What is it with companies these days? I just got an e-mail from a company I once did business with. They want me to spend “fifteen to twenty minutes” filling out an online survey, and in exchange they’re offering a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift certificate.

A chance?!

If they were offering me the gift certificate itself, I’d probably do it. My professional time is worth more than the $30-to-$40 an hour that this works out to (assuming they are being honest about the time it would take), but I’d probably do it anyway, just to help out. But they’re only offering me an unspecified “chance” to win such a gift certificate. Apparently there’s only one such gift certificate, and likely several hundred survey-takers. Frankly, I’m more insulted by this offer than if they’d just asked me to do it without any offer of compensation.

I will definitely not be filling out their survey.