Tag: surveys

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NO! I WON’T ANSWER YOUR SURVEY

How many times a day does someone call you to participate in a survey?  If  it’s an unknown number, you’re smart enough not to pick up the phone.  But often, it’s a familiar name—possibly a doctor’s office or some medical group.  When you see that on your caller ID, you feel a little nervous.  Did they find something wrong with your blood work?  But when you pick up, there’s a recorded message that they would like you to spend time answering their survey questions.  Bummer!  They’ve not only interrupted my dinner hour, they’ve resorted to scare tactics to make me answer the phone.  The moment I hear that message, I end the call.  No! I won’t answer your survey.

No! i won't answer your survey. Don't interrup my dinner time with annoying phone calls..
No! I won’t answer your survey. Your phone calls are  violating my boundaries.

We have  gone to the same primary care physician for years.  It’s ridiculous for some hospital marketer  to call and ask what we think of him, and whether we were satisfied with the last visit.  What a waste of our time.   Yes, there have been times when we were treated by one of his colleagues, and weren’t exactly thrilled with his/her listening skills.  But doctors are human beings, remember.  If they’re seeing a patient they don’t know well, they might not ask the right questions or come up with answers we like to hear.  We absolutely would not give that doctor a poor rating just because of some isolated incident.

And if we’ve had our first visit with a new health care practitioner, we aren’t going to know  right away  whether they helped us or not.  Sciatica isn’t cured in a day. It’s way too soon to evaluate any therapist after the first or even second session.

Other places now follow up every service they perform with a survey.  Are you satisfied with your oil change?  Your furnace check?  How are you supposed to know if you’re satisfied until you’re sure things are running smoothly.

Have any of these marketing experts  heard that it’s rude to violate boundaries? Butting into quiet family time.?   Calling someone  during the news hour  with a recorded message? .  Most people hate annoying surveys and aren’t comfortable making  negative comments that could backfire on them. .  No! I won’t take part in your survey, so please stop calling.

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POLLSTERS: DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL ME

Do you believe in polls?  Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t.  Like most people, I believe what I want to.  If I see a poll favoring my candidate of choice, I’ll hope it’s right.   On the other hand, if a poll favors a disliked candidate, I’ll doubt its accuracy.  When I am asked to take part in surveys and polls,  I always decline.  Pollsters: don’t ask my opinion, don’t tell me  your skewed results.

Pollsters: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Me which candidate I favor
Pollsters use landlines, phones & the internet to invade our privacy.  Pollsters: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell me

Most  polls are conducted  via cell phone or landline.  Those are possibly the most irritating calls one could receive.  Anyone with common sense refuses to answer calls from an unfamiliar phone number.   Consequently,  A  poll  based on the opinions of those who do answer doesn’t really tell me anything.

Many polls are taken over the internet.  Poll takers and politicians invade my Facebook, Twitter, and Email accounts.  If I log onto various online  news reports, I’m often  interrupted by a question about   Donald  Trump or Joe Biden.

The bad part about answering a survey or poll is that you’re now on someone’s sucker list.  First, you will be inundated with requests for contributions.  Next, you’ll  receive numerous newsletters and e mails meant to alarm and enlighten you .

How do these people get access to my social media?  I’m  tired of spending so much time deleting them.  I click on unsubscribe, and beg them to leave me alone, to no avail..  No, I don’t want to hear from their relatives, either.

Back to the accuracy of polls.    A poll is just a picture of what people are saying or thinking on a particular day. Voters are fickle. They can easily change their minds the next week or month, depending on current events. For example,  the coronavirus pandemic. Or the protests after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis..

Every day, the polls tell us which candidate is favored,  disliked, or disapproved of . But you know what?  I’d just as soon believe the odds coming out of Vegas.

Pollsters:   Stop calling  me during dinner,  or any time at all.  Discontinue invading my social media online.   Don’t ask what I think or tell me how I feel..