"It's free so you can't complain."

[s_stabeler]

Exactly. My only issue with your metaphor, though, is that things like that take an indefinite amount of time, so even when it has taken longer than is reasonable (say, a year for a sketch of a tree), you really can't complain.

that's actualyl what i was getting at- unless the artist specifically says "it will be done by xx/xx/xxxx, you cant' complain. But if the artist gave a firm deadline for completing it...

[Aragarthiel]

OIC now.

Excuse me while I go clean my brain gears. They're a little gunky today.

[Rageaholic]

lol. I signed up for opinion outpost and ended up disqualified in the middle of several surveys. I think they should at least give me some points for my time.

[HYHYBT]

A bit of a different situation, but "invalid fields" reminded me: I've run into some truly horrible job application forms. One had a single line, which would accept no more than about fifteen characters, for your *entire address.* How any applicants at all got through that one I don't know. And, of course, they're not going to hire someone who complains about their application either.

[NecCat]

That's awesome, I have the shortest address ever, and with no spaces could do it 18, with province (short form) and postal code. I can't imagine anyone could do it in 15

[Rageaholic]

The one I use, Swagbucks (if anyone wants, PM me and I'll send you a referral link), gives you a point for any survey you're disqualified from, and another, Opinion Outpost, gives you an entry into their quarterly $10,000 grand prize drawing. The thing is, not all disqualifications are disqualifications. Sometimes the survey hits its quota before you finish, so not all of those complaints are valid. I haven't had a reason to contact Opinion Outpost support yet, but Swagbucks tends to be pretty reliable with their customer service. They usually get back to me the next day with complaints, and they reward you the full amount for survey errors (blank pages, can't continue, invalid fields, etc.) so I can't really complain.

The entry is better than nothing, but odds are, you're not going to win. Also, disqualifications or not, taking part in a survey for money only to be kicked out halfway through SUCKS.

A bit of a different situation, but "invalid fields" reminded me: I've run into some truly horrible job application forms. One had a single line, which would accept no more than about fifteen characters, for your *entire address.* How any applicants at all got through that one I don't know. And, of course, they're not going to hire someone who complains about their application either.

Or they give you a multiple choice question where you have to give an answer even though none of them apply to you.

[Aragarthiel]

A bit of a different situation, but "invalid fields" reminded me: I've run into some truly horrible job application forms. One had a single line, which would accept no more than about fifteen characters, for your *entire address.* How any applicants at all got through that one I don't know. And, of course, they're not going to hire someone who complains about their application either.

I had a survey that had two drop-down menus. When you tried to move on to the next page, it gave you an error (in BIG RED LETTERS) above the drop-down menus stating, "Please enter a value between 2-10." The options for the drop-down menus had nothing to do with numbers.

[dendawg]

The way I see it, complaining about something free is stupid because you got what you paid for.

[Aragarthiel]

The way I see it, complaining about something free is stupid because you got what you paid for.

Under that logic, nobody should ever put time or effort into something free because it won't pay off.

[Rageaholic]

The way I see it, complaining about something free is stupid because you got what you paid for.

But in the case of the survey companies, they entice you with money only to kick you out halfway through, effectively wasting your time. It's like promising someone a dollar for running a mile and then saying they're not needed when they already completed a half a mile, making you run a half a mile for nothing. In this case, saying it's free is a moot point because you can run for free anyway.

[Andara Bledin]

The way I see it, complaining about something free is stupid because you got what you paid for.

Yeah, how dare you care about your time or anything... >_>

[wolfie]

On the survey issue, I wouldn't be surprised if dropping people halfway through were deliberate. Set up a survey where the "meat" questions are at the beginning and "filler" questions are at the end. Offer something of value to people who complete the survey. Boot everyone partway through the "filler" questions. You get the answers you were looking for, but because nobody completed the survey you don't have to pay them.

[Andara Bledin]

The "fill this out for a chance to win a Shiny" surveys are like that. They all fail partway through, but after you've signed up for whatever affiliate junk they're pushing, so you end up on lists you don't really want to be on, they end up with referrals they didn't earn, and nobody ever gets a Shiny because no survey is ever successfully completed, so no entries are made.

[Aragarthiel]

The "fill this out for a chance to win a Shiny" surveys are like that. They all fail partway through, but after you've signed up for whatever affiliate junk they're pushing, so you end up on lists you don't really want to be on, they end up with referrals they didn't earn, and nobody ever gets a Shiny because no survey is ever successfully completed, so no entries are made.

Most of the surveys I've seen like that (usually for gift cards worth $100+) tell you "You're almost done!" then take you to a page full of nothing but advertisements with no way to continue, so you just X out. I tried a few of those (usually worth about $5 in points for entering the giveaway) before realizing that I had no way of getting my points if I was forced to X out.

[Rageaholic]

Okay, having signed up to swagbucks, I'm experiencing similar crap. The stupid survey won't load or will crap out in the middle. And these are the ones that don't disqualify you or point you to another survey after you've taken one. I also don't see why they have a limit to how many surveys you can be disqualified from a day to get one swagbuck. Is something that's worth one penny really costing them that much?

I did get some good surveys though (one which should get me 30 bucks!), but even those come with annoyances such as having to wait to be credited; not the money, but for the points you redeem for money (which I assume involves more waiting). This 'pending' crap is just annoying.