:56 am

Connie wrote:I can't imagine that anyone in real life REALLY talks to 25-30 people INDIVIDUALLY about any product that we have bzzzed.. Most products just don't come up that way in real life. Did you really talk to 25 different people in individual settings about a toothbrush?

I talked to 10 different people all at once about the aveeno campaign.. I submitted it as ONE report with each persons responses. I suppose I could have broken it up into ten reports but that would have been crazy for the hive and they give us the option to say we bzzed a certain amount of people.

I just wanted to respond to this. I don't know how many people you know or what kind of life you lead. But I have quite a few friends and family members and I also encounter quite a few people in my line of work.

When I join a campaign, I try it out and I naturally tell people about it. That is just a part of my personality. If I am really liking a product, I will throw a dinner party and highlight the product. I will naturally tell people about a product that I am loving because I honestly want people to know about it. Sometimes I end up paying out-of-pocket to give samples to my family and friends, but they all love it. It is a part of WOM and it is something that I am proud of.

On an average, I submit about 10-15 reports. I only submit one report for each encounter, even if it is a group of people. I try to be creative and I even make up business cards and flyers on my computer. I keep these with me so that if I do encounter a perfect bzzing oportunity, then I can give them some info. I am genuine and honest and I don't "play the system".

Each person has their own way of doing WOM and I think people should respect those that do alot and those that do a few. To each one, it is valid and honest WOM. No need to judge anyone. I save that for the afterlife.

by chiquita55 Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:58 am

No flaming from me Connie because as you see, you and I pretty much agree. I think it is mostly the old agents that were at the top that are unhappy because now they are in with the rest of us as far as getting rewards. Now the rewards are equal and everyone has to work equally hard to get one. I also have only done 3 or 4 reports with every campaign. I thought thats about what they wanted (now I see 2 will do lol). Even if I Bzz'd several people at a meeting it was written up as 1 report. I didn't do an individual report for each person I spoke to at the meeting. The report page always asked how many you bzz'd at the time so if there were 10 there I bzz'd all 10 in the report. Anyway, I don't have much to say about people doing 25 or 30 reports but I can see now why Bzz Agent isn't going to move people up higher in the ranks for them. I imagine they get alot of bogus reports too.

by thebigscott Sat Jun 14, 2008 3:35 pm

I normally did about 10 reports per campaign. And that was normally 10 different conversations to 10 different people. When I like something, I talk about it. When I don't, I talk about it. I never submitted multiple reports for a single conversation with several people. One time, I had a huge number of reports for a single campaign. But that was for FLY fusion. My older two kids took it to school to show teachers, passed it around during lunch to show their friends, took it to relative's houses. They loved it so much I gave a second one complete w/ a half dozen accesories to my daughter for her birthday so that they wouldn't have to share it. I STILL bzz that thing and if they still accepted reports I could easily add another dozen reports that would each be to a separate person. That campaign was why my numbers were so high.

But my problem with BzzAgent isn't that we will be getting less per report (because we know what we'll be getting and can decide how hard we want to work) and it isn't that I think that people who work less will advance more than those who work more.

I have two issues.

One, the points we'd already earned were not given the value we believed they had when we earned them.

Two, our advancement relies on things outside our control. I'm not sure how to describe what I mean, but let me give an example.

Just say Bob is a 68 year old man living in a tiny town. Since most campaign demographics are for women in their 30s and 40s, Bob doesn't get offered many. He got five in the last year. On the tier system, his advancement was based on the number of QP per campaign and on overall participation score. He answers every survey, so has plenty of PP, the only concern was QP. If in each of these five campaigns he worked really hard, Bzzed everyone he spoke to, and submitted detailed reports on each conversation, he could end up with a high QP. Let's say Bob earned 95 QP per campaign by doing 30 reports for each campaign and doing the post campaign survey. That's a really super high score. He's easily in the top ten agents! And he checks for new frogs daily and always submits a review and does the poll. He loves checking out the new sites.

And lets just say Sally is a 34 year old woman living in an urban area. Because she fits in the demographics so well, Sally was offered 25 campaigns last year. But since she's super busy with the business she just started, she didn't always get time to submit lots of reports. Her total Quality Score for the year was 14. She always submitted three average quality reports per campaign and did the post poll, but she didn't have time to do more than that. In the old system, she was a tier two and never even came close to being in the top 100, much less the top 10. She never bothered with the frog pond because she never had time.

Under then new system, Sally finds that her 25 campaigns with more than 2 report each give her 25 honeycombs. Since she did a post campaign survey for each one, she had 25 more honeycombs. So even though she doesn't have a single honeycomb for frog pond participation, she still has a total of 50 honeycombs filled.

Bob on the other hand has 5 honeycombs for campaigns with more than two reports submitted, 5 honeycombs for post campaign surveys, and 12 honeycombs for his frog pond participation. So he has a total of 22 honeycombs filled.

Now Sally has more than twice the number of honeycombs that Bob has, even though she submitted 75 reports last year and didn't go to the frog pond at all, while he submitted 150 reports and did the frogs every day. His extra effort really can't move him up in the ranks if he isn't offered more campaigns.

by Scarlett Sat Jun 14, 2008 3:54 pm

I'm not flaming anyone either. It's quite easy for me to bzz and numerous ppl. I am in a playgroup of approximately 10-15 moms. My husband runs a business with approximately 185 employees.

I have submitted reports when I have bzz'd a person and the response I've gotten back from the hive has been "be sure to tell us what they think of 'said' product if they try it out" etc. So that's what I was doing.. reporting feedback as I was instructed from the hive to do. Sometimes I put it all in one report and sometimes I didnt. Like my family is in Canada and when I talk to them sometimes its 2-3 times a week sometimes its 1ce a month. I'm not going to wait a month to put in an initial report & feedback together.

I totally get what your saying Connie.. but I have to ask.. if you found yourself in a lower status would you feel u deserve to be there too? I'm sure that's not a question you can answer since you're not there. I just feel a little put out by the amount I've done. I've done almost every frog in that pond..and submitted several reports for each campaign. I'm in no place to judge the status anyone has on bzzagent.. I am judging my own.

by chelle Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:14 pm

yep and I am bob. LOL

Okay, I do lots of reports. But on average I see 4-8 old folks a day, ( I got have tea with great aunts and uncles, grandparents and such a few times a week, and then am around them everytime they break their TV)

3 days a week I go to the school, I see all the teachers, the other moms etc.

Baseball season just ended. I have a cute baby, EVERY mom there fights to hold him ( I didnt hold the baby the entire season), and we BS. I wom to them. that was 3-4 days a week.

I go pay 85% of my bills in PERSON. I told the girl I went to HS with that is my ins. agent about glade. The girl at the bank is a personal friend that I only see at the bank, our kids are in the same class. I went to school with half the girls at wlamart. THey always BS with me. Paying the bill on my furniture, then another place for my TV. Elec, water, buying gas, I knwo them all. Their names, their parents and their bratty kids.
I take stuff to my MILs daycare. I know all the gals in there. Wehn I bzz the daycare, its one report. But just in the days I pay bills I see and stop at atleast 10-15 differnt places. Bzzing 1/2 of them gives me 1/2 my reports.

I look for the specials on the products I am bzzing.

I am just saying, I dont dispute those that have been long time agents being high. And maybe they dont want more than 2 reports from me. I just wish I had known that. I wouldnt have bzzed less, But I wouldnt have typed as much. Smile

LOL

I am a 5. I am semi happy about that. but feel I could be closer to a 6. I have been in the top 100. cause I wanted to be there. I am competative by nature. Just give me the campaigns and I will show you that I can make it. But at a min of 1 HC a month (in the swamp) I wont get no higher. cause I have been in 8 campaigns, I dont fit the demo on alot of them. and that sucks.

by kath Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:26 pm

Connie and Chiquita.. count me in..

They are clearly having some issues getting things to work properly with the change over.. but I think its a good thing..and is good for more agents than not.

No flames!

by bizzeedee Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:49 pm

kath wrote:Connie and Chiquita.. count me in..

They are clearly having some issues getting things to work properly with the change over.. but I think its a good thing..and is good for more agents than not.

No flames!

and me too. The most reports I've done for a campaign is maybe 8? That was for Lpsyl... heck, they gave me 6 full size samples, and I loved it, so easy enough to report, as well as a couple of follow ups (hey, don't they alway say, "Be sure to report back on how Sally like the product...) Silk was another easy one to do reports for, mainly because I was a Silk drinker before I got into the campaign. But many campaigns, I struggle to type up 4 reports... I laugh, one of my first campaigns was for Smart Bargains.com.... guess I didn't really understand what the whole program was, and never submitted a single report, heck, never even bought anything from the web site!).

In 3 years, I've received 1 reward and that was during the blitz when the Hive was obviously trying to get rid of everything they had in the warehouse before the big swith-a-roo.

I'm a Sweet Bee, Level 6, but honestly, if I'd come out a Level 3, I'd been okay with that, afterall I was a middle of the road Tier 2 when the change happened.... and what do levels mean now anyway? We don't really know if they'll get you more campaigns, because they've basically told us campaigns are offered based on demographics. Although I still wonder why they offered me a men's electric shaver Laughing

So I'm going to deal with this (anyone watch Kid Nation? We loved Taylor's manta - "Just deal with it!". Do I like it or dislike it? I don't know. I'm looking forward to trading in most of what points I do have for some restaurant gift cards... and if I earn more points because I continue to do reports based on my bzzing, well then, that's an added bonus for me. If it takes me 28 Good or Excellent reports to earn enough points for another $25 gift card, well, that's okay too. I can afford to eat at restaurants without using a gift card... just rather nice when you do have one. And I do have a pretty active life outside Bzz Agent.

I do appreciate and understand how many of you feel, cheated, used, not properly rewarded, and if you don't like it, you have the option of just not doing it.

I fear I've regressed in this post... in fact, I've been typing my thoughts for so long, I don't even remember what the thread is titled Shocked

I just wanted to add my 50 cents (that's maybe the equivalent of what one's 2 cents worth used to be... maybe Karen, our resident math wizz can calculate that out for us Wink

)

by Connie Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:35 pm

Karen, (I think it was you) I understand what you are saying about the unfairness of the system regarding demographics but I don't agree or even think it should be an issue.

As a survey taker I have always viewed bzzagent as just another survey company but with a twist. All survey companies have a set of demographics they need for whatever product they are testing, just as bzzagent does. It will ALWAYS be the case that the 25-35 year old mother of two who lives in the suburbs will qualify for more PT's than the 58 year old single male living in the boonies. That's just the way it is.

It might not be fair but if you are going to be involved in product research it's just a fact of life you have to accept.

by thebigscott Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:57 pm

Connie, it was me. And I guess that the demographics part is understandable. I don't mind that. What I do think is that under the old system, those who were willing to do extra could combat their demographics. Under the new system, you can't.

I bothers me in a general sort of way, because I fall into the good demographics. But I can see that over time, I will be offered more campaigns and thus will eventually end up with more honeycombs, more golden keys, an earlier invite, etc. And Rebecca or Trax or Honey will not get offered as many campaigns, so will fall further behind. So the ones who need the golden keys to get campaigns will end up not being in a position to earn them.

by Rebecca1340 Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:02 pm

Even golden keys don't matter here though -- the bottom line is that there haven't been any new campaigns for Canada since the Gerber one started at the end of April. I'm a top agent by the new standards, but soon all of you will pass me.

by Connie Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:53 pm

Now Canada is a whole different story. I hope for the Canadians sakes that they DO start getting offered more and more campaigns. I can make an exception because while most Canadians also don't get offered the same amount of pt's that we in the US do (through regular survey companies) there are plenty of Canadian only survey sites where they do get the same opps.

I don't understand why bzz would start a Canadian sector if they didn't have a decent amount of campaigns to offer.

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