My Experience with customer satisfaction surveys

Sometimes they are good. Sometimes they are frighteningly bad. Copy pasted from my email, my responses are in bold:

From: Travel-Survey
To: Jared
Date: 20/10/2011 11:57 AM
Subject: Re: A Survey From American Express



Thank you for your prompt response to our Customer Survey. You're welcome. I wish I could say the same, but seventeen days response time on your end is not very prompt.

Your feedback is extremely important to the success of our business. If my feedback actually was extremely important, perhaps you would have read everything I wrote before firing off this form email to me.
Could you please respond using the numbering system, as suggested below, instead of the "yes/no, etc." answers that you used. No. Unfortunately, the questions that were asked were not consistent with a "rated" response. I could not therefore, in good conscience give an arbitrary numbered response, unless you considered a "yes" to be a 5 and a no to be a 1.
Let me go over the yes/no questions in a little more detail to explain myself:
Were you able to reach a counselor promptly? This is a yes/no question, as either I was able to reach a counsellor promptly, or I wasn't. A 5-1 scale response would just simply be nonsensical. How could one for example explain what a "3" response meant empirically? Does it mean that I was able to reach a counsellor promptly, but then placed on hold for 2 hours? Does it mean that the counsellor didn't pick up the telephone until the 4th ring? Does it mean that I left a voicemail and didn't receive a response for an hour (or a day, or a week, depending on how urgent my needs were)?
A better question to ask, if you wanted to rate every question from 5-1 would be: "With 5 being extremely satisfied, and 1 being completely unsatisfied, how would you rank the promptness with which our travel counsellors dealt with your request? Please explain."

Do you feel you were offered the lowest fare based on the UN travel policy and your official Itinerary? Again, either I felt like I was offered the lowest fare or I wasn't. I can't rank this as a 5-1 question. And frankly, there really isn't a very good way to get a 5-1 question out of this particular line of questioning, as either the responder received the lowest fare or they didn't. And to be even more frank, if the responder didn't receive the lowest fare possible at the time based on travel policy and the needs of the Itinerary, the AMEX office isn't doing their job. However, I suppose if you wanted to talk about the responders feelings "Do you feel?" you could ask: "How satisfied are you, with 5 being extremely satisfied, and 1 being completely unsatisfied with the fare you were charged for your itinerary? Please explain"

Did the counselor acknowledge your travel preferences and present options? (i.e. seating, personal stopover)? Once more, either the counsellor does their job or they didn't. They can't 2/5ths or 4/5ths acknowledge preferences and/or give options. They either do or they don't. Hopefully it is AMEX policy for them to ask these questions and provide that service, and in that case the survey should be asking, "How satisfied are you with the level of options that were presented to you by the travel counsellor at the time of the itinerary booking? Please explain."

Quick and easy reservation. I mean this one could MAYBE qualify as out of 4, because it could have been Quick and Easy (4), Quick but not easy (3), Slow and Easy (2) or Slow and not easy (1). But it's not even phrased as a question! This should really be split into two questions though, with one being "How quickly (with 5 being extraordinarily rapid and 1 being extraordinarily slow) was your reservation completed?" and "How easily (with 5 being extraordinarily easy and 1 being extraordinarily difficult) was your reservation completed?"

Were your arrangements complete and accurate? This is exactly the same as the above question. just change the words "quickly" "easily" "complete" and "accurate" and you're all set.

The counselor I contacted provided proactive advice for this trip. There is no way you can make this into a rating question. Unless again, you are expecting the counsellor to provide the advice, then you can ask how satisfied the responder was with the advice offered.
Thanks for your cooperation. Anything I can do to help.

Travel-Survey@un.org

---------------------------------------------------------

Travel-Survey---03/10/2011 03:53:38 PM---Dear Traveler,

From: Travel-Survey
To: Travel-Survey
Date: 03/10/2011 03:53 PM
Subject: A Survey From American Express



Dear Traveler,

You have received this survey because you recently booked a trip using American Express Corporate Travel UN Office. American Express is interested in your feedback to make sure that we are serving your business travel needs. The answers you provide will remain strictly confidential and will be used only to enhance our understanding of your needs so that we may better serve you.

Please submit the survey by using "Reply with history," and entering your appropriate rating at the end of each question or, if you prefer, you can fax this form back to 917 367-xxxx.


Customer Service Survey for the United Nations

Your Name: REDACTED

Traveler Name(s) (added in an "s" there for you, as there are occasionally multiple travellers): REDACTED

Travel Arranger Name: (This question needs to be re-written, as there are multiple travel arrangers in the UN Travel planning process - do you mean the AMEX Travel Arranger? Also, you call them "counselors" later in the survey. I'm going to go ahead and presume you mean the AMEX Travel Counsellor) I had the pleasure to do business with both Redacted and Redacted.

Please rate the following eight questions on a 5-point scale where 5 = Excellent and 1 = Poor. Please rate as "N/A (Not Applicable)" any question that does not pertain to your last trip booking.


1. Were you able to reach a counselor promptly? This is a Yes/No question, not an "out of 5 points question" So, Yes.

2. Do you feel you were offered the lowest fare based on the UN travel policy and your official Itinerary? See Above. Yes

3. Did the counselor acknowledge your travel preferences and present options? (i.e. seating, personal stopover) See Above. Yes

4. Quick and easy reservation. See above. Except it wasn't quick OR easy, but that wasn't the travel counsellors' [we use British English at the UN, hence the two l's in counsellor, even though just one is also correct] fault. So, No, but that was due to circumstances outside the AMEX office's control.

5. Please rate the professionalism and knowledge of the counselor. Here's a rating question! 5! I give both the wonderful counsellors 5's!

6. Were your arrangements complete and accurate? Again with the yes/no questions. so, Yes.

7. The counselor I contacted provided proactive advice for this trip. Yes

8. Please rate the overall quality of service provided by the American Express Corporate Travel Office while booking this business trip. I'd give the QoS of the counsellors a 5. I'd give this survey a 1.

Would you like a call from American Express Management at the UN to discuss your concerns?
If you answered yes please enter your contact number. If you'd like to contact me regarding the sad state of affairs that is this survey, I can probably offer some pointers, but otherwise your folks have done a terrific job. My Tel. is in my signature at the top of this email.

Additional Comments/Suggestions to help American Express improve service:
See above. Improve this frighteningly user-unfriendly survey.

Once more, a staunch "conservative" outed as a liberal

How incredibly liberal of her to suggest that the United States is BEHIND the rest of the "advanced" world in its maternity leave laws. This is the same Megyn Kelly who Media Matters "a politically progressive media watchdog group which says it is "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media" only has 9 pages of links to inflammatory "conservative" remarks with her name tagged (see: Megyn Kelly).



So, which is it, Kelly? Do you support this ultra-liberal, nay, possibly SOCIALIST doctrine of legislating plenty of maternity (and maybe even paternity) leave for Americans? Or should you maybe, perhaps, as your bosses I'm sure would rather have you, toe the conservative party line and state "you know, let the free market be the guide. If a woman has to take time off in order to have a child and begin raising it, well, that's her prerogative, but the rest of the market shouldn't be made to suffer her absence for it."

You fake conservative. Go back to Brandeis or wherever you sleeper agent liberals received your training.

(end sarcastic rant)

One more reason to hate domestic politics

This is exactly why I'm sick and tired of American politics these days: A blatantly partisan blogger (and regularly featured talking head on Fox News) goes off (on my birthday no less) and slags a Feature Section of the Smithsonian Magazine.

Seen Above. Sure, ok, yep, those gears are set up in such a way that they will never turn. A big fat F to the art department of the Smithsonian Mag. But to turn this into some sort of commentary on the US Government, and in specific the Obama administration?

Based on the way she writes, it seems like the blogger feels as if the impetus and the funding for this, erm, oh, this is the feature section of a magazine and not a real cabinet level governmental department? came straight from the Obama 2012 reelection campaign. If this woman paid ANY attention or took two seconds to do even the slightest bit of research instead of flying off her rocker about "hurr hurr, Obama administration failed with THIS one!" she would realize:
a) The Smithsonian Institution, while government funded, is run by a board of regents. Of which the US Supreme Court Chief Justice (John G. Roberts, appointed by George W. Bush, if you don't recall) is the Chancellor. This board of regents is bipartisan, and has some incredibly powerful Republican interests on board (see: Carlyle Group).
b) While I'm sure the Regents don't oversee the day-to-day operations, they are around and active enough to make sure that "the world’s largest museum and research complex, with 19 museums, the National Zoo and nine research facilities" doesn't take on the characteristics of a political propaganda machine.
c) an artist (Jamie Simon) drew this "logo" for a section of the Smithsonian Magazine. Not some actual existing or soon to exist Government Department (oh, hey, there it is!)

But this is the exact sort of thing that pushes us Americans apart. Some artist makes a small mistake and it looks like it might have ties to one political party or the other, then boom! The crazies jump all over it, turning a story out of absolutely nothing. And people read this, don't think it's that big of a deal (I would have never seen this if one of my friends hadn't thought it would be funny to forward to me), and add one more tick in their "why we can't trust the other side" column in their brains. Shame on you Michelle Malkin, you are a disgrace to journalism and to the United States of America.

Oh, and before anyone accuses me of being partisan myself in this one, by all means, I'll happily bloviate about any crazy untruth being pushed by the left. Just send me the example of what is factually inaccurate, and heck, I'll research it myself to be sure then rip the crazy a new one (not that they'll ever read what I write).

We had a jumping contest on the beach

Cancun Photoshoot, originally uploaded by wykell.

Somehow Christine won.

Married to the Sea strikes again

Thanks, Married to the Sea, for making it more reasonable to get out of bed in the mornings.

In the woods of Olean

What I was busy doing all weekend. How many deer can you spot?

Today's Word of the Day

I receive a daily e-mail from www.dictionary.com with their "word of the day" and today's word is thus:
palingenesis \pal-in-JEN-uh-sis\, noun:

1. Rebirth; regeneration.
2. In biology, embryonic development that reproduces the ancestral features of the species.
3. Baptism in the Christian faith.
4. The doctrine of transmigration of souls.

I'd like to add a 5th definition:

5. The act and moment of Sarah Palin making up useless words.

Ahh, memories

From the AZ Daily Star Archives, and because their link to it sucks, but seems to be ok with things being seen for free, I'm just going to repost the article in here:

April 30, 2002
Section: SPORTS
Page: C1

Soccer violence ends local rec season
Dave Ord
The Tucson Metro Soccer League is canceling its men's summer season in hopes that cooler heads will prevail.
An increase of violent conduct on and off the field during the amateur league's fall season, including a recent incident involving a machete, has undermined matches.
"The players have lost sight that this is supposed to be a game," said referee Bob Barton. "Some are so passionate that sometimes they're reckless about it. ... They have brought violence into play and after play.
"Sometimes, they lose perspective. It's not the World Cup. ... The champions get a T-shirt.
"During this down time, the players can reflect."
And the board of directors can rest, according to league president Brode Meyer. When asked to explain the cancellation of the season, Meyer said "the board is old, and we decided we needed a rest."
He said the incidents of violent conduct were "discussed" before the board's split-vote to cancel the summer competition. Meyer does not vote.
Of the 86 fall-season disciplinary or rule-violating offenses listed on the league's Web site, 48 were for serious foul play, violent conduct/threats of violence or a physical attack on a referee/assistant referee.
Maggie Barton, who shares referee scheduling duties with husband Bob, says the total of 86 offenses is up about 20 percent to 30 percent over last season.
Two incidents in particular are testaments to the rise in intensity over the past six months.
After a March 24 match had been terminated by the referee because a fight broke out on the field, one player went to his car to get a machete.
The player, who has received a lifetime ban from the league, was subdued before the incident escalated.
During an April 14 playoff match that Barton was officiating at Ochoa Soccer Fields, which are east of Jacobs Park, a melee broke out after an extra-time goal was disallowed for offside.
"At the same time I whistled the play for offside, the ball goes into the net. I had to call the goal back," Barton said. "The goalkeeper (of the team whose goal had been disallowed) comes down the field, starts using profanity and throws his gloves down. I ejected him and terminated the match.
"After that, someone came up behind me and kicked me. Then another player does the same thing."
A few minutes later, a brawl ensued in which "a whole team comes running from the parking lot and 20 to 30 guys are punching each other," Barton said.
Barton said three other officials were struck by players before he called the police.
A report was filed with the Tucson Police Department. Barton said three arrests were made.
The league has existed for approximately 30 years and the summer season for more than 10 years. In addition to 50 fall teams in five men's divisions, the league also runs women's and coed divisions, which will continue to have summer seasons.
One of the league's faithful is Ebie Aldaghi. He has played in the league for more than 12 years and has been on the board for the past four years. He was a dissenting voice when the all-volunteer board voted 6-3 to cancel the summer season.
"I voted no, but I'm behind the decision," Aldaghi said. "The incidents, like the machete incident, added up to this situation.
"Shutting down the season is trying to send a message to the 1,000 players: Let's think of the sport. Captains need to be more selective in who plays on their teams. Players need to make a conscientious effort to control their teammates. They need to respect the officials."
The hiatus will also allow time for the league's disciplinary committee to consider changes.
"We've already had the first meeting," said Barton, who is a Tucson Police Department sergeant. "In youth soccer, the cautions add up to having points taken away from a team in the standings. We don't have that."
Aldaghi suggested that teams and/or players might be penalized financially.
While the break will hopefully quell the violent incidents, it will not suppress the game.
"Soccer is not going to stop," said the 47-year-old Aldaghi, who plays in all three men's divisions and helped create the over-45 division. "We are going to have the over-45 playing friendly games, even if it's just the blues against the whites."

Copyright 2002 The Arizona Daily Star

The reason for this post, if you aren't coming here from BigSoccer, is that there was a bit of a discussion on a referee forum about Foul and Abusive Language here: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1584889 and I felt like adding in my fun story about being a 16 year old AR2 on this match, and "getting the party started" by having a player sent off for F&A language after an offside call I made (which, btw, the player was EASILY 15 yards offside, not even close), and a defender from the punished team came running 50+ yards to me and shouted in my face "Tu madre es una puta!"

Geniuses, all around.

My thoughts on Veteran's Day

I was considering posting this to Facebook, but then realized that there are quite a few people that are "friends" on there that may not grasp at the meaning of the posting properly. So for the 5 people who read this, instead of my posting of "In Flanders Fields" (which is a wonderful poem, written in 1915 by John McCrae, a battlefield surgeon), I shall provide you with my true thoughts on this day, 11/11, as written my Mr. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. in Breakfast of Champions

I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.
Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not.
So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things.
What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance.
And all music is.

Patriotism Now!

Taken from the genius(es) at Married to the Sea