Increasing requests to complete surveys for purchases and services

[SteveM70]

Reminds me of when the chief of Ofsted was going on about it not being acceptable for schools to be satisfied with a rating of "Satisfactory"

Was it Gove who announced his ambition was for all schools to be rated as “above average”?

I don’t often fill in surveys, but what I do try and do is send a compliment by tweet / email / online form when I do get really good customer service. It feels more genuine, and I hope the recipients feel that way too.

 

[Cowley]

The fact that being nice to people in service jobs is considered 'old-fashioned' and weird is really a sad statement about the world we now live in - it's just basic decency

Amen to that. I’ve always been polite to staff doing other jobs, it’s amazing how much further people will go for you if you treat them well.

Anyway re surveys. I’m up to four in the last two days now - BT, Wales and West, DVLA and my insurance company.
There’s probably more actually but you start to glaze over after a while.

 

[trebor79]

Every single Teams call asks you to rate the call quality at the end. Why? Their telemetry will show them this objectively.

The telemetry can show them things objective things like what the bandwidth was and how many packets were dropped, but it the data that came through for the user was any good. I expect that they do all sorts of trickery with compression, noise cancellation, etc, and it's feedback on that rather than the actual transmission that they're after

Yes, they will be trying to absolutely minimise the bandwidth the service uses, because that costs money. So they can whittle it down, until the point that people start noticing. A cloud PC rental service I use does the same thing.

I never ever fill in surveys for online purchases, I'm far too busy and can't be bothered. Any more than 1 follow up email asking me to do so will also see me unsubscribe from that retailers mailing list.

 

[Calthrop]

The fact that being nice to people in service jobs is considered 'old-fashioned' and weird is really a sad statement about the world we now live in - it's just basic decency

I'd venture to suggest, that it's not that much of a matter of old / new standards of conduct; a fair number of people have always fallen prey to the temptation to "big themselves up" by being nasty in interaction with folk who are powerless to retaliate.

 

[Jamesrob637]

I've done a few surveys recently - all short - but I do wish Beneficial would stop periodically calling me. They have no right to use my telephone number (as I have stated in the "is this a scam call" thread)

 

[gordonthemoron]

The people who design these surveys, often don't seem to realise that if the survey is long and complicated, people won't complete them.

 

[PHILIPE]

I can't remember which site it was now but a few weeks ago, i was asked to answer some questions before it would let me in.

 

[Typhoon]

The people who design these surveys, often don't seem to realise that if the survey is long and complicated, people won't complete them.

Or, as I sometimes do - particularly when there is a misleading indication of how far through the survey you are or how long it will take - give the answers that are not likely to lead to follow up questions ('Don't know', 'Not applicable') to get through the survey. I sometimes do the same in situations like this - '

I can't remember which site it was now but a few weeks ago, i was asked to answer some questions before it would let me in.

There are some newspapers that only allow access to their site if you answer some questions - it is only ever 2 to 4 so that's fine by me.

Companies don't seem to realise that we are not obliged to complete a survey, that we are giving up our time to complete them. I want a reason to complete them, an incentive, an indication that someone actually takes note of what you have said or an opportunity to thank someone who went out of their way - and that has been noted, for example.

However, mention of Travelodge reminds what the manager of one location told me. If you didn't give them a 9 of 10 rating then the manager of that location didn't get any feedback from their superior about guest experiences.

I know a manager of a Travelodge - according to him comments about the staff (and things that they can affect) are sometimes taken on board (although compliments are not passed on, comments about facilities, environment, building are ignored.

 

[Bobdogs]

The fact that being nice to people in service jobs is considered 'old-fashioned' and weird is really a sad statement about the world we now live in - it's just basic decency

I just do the surveys that KFC and BK used to have on the back of their receipts which gave you a discount on future purchases.
Has anyone ever received a £100 voucher for completing one of those surveys that are on the receipt of most large stores?

 

[Jamesrob637]

I can't remember which site it was now but a few weeks ago, i was asked to answer some questions before it would let me in.

If that occurs in future, just refresh the page - as Typhoon says it's likely to have been a news article.

 

[Trackman]

I've just remembered a bizarre survey I filled in for VT.
It was a A4 form given to me with my coffee.
You are not going to believe it, it was about new teaspoons they had.
They were supposed to be quieter or something.
No it wasn't April Fools day, but I definitely thought someone is having a laugh.
I suggested using your finger and thumb as a dampener, you know what I still do it to this day (on the train).

 

[Typhoon]

If that occurs in future, just refresh the page - as Typhoon says it's likely to have been a news article.

I have no problem answering them, they will make a small amount of money from each survey and its better (for me) than the article being hidden behind a paywall! I am 'paying' by answering.

 

[PeterC]

The only surveys that I complete are friom YouGov and then only because they pay me.

 

[trainophile]

The only sort I don't mind are those with one "rate your experience from 1 to 10" and a freehand box to add any pertinent comments. They don't take long, and give me an opportunity to feedback anything that was exceptionally good, bad, or "could do better". However I suspected that suggestions for improvements would be largely ignored. I put recently that it would be helpful if Travelodge supplied two chairs for people booking a room for two occupants, as you don't always want to lie on the bed to watch TV. We had another booking a couple of weeks later... still one chair, so obviously comments aren't reacted to.

Many years ago when GWR were still FGW I was returning from Portsmouth to Newport. We were handed paper surveys and pencils within moments of pulling out from the Harbour, and they were collected about 20 minutes later. Subsequently the train became absolutely rammed at stations further up the line, by which time we had already given positive replies about the comfort level of the train. They certainly knew what they were doing on that one!

 

[ta-toget]

…I put recently that it would be helpful if Travelodge supplied two chairs for people booking a room for two occupants, as you don't always want to lie on the bed to watch TV. We had another booking a couple of weeks later... still one chair, so obviously comments aren't reacted to…

Off topic, but the practice of having fewer chairs in a hotel room than the number of permitted occupants is really annoying. There ought to be a law against it.

 

[py_megapixel]

Off topic, but the practice of having fewer chairs in a hotel room than the number of permitted occupants is really annoying. There ought to be a law against it.

Do you literally mean that? Because if so, I can think of dozens of design practices which have caused me significantly more inconvenience than that ever has, and therefore should also be outlawed - for example, overly bright lighting and shiny surfaces in clothing shops.

 

[trainophile]

Do you literally mean that? Because if so, I can think of dozens of design practices which have caused me significantly more inconvenience than that ever has, and therefore should also be outlawed - for example, overly bright lighting and shiny surfaces in clothing shops.

And loud musak in shops, especially TK Maxx where you end up buying stuff you don't want because you can't think straight!

 

[317 forever]

I popped into a branch of my bank to use a machine to print off a mini statement. I did not come into contact with any member of staff. Despite that, I have twice received an email requesting feedback from my visit! I would understand receiving a customer service survey, but I required no customer service to be surveyed on.

 

[py_megapixel]

And loud musak in shops, especially TK Maxx where you end up buying stuff you don't want because you can't think straight!

Any establishment with loud enough background music (or excuse there-for) to impair my thinking guarantees that I will buy as little and leave as quickly as possible.

 

[317 forever]

Believe it or not, I have just received an email from Avanti asking me about a journey that I had cancelled and rebooked for tomorrow.

So, I sent it up by replying and giving them 0/10 for every category!

 

[ta-toget]

Do you literally mean that? Because if so, I can think of dozens of design practices which have caused me significantly more inconvenience than that ever has, and therefore should also be outlawed - for example, overly bright lighting and shiny surfaces in clothing shops.

Maybe not law. Not sure really, because it is rather inconvenient. Shiny surfaces can be annoying, though bright lights can be useful (unless you're referring to the combination on the two).

 

[py_megapixel]

Maybe not law. Not sure really, because it is rather inconvenient. Shiny surfaces can be annoying, though bright lights can be useful (unless you're referring to the combination on the two).

If everything that inconvenienced anybody was outlawed, there would be nothing left.

By the standards of things, too few chairs in a hotel room is trivial.

 

[trainophile]

Well if we're still on the topic of hotels, room lighting that isn't bright enough (to read by) is another one, also too few hangers. Travelodge again - I know they are a budget place and you're not generally going to spend long in one, but the standard issue six hangers aren't really adequate for two people, once you've used two of them for your outdoor coats.

All off topic though as I don't think hotels they make pretence of these shortfalls being due to Covid, although the suspension of luggage storage certainly seems to be. That's so inconvenient if you arrive two hours before check-in time and can't drop your bags off.

Edit: Sorry I think that last point belongs on the "because of Covid" thread.

 

[eoff]

Concerning surveys, I have some rules.

1. Was I contacted by the organisation I did business with and NOT any third party, is it hosted on the organisation's site. If No then do not complete.
2. Decide if I want to fill in the survey based on any explanation given.
3. If filling in survey stop at any point I would be forced to answer an irrelevant question or give an answer that is misleading.

I rarely embark on surveys in the first place and if I do then typically I give up with 4 out of 5. Probalby only filled in 2 or 3 in the last year.

 

[trainophile]

Concerning surveys, I have some rules.

1. Was I contacted by the organisation I did business with and NOT any third party, is it hosted on the organisation's site. If No then do not complete.
2. Decide if I want to fill in the survey based on any explanation given.
3. If filling in survey stop at any point I would be forced to answer an irrelevant question or give an answer that is misleading.

I rarely embark on surveys in the first place and if I do then typically I give up with 4 out of 5. Probalby only filled in 2 or 3 in the last year.

Your point 3 is very valid. So often I try to bypass an irrelevant question or one that doesn't have an applicable choice of response, only to be red flagged that I can't continue until I've responded. At that point I always abandon the whole thing, so they don't do themselves any favours with that style of survey.

 

[Typhoon]

Your point 3 is very valid. So often I try to bypass an irrelevant question or one that doesn't have an applicable choice of response, only to be red flagged that I can't continue until I've responded. At that point I always abandon the whole thing, so they don't do themselves any favours with that style of survey.

You are so right. Even if you don't abandon the survey, the only response possible is to give an answer which is wrong which makes their survey fairly pointless (I normally give an answer which is less likely to lead to follow up questions or one that will irritate them to encourage them to delete me from their 'send out a survey' list).

I also get irritated by surveys that ignore previous answers. One I have had recently :- 'occupation' - I ticked retired, 'how likely are you to lose your job because of the virus' - no option to ignore, a tick of 'not likely' biases the survey towards the virus is having no effect on employment. I flag it up in the comments, get a similar survey from the same people, question still there.

More frivolously, I bought a webcam online, I was asked to rate it under several categories including 'Sheerness', I haven't got a clue what that is supposed to mean so I wrote 'I haven't been there' (I live in Kent). If you want me to complete surveys, make them comprehendible!