Re: What do you think about the Shaloha answers?

by thebigscott Wed May 28, 2008 12:12 pm

JeepMom wrote:At this point, even 50 people boycotting the site wouldn't have an impact. There are so many people on the internet now. This is happening everywhere, just not BA. Boomertowne has devalued points twice in the last six months, netwinner made it harder to cash out, and there are numerous others.

The economy sucks and it's killing companies that revolve around advertising.

Market saturation is killing rewards. Same thing happening with mystery shopping.

Rewards are getting lower and lower because new people come in and don't expect the same things that we do. They either don't know better or don't care. We care because we've seen the good. Companies no longer care about longevity or commitment, they just want what will get them by for the lowest cost possible.

I'm trying to figure out what I want to say in a way that makes sense, so bear with me.

You have some good points, and I agree that like all other economies, the economy of internet rewards programs has a supply/demand structure. A large supply of potential agents means that agents are replacable, and that means we have a lower value to BzzAgent in general.

But I also think that there are several things to consider. One is that the agents here tend to be very active, highly motivated agents. (If you're not, that's OK too. This is a generalization.) Active, motivated agents provide a high return (more Bzz, more reports) from the same initial expense (BzzKit).

And then, there's the fact that I need to express my dissatisfaction because it's how I feel. When someone mistreats me, I will say something about it. Always. Each and every time. I owe it to myself. So when BzzAgent dropped the value of my rewards (for work I had always done) by 40%, I owe it to myself to protest it. Some people have said on this thread and on other threads that I will only be hurting myself by not reporting. I don't see it that way at all. I will be hurting myself by letting someone treat me like crap and not saying anything about it.

My rewards (according to BzzAgent, and also according to me) are not for Bzzing, because that is a natural part of day to day life. My rewards are for reporting. If I boycott reporting, that means I don't get paid, but also that I don't do that work. That's OK with me. I doubt I would even make minimum wage from reporting. I used to be able to get a $10 reward (donation to charity) from roughly three reports. Considering that I would easily spend 15 to 20 minutes doing the Bzz and subsequent report, that was fair. But now it will take 6 reports to make that $10. At 20 minutes of work for each report, I'd be making $5 an hour. I don't need it bad enough to silently accept being treated without respect.

by Honey Wed May 28, 2008 12:53 pm

tara wrote:Unfortunately I don't think we can take that away. They have gone the way of most companies, greedy. they care about their bottom line, we are replaceable. It sucks but it's true. I guess I am not in the upset category because this is exactly what I expected from them. It's really genius they get six figures from companies for marketing. We do the work for free.

I have been less than thrilled for months, since they lied to me in the comdev department. they are NOT open and honest, in fact they are the opposite. They ignore questions from who (in their own words) are their bread and butter. They don't give two shits about us or what we think, they will just move on to the next group.

I don't blame Joe, in fact I kind of pity him, but then again I didn't throw my trust in his corner in the first place. I don't trust mouth pieces and I bet he either never comes back here, or does with some feel better bullshit excuses of why we have been ignored for a week in an attempt to make us all happy and shut us up again with more lies and half truths.

In my humble (and very unpopular opinion) there shouldn't be rewards anyway. They say they can't give cash because then it would be paying us top bzz and therefore wrong. Rewards do the same thing, people are encouraged to turn in as many reports as possible to gain more points. Now we have this
report 1- I told friend A I was getting Glade
2-I told friend B I was getting glade
3- I told friend C I was getting glade
4- I showed my friend A glade and gave a coupon
5- I told friend B I got glade and gave her a coupon
6 I told friend C yetserdayblah blah blah
7- my friend liked glade and used coupon.
and so on......

Without points I bet 90% would turn that into ONE report not try to get 300 points and break it up in 20 reports and gain the points for what was essentially one bzz. Its a serious flaw, maybe it's just me but points/rewards in essence is the same as paying.

Either way it's labeled as greed despite the fact it is EXACTLY what they have encouraged the entire time. Now they are wondering like a bunch of idiots "where did we go wrong?, and man these people are greedy"

LOL there's my take on the whole topic

I don't think it is a flaw in the reporting system, I actually think that is the way they like it. Just like the fact that they keep agent number falsely inflated by not closing accounts, they like (in my opinion) an inflated number of reports. Not only does the reward system give that incentive, the com dev replies clearly tell you to do it that way.
I agree that they are likley thinking of us as greedy, but I very much disagree that we are greedy. I have been an agent for years and never able to snag a reward. So with all the points I racked up, I can get about $150 worth of gc's. While that makes me very happy in one way, I also think many years of work and all I get is $150 confused

by tara Wed May 28, 2008 1:21 pm

I wasn't calling anyone greedy Honey, really. If we are greedy, it's because they made it that way.

I think bzz either figured we are stupid and no one would realize their points lost half the value, or and what I think is the case- they just simply don't care.

by Brea Wed May 28, 2008 1:26 pm

edbson wrote:AND it looks like we are only getting the 8-1 piint rate DURING Shitola, according to their FAcraps

I have a feeling.....(yes only one....lol....just kidding) that this may be til the shaloha is over because theyare probably going to change the amount of point, in ratio to mypoints....um points..... so they don't have to covert them everytime so you can see exactly how many points you have to mypoints....see my point. lool....

point point point point point point....lol....its sounds so funny when you say it alot....

by Scar Wed May 28, 2008 1:28 pm

I get your point

*snicker*

by Honey Wed May 28, 2008 1:33 pm

tara wrote:I wasn't calling anyone greedy Honey, really. If we are greedy, it's because they made it that way.

I think bzz either figured we are stupid and no one would realize their points lost half the value, or and what I think is the case- they just simply don't care.

I know you weren't Tara, sorry if I worded it wrong. I agree with that they may well think we are. I think we aren't greedy, but agree they may think we are.

by tara Wed May 28, 2008 1:44 pm

No you didn't, thought maybe I did, lol. Sometimes it's hard to be clear.... I know there have been more than a few occasions where I have read something completely wrong. I get it in my head that it says something and my eyes just see it, lol.

by JeepMom Wed May 28, 2008 1:47 pm

Anyone else remember the days before tiers and all this crap?

I would do a couple of reports and redeem. I have an AWESOME mandalin slicer that is a $60 value. I did NOTHING compared to what I have done to cash out for *maybe* $75 in gift cards.

That's why I feel greedy and cheated. This isn't the first time we've gotten screwed by the bzz system.

by Rebecca1340 Wed May 28, 2008 4:35 pm

I remember that system! Of course we still weren't getting the same number of campaigns that you were in the US so it still took me almost 2 years to redeem my points. I don't remember much about it, but I don't remember hating it either. Maybe it was because I was new and didn't know any different.

by eat_a_cookies Wed May 28, 2008 4:50 pm

JeepMom, I remember those days! I have all sorts of awesome rewards from back then. The day my LOST dvds came in the mail, my boyfriend was like "these were free?"

by JeepMom Wed May 28, 2008 5:21 pm

Now wondering where my keychain went.........

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