Does anybody ever complete business surveys?

[roadman65]

Recently if you look at you receipts from stores, restaurants, and many other establishments they ask you to go on line to do a brief survey to rate your experience.   To top it off they either give you a free item on your next visit or enter you in a drawing to win a big prize.

I used to do it for Millers Ale House in Orlando as they gave you a free desert for filling out the survey.  However lately I have been not doing them because its already old.  You keep the receipts so you can do it, and you forget with the million other things you have to do to stay alive these days.  Then months later you clean your house, and viola, you find these now useless pieces of paper which you now remember you getting them to take part in, but forgot.

Now, one national chain is forcing their employees to not only ask their customers to fill out, but if they do not get results meaning x amount in one work week they will be written up for failure to do their jobs.  With this said, if my scenario as a customer happens, so is it with others.  Therefore you could ask a customer to participate, but soon as they leave the establishment, that receipt will be put aside and never be seen as I am sure that the nature of the survey will be forgotten.  No one is thinking a survey is important when they have to worry about getting home, and living the lives that they each have.

Anyway, I am curious to know if anybody here does them or do you just toss them?

[corco]

I do them if the employee did a particularly good job, since I've been on the other end of it and I know the bosses are always really happy when a person is mentioned by name in a survey for doing a good job.

For average/below-average service, I don't do them. If they truly do an awful job (and I mean awful- I have a pretty high pain tolerance and don't want to get somebody that might just be having a bad day in trouble), I'll fill one out.

I do them for the sake of the employees though, not for the business. If it's not service related, I'll never do it.

[hbelkins]

Yes, because I could use the prize (a $1,000 gift card from Family Dollar or Dollar General or Walmart). That will buy an awful lot of pet food, toiletries, food, etc.

[DaBigE]

Yes, because I could use the prize (a $1,000 gift card from Family Dollar or Dollar General or Walmart). That will buy an awful lot of pet food, toiletries, food, etc.

Since just about every survey seems offers a reward, a better question might be is: Do you know anyone who actually won the prize offered for taking a survey?

[txstateends]

At some hotels where I've worked, the comment cards guests fill out are taken seriously by management, others, not as much.  One major chain will email you after a stay (if you included an email with your reservation or registration info) with a survey to fill out.  From what I've seen, the majority aren't filled out.  Those that are, the chain takes seriously and will take whatever action with the hotel and management if scores are too low.  A couple of hotels where I've worked would claim to reward an employee if they were mentioned positively in a survey or comment card, but kind of thing lasts about 5 minutes when management comes to their senses and realizes there might actually be an expense (omg, the horror) involved.  Anytime any of those reward-the-employee memos ever came out, I knew better than to get excited about it.

As for those do-this/call-this-and-you-might-win receipts, I've done them a couple of times but didn't hear back so I knew I didn't get anything out of it.  Otherwise they're too easily forgotten in a pocket, purse, or stuck away somewhere.

[slorydn1]

I'm with Roadman. I often fully intend to take the survey as I am leaving the establishment only to find some way to misplace the receipt within seconds of getting home..

[jeffandnicole]

I've done them on rare occasion, but I don't remember if I ever actually turned a completed receipt in to get my free or discounted item.

I have done a few of those secret shopper reports, and am signed up with several companies. I think these tend to get a lot more attention. In these cases, I usually have to sign up to do a job, complete the job including paying for my food, leaving a tip, etc, and then filling out a fairly extensive report within 12 or 24 hours. After that point, then I'll be reimbursed, which usually covers most or all of what I spent.

Like I said: I've only done a few of these. We tend to be more spontaneous when we go out, rather than have set plans which is what is required here.

For those that do them often enough, they will get better jobs with better pay, where they can actually make money, rather than be reimbursed.

[Pete from Boston]

Never, and I get tired of watching the employees have to go through the charade of asking.  I'll do comment cards if I have a strong opinion, but who even has comment cards anymore other than crappy chain restaurants?  Never ever do end-of-call surveys.