RallyPoint Partnerships with 'Outside" Institutions

2014-08-25T08:12:59-04:00

Has anyone else been contacted by outside organizations or institutions because of their being a member in the RallyPoint Community?

I received an email invitation recently inviting me to "participate in a research study and share your thoughts." The subject was, "LTC Purvis, your opinion is important to us" and had the RallyPoint logo as part of the email. There was a $5 incentive reward, as well as the opportunity to earn an additional $35 reward. I clicked out of curiosity and found it was a financial themed survey (my income, my use of different banking institutions and credit agencies). I stopped answering and was "not qualified."

I emailed RallyPoint and received an extremely professional apology very quickly that went on to explain the partnership RallyPoint had made with an organization looking for a very specific and narrow focus group. According to a second email I received, the feedback I provided would, "help moving forward to understand what partnerships are good partnerships to enter into, and which ones are not."

I'm sure that part of signing up included me giving RallyPoint permission to use my personal information, but I did not appreciate this sharing with an outside agency that seemed interested in gathering financial information.

What are your thoughts on these kinds of partnerships as RallyPoint members?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2014 1:04 PM

2014-08-25T13:04:28-04:00

I received the same e-mail and had the same reaction when I began to take it. Assuming the survey was to help RallyPoint improve their site, I was certainly willing to participate. As you describe, it was quickly apparent that this was not for RallyPoint. I should have e-mailed RallyPoint but got distracted by other tasks and never got around to it.

My thoughts on these partnerships? I'm a bit hesitant. What is the purpose of the partnership? Is it intended to benefit the RallyPoint users or the company? In general, I'm okay with business partnerships like this as long as it is clear what organization is asking for my information. In this case, the e-mail made it appear that it was RallyPoint asking for my input ... deceptive, in my opinion.

It makes sense that companies seeking a specific demographic would approach other companies that have access to that demographic. More transparency for these is necessary, however, for RallyPoint to maintain its credibility and trust from its members.

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Aug 25 at 2014 1:18 PM

2014-08-25T13:18:05-04:00

Sir, I apparently received the same solicitation and was likewise, not qualified to participate or receive the 'cash'.
Left me scratching my head...I originally thought it was from RP directly but soon began thinking otherwise.
Looking forward to seeing if you get a response from anyone on staff.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2014 2:29 PM

2014-08-25T14:29:49-04:00

To clarify, I did receive a very quick answer from a RallyPoint Business Development Manager that stated in part:

"Our members are our number one priority, always, and if we had known that you would feel this way we never would have sent you the email, please accept our sincere apologies.
We partnered with an organisation who was looking for people to qualify for a very specific and narrow focus group that they are having later in the month... Part of our agreement with this organisation was that the only information that they were able to gather was from those who qualified for the focus group, so none of your information or your choices will have been gathered.
We absolutely understand your concerns and your frustration, and again apologise for any confusion or anger that we may have caused. RallyPoint is a site built by military members, for military members. Our community has, and always will be, our main focus. I hope that you might consider using RallyPoint again in the future, and thank you for your feedback. We take messages like yours very seriously and learn from them so as not to repeat a mistake."

I replied to this one asking about whether I would receive additional similiar surveys, and received this reply:

"Thank you for your email reply to me, I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me. I am glad that you have found RallyPoint professionally helpful in the past, that is our focus and aim, to help the service members and the veterans who are on our site. The feedback that you have given me is invaluable and will help us moving forward to understand what partnerships are good partnerships to enter into, and which ones are not, an example being that the survey partnership that we entered into was not a success and should not be repeated.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to me at any point with question, comments, or concerns about RallyPoint when moving forward. My job is to help you and to make sure that the site is a safe, positive, and productive place for our members."

From these I sense that RallyPoint has taken my concerns seriously.

Response by SSG Laureano Pabon made Aug 25 at 2014 3:22 PM

2014-08-25T15:22:28-04:00

LTC Private RallyPoint Member ,I got the same email too Sir. I guess I got the 5 Dollars, in PayPal, but I never claimed it. I would had preferred to give it to RP instead. I guess if it had been for RP I would have gone for the 35 Dollars.
I qualified.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2014 4:30 PM

2014-08-25T16:30:29-04:00

Are you familiar with it, LTC Yinon Weiss? I got one, too and it took me to USAA ad survey. Thank you!

Response by LT Jessica Kellogg made Aug 25 at 2014 4:56 PM

2014-08-25T16:56:50-04:00

Same email, same reaction.

Response by LTC Yinon Weiss made Aug 25 at 2014 5:40 PM

2014-08-25T17:40:47-04:00

As always, thank you for your feedback. I wanted to clarify a few things. First, we do not share your information with outside sources. To keep RallyPoint up and running we may send you messages from our sponsors from time to time, but the message will always come from us, the RallyPoint team, since we don't share your information with outside organizations without your permission.

This particular survey was sent to you on behalf of a large financial institution which most of you are familiar with, however, since we don't share your information, it was sent out by us. We realize in hindsight that the email we sent did look and feel as though the survey was on behalf of RallyPoint, when in fact it was only distributed through RallyPoint.

Your information is safe and we do not shared it without your permission. It's been very helpful to get your feedback on this, and we will work to make sure it’s more obvious if you are ever leaving RallyPoint to participate in sponsor programs in the future.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2014 6:51 PM

2014-08-25T18:51:13-04:00

Security system flailled all over this one - identified it as a "bot"....I approved the quarantine. If you're protecting our email how did they get our email? I may have to rethink my association with RP if you're allowing RP being used as a intermediary without notice - something I didn't note in your privacy agreement.