This FAQ aims to clear any misconceptions that users have regarding being screened out or disqualified from a survey, missing rewards and availability of surveys under the Surveys tab of the Earn page. Please read and understand this FAQ in order to prevent disappointment when answering surveys.
Where do surveys come from?
Surveys shown on Zest are retrieved from our survey partners who connect to multiple market research companies and survey aggregators that work directly with thousands of individual businesses or organisations that require market research to be done.
Why do I have to repeatedly answer profile questions for every survey?
When you start your first survey under the Surveys tab, you are usually asked to complete a survey profile by answering a series of profile questions which are used to show you relevant surveys. We do our best to show surveys that match your profile.
However, some surveys have precise profile requirements (beyond the initial profile questions) set by the market researchers, hence additional questions are asked to determine if your profile meets their requirements. In addition, some profile questions might be repeated (for quality control) to ensure that you are providing accurate answers. This is beyond Zest's and our survey partner's immediate control.
Why was I screened out or disqualified from a survey?
Market researchers often want to sample only a precise demographic in order to conduct the most accurate research and to ensure your opinions matter. Hence, when your profile does not meet the additional profile requirements, you are immediately screened out or disqualified from the survey. This is beyond Zest's and our survey partner's immediate control.
In such cases, Zest is not paid but you might still receive a small screen out reward (depending on the market researcher) as a token for your time.
IMPORTANT: you might be screened out or disqualified if you provide inconsistent or dishonest answers, caught speeding through the survey or use fraudulent methods to complete the survey. No reward is given in such cases and your account might be suspended as this is a violation of our Terms of Service.
Is my data deleted when I am screened out or disqualified from a survey?
Yes. Your data is immediately deleted when you are screened out or disqualified from a survey. Hence, you are not giving away your data for "free" nor is the market researcher able to "steal" your data.
IMPORTANT: your data is only used when you complete a survey and are rewarded for it.
I completed a survey but why was I not rewarded?
In most cases, you have most likely been screened out, disqualified or the survey has reached it's quota. This decision is final. In rare cases, you can be screened out or disqualified halfway through or nearing the end of the survey. We understand this is frustrating but rest assured that our survey partner is actively working to remove such surveys and market researchers from the system.
Unfortunately, this is beyond Zest's and our survey partner's immediate control, as we have no visibility into whether a user has actually completed a survey because this information is not reported to us or our survey partner.
Why are there are no surveys available?
The availability of surveys depends on your survey profile as well as the demand from market researchers. We have noticed that demand is usually lower over the weekends. This is beyond Zest's and our survey partner's immediate control. We recommend you to check back every few days for more surveys and complete additional profile questions whenever you are prompted in order to unlock more surveys.