Menu
Nielsen Customer Service Phone, Email, Contacts

Nielsen
reviews & complaints

Learn how the rating is calculated

2.0 38 Reviews

Nielsen Complaints Summary

9 Resolved
29 Unresolved
Our verdict: When using services from Nielsen with a poor resolution rate, be vigilant. Understand the common pitfalls other customers have faced. Prepare thoroughly for any interactions with their customer service, and consider alternative solutions if your issues are not addressed satisfactorily.
Verified
The authenticity of the customer service contact information for Nielsen has been meticulously verified by representatives from ComplaintsBoard using our proprietary verification system.
Get notifications about new complaints and reviews of Nielsen. We promise not to send you any unrelated messages.
Share
Claim Your Business
Take control of your profile: address complaints and engage with reviews
Write a review File a complaint

Nielsen reviews & complaints 38

Sort by:

Newest Nielsen reviews & complaints

ComplaintsBoard
A
8:06 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more
Featured review
This review was chosen algorithmically as the most valued customer feedback.

Nielsen - Deposit not returned

Date, time and country of the incident: 27/8/23 - 9.20 am - Turkey On 26/8/23 I was contacted on WhatsApp with a message from a lady in UK. She said, they were doing market research to help the tourism industry in Turkey, that they had 2 simple market research and 1 subscription follow-up task and asked if I wanted to participate. As I was checking the...

Read full review of Nielsen
ComplaintsBoard
J
2:03 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Nielsen Family sales representative tactics

Last month a representative cold called our residence and left her card to contact her regarding being a Nielsen family household. We evaluated and decided to contact her the next week or so. She was not in the area, but conducted the interview and reviewed the contact over the phone. She advised she would email and snail mail a copy of the contract. She did send a copy of the “monthly gifts” to our email. She NEVER sent the contract.

During the interview she insisted on knowing the location of our home computer which we were not going to have monitored. Stated company policy. She established an “install” date and time. After nearly a week of not receiving an email with the contract or the snail mail — - we contacted her. She said the size of the e copy was probably too large and she assured it was sent. I checked my SPAM folders and nothing was sent. We decided we would not take part with Neilsen and directed her to cancel the install. We NEVER received a mailed contract. Our sixth sense told us this entire situation was so “scam like” we want nothing to do with the company. She attempted to entice us to reconsider but no way we’re going to.

The sales Representative was
Merrie Welch [protected]
Respectfully submitted
Joseph and Gerry Repar
Wenatchee, WA.

Desired outcome: Review and File as this was unacceptable.

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
N
4:43 pm EDT

Nielsen Nielsen ratings survey

I used to participate in their survey. About 2 years ago I opted not to participate by not returning their form. Following that and on multiple occasions, a Nielsen representative came to my door, ignoring multiple No Soliciting signs. On one occasion the representative asked my neighbor personal questions about the composition of my household. I called Nielsen and told them to take me off their mailing list. Today I received another invitation to participate in their survey.

Desired outcome: I want to be completely removed from Nielsen’s mailing list. I do not want to ever receive a letter, phone call, email or visit from this company again.

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
Q
10:18 pm EDT

Nielsen Some man from this company was soliciting at my door trying to get inside I'm a young single female.

I was so afraid. In this guy would not leave my door but a neighbor came and saved me and told him get out are we going to call the police. And then after that I called this company's number and tried to talk to management, and they did not care to hear my concerns. If they ever come back to my house I will call the police on them for sure. Stay away from this criminally run company, who knows what this man wanted to do when he came inside my house? So terrible, I'm still afraid come up I will never answer my door again

Desired outcome: I got nothing from management when calling their number. They are all just a bunch of criminals and don't care about you. How can companies actually legally do business like this?

Read full review of Nielsen and 1 comment
Hide full review
1 comment
Add a comment
L
L
Linzee
, US
May 25, 2023 1:47 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I can only speak from my own experience but the Neilsen technician that has been in my home was nothing but polite and respectful. The same goes for the rep that signed me up. I am a female living in a rural area. If you are a female and alone in your home, no matter who it is, unless it is friends or family, common sense should tell you to never open your door to a stranger. I make sure that my husband is with me if anyone from any company for any reason is asking to enter my dwelling. I don't believe that the Neilsen staff is criminal in any way but my golden rule is to always have either my husband or someone else with me if anyone needs to come in.

ComplaintsBoard
S
10:24 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Nielsen Horrendously bad customer service

My family of 5 was selected as participants on the panel. I informed them I would be out of town until June 20th. They sent equipment around 1st of June so it sat there. I got back and someone left a message on my cell (correct #) to call them back to set up. I tried SO many times and just sat on hold for up to 30 mins each time so ai left messages each time. Never once did I get a call back from anyone. I tried every other day for a week. I also emailed any email contact I could find online and never received a response. I did get one guy who said he's not even associated with the deot I needed but that he would forward my email to them to assist me. That was a week ago. Fast forward to yesterday I received a letter and a big envelope telling me we have been dropped from the panel and here is an envelope to return equipment. I had literally spent hours pulling out everything and clipping each netter to what each family member wanted...explained to my elderly parents how to use them and charge them, went around finding places to plug them in, putting labels on each one so that we don't mix them up. We had to cal to get them set up. Not much help when THEY DONT ANSWER THE PHONE OR CALL YOU BACK! THIS was entirely their fault. I told them not to call the original number they called as it is a messaging service and I dont have access to retrieve. I gave them my cell # when they originally called me when equipment was sent and she recorded the new number. They called me once on that line and told me they would call me back when I got back from vacation. I am disgusted by how much work I put into this, to be dropped because they can't call people back! On every voice-mail I left my correct cell number. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help. Never again what a horrible experience. Also keep in mind you have to wear these monitors on your body everywhere you go. Now all equipment that came nicely boxed is tossed into a large bag. So stupid, they must waste an incredible amount of money.

Desired outcome: They told me since I was removed there is nothing they can do. I cant believe that such a long standing company honestly can't change anything. It seems archaic. All I wanted was someone to call me so I could connect everyone.

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
A
9:28 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Nielsen Brandbank data images

Dear Neilsen,

We are having huge difficulties with your subsidary Brandbank Ireland, they are acting very aggressively and in a market place where we have no option but to use them.
We are a small family owned business and are struggling during a global pandemic your business here in Ireland has refused to engage at all in this and refused any reasonable offer including
€5, 400.00 for 68 images.
They have subsequently removed access to our portal so ensuring we cannot access the information we need to raise a proper complaint.
We have being left with so little option we have raised a complaint with the Competition authority here in Ireland
CAS-147070-Q0Y8V4 is the reference for your follow up.

In addition our access was ended earlier than our completion date so the sum of €1, 100.00 is owned to us.

We will seek this payment through the small claims court if necessary.

We are upset and annoyed at the way this has being handled the abusive nature of AC Neilsen is surprising in the least,
Kindest Regards,

Vincent Hughes

Managing Director

Frontier Foods

Amazing Brands Our Business

Take a look at Our Company Brochure

Winner Best Company Culture 2020 with Action Coach

Winner Best Performing Large Business 2nd Quarter 2021 with Action Coach

[protected]@frontierfoods.ie

Dublin: +[protected]

Mobile: +[protected]

Unit 43 Premier Business Park

Ballycoolin Road, Dublin 11

Ireland

D11 DY92

www.frontierfoods.ie

Desired outcome: At least a phone call

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
L
7:24 am EDT

Nielsen Ripped off?

Neilson contacted me to engage in a phone survey in return for monetary compensation. After a considerable amount of time spent on their data mining, their rep asked me my preferences for radio/TV. She then asked about my ethnicity. She evidently did not agree with my answers, so she hung up on me.
Neilsen then sent me another letter again asking me to participate in their survey. When I called the number on their letter, they told me the case had been closed. So, not only my favored media was cheated on their ratings, but I was cheated on the monetary compensation I was promised.

Desired outcome: Do honest ratings. Pay my compensation.

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
M
4:43 pm EDT

Nielsen TV ratings

My household has been taking part in the TV ratings for several months now. At first we thought it was going to be something fun to take part in because I am a stay at home wife due to some chronic health problems and this gives me something interesting to be part of. We have known other people who have done this and they had no issues.
We began to have issues shortly after with our main livingroom TV shortly after it was hooked up to the Nielson equipment. We have a 50 inch Hisense Roku smart TV. I would be watching hulu, and after watching a show, I would hit the back button, instead of taking be back to the show, it would take me to the home screen and totally kick me out of the app. Our volume settings are completely messed up on every app. Our picture settings are needing to be changed on every app. Netflix locks up/buffers/ or just kicks me out altogether. Sometimes my tv just restarts on it's own and recycles.
In the beginning, it was only doing this very infrequently, and I called our field technician and told him about the issues with hulu and Netflix. The technician came over and checked our tv's in our other rooms because it started doing it in there first... but we hardly ever use those rooms, so it wasn't a huge deal. I am the only one home all the time because my husband works out of state and is only home two to three days a week, so I am the main tv watcher and use the livingroom as the main point for watching tv. So, he determined there was nothing wrong with the equipment.

Last night, our livingroom tv, turned off in the middle of watching a show on netflix and when it turned back on again, it never fully restarted. It won't cycle past the startup screen with the company logo on it. And the screen just flashes on and off. There is no resetting the tv, we tried. The motherboard is fried. So now we have a completely useless tv.

This is not a complaint against our technician, himself. He has done a great job. We know he was just doing his job. This is about the company and what the equipment does to our electronics that we were not warned about that could happen before we joined the program. We were told there was no risk to our own personal electronics. Simply plug the Neilson stuff in and we wouldn't even know it was there.
When we went to move this broken TV and there were wires EVERYWHERE! Some even zip tied to our tv! Totally crazy to see how much was actually installed!

The little compensation the gave me for my time to watch tv was incentive to allow them to use my devices. If I had know it would break my equipment and cost me more in the long run, I would not have agreed to do this. I don't feel they were honest with me as to the risks to my devices when they hooked them up.

Desired outcome: Acknowledge that your equipment was responsible for the malfunction in my tv and why it broke and reimburse

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
D
8:02 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Nielsen Survey

I participated in their survey because I thought it was useful for companies to know what people are watching and listening to. What I got was a survey asking about my product preferences and things like whether I'm looking to buy a new home. Then came the phone calls. I stopped counting the calls at 8. They come at 10:00 PM possibly because my area code is Arizona although I'm living on the east coast.

Desired outcome: Stop calling

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
P
10:17 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Nielsen TV Ratings

I worked in "The Field" for almost 15 years for this company. I chuckle when I read the many horror stories about the problems with the equipment installation and ongoing problems after. Each home thinks their installation was a unique problem for the company when the truth is every home was a problem for the company. This is not due to the dedication of the Field employees. The equipment never really worked to begin with outside a laboratory. The upper management kept their distance from the known ongoing problems maintaining a constant state of Plausible Denial. It was truly a daily nightmare for all involved. I could elaborate for weeks about the limitations, lack of quality and demographic manipulation I witnessed daily.

I also conducted quality audits with the E&Y accounting firm to gain market certification in more than 5 markets so I state the proceeding with great conviction.

Those responsible know who they are and should be ashamed of their behavior. If you ever have a chance to work for or with this company, you will be much further ahead if you choose not to get involved with them.

Desired outcome: Bankrupcy

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
M
6:49 pm EDT

Nielsen Readings

It has been more than 2 years we have been providing readings for nielsen. Today, I called nielsen to add new equipment to their feed and guess what? After getting my house readings for two months without compensation they told me our household was no longer participating... Really?
No letter no phone calls? No notifications... Is this how you treat the participating households? The person who took my call indicated no readings were taken from our home, however, equipment was perfectly functioning and prompting us to comply with the requests.
We were told no reading were coming from our house...…really? And was nielsen planning to inform us we no longer were participating in the program... This is how you treat the participating households? Shame on you! Shame on you!

Desired outcome: Missing Compensation for the time we were complying with Nielsen's requirements and equipment was functioning.

Read full review of Nielsen and 2 comments
Hide full review
2 comments
Add a comment
B
B
Brett Wallace
Kansas, US
Dec 16, 2023 2:29 am EST

They came and took my equipment after three months citing that I did the wrong thing by leaving the TV on too much and flipping around even muting TV occasionally. You got to know the ground rules. They said they could not get data accurately. I have to be incognito because they claim at anytime they may contact me to try again if I don't repeat my mistakes. I messed up. They seemed cool about it but instead of explaining me how it works they took equipment from my TV's and left. If I do it again I know how intrusive it can be. Instead of just cutting me off, they came took the equipment. This came days after they called me with a battery equations about my usage. Never explained the reason for the call. But you shouldn't leave a TV on too long if you aren't watching or if you fall asleep. The small payment arrived the day they took the equipment. I was friendly and they said we just can't get the correct readings. They also don't like it if you use wireless headphones like I did thru the Roku app. I wasn't expecting this nor do was I explained how it worked. They said they tried to make it work. That problems also occurred with others. Not the only one.

H
H
Heather Elisabeth Randolph
, US
Sep 02, 2021 4:58 pm EDT

Yes. The same thing happened to me. I agreed to continue the ratings because they said they didn’t want to take my equipment because of Covid, now they say I was uncompensated for the past few months because I am now out of the ratings. A Thank You letter with instructions for discontinuing the service would have been appreciated.

ComplaintsBoard
M
10:13 am EST

Nielsen Research interviewer training

With the covid-19 pandemic training with nielsen has gone to work at home which includes remote training. This whole concept is new to nielsen and the trainers. This is all very understandable given the pandemic, however selection of the trainer to provide the remote training is very important. After one and a half weeks of the 4 week training I resigned from the training and nielsen. The lead trainer that was selected was "rude," "demeaning," "unprofessional" and overall a "clown" with her antics in the attempt to make the training more comfortable. To add to this the whole training session was recorded! I do not feel this is a reflection of nielsen, however this does affect "the brand" nielsen to have such people presenting your training curriculum to new hires. Very unfortunate!

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
S
9:55 pm EDT

Nielsen Why doesn't nielsen company fire a racist manager?

Why doesn't Nielsen Company fire a racist manager?

Tanner William Tate's LinkedIn is https://www.linkedin.com/in/tannerwilliamtate

If you take a look at today's society, there are several news stories about companies firing employees for racism. I did a brief google search, and here are some headlines I found:
1) teacher fired after calling student the ‘n-word' at Virginia school
2) how one stupid tweet blew up Justine Sacco's life
3) Campbell Ewald's CEO has been fired amid fallout over a staffer's racist email
5) comedian Shane Gillis fired from ‘Saturday night live' for racist remarks
6) 13 Philadelphia police officers to be fired over racist Facebook posts
7) Roseanne Barr blames Sara Gilbert for being fired over racist tweet
It is clear, that there are good companies out there that will do the right thing and fire employees for racism - no matter how high the wrongdoers are on the corporate ladder.

However, one company that has not appeared to fire an employee over racism is The Nielsen Company. Not only did a member of management call an employee a Chinese racial slur, this individual has also tweeted several racist tweets. He has also posted things online that can be considered sexist, homophobic, and one tweet can be considered anti-Semitic.

David Kenny (CEO and Chief Diversity Officer) of The Nielsen Company was informed. However, since it appears the individual still works at The Nielsen Company, then one might wonder how come some companies fire employees for racism, while others might not?
I think this is one issue all companies need to be united on. Especially large companies that have Chief Diversity Officers.

Message to The Nielsen Company,
If you are reading this, how come you have not fired the manager for racism?

Read full review of Nielsen
View 0 more photos
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
N
7:57 am EDT

Nielsen nielsen tv ratings

Pay by Race: Racial Discrimination in the Nielsen TV Ratings

The Nielsen Company (also known as the Nielsen TV Ratings) is an industry leader in measuring how many people watch traditional TV. They have thousands of Nielsen TV Families who have boxes installed which monitor what they watch. They measure demographic data such as race of household, age of household and number of household members. However, the way that they recruit homes can be argued as racist.
For their local people meter markets such as Seattle, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Atlanta, and many others, the race or ethnicity of the "primary person who rents or owns" determines the household compensation over 2 years. If the household is Black or African American, they start out with a $150 check and a check every 6 months to total up to $525.00 over 2 years for alternate homes. If the home is Asian, the home would qualify for up to $900.00. However, if the home is Native American or Samoan, the home would only qualify for up to $425.00 over 2 years on their gift chart.
While, I am only giving examples with the alternate homes, the basic homes have slightly more compensation, but it also depends on race as well. The same criteria applies. Just basing it on race and the gift chart alone, for basics, it can be the difference between $800.00 for Black/African American homes over 2 years compared to $950.00 for Asian homes to just $700.00 for Native American or Samoan homes.
The difference between alternates and basics is the basic is the first home Nielsen selected for that recruitment cycle. If the first home does not sign up, the alternate is a home nearby in the area that signs up. Usually alternates start from the house to the left of the basic home, and then it goes down a list. The alternate homes are not really random in a purely random sense as it is predictable where alternate 1 is. Then alternate 2 is usually the home to the left of alternate 1 and so forth.
For both alternates and basics, the ethnicity with the highest compensation are Hispanic homes that speak more Spanish than English at home. These homes qualify for up to $2000.00+. However, if the home is Hispanic and speaks more English than Spanish at home, or only English at home, their pay drops to only $605.00 over 2 years on the gift chart for basics, and only $395.00 over 2 years for alternates. The next race-based tier starts at $700.00 over 2 years for basics, and $425 over 2 years for alternates, but one criteria is the home has to be non-Hispanic.
The frequency of checks is another thing Nielsen uses to differentiate by race. Hispanic Homes that speak more Spanish than English at home, and Asian homes get paid a monthly amount while Black/African American, Hispanic homes that speak mostly English or only English at home, Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Samoan homes get paid a check every 6 months. This disparity of pay is concerning.
If you are approached by a Nielsen TV Ratings salesman or saleswoman, and if you get to see your gift chart, you will notice codes at the top right corner of the page. Here is the breakdown for alternate gift charts grouped from lowest to highest: 100A, 50A 150A, 150AM, 250AM and 350AM. For basics they run: 150B, 100B, 200B, 200BM, 300BM and 400BM. The initial number before the A or the B means their initial check is that much. If a gift chart ends in A or B, their checks come initially and every 6 months. However, if a gift chart ends in BM or AM, their gift charts come monthly after the initial check.
The reason why 100A is lower than 50A for the gift chart is because the checks at 6 month intervals are lower, and if you add everything up, it equals a lower amount over 2 years. This would also apply for 150B and 100B with 100B being a higher compensation than 150B for the gift charts. The 100A and 150B is for Hispanic homes that speak more English than Spanish at home, or only English at home. These homes are valued the least in the Nielsen TV Ratings local people meter gift chart compensation system. While just analyzing the gift charts, all races and ethnicites will get paid more than Hispanic homes that are classified as "English Dominant." English Dominant homes are Hispanic homes that speaks more English than Spanish at home, or only English at home.
The company also uses a thing called a "DCI, " and it stands for "discretionary cash incentive." DCI was at one time given in cash, but is now given on a prepaid Visa Gift Card. DCI is also race-based. For example, if a Native American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander or Samoan home with 2 adults and no children (aged 35 years of age or older) sign up, they would not qualify for any DCI. Other races and ethnicities qualify for DCI in the sum of $50 per person, or $100 per person as a one time sign-up incentive given during install to adult(s) 18 or over. I have heard stories of homes get up to $700 in DCI just for signing up because of the home's race. These are extra incentives on top of the gift charts and are optional incentives that "Membership Representatives" may offer to get a home to sign up.
Not only does Nielsen practice racial discrimination by paying Nielsen Families by race, they also practice age discrimination by discouraging 55+ or senior citizen families from being recruited in several markets. If a home is 55+, they could be put on a many month "demo hold" meaning they can not be installed right away due to their age as homes of their demographic are not needed.
Alternate homes also have a thing called "TAR." A home has to match a TAR criteria to be eligible to sign up. Some weeks, I have seen "NON-ASIAN" or "NON-BLACK" or "NON-HISPANIC" pop up on TAR. This means to match that TAR, the home has to be NOT that race. If it shows up as "NON-ASIAN, " then it means find a home to sign up that is not Asian.
Due to the TAR criteria for eligible homes, I have even heard that there was a member of the Seattle market who would falsify her interview data just to get a home into the system as the home would be TAR ineligible otherwise. Because she was falsifying demographic data, that meant the demographic data sent to the Nielsen server was purposely inaccurate.
Race-based compensation may be a little complicated at first. However, Nielsen Membership Representatives who need help on determining household compensation can use a Nielsen created "incentive tool" on their iPhone while recruiting. After entering in some information like household's race and age, it will come back with which gift chart to use, and how much DCI (if any) can be offered. One might wonder, how many other companies (besides Nielsen) have a race-based compensation calculator?
Bottom line, Nielsen has been operating for a long time, and one would hope that in today's society, the Nielsen Company will stop paying Nielsen Families on the basis of race. Discriminatory practices based on race and/or age is plain WRONG!

Read full review of Nielsen
Update by Nielsen Exposed
Oct 07, 2019 3:04 am EDT

How to Stop Nielsen TV Ratings from Ringing Your Doorbell Again!

If your home is the first home selected for the recruitment cycle (basic), you will be approached by a membership representative and they will come knocking or ringing.

Even if you do not respond to their letter, they will be at your door. No matter, if you live in a gated community, they may follow the next car in, or try to convince the guard to let them in.

What if the gatekeeper is heavily trained and won't let anyone in? Have you heard of Lexus Nexus? If the membership representative can't access your community or building, the manager may look up your address, and hopefully find your phone number through a paid service.

If you do not want to be a Nielsen home for 2 years, and tell them you are not interested, that might not stop them. The manager may send the membership representative back, or send a different membership representative to come make an attempt.

God forbid, what if one of your household members is terminally ill, you would think the Nielsen TV ratings people would leave your household alone and stop coming back? Unfortunately, they will still come back about every 6 months.

What if you tell them you are moving soon? Will that stop them from coming back? No, they will come back to check if you moved. If a new household moved in by their next visit, they will try to sign up the new household who moved into your house. So if you are not moving, telling them you are moving wouldn't work. Even if they decide to move on and sign an alternate, they will come back about every 6 months to check if a new household moved in, or if you will sign up.

Even after multiple refusals, and you think you are now rid of Nielsen, in about 6 month's time, don't be surprised if a Nielsen salesperson comes knocking again. They will keep rechecking your home about every 6 months, until your home is no longer selected. Your home (if you were the basic selected), will be selected for 2 years!

What if you tell them that you have no TVs? Well, they put you as down as "zero TV" and come checking about every 6 months to ask if you have a TV now.

How do you get them to stop coming? If your home is occupationally disqualified, then they will just pick a new home as the basic.

1) A home can be occupationally disqualified if one of the household members work for a TV station in a role that is dependent on the TV ratings (eg. producer, director, camera person, etc.).

2) Any household member that uses Nielsen data for their job is occupationally disqualified.

So, I guess if you get a job in the TV industry, or buy their data, they will stop coming. You will just need to tell them that, and they will take your word for it. Of course, you shouldn't lie to the nice Nielsen people, but if you happen to work in media or buy their data, you are safe from being pestered if you just let them know your job title and company you work for.

But what about the regular people who do not work in the TV industry or buy Nielsen data? You can call the 800 number on one of the door hanger(s) they leave you, and ask to speak to a manager. Politely, tell the manager to put your home on the "DO NOT CONTACT" list. Ask for the manager's name, and tell the person you are writing it down and will keep a record of it in case Nielsen disturbs your household again. Then keep your fingers crossed, and hopefully the Nielsen TV Ratings won't come back again.

Update by Nielsen Exposed
Oct 07, 2019 3:07 am EDT

Nielsen TV Ratings markets have a contractual minimum of homes they promise the TV stations. TV stations are Nielsen's clients, and Nielsen needs to make their clients happy.

A "BBO" home stands for broadband only. Unfortunately, BBO homes do not count toward the number of homes promised to the clients in the local people meter market. Only traditional (cable, satellite or antenna) homes count. One can assume if a home has traditional TV, then that increases the chances of clients getting better ratings than compared to a streaming only home that only watches Netflix and does not have the local channels.

If a market manager has to have 800 homes in the sample, and there are homes that leave the sample every month, and their home count is below 800, then the market is in trouble. If alternate homes enter the sample and are BBO, then that does not add to the local market's home count. This is why you sometimes hear of management discourage Membership Representatives from signing up any more BBO homes.

From management telling Membership Representative explicitly not to sign up BBO homes, to putting a 3 month demo hold on BBO installations, these practices are meant to suppress adding new BBO homes to the sample.

If a streaming only home is signed, and Nielsen management puts a 3 month hold on the home from being installed, there is a bigger chance the home changes its mind during the long wait. However, if the home that was signed decided to get cable or satellite during their long hold, they would be allowed to be installed sooner as they would actually add to the sample.

For membership representatives who do not want homes backing out, and the pressure from management to not sign up BBO alternates, often times homes that are BBO and want to sign up, don't have the opportunity to sign up as the recruiter will just find a cable or satellite home to sign up instead.

And what about the payroll aspect of this? If management puts in policies that contribute to back-outs, and Membership Representatives bonus on the number of homes signed, wouldn't this cut into Membership Representatives' bonuses and pay? Think about all the work done to recruit these homes!

One must wonder if the Nielsen Company has practices that discourage signing up BBO homes, then how accurate are Nielsen's estimates for the TV Ratings? Are the estimates of how many homes are out there that only stream compared to those that have traditional TV service even accurate? Also, why is it that BBO homes are not counted in the local sample? Wouldn't counting them in the local sample be more accurate?

Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
G
3:25 pm EDT

Nielsen nielsen tv ratings

Nielsen TV ratings pays homes by race as they have gift charts based on race. For example Black/African American homes are paid less than Hispanic homes that Speak more Spanish at home. Samoan and Native American homes are paid the least. Also their manager Tanner William Tate of the SWAT team for the Nielsen TV Ratings or Nielsen company is a racist. There is info at www.ratingstruth.com about his racism.

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
O
8:50 pm EDT

Nielsen rogue collections email when I don't have an account with you!

To Whom This May Concern:

I just received an email on my WORK email at that (oumari.[protected]@nielsen.com) indicating that I owed your company some money. I have NEVER had an account with you guys (specsavers)

The individual who contacted me was named Winnie Cheong, and she just wrote me from this email () and this is the email she just sent me:

Hi,

Any chance of getting this invoice paid, please?

Many thanks.

Best Regards,

Winnie Cheong
Collections Manager
Accounting Department

I am not responding to the email NOR opening the attached pdf document in case it is a phising email. In the event that that is the case, kindly let me know, as I have never had an account with you guys. You may reach me on my work email of oumari.[protected]@nielsen.com

Thank You,

Oumari Yorke

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
L
9:25 am EDT

Nielsen constant calling, and last night called at 9:53 pm

Usually ignore their call due to caller ID. But last night the phone rings at 9:53PM. Looked at caller ID and saw it was Scarborough again. This time I picked up, and asked if this person if he knew what time it was, he told me 9:53PM my time and 12:53 from where he was calling from. I then informed him it was illegal to call after 9PM, but this idiot started arguing that he could legally still call. I called bs on this and informed him I would was going to complain to the FCC, all the while he still said he could call after 9PM. Told him to never call again and hung up on him. FCC will hear about this...

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
R
3:01 pm EDT

Nielsen survey

First - this survey is a BIG BS. If companies trying improve quality, service etc - they shouldn't hire Scarborough Research. Just open complains about Comcast, Verizon, GM, Ford, food suppliers, TV or radio etc - and this is a 100% EVALUATION . Why I need to spend my time to respond for $ 2 or $ 5 (45 min-1 hr) or talk with somebody on the phone. If you want my survey - please pay minimum $ 50 -75 and people will spend time to answer smart and stupid questions. $ 5.00 ? This is a MINIMUM WAGE according to US Gov.? WOW - Scarborough Research - call McDonald employee - they make $ 10-15 per. hr. How far - WE THE PEOPLE - can take this anymore. WOW AMericans - time to wake up.

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
R
9:00 am EDT

Nielsen This company stated that my songs weren't published in the Internet and they didn't make sales

The company tracks the sales of music and other media in the Internet. I have published my songs in the Internet and asked this company to provide the sales report. However, the company informed me that they couldn’t find my songs at all. I have tried different approaches and sound scan, but the company refuses to give any details about the sales and tried to persuade me that my songs weren’t in the Internet. People, please help to change the opinion of this company and get reports.

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review
ComplaintsBoard
R
3:41 pm EDT

Nielsen Research Survey

I have stopped scammers like this by NOT HANGING UP. Please be advised that the scammers are paying for the air time on the telephones. When I receive an unwanted call, I simply place the receiver on the counter and go about my business. When I hear the phone beeping...then I know THEY have hung up. It also locks the line so the can't call use it.

Read full review of Nielsen
Hide full review

Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Nielsen

Expand Collapse all
Is Nielsen a legitimate market research company?

Yes, Nielsen is a globally recognized and legitimate market research company.

Can I trust Nielsen with my personal and survey data?

Nielsen follows industry standard practices for data privacy and security. However, you should read their privacy policy to understand how they use and protect your data.

Does Nielsen offer legitimate paid surveys?

Yes, Nielsen offers paid surveys and other opportunities for consumers to earn rewards through their Nielsen Consumer Panel and Nielsen Digital Voice programs.

Are the rewards and incentives offered by Nielsen real?

Yes, Nielsen offers various types of rewards including gift cards, sweepstakes entries, and cash rewards depending on the specific program.

How reliable is Nielsen's customer service?

Nielsen offers customer support, but experiences may vary. It's advisable to look for online reviews for a better understanding of customer satisfaction.

Is Nielsen's mobile app safe to install and use?

The Nielsen mobile app is considered safe to install and use. It follows standard security measures to protect user data.

Does Nielsen share my data with third parties?

Nielsen does share aggregated, anonymized data with third parties for research purposes, but individual personally identifiable information is generally not shared. Always check their privacy policy for more details.

How long has Nielsen been in operation?

Nielsen has been in operation for over 90 years, with its founding in 1923.

Can I trust online reviews about Nielsen?

When researching Nielsen, consider multiple reviews from different sources to get a well-rounded understanding of the company.

Does participating in Nielsen surveys or panels expose me to spam or unwanted marketing?

Nielsen aims to respect user preferences regarding communication. If you experience unwanted communication, you can adjust your preferences or contact their customer service.

Are there any known scams associated with Nielsen?

While Nielsen itself is a legitimate company, it's important to be aware that scammers sometimes pose as known companies. Always verify communication from Nielsen through their official contact methods.

How can I sign up for Nielsen surveys or panels?

You can sign up for Nielsen panels or surveys through their official website or approved mobile apps.

How does Nielsen use the data collected from surveys and panels?

Nielsen uses the data to provide insights to businesses about consumer behavior and market trends.

Is participation in Nielsen surveys or panels anonymous?

Yes, Nielsen generally reports data in an aggregated and anonymized format to protect the identity of participants.

Can I opt-out of Nielsen panels or surveys at any time?

Yes, you can generally opt-out of Nielsen surveys or panels at any time by contacting their customer service or following the instructions provided in their communications.

Trust badge
Collect Your Trust Badge
Be recognized for outstanding customer service

Contact Nielsen customer service

Phone numbers

+1 (800) 864-1224 +1 (613) 230-2200 More phone numbers

Your Voice Matters: Our Commitment to Genuine Reviews

Empowering Real Experiences

At ComplaintsBoard, we believe in the power of true customer stories. Our platform is a space for authentic voices, where experiences, both good and bad, are shared openly and honestly.

Dedicated to Authenticity

ComplaintsBoard is vigilant in our fight against false reviews. Our team employs robust verification methods to ensure every review reflects a real customer experience, upholding the integrity of our platform.

Encouraging Detailed Feedback

ComplaintsBoard values reviews that come with real evidence. Whether it's a photo, a detailed account, or additional documentation, such substantiation adds credibility to your story, helping others make better-informed decisions.

Balanced and Constructive Conversations

We're more than just a complaints board; we're a community for balanced dialogue. ComplaintsBoard encourages reviews that not only highlight issues but also acknowledge positive aspects, fostering a fair and comprehensive understanding.

Free and Fair Platform

ComplaintsBoard's commitment to maintaining a free and unbiased platform is unwavering. Every review is treated equally, ensuring that your voice is heard and respected, regardless of the nature of your experience.

Is ComplaintsBoard.com associated with Nielsen?

ComplaintsBoard.com is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with Nielsen Customer Service. Initial Nielsen complaints should be directed to their team directly. You can find contact details for Nielsen above.

ComplaintsBoard.com is an independent complaint resolution platform that has been successfully voicing consumer concerns since 2004. We are doing work that matters - connecting customers with businesses around the world and help them resolve issues and be heard.

Use this comments board to leave complaints and reviews about Nielsen. Discuss the issues you have had with Nielsen and work with their customer service team to find a resolution.