....to think this is too good to be true?

[BlueGoddess]

I have been approached by a market research company - Criteria Fieldwork Limited - to spend half an hour with them with a survey. For this they will give me £75 in a cheque or bank transfer.

I'm thinking it's too good to be true - AIBU?

A few years back I got £25 in vouchers for half an hour survey (something to do with social class & general knowledge) so possibly. Do you know what they are researching?

This is the actual email:

Criteria Fieldwork is a market research company & we are currently working with RS Consulting to conduct some market research interviews on behalf of NEST (the National Employment Savings Trust).

NEST is developing a tool to help intermediaries support employers of a workplace pension scheme created as part of the government’s pension reforms.

The research would consist of a 30 minute telephone interview and we would like you to spend 30 minutes looking at some material online prior to the interview.

Eligible participants would receive £75.00 via a bank transfer or cheque as a thank you for their time.

Please rest assured that this is not a sales exercise and anything you say during the course of the research will not be directly attributable to you. Criteria Fieldwork is a Company Partner of The Market Research Society. The Market Research Society provides a free-phone number for you to verify our membership if you wish: 0500 39 69 99.

If you are interested in participating we will need to ask some very brief questions to check your eligibility before scheduling your participation in the research. Please respond to this email with your direct telephone number and a suitable time to call you.

We will only use this telephone number to contact you in order to explain the research in more detail, and to verify that you are eligible to attend. Your telephone number will not be passed on to any third party without your prior consent. The research is being conducted on a small scale, so if you are interested in participating please respond as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Seems bit over the odds, I recall a whole day session paying that.

But if you can go, is there much of a downside?

My old friend at Drama School did loads of these....he told me he'd be given some snacks along with other people and a pot of moisturizer or something and the organisers would ask his opinion of the cream or whatever it was that day and they'd make it clear he was to be positive....then he'd be paid and they could say "In a survey, 99% of participants said their skin was softer and more radiant." He got paid well.

Ah....no...I wouldn't do it. I bet they charge YOU for the phone call and you will never see the payment. Where did they even find you OP?

I knew you could get money for doing stuff like that Jitney, but this is in a work capacity........

I'm willing to take an hour out for £75, but it just seems too good to be true!

Mind you their website looks ok...

Oooo - never thought of that Jitney! They phoned the office, and then followed it up with the above email.

I've Googled them but can't find anything that screams scam

don't give them your bank details though, just in case

Are you quite senior or have a very specific role? I've paid that for market research with senior executives -- they won't do it otherwise. I've normally offered £100 to a charity of their choice, but £75 personally wouldn't be unreasonable if you have been specifically targeted.

I got £50 for this a couple of years ago but someone came to the house and I had to answer some multiple choice questions about various products. I was given a cheque for £50 and a booklet of vouchers.
Be sure to ask for a cheque. In order for a bank transfer to happen they will need your bank details.

I am very senior Friendly, and am the owner of the business, so I can understand why they have targeted me - btw this doesn't mean I'm rich (I'm the last person to be paid!) and £75 would go a long way right now.

It just makes me nervous when I haven't found anyone that has said 'yes' I've heard of that specific company.

It's a bit high. I got £50 for 2 hours in person interview.
If it is relevant to your skills then it sounds like it might be a real company.
I was originally targeted for my skills and now get invites for all kinds of things! I hope they are not based on their profile of me is all I can say. All the payments are different - usually I look and I can't be bothered as they are barely worth the time and effort.

I've looked at their website and it looks fine. They only do qual research, so they won't be as well known as the big polling-type companies. Why don't you call the Market Research Society (Google them if you don't want to use the number given to you) and check? And, as others have said, don't give them your bank details but ask for a cheque. But it's not too good to be true. I should imagine £75 is perfectly reasonable for an hour of your time.

I work in research - I've heard of RS Consulting, they are legit.

And the MRS phone number is legit too. You could ring them to ask if Criteria are genuine, if you wanted to.

£75 for 30 minutes of a small business owner or a senior manager's time seems reasonable. For a larger business I would say it's on the low side. If you've been paid £50 for 2 hours in the past, then presumably that was your own time - not your work's time, where you'd otherwise be generating income.

Check then out on companies house to see if they're a legitimate company
I think its genuine as I am offered the same to attend focus groups

DH did a survey for something at work recently and got given $75 of Amazon vouchers (which I have used ).

Ring the market research society. They will confirm if it is a legit company.

Mmmm interesting, thank you all for your time and information.

I think I've got nothing to loose so I'll give them a call - you watch, I won't be an ideal candidate after all this!

Ach - I've had an email back to thank me, but they've already done the number required. Ah well, maybe next time..