Sunday, February 16, 2014

Fraud Alert: Beware NRG Research Group Is A Fraud

I have been hesitant to write this piece but this is Canada where we pride ourselves in good business ethics and more so, it is 21st century. From multiple complains about a NRG Research Group, I think it is high time companies knew better than hoodwink job seekers. NRG must have started on a good note, of course how could they have been in business in the first place. The company uses phone, online surveys and focus groups to source information for clients. They get information from interested participants and promise to pay for them for their services. But of recent, they post bogus job vacancy for focus panels and promise upto $30 dollars per hour.

When you apply, you are directed to their website where you will punch all your information with the hope that you can get paid for being part of a focus group. So whats the scam about that arrangement? wait a bit. This is how it goes. A staff will call you up and say you are in their database and ask some dumb questions they already got in your file. It goes like this 'Good Morning Fitz, you are invited to join in a paid focus panel that is coming up in a fortnight, it is $100 for a 90 minutes section'.
You are filled with excitement especially if you are a job seeker or probably you are working since it comes up in the evening. No one free for the time will refuse such offer. And the lady goes on 'however we want to ask some questions to ensure we have the perfect demographics'. Then she ask questions about your age group, marital status, size of family, race, income levels.... After that, she settles on the scam of the business, she basically ask all the questions that was supposed to be discussed during the focus panel session. For instance, they want to know about consumer preference and taste on soft or carbonated drinks- pepsi, Canada gin, coke, dr. pepper, 7up etc.

Surprisingly, after using almost ten minutes to collate all the useful information, she goes like, 'Mr Fitz, unfortunately you did not meet our demographics requirement for this focus panel, thanks for your time'. Any attempt for you to contest that statement is null and void. For instance is you say why am I not qualified for the session, she will say we are only considering people in age brackets 30-40 and you are just under 30. Then you say, 'excuse me, I told you I was under 30 before you took the next 20 minutes of my time asking about carbonated drinks'. Then she reads from a script again 'Mr Fitz, I am afraid, I cannot include you in this session because the group is already full'. You feel betrayed, pained and lost. Well, if the group was already full, why did you call me up in the first place and promise to pay me $100 for a focus group session.

People should beware of the company, especially job seekers in Manitoba province. This type of company do not represent Canada in a good light. This is Canada, and not jungle. This country is governed by law and businesses are to abide by some standards and ethics. when you get calls from NRG Research Group, you want to end the call or rather feel defrauded and foolish if you hold on til the end. A word for NRG, please when you call people up, tell them upfront that if they can spare few moments that you want to gather information about this or whatnot. And establish with them that they are not being paid for any group session. I believe Canadians always want to give feedback about products dare to them. Peradventure, if they do have the time and want to, I am sure they will take your questions. In that way, it is win-win for everyone without the other party feeling  deceived or manipulated. 

King | BuzzCanada

1 comment:

  1. just give them long drawn out answers that make no sense, ask them to slow down and repeat questions. tie up their phone lines, fill up their email inbox. Picket the building, comment about them on social media etc. Just my personal opinion.

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