Stop Asking My Opinion Already- Unless You’re Going to DO Something About It
The thick envelopes kept arriving one after the other. Then others began showing up on line.
Tell us what you think. How did we do? Take just a few short minutes to fill out this survey to help us do a better job.
So far I have perhaps ten of these waiting for me to “take just a few minutes” by which time I will have wasted perhaps half or more of a very busy work day. I sure as hell am not going to spend my precious weekend filling out surveys.
Many are from the Veteran’s Administration, which is (attempting, at least) to do a better job of being responsive to its veterans, especially us women. Problem is, for me to finally get a referral to get rotator cuff surgery it took me four ridiculously difficult months and a Congressional inquiry to force the VA to act, after dragging their feet for months on end while the injury worsened and so did my pain.
Wanna hear my opinion about that?
After I had surgery, while I was still stupid drunk on drugs and in horrific pain, St. Anthony’s sent me a survey to ask how the surgical team did. It’s been three weeks, I’m still in horrific pain. When I called for help I was told to go to the ER, which the VA doesn’t pay for, and I was in no shape to drive anyway.
Wanna hear my opinion about that?
My ortho’s office will get my opinion too. The office where the surgeon’s assistant canceled my surgery while I was out of country, no warning, no discussion, no consulting the person most affected all because this nitwit “thought she heard me say my shoulder was better.” The arrogance of that act still makes me suck in my breath. Then she fought me tooth and nail about the VA’s authorization, the details of which were crystal clear. She kept adding more and more chores for me to get done at the VA when the authorization clearly stated in plain English that her outfit was supposed to provide those services. That added stress, anxiety, and a laundry list of to-dos that were wholly unnecessary. And this at a time when I’d just gotten home from a month overseas, my house was under construction and my partner was moving in, and I had a slew of deliverables for multiple clients that had to be done before I slipped into a drugged haze.
Wanna hear my opinion about that?
Or when my surgeon dismissed a serious head injury sustained when I fell face forward into a bookcase the day after surgery, my twentieth concussion, and no one raised an eyebrow. When I saw him my face was covered with gashes, contusions and bruises, none of which even registered. When I pointed them out he dismissed them and called me hysterical.
Wanna hear my opinion about that?
Here you go: https://medium.com/@jhubbel/youre-hysterical-d01ab416250d. They have a copy. No response. I was told that the surgeon in question would receive a much sanitized version of this “at an appropriate time.” What’s an appropriate time, I wonder? After he’s done this to twenty more people?
Are You Really Listening or Just Going Through the Motions?
Here’s the thing. If I had any sense that someone was going to attend to my comments, I might consider taking the time. As it is I am going to write a detailed letter of complaint to the folks who own the ortho facility and it’s going to the CEO. That, I have found, at least in some cases, is far more likely to get in front of the right eyeballs-depending on the company- than some bland, mass-produced survey that gets punched into a faceless system.
Sue them, perhaps you get someone’s attention. I’m not going to do that, but I am going to go public with the “hysteria” comment and the grotesque lack of attention to a serious head injury. That is incomprehensible. Like so many, my surgeon is a good tactician but he’s a useless doctor, in the truest sense of the word “doctor.” All he cared about was my shoulder. Anything outside that appeared to be of no interest to him whatsoever. Long as the shoulder was good, we’re fine. I was told to “power through” the pain. “Mind over matter” he said. This to someone who has walked away from a smashed pelvis, a broken back, and nineteen concussions. Nah, it’s not insulting. Not at all.
We’re fine. Um, no we weren’t. I took four very bad falls, several of them right onto that shoulder, because of meds that didn’t soothe the pain and made me stupid drunk. That’s dangerous, and nobody seemed to give a damn as long as the process was followed to the letter.
Wanna know my opinion about that?
A Complaint Is a Gift
My dear friend, Dr. Janelle Barlow, an internationally-renowned speaker on sales and customer service, wrote a terrific book a while back: A Complaint is a Gift (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005M0CZV0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1). She posits- and I think very accurately- that those complaints we get are our best market research. Ignore them at your peril. The complaints- especially our so-called hysterical ones- are usually a bellwether for something that is wrong internally. If you really, truly want to be a top-notch operation, then you do NOT ignore when people are righteously angry and you do NOT tolerate having your people demean real issues by dismissing them as hysterical. That is kerosene on the fire of self-righteous anger, and in this transparent world, you cannot afford that kind of viral vitriol. We don’t CARE if this offends you. We don’t CARE if this undermines your notion of your perfection. In fact folks, your addiction to your perfect record is a setup for mistakes, abuses and the kind of ingrained conceit that makes you blind to your fallibility. Pride goeth before a fall, indeed.
As far as the VA goes, you are stuck with the system. So you put up with whatever they dish out, survey or no survey, and be grateful that it’s free (believe me, I am). God help us if it’s privatized. Then it’s going to work about as well as our prison system which is an international scandal, makes the investors rich and f**ks up millions of lives when dishonest police plant drugs or weapons onto innocent kids because well, there’s a profit. Goodie. Let’s do that to our veterans, too. You want to see an increase in suicides and homelessness, privatize the VA. You’ll get plenty of feedback, but hell, folks, nobody’s listening NOW.
Wanna hear my opinion about that? Oh wait- nobody cares. That’s up to the Trump Administration and his rich minions.
The Frenzy for Feedback: Careful What You Ask For
For some reason, over the last few years everyone and his brother, cousin and sister-in-law has to have feedback. While I can understand the urge to know how we’re doing, after a while the end user gets inundated. Just as I am now. The only time I will bother is when a) I get such great service, or am so chuffed, that I want to tell the world or b) you f**k up so badly that I am highly motivated to ensure nobody else gets subjected to the same substandard treatment I did.
Surveys are incredibly helpful if your organization is going to do something about an issue raised, or pass along compliments. The problem is that if a patient, for example, raises very real issues about care and the doctor pooh-poohs those comments as hysterical, nothing’s going to change. A blip. One complainer. I have heard a number of managers respond to this by saying “Well, everyone ELSE likes us…” or, “You’re the ONLY ONE who has ever complained…”which is a heartstoppingly arrogant way to completely dismiss your unique experience of their incompetence. Institutional arrogance is a very hard thing to penetrate, especially in healthcare. This corporate terror of being fallible, being wrong is a superb way to not only go out of business but also to fan the flames of online retribution. And it does get ugly out there. If you want to be highly entertained by corporate stupidity, try checking out http://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-10-corporate-social-media-disasters-2013-11
As for surveying whether I was happy with how you treated me at the local coffee shop, honestly? Pay attention to your repeat business. That will tell you all you need to know.
Who Ya Gonna Vote For?
It’s hardly limited to online and mail. As we slide inexorably into the election season, I am getting bombarded with surveys by phone. People call at all hours, most especially those sweet, precious evening hours I like to spend in quiet enjoying my lawn or my boyfriend’s company. I deeply resent being called just before I engage in a major clench with my beloved.
I recently received a tweet from an uber-enthusiastic campaign worker for a Democrat gubernatorial hopeful. I don’t know how she got my number but it felt as invasive as those tweets that offer me a peek at Russian p***y. Really?
Wanna hear my opinion about that?
It’s neither a new phenomenon, nor am I alone. Hardly.
In a thoughtful New York Times article (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/upshot/why-people-hate-taking-surveys.html) the author delves into some of the issues that pollsters run into- especially those who are genuinely legitimate. They are upended in their endeavors by those who use the ruse of a “poll” to sell you shit. It doesn’t take more than a call or two for us to learn to hang up right away. Ultimately such calls are nothing more than another slick scam and we are war-weary of them. It is quite enough that we are inundated with ads. We hardly have a moment’s privacy in our own homes.
My favorite line from the article: Respondents are right to exercise caution, whether it is with a biased poll with an agenda; an interviewer who is less than forthcoming about the sponsorship of the poll; or fund-raising or selling under the guise of research.
For my part, the problem (at least one of them at least) is sheer time.
Conversational Cons
One woman who operates out of Colorado Springs has perfected her pitch to a “T.” She uses her sugary, grandmotherly way of speaking to open with this pseudo-neighborly pitch: “Awwwww, you sound just like my (niece, granddaughter, daughter etc.)” However, call her on her bullshit and she is instantly a harridan. True colors, as Cindi Lauper used to sing. Indeed. No matter how many times I block her number, she can bypass it. Here’s why: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/upshot/why-do-not-call-lists-dont-work-against-pollsters.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article®ion=Footer. You can bet that if you’re a professional pollster and we’re hanging up on you, you can thank this rank woman and thousands just like her for your trouble, at least in part.
How to Go Out of Business 101
In an incident just this morning, a girlfriend reported showing up at a local retailer that had some years ago lost its shiny reputation by doing a few underhanded things (I am protecting my source here) which had been widely reported by Colorado news outlets. When she noted this, not unkindly and certainly without rancor, the manager instantly got defensive and pugnacious.
“Are you accusing ME of that?” he said angrily.
“No,” she said sincerely, “I’m trying to rebuild my relationship with your brand.”
The manager had a choice: either eagerly embrace the opportunity to do a service save and gain a loyal customer for life, or abuse the customer.
He chose the latter. My girlfriend was invited off the property. Immediately.
You want feedback?
You’re going to get it all right. However if all you want is accolades, get a job in a mail room. Given the power of social media, we are already telling you what we think. Clearly, you aren’t paying attention. So stop already with your treacly attempts to get our opinions. The opinion of the American public is in full view on social media, when we don’t patronize your businesses any more, when we rant publicly about a service disaster. It’s out there in full neon lights when we write angry, searingly honest letters to your CEOs and that walled-off bastard passes it on down to some low-level CSR who gives them a two dollar off coupon next time they visit the store. That, effectively, is the corporate screw you for taking the time to really tell us what you think. I had that precise experience with Alaska Airlines in 2017.
Wanna hear my opinion about that?
Here you go:
https://thegallopinggaia.com/what-constitutes-first-class-any-more/
Alaska Airlines happens to be riding a wave of popularity right now. That (often temporary) love affair leads to institutional arrogance and a sense of infallibility. When someone does complain, it can’t possibly matter, because of course Everyone else thinks we’re wonderful. I have hard news for their self-proclaimed “Eagle Scout” CEO: just wait.
We all give feedback: with our feet and most especially with our wallets. Abuse the right to find out what we really think and you are going to burn in the white-hot fires of public opinion.
Just in case you may have forgotten a few companies who did just that, here you go: https://qz.com/189507/success-can-build-a-culture-of-arrogance-that-will-destroy-a-company/.
No public company, be it the family-owned donut store on the corner or the multi-billion dollar behemoth, can afford to ignore feedback. If you’re going to spend megabucks to invade our privacy asking what we think, you might reward us by listening. Not only that, but by honoring the comments that we provide you unsolicited- which, quite frankly are far more valuable raw data than you will ever get from pummeling us with surveys.
We took precious valuable time away from our lives to tell you what we think. If you plan to stay in business, you might learn to listen.
Then do something about the problem.
If you ask our opinion, and we tell you, and nothing changes, you don’t have the right to be in business. It was then effectively a PR exercise in masturbation, seeking out only the good news to use as marketing tools.
In other words, it is the absolute worst kind of Screw You to the buying public. You can’t close your doors soon enough.
