Ok, so I want to know how many of you can identify with this scenario and with my response.
I was having trouble getting onto my account yesterday with a Morgan Stanley type of site. I had plugged in the wrong password and got locked out. I called and the representative helped me and I reset my password and wrote it down somewhere and life continued.
This evening, I got a call from the brokerage company. I thought ok – I will take the call because the stock market is up, it is down, it is up a little, it goes down even more. Maybe she was going to try to sell me a product I might actually be interested in.
It turns out that she was following up on yesterday’s phone call.
“How satisfied were you with the way the representative handled the situation?” she asked.
“I am sorry,” I said, “I do not understand your question,” I answered.
She repeated the question, a little slower.
“NO,”I repeated. “I don’t understand. How satisfied was I with the way the representative handled the situation? He answered my question,” I answered.
“On a scale of one to ten with one being completely dissatisfied and ten being extremely satisfied…” and she repeated the question.
“Well,” I thought. out loud. “I was satisfied that he answered the question. Wouldn’t it be extreme to feel extremely satisfied that someone who was supposed to answer my question, answered my question?”
She repeated: “Satisfied or extremely satisfied?”
A good dinner came to mind. “He answered my question so I guess I was extremely satisfied, ” I said.
She them proceeded to ask a second question that sounded exactly like the first question.
“Stop right there,” I said as the words flew out of my mouth. “I do not understand the question. He did NOT invite me to dinner. He did not make the stock market go through the sky. The representative did his job. I asked a question and he answered it. Now, you are going to ask me TEN questions about how he did answering my ONE question? You are probably too young to remember that people actually worked once upon a time in this country and no one made or had to make a follow up phone call. He was just doing his job and if he did not answer my question, he shouldn’t have the job. Why is your company spending so much time and energy and money finding out if he answered ONE question that was his job to answer? Do you have to pat him on the back and applaud him because he did his job? If someone is working, they get a pay check. If they are not working, they should be unemployed. And you should be doing something way more productive.”
If you agree with me, please speak up. If you think these surveys are truly valuable, I don’t want to hear it.
randomthoughtsfromthe60s 
Baby news yet?…./b.
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Fabulous. We assess everything. Even relationships get checked and talked about ad nauseum. I’m really glad you brought this topic to the fore. We need to enjoy more and let people get on with their business without the pressure of accountability. e Sent from my HTC One™ X, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
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I think we have to have accountability – even in relationships – BUT accountability can and should be demonstrated through and by work. Accountability means you DO something and answering a question and resolving a problem means you did your job. But it is RIDICULOUS if someone answers your question and then you have an answer ten questions about how the person answered your question in the first place. And it is BEYOND LUDICROUS to answer a survey when the answer you received is to call back because your question could not be resolved in the first place!!!!! Can you imagine HOW MANY WAGES each company is paying to have people answer stupid multiple choice questions that are designed – not for you the client – but for the company to pat itself on its back because they hired someone who can talk- and they can post high satisfaction ratings on their websites? It is if – pardon me – someone gets accolades and standing ovations for farting!!!!!!!!!! It is THAT ludicrous!!!!!!
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