How many times have you shopped at a store or eaten at a restaurant and been invited to take a customer service survey.
Usually these survey opportunities are presented by the clerk or waiter who points out a web site at the bottom of your receipt.
I have never paid attention to these in the past and often find them to be a nuisance. Sure, Target claims to give away $5000 gift cards. But who really takes the time to fill out these surveys and enter these contests?
It must have been something in the leather smell when I exited Wilson Leather the other day, because I decided to offer my feedback and enter their contest.
Only I didn\’t stop there.
I went through my credit card receipts for the past few weeks looking for opportunities to either enter a contest or receive some sort of future discount for filling out a survey.
It took me approximately 2-4 minutes to fill out each one. Here is the list of all the businesses I filled out a survey for and the reward for doing so:
Wilson Leather – $500 gift card contest
Chili\’s – $1000 given away daily
Famous Footwear – $10 off next purchase of $50
Best Buy – $5000 shopping spree
Target – $5000 gift card
Build-a-Bear – $1000 cash prize
King Sooper -$100 gift card
Party City – $100 shopping spree
GameStop – $500 gift card
Olive Garden – $1000 grand prize or $50 runner-up prize
Biaggi\’s – Free pizza or stromboli on next visit
Old Navy – 10% off my next purchase
After spending about 45-50 minutes of my life completing these surveys, I figured out a few things.
1) The answers submitted are not accurate. I would guess most people entering data click without reading the answers. Sometimes I got so tired of it that I was randomly clicking to rate different features, etc.
2) The odds of actually winning something are extremely small. Believe me. If I win anything I will report it on this blog.
3) I will never do this again. I now have greater dislike for online surveys than ever before.
Then again… if others feel as I do I suppose the chances of actually winning are pretty good.
Bottom line is this. I don\’t believe these kinds of surveys are a good way for businesses to receive accurate feedback from their customers.