Pinecone Research Reviews and Features

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Pinecone Research

85 Broad Street, New York, New York  10004 US
Tel: 800.864.1224   Contact: https://members.pineconeresearch.com/#/ContactUs
Operated by: The Nielsen Company, LLC

KEY FEATURES:

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PAYMENTS OFFERED

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HOW TO PARTICIPATE

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REDEEMING REWARDS

Typically, rewards are delivered within a few business days or sometimes even immediately after completing a survey. Your first 100 points will equate to $1, which will be sent to your home address.

Pinecone Research is a trusted leader in the survey panel industry. They are owned and operated by the market research company Nielsen, whose operations are headquartered in New York.

Pinecone Research focuses on improving the quality of tomorrow’s products through collecting research via paid surveys and product testing opportunities offered to consumers.

How Pinecone Research Works

pinecone research website

Pinecone Research Sign Up

Pinecone Research is an invitation-only survey panel, where members can earn rewards for participating in online surveys and product tests. Potential new members must be invited by other members to join, or they must find a join link posted on a website. SurveyPolice currently offers Pinecone Research signup links for Americans, Canadians, and people living in the UK: » Join Pinecone Research here.

To learn more about how to sign up for Pinecone Research, including tips on joining and why there are membership restrictions in place to begin with, check out our article on how to find an invitation to join Pinecone Research, as it should help answer any questions you may have about the process.

Payment and Rewards

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Reward Types and Amounts

For each survey successfully completed, Pinecone Research awards its members a minimum of 100 points, which equals $1.00 in your local currency. For example, Americans will earn $1.00 USD per survey, Canadians typically earn $1.00 CAD per survey, while Britons earn £1 per survey completion. There are a variety of rewards options that accumulated points can be exchanged for. These include:

  • Bank Transfer - Pinecone offers cash payments issued via bank transfer. When selecting this option, you will be asked to create a 'wallet' on a third-party payment processor website. Once set up, you can request a cash payment deposited directly into your bank account. Payments are issued in $10, $5, and $3 increments (which can be in different quantities; ex. 4 x $3 = $12). Bank transfers are typically issued within 48 hours of request, but can take up to 3-5 business days.
  • Amazon e-Cards - You can choose to receive an Amazon gift card with your collected points. The e-card will be sent directly to your email account.
  • Other Gift Cards - Pinecone Research offers a variety of gift card options including Starbucks, Apple Store, Walmart gift cards, as well as many others. Gift cards may be digital or in physical format and are listed under these categories.
  • Merchandise - Pinecone Research offers an extensive merchandise catalog consisting of various small electronics, household items and more. Merchandise rewards will be mailed directly to your home.
  • Prepaid Virtual Visas – prepaid Visa cards are available for redemption, however, they may only available to US residents.
Points Value: 100 Pinecone Research points = $1.00.

Redeeming Rewards

To redeem your rewards, simply visit the Pinecone Research website and log in to your account. From there, click the "Redeem" button to access the reward site. Under the SHOP tab next to HOME tab, select the reward items you wish to redeem and once you click on an item you are interested in, click the shopping cart icon to add the item to your cart. Click the shopping cart icon on the right side of the page to complete your order.

Note that PayPal is no longer offered as a rewards option and was replaced by bank transfers.

Earn your First Check/Bank Transfer Automatically

Once you complete your first survey, which is always worth a minimum of 100 points, Pinecone Research will automatically send you a check for $1.00 to the mailing address on your profile, or will ask you to cash out via bank transfer. This is a security measure to establish your profile and account. After your first check/bank transfer (or 30 days of being an active Pinecone member, whichever comes first), you will have the option to choose the form in which you would like to receive your future rewards.

Visit Pinecone Research's website 

Survey Taking Experience

Survey Types

Interesting online surveys are e-mailed to members, and are on a variety of different topics. As a Pinecone Research member, you are part of an elite group that represents consumers and households like yours nationwide. Your opinion is important to manufacturers who count on people like you to help predict which products will be developed and which may not be suited for launch. Paid surveys opportunities usually take about 15 to 20 minutes of your time to complete and you will be notified by e-mail when one becomes available.

Product Testing Opportunities

Occasionally, Pinecone may mail out products for their members to test from home. These may be physical products, or food items that may come delivered in a cooler. A follow-up survey is usually provided as part of the product test. These opportunities are highly sought after, as you may receive free food (or a product that you might be able to keep), as well as a paid follow up survey!

Visit Pinecone Research's website 

Community Features

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Pinecone Research App

If you prefer to take surveys on the go, you can download the Pinecone Research app onto your iOS or Android mobile device. The app will allow you to view available surveys, take online surveys, view and redeem your points, view your account history and more. Just remember to first join the Pinecone Research panel itself before attempting to take surveys through the app!

Quick Customer Service

If you have a question on anything Pinecone Research-related, do not hesitate to send in an inquiry through the website. The response time is usually 1-3 business days, or even quicker depending on the workload of employees during the time of your question.

Is Pinecone Research Legit or Scam?

pinecone research legit or scam

Is Pinecone Research Legit?

Pinecone Research is legitimate and is not a scam. This survey program is over fifteen years old and has paid out millions of dollars in rewards to its members. Pinecone offers quality paid surveys and product tests to its members and is known for offering fair rewards. Operated by Nielsen, a market research leader, Pinecone Research is not a scam and is a completely legitimate website.

Eligibility: Available in select countries including USA, UK, Canada, Pinecone Research is an invitation-only panel.


Please note that PInecone Research has been targeted by a cashier's check scam. If you receive a large, unexpected check seemingly from Pinecone, DO NOT attempt to cash it!

Pinecone Research Reviews (695)

5 Star Reviews (387) 55.7
55.7
4 Star Reviews (94) 13.5
13.5
3 Star Reviews (51) 7.3
7.3
2 Star Reviews (41) 5.9
5.9
1 Star Reviews (122) 17.6
17.6

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Has gone downhill

September 7, 2017 by William from United States

I was with Pinecone for years. Took many surveys. When the Nielsen people took over the reward went down but I stayed. This year I had a problem with a survey. It was not loading. I asked for help and gave as much information as I could. Then the strange questions started. This went on for a week or more. Then I stopped receiving surveys. My "shop tracker" no longer worked. I asked what the problem was and was told there were no surveys for me at this time. I was completing 2 a week, then nothing. I asked about shop tracker. They said to wait til next month. I did. Tried again and same problem. Pinecone stopped replying to my questions. This is no way to treat someone who has been a member of years. Use at your own risk.

major nosedive

August 23, 2017 by doris from United States

i joined at their inception..they have gone from being number 1,to really awful..havent been paid for the last few surveys,all kind of glitches last 6 months,NO customer service to speak of,and when you try to email them with proof that you took the surveys,you get locked out..i have spent hours of my time with no compensation..do yourself a favor,and dont even join

Don't Join! They're a Mess

August 19, 2017 by Carolyn from United States

I was a happy and satisfied member of Pinecone for more than 10 years. They were once considered the most reputable of all the survey sites. But starting in April 2017, things went downhill fast. I've encountered website and survey glitches of every description, as well as problems communicating with them (They used to have wonderful customer service -- no more!) and problems of not receiving my survey invites and having to log into my account every single day to check if I have any surveys. But the final straw is that I didn't get paid for the last two surveys I did for them, and I can't get a response from their customer service, "Karen Scott" (not a real person, I'm sure). My next step is to contact the companies whose products I reviewed and did not get credited for, and let them know they are paying a research company that is no longer reputable, and that it is reflecting negatively on their brand. I recommend others with Pinecone issues do the same.

What has happened?

August 10, 2017 by Julee from United States

I took surveys with Pinecone last year multiple times per week and enjoyed it. When a family member was ill I was offline for a couple of months and discovered my account had been deactivated due to inactivity. No problem they said and my account was reactivated...supposedly! After two and a half months of no email alerts I checked to see what was up and was told they just did not have any surveys for my demographics. After still no surveys after a period of time I once again contacted them and was told I was no longer needed as a participant and I had actually never been reactivated. I have been attempting to cash out my $12 balance to Paypal with no luck. I just found out I am now locked out of my account. I would say stay the hell away from Pinecone...I'm not sure who has taken over but they're no longer a reliable company!

Now you do surveys you don't get paid for

July 30, 2017 by Chris from United States

The new format first changed to be taking household questions specific to a product. If you qualified, you went to the Pinecone site to log in to take it. If you didn't qualify, you didn't get redirected to the Pinecone page. Now there is a second change! You do the household questions, and if you qualify for that product, it brings you to Pinecone where you sign in. But, now it changed so that you take the whole survey like 1/2 hour but then you don't get credit for it if at the end if you don't say you would likely tell people about the product or somewhat liked it. You now get punished for giving an unfavorable opinion. Like right before the survey ends, after you did all that work taking the survey (not household cause you did that already), it throws you off the site saying you don't qualify!!!!!!! To lessen the sting and to get your mind off the fact that you just took a big long half hour survey without compensation, they throw you to another screen that says click if you want to see if you qualify for a different one!!!! Then you click on that and you take MORE household survey questions for another product, then you MAY get redirected to the Pinecone screen again IF you qualify again, and then you take a SECOND SURVEY!!!!!!! and then you hope you don't get thrown off THAT one too!!! They're actually making you taking surveys in the same type of format as usual and using all your data you gave for free without paying you. Only some people i guess who act more favorable to the product who they may want to send products to get credit. This is total BS as far as I'm concerned because a product specific 20 minute survey is NOT A HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE, IT'S A PRODUCT SURVEY. I asked about it weeks ago but she never emailed me back so that's why I went looking it up to see if this was only happening to me. I'm glad I found this site because I would have allowed them to continue to treat me like I'm an idiot and taking of advantage of me, trying to get 60 minutes of survey out of me and MAYBE paying me 3 dollars for all that time if they like my answers!!! I'm going to cash out in case they start getting funny with those rules too, like taking away the cash option, etc. I knew it was too good to be true that this would last. I like doing them, but I don't like being insulted like that, letting them see if we notice that we're doing actual surveys free of charge now like we're too ignorant to figure it out. I suggest everyone just cash out and email to ask why you're now taking 2 surveys and getting paid for one, or even worse, paid for none. Those ARE surveys you're taking when you are brought to the Pinecone site after those household questions, make no mistake about that. Throwing you out of a survey does NOT make it a household questionnaire!!!! They must think the majority of their loyal users are complete idiots!!!!