Test for Tesco! (tescohomepanels.com)

Member Name: missmaile

Product:	tescohomepanels.com
Date:	13/05/09 (125 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free products

Disadvantages: Can take a while to get onto panel

I first heard of Tesco Home Panels on Money Saving Expert. I e-mailed Tesco to find out how to join and I recieved a repky telling me the month in which they were next considering applications, and inviting me to send my name address and clubcard number to them for consideration.

A few months later I recieved an e-mail giving me my login details for Tesco Home Panels.

The first time I logged in to the panel I answered a survey which took around ten minutes, giving Tesco some information about me, to help match me to products for testing.

I very quickly recieved my first product to test from Tesco, it was a mascara. I was sent 2 different mascara samples and they came with instructions telling me which to use first and for how long I should use it.

Having used the first mascara, I had to login and answer a short survey about the mascara, then pause the survey and go and test the next mascara for a few days, then come back and finish the survey.

The survey is very simple to complete, there is a scale and you answer each question on the scale, or answer yes or no, there are then spaces in which you write the good things and the bad things about different features of the product.

I have been a member of Tesco Home Panels for around 4 months now and in that time I have been sent a variety of items, mascara, nappies, baby wipes, breast pads, feminine hygiene products, black sacks, rubble sacks, dog food and nappy cream.

You do not recieve any form of compensation for taking part in the product trials, so some people may not want to sign up, however products are matched to me from the information I have given to Tesco, so the things they send me are things which I use and are relevent to me.[ They are sending me these items for free which means it saves me money as they are items I would otherwise be purchasing, so I do not mind that I do not get any form of recompense for testing.

For example, the 2 nappy creams I was sent for my baby to use were full size, I had to use each one for 1 week in order to answer the survey, however now I still have 2 barely used nappy creams which I can continue to use on my baby.

The same is true of the mascara, I use mascara daily, I had 2 full tubes of mascara to test, I used each for 3 days and now I have the 2 left to use, so I do not have to buy myself any for a while.

There are sometimes extra surveys for you to take when a new product trial is coming up but these only take a few minutes to complete.

When a trial is available to you, you will recieve an e-mail telling you what the item is and the dates that the testing will take place. If you wish to be included in the trial, you simply hit the reply button and send a quick message saying you would like to join the trial and you also need to confirm your name ( Im not sure why?? ).

I have always been accepted for the trials I reply to and obvioulsy if you are invited to a trial for a product you do not want or use then you just do not repky to the e-mail and wait until the next invitation arrives, so you will only ever recieve things that are relevent to you and your family.

You do have to be a clubcard member to join Tesco Home Panels, but I have never had to use my card for anything.

I know people who are members of the panel who have tested food products in the past, personally the only food products I have been invited to test were food for my dog, which was sent to me in the post, however I am told that if you are invited to test food products, you will be sent a voucher to take into Tesco in order to obtain the product for testing.

I would reccomend joining the panel because trials are very frequent, and each product you recieve will save you a little bit of money.

Summary: Get the products you already use for free from Tesco!