I’ll be honest, I like taking surveys and getting rewarded for my feedback. So when I first discovered tellthebell.com, I jumped at the chance to win $500. In fact, for several months, I took the survey and entered the sweepstakes every month.
The result? I didn’t win – shocker! I actually ended up coming out of it feeling a bit used, and thinking it was a complete waste of time. I wanted to know the real story behind this survey.
So I did some digging. Here’s what I found:
What is TellTheBell.com, really?
TellTheBell.com is where Taco Bell listens to what we’ve got to say about our recent visits through their Customer Satisfaction Survey. They want to know how we feel about the food, the service, and anything else that caught our attention, so they can make things better down the road.
The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. It’s basically a series of multiple-choice, and open-ended questions to gauge how satisfied you were with your food and visit.
At the end, you can enter your contact details and get your shot at one of the $500 prizes. Pretty simple, right? We provide the feedback, they use it to improve.
But who really benefits from this exchange? Taco Bell of course!
Related: 7 Things to Know Before Taking the TellTheBell.com Survey
What’s in it for us?
Here’s the part that hooks us in – by filling out the survey and entering the sweepstakes, you get a shot at winning a $500 cash prize. They pick four random winners each survey period, which is about once a month.
Basically, by completing the survey, you’re tossing your name in the hat for a chance to win one of the four $500 prizes up for grabs each month.
The problem is, this hat is HUGE, with millions of potential contestants!
How to take the survey
It’s very simple to begin the survey, here’s a quick overview:
- Have a recent Taco Bell receipt handy
- Visit www.tellthebell.com on your phone or computer
- Enter the 16-digit survey code located from your receipt into the fields provided
- Click the Start button to enter
- Be honest with your feedback while answering the questions
- Be sure to enter your contact details and enter the sweepstakes for your shot at $500
The survey shouldn’t take any more than about 10 minutes to complete.
I don’t feel like it’s necessary to go through each step of the survey, as it’s pretty self explanatory, and it may be different for you when you take it.
So is the $500 prize legit, or just a scam?
This is the big question: Is the $500 prize legit, or just a scam?
I think it’s closer to a SCAM. Here’s why:
I’ll start with this little tidbit: Greg Creed, retired CEO of Yum Brands, which is the company that owns Taco Bell, said in an interview with CNBC that about half of the US population eats at Taco Bell every month.
So let’s do the math:
There are around 330 million people living in America. Half of that would be about 165 million. So let’s just say 5% of those 165 million customers end up taking the survey and entering for the $500 prize. That’s around 8 million survey takers vying for those four $500 prizes, every month.
In this case, your odds of winning one of the $500 prizes would be a dismal 1 in 2 million.
Granted, these numbers are just a guess. But even if only 1% of those 165 million customers took the survey each month, that would still leave us with odds of 1 in 400,000. Not good.
Let’s put this in perspective:
We have about a 1 in 15,000 chance of being struck by lightning. Those odds are WAY better. Yet I’ve never met a person who’s been zapped by the sky, have you?
When you look at it like that, this survey is a complete waste of time!
Bottom line:
By all means, take this survey if you insist on providing your feedback to Taco Bell. But if you’re doing it for the chance to win $500, don’t bother, it’s a waste of time.
Related: TellTheBell.com Survey Guide: Enter to Win $500!
Do this instead – Paid Online Surveys
If you want guaranteed rewards for your valuable feedback, I recommend Paid Online Surveys.
For instance, my favorite paid survey site – BrandedSurveys, will pay up to $5 per survey. So instead of doing a customer survey like TellTheBell for a one-in-a-million shot at winning money, you could actually make money for each survey you take part in.
How do Customer Surveys compare with Paid Surveys?
Customer Surveys: Usually used by businesses to collect feedback on a customer’s experience with a store or restaurant, and their products and/or services. This is primarily geared toward improving or maintaining the quality of what they offer.
“Think about the last time you dined at a restaurant, and they asked you how your meal was. Customer Satisfaction Surveys are basically like that.”
Paid Survey Sites: These sites aggregate surveys from various businesses or researchers. They’re typically more focused on collecting data on a broad range of topics, not just customer experiences.
“It’s like being in a focus group where companies just want to pick your brain about all sorts of things, from your shopping habits to your thoughts on current events.”
Paid surveys are often the starting point for people looking to make money online. The reasons for this are many – it’s free, quick and easy to start, anyone can participate, no commitments, etc.
And customer surveys are a common introduction into the world of paid online surveys. So it’s a perfect fit for people like you and me, who like getting rewarded for our opinions.
Check out my picks for the best paid online surveys.
My Paid Survey Journey
It was actually customer satisfaction surveys like this one that ignited my survey side hustle. In fact, TellTheBell.com is one of the first surveys I remember doing.
It’s the allure of that $500 prize that hooked me. But after doing more research into the odds of winning the grand prize, I wisely moved on to greener pastures.
I started to wonder who else would reward me for my feedback, so I did some research, and it turns out there are some great paid survey opportunities out there. You just have to be careful to choose the right ones, there are plenty of scam sites to watch out for.
If you’re into the idea of earning real money taking surveys, you should check out my picks for the best paid survey sites. You won’t get rich doing it, but it can definitely help you earn some extra cash!
Conclusion
I wouldn’t call TellTheBell.com an outright scam, as it is the official customer satisfaction survey platform for Taco Bell. However, I would say it is a bit of a scam if you’re hoping for that $500 payday. Definitely check out the best paid survey sites for that.
But if you’re just looking to “TellTheBell” what you think, for a one-in-a-million shot at a $500 prize, by all means, go right ahead and do the survey and enter the sweeps.
Either way, I still enjoy getting rewarded for my opinions, and hope you do as well!
What do you think about the TellTheBell.com survey? Legit? Scam? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.