Focus Pointe Global Reviews 19

This is my experience with Focusgroup.com aka Focus Pointe Global.

You need to accumulate 5,000 points which is $50 before you can collect your reward in the form of a physical or virtual gift card. The email you get after redeeming points states it will take 4-6 weeks to process your payout.

For every 10 or more surveys I started, I was only able to successfully complete one or two of them. I kept getting the message that I didn’t qualify or I had already taken that survey.

It’s frustrating when you have spent 10 minutes answering specific questions that go beyond demographics (age, gender, location, income etc.) and receive the message that the survey is terminated.

Once I finally got to the point of redeeming there was a very quick message that flashed up on my computer screen that stated they are currently experiencing significant delays….

I immediately received an email stating, “Redemption fulfilment occurs approximately 4-6 weeks after your request.” This was not good news. If you use other survey sights you know that redeeming points can be instantaneous and with a lower threshold like 1,000 points.

I also noticed that the time shown to take a survey on the selection screen is often different from the time you are shown once you start the survey. Example: I started one today that showed 2 minutes yet after answering a bunch of questions I received a message to start the survey which would take 20 minutes. It’s like a bait and switch.

Some of the surveys have invasive privacy policies and want to share your name, email, phone number, and address with other companies. I am okay with surveys that collect usage and product information as long as it's anonymous.

Be mindful that some of those cookies they put on your computer appear to track what websites you are visiting after you are done with the survey. The problem I have with this type of activity is that it’s not obvious. You must take the initiative to click on the privacy policy and read through several pages of irrelevant content to find out what they are tracking.

Some companies are very forthright about what they collect and others have it buried.

Other reviews are spot on. It takes forever for the points to appear in your account after doing a study. Then it takes an ADDITIONAL 6-8 weeks (usually 6) to get your gift card.

I was willing to deal with that. I'd do a study and just forget about it until I'd get an email telling me the points had been added to my account. Then I'd put in for my gift card, forget about it, then get an email telling me it was ready. Sure, I'd much rather be paid within a week like most places, but it wasn't a deal breaker. I'd do the surveys they had that were worth doing as well for more points.

Now, they changed the minimum payout to $50. It used to be $5. Their surveys are mostly NOT worth doing because the point values don't justify the time spent. However, you can find ones here and there and get a gift card. Not anymore. It will take FOREVER to build up enough points through surveys to get $50. Then a month and a half to get the gift card. No, thank you.

The company is a decent organization. They provide a good service for their sponsors. I have been participating in their focus groups for years. When I started out with them, they were paying cash on the spot, then it was by checks, then by gift card, and now by points that take 6-8 weeks to process and convert over to a virtual visa/mastercard or physical card. I have been trying to contact them to apprise them of my sickness and was requesting an exception to expediting processing from the typical 6-8 weeks to 2 weeks or less. My pleas have been ignored and their replies non-existent, and when replied, canned responses without addressing the special request. I wish this company would return to paying participants after completion of the study instead of forcing everyone to join their points rewards program that I along with others have no interest in joining. Other companies in the same space do not pay out their participants with points either paying in cash or immediate gift card. Please have someone contact me regarding my specific case, and if there will be major changes forthcoming to the time it takes to pay participants after completion of a focus group. Thank you.
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2740851 7/9/2025 3:33:51 PM FocusGroup Virtual Visa® Reward 30,000 300.00 USD Processing

I would rather have root canal before I waste my time with their so called "surveys." 99% of the time when you just about reach the end, a message appears that you "did not qualify" and you are rewarded a big fat zero AND THEY STILL GET PAID!!! If you have absolutely nothing else to do and don't mind wasting your valuable time, then this is the perfect site for you🙄

At a glance, they seem good, with lots of surveys and other money-making opportunities available. But then you get tons of spam emails with exceptionally low survey qualification rates. Frequent late survey disqualifications that lead to a huge amount of wasted time. And to top it all off, they don't even pay out when you finally manage to get to the point of requesting to be paid.

I did a children's toy study back in January 2025 with my daughter. We were supposed to be paid $75. My wallet shows "Paid" but I never received the email for the Walmart gift card. I have sent in a help ticket twice and multiple emails. But I have NEVER received anything. Such a shame that they will even scam children out of money they earned on a camera recorded call.

They can reach out to me at msdancecheer1@ yahoo if they want to correct it.

Takes forever to get paid , if you get paid at all . No response from any communication I have sent . Negative stars from me if possible

They don't pay out, and they don't answer messages about not paying out. They owe me over $100 from a payout requested over a month ago. 3 emails through their "helpdesk" system, no response. Scam.

Waiting on actually receiving my incentive which was added to my focusgroup.com wallet on November 16th and has been sitting in "processing" ever since.

Emailed support days ago and no response from the "panel services team".

Pages and pages of users on BBB and Reddit have also experiences payment issues. It's either extremely late or doesn't come at all.

Here's the thing Focus Group offers a decent incentive for whatever you choose to do either the surveys or the online focus group through Sago. But they make you wait forever to get whatever giftcard you choose to redeem, it now states in 20 business days and thats really 30 days(so a month)! 🤬 REALLY!! Other sites are way faster for the same amount as focus group is offering, they need to step their game up and get with the program!

It has been a month and more than 20 business days, but they have yet to send the payment. Stay away if you value your time. Ridiculous!

The SAGO focus group portion was fine. Their point redemption for gift card processing is ridiculous. You select your card and a message pops up stating for about 3 seconds, "it is taking longer than normal due to high volume." Unfortunately, no timeframe is provided and you won't be able to change your choice after seeing the message. If I request a $250 Walmart gift card on July 2nd come August I no longer need it and would rather have a Visa gift card but there isn't an option to change while you wait forever for them to process it.

Then after searching through their FAQs I finally found a statement that mentioned during high volume it can take 20 BUSINESS days to process point redemption. So it takes a month to email someone an egift card...freaking mind-blowing! So I would have to wait a month for a $10 Starbucks card after already waiting for my points to be put in the system.

I mean you're providing discount gift cards as payment so honestly you are not paying the full amount quoted on invitations. Business wise it's smart and I get it. I would rather do assignments with companies who pay via PayPal or directly just send the Visa gift card upon completion because at this point you all are getting even more of my time as I wait. It is a shame because I will never do a SAGO assignment again.

FocusGroup.com is a waste of your valuable time. After endless screening questions and then the actual survey which averages 15-20 min they tell me that I didn't "qualify" for the survey I just completed. They also haven't replied to my emails. Sago in person focus groups are legit but the online surveys are a complete scam/data mining.

This has been the most frustrating experience. This company endlessly sends offers for supposed "paid studies" then says I don't qualify every time, but only AFTER asking the actual survey questions (so basically taking my information & specific survey answers for free). Focusgroups.org IS legit & has actually paid me for my time, focusgroup.com is NOT & has not paid (or allowed me to "complete" a single survey) even after trying to give them multiple chances over several months. Absolutely infuriating and shameful to take advantage of people like this.

I have been a member of Focusgroup.com a few years now and never had a problem with them until recently. Since they merged with Sago it is harder for panelist to qualify for surveys, they take an unnecessary amount of time to process rewards and almost under no circumstances will they get back to you about any support tickets you create asking for help. I would NOT recommend this panel to anyone who values their time!

I did surveys, got my points, cashed them out about a month ago and received no reward, but they keep sending me more surveys, don't waste your time

Been filling out surveys all morning and have no points or money.

Don't waste your time

This organization is now called Focus Group by Schlesinger. While the recruiters are genuinely nice, and they do offer a variety of focus group opportunities, my only concern is the incentives. I'm in month 2 of a particular project, and I haven't received my first payment. We're going on month 3 now, and nothing. An incentive is defined as: "a thing that motivates or encourages one to do something." Or a payment or concession to stimulate greater output or investment." Quite frankly I'm no longer incentivized to continue with my study. There is absolutely no communication between participants and Schlesinger. If you leave a voicemail, or send an email, or complete the contact us form on their website, you will not hear back from them. I understand that they have a great number of participants and are busy recruiting, but I've gotten more expedient responses from USPS.