PINCHme Group
reviews and complaints

As someone who has been a part of the PINCHme community for a while, I have experienced both the highs and lows of this platform. While the concept of receiving free samples and providing feedback is appealing, the recent changes have made the process more cumbersome. The requirement to earn coins for shipping by engaging with various offers can be tedious and time-consuming. Some users have reported delays in receiving their samples, while others have praised the variety and quality of products offered. It seems that PINCHme is a mixed bag, with some users enjoying the experience while others find it frustrating. If you're willing to invest time and effort, you may find some valuable products through PINCHme, but be prepared for a somewhat unpredictable journey.

This is not a scam. They've sent me a sample box almost every month for the past 2 years. I receive anywhere from 2-5 samples each month. They send SAMPLES. From reading these reviews, I guess most people don't know the definition of SAMPLE. A sample is not a full size product and nowhere does it say free full size products. I do however occasionally get coupons for free full size products to buy at the store. They only give out samples ONE Tuesday per month. The dates are listed on their website as sample Tuesday varies. You must keep your PinchMe profile updated and YOU MUST submit your reviews of all samples within the time period of 30 days of receiving your samples or you will become ineligible to receive anymore. It is a little time consuming but worth it to me. I get to try products i may not buy or even hear of. Samples include shampoo, condition, lotion, moisturizers, pet food/snacks, kids snacks, allergy/sleeping medicine, tea, etc. If you dont receive samples right away, just keep trying.

I joined PINCHme a couple of years ago and thought it was so cool how I was able to try out new products before buying them, but I would always forget to log in to check availability, so my participation was sporadic. Fortunately, PINCHme now sends me an email & text message every time there's a new product available (which is every day), so I'm able to fill out a short survey to apply if it's something I'm interested in. You don't get chosen to try every single item, but because I apply for almost every single product I'm chosen as a tester pretty often.

Most of the items I've tested have been either food or beauty products. My favorite items so far were a full size Olay Serum & a full size Nivea Skin Firming Cream. I'm always sure to fill out any surveys and/or post my honest reviews online since full participation gives me a better chance of being chosen for future test products.

I highly recommend joining PINCHme if you haven't already! It's a lot of fun and helps me find products I love that I wouldn't have known about without PINCHme's program.

I am not sure if people on here know how PinchMe really works.

You get to grab/pick samples every other Tuesday or so, you get an email notification a day or two before. Those samples run out pretty fast, so if you don't log in to claim them fast, they will disappear. I've been getting awesome samples every month, like a tiny Birthday gift that I completely forget about until it arrives (hair masks, mini deodorant, dog treats, soap, granola bars etc.) It literally requires a click that is timed right.

You do not have to complete surveys like ever, unless you are rating an already received sample or want even more stuff and guaranteed samples. Each survey enters you in a lottery to win a big prize. If you complete a lot of surveys, you get a big box full of samples, some full sized stuff. IT IS NOT REQUIRED.

There is nothing shady about it. Companies do it for customer reviews and marketing, that costs them millions anyways. What does a tiny soap or deodorant sent to couple reviewers cost them?

If you use it correctly, pinch me is a great resource. Nothing full-sized and worth of hundreds of dollars just going drop on your lap... Unless you win a lottery at pinch me :)

I love PINCHme and am always a very #HappyPINCHer so it's sad to see so many 1-star reviews, almost all of them from people who are very misinformed about PINCHme. These are the facts:

1. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE ANY QWIZME SURVEYS TO RECEIVE SAMPLES ON SAMPLE TUESDAY. It's totally optional. Don't take them if you don't want to. That's ALL there is to it. I personally enjoy taking surveys to win cash prizes or exclusive gifts, of which I have gotten several. I still get free samples on Sample Tuesday.

2. YOU ARE NOT GUARANTEED TO RECEIVE SAMPLES ON SAMPLE TUESDAY JUST BY SIGNING UP FOR AN ACCOUNT. Samples are VERY targeted and whether or not you will receive one is based on the information you provide in your profile. If you aren't the target demographic companies are looking for, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE THAT SAMPLE. It's simple, folks.

3. NON-QWIZME FREE SAMPLES ARE OFFERED ONCE A MONTH. THE SITE GIVES YOU THIS DATE EVERY TIME YOU LOG ON. No, magazine subscriptions and fad diet books are not the only samples you are being offered. Literally EVERYONE is offered them. EVERYONE sees them when they log in. EVERYONE sees the next date samples will be available on. It's your responsibility to remember.

4. MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE USING PINCHME TO TRY TO GET FREE SAMPLES. ONLY THE FIRST 100,000 PEOPLE *ELIGIBLEFOR ANY SAMPLE ON SAMPLE TUESDAYS ARE GUARANTEED TO GET ONE. I see a lot of people complaining that PINCHme's glory days are long gone. That is what happens when millions more people are finding out about PINCHme and signing up. Samples will go FAST. No vendetta has been launched against you. It isn't PINCHme's fault that you are not eligible for samples, nor is it their fault that you didn't log on to claim samples fast enough knowing lots of other people are trying to get them too. Let's act like adults, guys. "But I used to get them all the time!" PINCHme has no doubt amassed millions of members and it's very unlikely that continuing to use that model is logistical in any way for them. Free sample boxes from SampleSource are offered every 3-4 months. Once a month is a pretty good deal.

5. YES, SHIPPING TAKES A LONG TIME. GET OVER IT. I implore you to pick a couple items, pack them in boxes, create shipping labels, then send out tens of thousands of those packages every month to understand why.

It's an extremely easy sampling program to understand. You have to take short surveys on other sites (SampleSource, Sampler, etc.) to determine if you're the demographic companies are looking for too. If you're unhappy with PINCHme, try those. 99% of these negative reviews are from entitled people who have no idea how PINCHme works. And no, I'm not a PINCHme employee, nor am I being compensated or benefitting in any way by posting this review, I just want to educate people. Happy PINCHing.

Quite frankly PinchMe is incredible, and I just wanted to say that before diving in, as I'm seeing a lot of negative reviews here & other sites. So here's the bad and good of my experience.

I have had a few issues with the site, BUT each one was RESOLVED. The first one was last year before they switched to the new format (WHICH I LOVE BTW), and I was doing multiple tasks for coins but not receiving them. I messaged through the site and after about a week I received a very nice email reply, apology, and the coins were added to my account.

The next issue was one that I see a lot of ppl complaining about: SPAM. At the time we were looking for a new car insurer, and I signed up for a service offered through PinchMe that compared insurance rates from several companies. I did not give the service my phone number, only my email, however PinchMe had my number on file. Within hours of signing up for this thing I was receiving dozens of calls back to back. This would happen every single day from noon to 2 and again between 5 and 7pm for a week, despite me blocking each number AND having my phone service provider put a full STOP on non verified numbers. The various insurance companies began to email and text me. So I put my number on the national DO NOT CALL list and emailed Pinch Me to let them know that one of their advertisers was spamming the hell out of me with RoboCalls. I asked them to please not give my phone number or email out unless I authorized it first and asked them if they could tell that company to stop harassing PinchMe patrons. It took another week but the calls stopped coming in, PinchMe stopped advertising that company, & the emails stopped as well.

The next thing I see people gripping about is the wait time. Yes, sample boxes take a long time, but did I mention that It's FREE?! It's something you did not have anyway nor were you strictly in the market to buy it. Everyday is a surprise! I've received full sized samples just as often as mini size, and in one week I received two boxes and an envelope. It had been so long that I forgot what I'd signed up for lol, but honestly it was like Christmas. So many cool products to try and all they ask for is a review. They also offer mobile game play sign ups, Pandora radio trials, and things like that for Amazon cards. I've received $40 in those cards in the last year that I immediately added to my Amazon account so they are legit. They gave me $5 on my birthday just for being a Pincher! Seriously, it's amazing. Yes they send emails and texts daily, but honestly I get MAYBE one or two (tops) texts a day and that many emails. I'm not bombarded.

I think it's a great service. I've tested everything from Rose Quartz Gua Sha lymph draining stones to earbuds, tea & chocolate, cat food/treats & marinades, makeup, shampoo, wine box services, you name it. They work with Sephora a lot as well as Doordash and Chewy, and the latest was Playstation.

I highly recommend it!

Yes, another one. I'm sorry to say there are a lot of sites that make huge dollars by scamming people for the personal information they get. This info is sellable, and sought after, by all of the big corporations and any of the littler ones that can afford it, because it helps them direct their advertising more pointedly. Well that's fair where they are concerned, but do you want to be ripped for Your contact info by lies so you can then be targeted by a hundred, or a thousand, or a million! Companies all trying to sell you something? You think a million is overly? Not! These ppl are going to sell your information From Now On to as many buyers as will pay. How many sites are there online? How many companies are there? For this what you get is about one chance in several thousand of receiving anything at all.
One way or another the thousands who have already given up their personal information find the offered items they chose "No longer available. But try These!" or "Sorry, your time has expired" or "Sorry, you didn't qualify this time." Sure they're sorry alright, all the way to the bank! Let's face it, they have only so many items to hand out, period, so look at the reviews. Notice that so many say "used to be..." and the rave ones are all new? That's because these sites need New names. That's how they make their money. So come-on items are already so thin they can't keep on giving them to the ppl they already have, now can they? Don't be fooled by the fact that there Are good reviews. No matter the numbers, you now kno where they come from, and notice also, right here, that there is one on top that is nonsense, then three raving the site in a row. These are "managed." THEN the unhappy people get their say.
Read a couple of my other reviews on sites like this, mysteryshopper.com, getitfree.com, for more on this problem. Then keep in mind that there are literally hundreds of these scams out there where 99% of the ppl that sign up get nothing, and those invariably start out slow. Making you think they only want an email address, then ask for more."You're almost finished!" until they've got it all. Don't fall for them.

If you dont accept requests for free products or ship them to othre countriesthen stop sending emails and advertising in other countries.
However Since your company is so arrogant about this snd sends emails to snd advertises in CANADA I will be filing a Complaint with the CRTC IN CANADA ON TUESDAY OCTOBER 29 2019 UNLESS THIS DECISION IS REVERSED.
NOTE THAT IF THE CRTC DECIDES YOU HAVE BROKEN ANY CANADIAN LAWS BY ADVERTISING /SENDING EMAILS TO CANADIANS they could issue a fine of up to $1, 000, 000.00.
Furthermore my attorneys are checking our laws to see if we can file a class action law suite for deception and false advertising which would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.₩
I await your decision/answer.
Canadians are sick and tired of Americans advertising and sending emails to us and then renaging on the offer becuase were in Canada.
If you are to stupid to know were your advertising or sending emails to then get out of the bussiness.
We are totaly fine using YOU AS OUR TEST CASE AND THEN GO AFTER EVERY OTHER AMERICAN WEBSITE THAT DOES THIS!
Have a nice day.

Respectfully

Tom A. Kanabe
RCN (Retired)

OUT OF 11 WEEKS on the leaderboards weekly results, Thuy N., Lincoln, NE won 7 times; Harshall A., Chicago, IL won 6 times; Paul J., Florence, JY won 4 times; Alexandria B., Las Vegas, NV won 4 times; Whitney D., Hammond, IN won 3 times and Shannon H., Kingston, PA won 3 times. Pinchme claims that they are not fixed but I beg to differ. You be the judge!

I have been a member of this company for years. In the beginning I followed the instructions but never received any free samples. I was told they were on back order. Then they never came! So I stopped clicking!
I find it unfair and false advertising that individuals can receive free samples by following instructions and/or completing surveys to end up with nothing.

Thank you so much for time I can't get back!

Tiffany K.

Hello. I was online this morning at 9am. I had 3 samples in my box. I checked out tight away. It was almost finished verifying and then it clocked out. It said times out which didn't make sense. I'm very upset considering this never happened before. How do I get the free samples that I should have gotten? I never had a problem getting samples before. Please help resolve my issue. Thank you

Well it has been telling me for a while your box is on the way it has said it sent 3 boxes 3 different times but none of them have ever reacherd me first it was the box with the skittles and face wash and stuff. That was some of the past samples that it said it was a possibility to be in my box. please contact me back soon because i would like my three boxes full of samples. When I found out about this site I was so excited. So please fix this problem so that I can give My feedback.

I signed up for Pinchme about three weeks ago. A week later my phone has been ringing off the hook with telemarketer calls and worse, SCAM calls. I've checked the incoming call's phone numbers online and they are scams. All the emails I've received want to you give your info to other entities. I'm trying to get off this think a.s.a.p. I'm on the do-not-call list and the calls are still coming through. I'm ANGRY!

I have confirmed my orders several times, yet nothing has come. I have waited for weeks, and nothing has appeared on my doorstep. I made sure the information was correct, and it was. I am starting to think that this is all a scam, yet my aunt receives packages from Pinchme. I don't understand what is going on. My information is accurate, and I have confirmed several times. I would like all of my confirmed packages to be sent. My address is 21 Ivanhoe ct in Kissimmee, FL

Hi, For the past couple months, I login on the day the new samples are to be offered, and I have been denied the chance to participate. I am saddened by this, because I love PINCHme. I hope this month, January, 2018, I am able to access the new samples that will be offered. Could you look up my account, and tell me why this is, and when I can expect to be able to participate again? I got an e-mail today that said I get early access to the samples 24 hours ahead of schedule but I'm afraid that the same thing will happen to me that has happened for the past two months. Thank you and have a nice day. Elizabeth W.

I have tried to logged into my account and it says email address is unknown, so all the points I have accumulated are gone and they don't even have a phone number so you can't even contact them, I have tried to contact them on facebook but they don't even reply and its hard to get any samples from them. They are the worst to get anything i'm telling people not to join them.

I signed up for pinch me awhile ago. The last several months I go in right on time and it says I have no samples! For example, I have 2 dogs & I see there are dog food samples, but I am NEVER offered these! WHY? I just tried again today, September 19, 2017 and no samples! Everyone brags about all the great samples they get, but I get zero! Can you please help me with this issue. Thank you

I have signed up for PINCHme about two months ago and only once I received something from them. For some reason they stopped sending me samples and when I asked customer service about that they did not reply.
So I sent them a message asking them to remove my account from their website but they never did that and my account is still there!
And they keep sending me emails! These guys spammed my mail with their messages and I have no idea how to stop that! I need them to remove my email from their system but I need their help!
Terrible service!

I saw a famous Youtuber talking about how cool PINCHme was. I joined this site and was very excited. I filled in the survey and soon I received my first box! I could not believe it! I had no idea there was a possibility to try so many cool products for free so I was truly in love with PINCHme! Many people are complaining about small samples. These people are to greedy! The idea is great and it so stupid that there are people complaining about things they get for free. But that's not the point. I don't know why but they stopped sending me boxes! I use the site almost every day and really love it! When I contacted them to ask about my boxes there was no reply! I'm so disappointed!

I and my friend registered on the website www.pinchme.com in order to get free samples. We left our details and waited for the samples day, but it turned out that all samples were distributed and we got nothing. We faced such situations couple of times, but no one from this company really cared about it. We sent them couple of emails and asked why such things have happened, but no one replied. Don’t rely on them and forget that you can get free samples.