ComplaintsforM3 USA Corporation

• Initial Complaint

  07/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have not received compensation for a focus group that I attended. I have contacted the company numerous times and I keep getting the run around. They owe me $200

  Business response

  07/13/2023

  Complaint ID ********
   
  Thank you for informing us of the complaint submitted to the Better Business Bureau that we received notification on July 12, 2023. We appreciate your nonpartisan efforts to resolve this dispute and have provided an explanation of the situation below, throughout which the complainant is referred to as Respondent.
  

  The Respondent contacted our customer support team regarding payment for participation in study R59508. We informed the Respondent the compensation of $120 would be issued through a third-party company and they would follow-up.
  
  We also followed up with the third-party company.
  
  Here is the correspondence we received from third-party company respondent the compensation resolution:
  Respondents check:
  Respondent Name
  Batch 5/5/23
  Check #******
  $120
  Project *******
  
  5/15/23: Respondent emailed and stated her first check #****** was ripped in half at the post office. Asked if we could send another check.
  5/16/23:  Third-party company team member responded that a new check would be ordered and mailed within 7 days. Respondent responded thanking for the quick response, and she would shred the rest of the check.
  5/22/23: Check #******, $120,mailed to Respondent.
  6/1/23: Check #******, $120,posted to the Third-party company's account.

  We thank you for the opportunity to respond to this?complaint and are available to address any questions or further concerns.

  Customer response

  07/20/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *******************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was solicited by this healthcare company to do ophthalmology surveys as a board certified ophthalmologist, which I am. I completed several studies from August 2022 to the end of 2022 and followed up numerous times by email correspondence and or telephone communication with reps as to the status of these payments. Each time I was instructed that the payments were either ready to be redeemed or they would be sent to my online account for me to access. Either every representative is grossly incompetent or they're just flat out liars and refuse to actually pay any of these studies. They have gone so far as to tell me in my last telephone correspondence that one of the studies expired as of November because it has not been claimed. This is a complete falsehood and any delay in its claim was solely from their indiscretions. I'm including some of the email thread in a file attachment included herein as proof of the studies completions and their continued delays. The study ID numbers in question are: *** ***-****** *** ****-***** *** ****-***** *** ***  ******/*-*****

  Business response

  05/03/2023

  Thank you for informing us of the complaint. Upon Management review of this support ticket we completely understand the perspective and frustrations expressed by Respondent both in the ticket and in the BBB complaint, as the service provided by the agent was not in line with standards and expectations.? We have already reached out to Respondent and resolved the payment issue. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this complaint.
  

  Customer response

  05/08/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  m-panels still has not paid out these honorarium that they said they would in the form of $397 in ****** gift cards. I'm including my online account dashboard as proof of their continued non-payment.
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  05/12/2023

  Upon review it appears you redeemed the Amazon card on May 3rd, 2023. Please note ****** e-Gift Cards will be processed within 5-6 business days. Please contact support if you haven't received the cards by today, Friday, May 12th, 2023.

  Customer response

  05/15/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I still have not received the 4 ****** gift cards for the 4 outstanding studies totaling $397 as of 5/15/2023.
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  05/19/2023

  Upon review it appears you have redeemed the ****** cards on May 17, 2023. Please contact support if you have any other questions.

   

• Initial Complaint

  02/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I completed a research study for this company. I was informed after many attempts to contact them that my compensation was going to be issued around 14 business days after the study ended. Then after that time was up, I again contacted them. They refused to respond to my emails and blocked my access to the digital wallet they offer on their website. I contacted them again by phone and they claimed my account was locked because of suspicious activity. They claimed that after I sent them a picture of my government issued ID that they would unlock my account so I could withdraw my compensation. I was told over the phone I had 400 dollars in my account that I could withdraw after they received my license. They then continued to ignore and communication I've sent.

  Business response

  02/22/2023

  Regarding complaint #********:  
  
  The respondent reached out via phone on Friday, Feb 3rd at 3:22pm EST for assistance logging into their M3 Global Research account.
  
  A ticket was immediately raised into the Support team, who investigated matters and then responded directly at 3:32pm EST to confirm the respondents account had been temporarily locked.
  
  M3 Global Research considers data security of the utmost importance.Such temporary locks occur automatically when there is potentially suspicious activity at the account level. This is an automated safeguard to ensure no risk of security breach, and is in no way ever used as a retaliatory measure or means of withholding access to compensation.
  
  This was explained in detail to the respondent, along with apologies for any inconvenience and the steps necessary for restoring access:
  
  1. Re-confirmation of identity (via Photo ID) for internal review
  2. Password update by the user
  3. Verification through a confirmation code
  
  Shortly after, the respondent provided their ID (****** ***).However, as this was late on a Friday afternoon, the agent assigned was unfortunately unable to respond ahead of closing out for the weekend.  
  
  One hour later (4:49pm EST), the respondent messaged again for an update. At this point the agent had left for the weekend.  A subsequent message was sent on ************* *** ** ****** ***.
  
  On Monday, Feb. 6th at 8:42am EST, the respondent followed up again, alerting that a BBB escalation had been filed.
  
  Upon the assigned agents return on Monday morning, they shared the verification details internally and had the respondents account re-activated.An email was sent at 11:28am EST confirming this, along with apologies for being unable to answer escalations over the weekend and outside of business hours.
  
  The respondent acknowledged and was immediately able to login.They successfully redeemed the $400 in their wallet at 12:40am EST that day with no further issue.
  
  At no point was M3 Global Research ignoring the respondents understandable concerns in this matter. Most of this, we feel, was compounded due to timing and communication bridging a weekend. Upon review, we also believe the agent handled communication to the best of their abilities and access.
  
  We apologize once again for any inconvenience faced by the respondent.
  
  Finally, we thank the BBB for the opportunity to respond to this complaint and are available to address any questions or further concerns.

  Customer response

  03/02/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/24/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Good afternoon M3/m360 team:I really enjoyed participating in the health studies (that have two parts August 23 for twenty minutes and August 30 2022 for two hours.) I hope the feedback I provided was useful to you and your team! The reason I am getting in touch is because I noticed that you have not yet processed my incentive payment of $225 and it has been over seven weeks. If you could please confirm my attendance and process my payment via check to my home address that would be appreciated.

  Business response

  11/17/2022

  Regarding final resolution on complaint #********:
  
  Upon receipt of this complaint, the Support team reached out to the member directly to investigate the issue internally and help resolve as quickly as possible.
  
  An ****** gift card was processed for the full amount owed ($225) on November 8th and claimed by this member the same day. We have taken steps internally to ensure a more proactive, visible approach, moving forward.
  
  Additional notes:
  
  This project had unforeseen delays throughout its run and had originally been expected to close the week of September 19th. Based on the timelines proposed by our client for this study, incentives were originally to take 3-4 weeks to post to member accounts. While this fell into the maximum time-window we allow for member incentivization, subsequent delays only extended the timeline further. This was compounded due to the two-part nature of this specific project. 
  
  As the Project Management team realized the timeline was expanding, this member was proactively reached out to on the week of September 26th via email to acknowledge additional delays; informing them they'd be notified via email once their incentives were ready to be redeemed. 
  
  Per our records, this correspondence was the last outbound communication shared on expected resolution. Further, no concrete date was mentioned that outlined when resolution would ultimately be completed. 
  
  While project delays - particularly on complex, multi-part studies, or studies with goals changed mid-field by our client do occur, we can do better in managing expectations and ensuring a clear timeline is provided to our valued panelists. Ultimately, we take full responsibility for the issues faced by this member. We have met internally (support team and client service team) to discuss the need for ongoing communication and proactive, timeline-focused expectations. We have also stressed the window of up-to-six weeks for ongoing client review, if scenarios like this occur in the future. 
  
  We thank this member for their understanding and hope our handling of this investigation and the resolution have helped address their concerns.
  
  We also thank the BBB for the opportunity to respond to this complaint and are available to address any additional questions or further inquiries.

• Initial Complaint

  10/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I participated into my research studies that I would I would I would be paid for. They payment was taking a long time, then they called assured me that it would come that weekend. I’ve been waiting for over 2 months. They no longer answer their phones or reply to their emails after weeks. I believe I have been scammed by this company. I am owed 65 dollars for the first interview on august 8 and 160 for the interview on 8/30. It was a 2 part study.

  Business response

  11/17/2022

  Regarding final resolution on complaint # ********:
  
  An ****** gift card was processed and delivered via email for the full amount owed ($225) on November 8th. During subsequent investigation on this complaint, the Panel Team Leader reached out to the member by phone on November 17th and helped them identify that the gift card email had reached their Spam folder. The member redeemed successfully while on the call.
  
  Additional notes:
  
  This project had unforeseen delays throughout its run and had originally been expected to close the week of September 19th. Based on the timelines proposed by our client for this study, incentives were originally to take 3-4 weeks to post to member accounts. While this fell into the maximum time window we allow for member incentivization, subsequent delays only extended the timeline further. This was compounded due to the two-part nature of this specific project.
  
  Per our records, no correspondence could be found outlining these delays to the member.
  
  While project delays - particularly on complex, multi-part studies, or studies with goals changed mid-field by our client – do occur, we will do better in managing expectations and ensuring a clear timeline is provided to our valued panelists.
  
  Ultimately, we take full responsibility for the issues faced by this member. We have met internally (support team and client service team) to discuss the need for ongoing communication and proactive, timeline-focused expectations. We have also stressed the window of “up-to-six weeks” for ongoing client review if scenarios like this occur in the future.
  
  We thank this member for their understanding.
  
  We also thank the BBB for the opportunity to respond to this complaint and are available to address any additional questions or further inquiries.

  Customer response

  11/18/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/21/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  The nature of the dispute is being removed despite verification, continuous enrollments in studies despite removal, haphazard removal from study, no longer receiving surveys.

  Business response

  08/04/2022

  Thank you for informing us of complaint #********,which we received notification for on July 28, 2022. We appreciate the Better Business Bureaus nonpartisan efforts to resolve this dispute and have provided an explanation of the situation below, throughout which the complainant is referred to as the Respondent. 
  
  The respondent was banned from receiving future survey invitations with M3 Global Research on April 6th, 2022. Their ban was due to a history of questionable information via online screeners, which included contradictive data around both their years in practice, and their specialty; the latter of which shifted between Hem/Onc, Ped Onc, Cardiology,Colorectal Surgery, and Endocrinology.
  
  We believe these inconsistencies stemmed from either 1)repeated inattentiveness or 2) efforts to game the system for survey qualification, and a ban was issued internally per our Terms and Conditions:
  
  "Company, in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, account (or any part thereof), use of any Service, or access to any Site, and remove and discard any User Content within any Service, for any reason, including, without limitation,for lack of use or if Company believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of these Terms."
  
  Upon noticing no new survey invitations from M3 Global Research, the respondent created a new account on May 30th, 2022. This account was caught at verification and immediately flagged as a duplicate.
  
  We believe claims of continuous enrollments are incorrect, and potentially stem from the respondent using the same registered email with both M3 Global Research and M-Panels - two distinct panel websites, despite having the same parent organization. We believe this because, on at least one occasion prior to their ban, the respondent conflated survey opportunities in their inbox between the two panels while troubleshooting with a Support Supervisor.
  
  Survey invites from M3 Global Research to the respondent stopped shortly after the April 6th ban went into effect. One invitation (for **** study ******) was received after the ban, on May 2nd, but was a one-off invite due to the respondent having previously completed a qualifying screener portion before being banned on April 6th.The last invite sent from M-Panels was on June 13th, and a similar ban was enforced on that panel website thereafter.
  
  Finally, regarding potentially ambiguous mentions of removal in the complaint: The respondent did recently request deletion of their M3 Global Research user-profile on Jun 16, 2022, via a support ticket. Shortly after submitting,however, they called our support line the same day, requesting to speak to a supervisor,and retracted the request Stating they did not wish to delete their user profile/information at that time.
  
  Based on the information provided above, we feel the original complaint warrants no further action and has been suitably addressed regarding 1) the reason for ban, 2) any additional/overlapping invitations received after ban, and 3) broader mentions of removal throughout the complaint.
  
  We thank you for the opportunity to respond to this complaint and are available to address any questions or further concerns.

  Customer response

  08/07/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******** **********
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am a physician who regularly does surveys for M3 research. They have yet to pay me for several studies. Ive reached out multiple times and have not received my compensation.

  Business response

  04/08/2022

  Complaint ID ********
  
  Thank you for informing us of the complaint submitted to the Better Business Bureau that we received notification for on April 5th, 2022.  We appreciate your nonpartisan efforts to resolve this dispute and have provided an explanation of the situation below, throughout which the complainant is referred to as Respondent. 
  
  Upon investigation due to this complaint, it was noted the Respondent had recently participated in six surveys that were still pending payment:
  
  ****** - $30.00, created in system on March 31st, 2022
  ****** - $20.00, created in system on March 25th, 2022
  ****** - $150.00, created in system on March 24th, 2022
  ****** - $36.00, created in system on March 23rd, 2022
  ****** - $43.00, created in system on March 19th, 2022
  ****** - $60.00, created in system on March 12th, 2022
  
  Compensation is provided only after interviews are successfully completed and quality checked, as is noted in the Compensation Provisions as follows "Upon completion of each survey for which you are entitled to compensation, the amount earned will be transferred to your M3 Wallet. Typically, the compensation will be credited to your account upon earning. In some instances, crediting cannot be accomplished immediately. The length of time required to credit compensation to your account may vary."
  
  During our investigation no records of correspondence could be confirmed regarding compensation status, either in tickets or phone logs. In the interest of the Respondent, and in good faith of the multiple contact attempts mentioned, all pending surveys at the time of escalation were expedited by the Associate Director of Panel via the Incentives team. Payment was confirmed internally on April 7th, and  notice of the transactions were relayed to the Respondent via email on April 8th. 
  
  We thank you for the opportunity to respond to this complaint, and are available to address any additional questions or further concerns.

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