Have you ever lied on the survey

[dclpluto]

have you ever lied on the end of cruise survey. I have one cruise I had really bad service from the server. But he was so nice and kept apologizing for all the mistakes I just couldn't give him a bad report. So I gave him all the top ones. But if people keep doing that lie the bad ones will stay. I guess I should of been honest.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

have you ever lied on the end of cruise survey. I have one cruise I had really bad service from the server. But he was so nice and kept apologizing for all the mistakes I just couldn't give him a bad report. So I gave him all the top ones. But if people keep doing that lie the bad ones will stay. I guess I should of been honest.

No, it's important to me that honest opinions be given. Otherwise, how does DCL know that something needs to be fixed?

Now, on the other hand, my husband is much more forgiving than I am. So, I try to temper my answers sometimes based on his input.

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

have you ever lied on the end of cruise survey. I have one cruise I had really bad service from the server. But he was so nice and kept apologizing for all the mistakes I just couldn't give him a bad report. So I gave him all the top ones. But if people keep doing that lie the bad ones will stay. I guess I should of been honest.

We're always honest. As a restaurant owner I always want the truth, I also give feedback on the stuff well done and areas where some coaching could be beneficial.

 

[lorimay]

I didn't lie, I just didn't include it on our survey, I wrote it on another sheet of paper and said what deck it happened on with no specific's. I didn't want him to get into trouble, he was such a nice man.
Our housekeeper bleached the bathroom really well one day (not problem for me, I like the clean smell of bleach.)
But he didn't wipe it down and my black jacket and my husbands black t-shirt were damaged.

 

[TXDCLfan]

I just wish that the dining staff would quit begging for the highest marks and let people decide for them selves when filling out the survey.

 

[Turk February]

I've never done a DCL survey (haven't sailed yet) but I'm always honest on our WDW surveys and I always make sure to name-check CMs who go above and beyond and also the ones who fall on the other end of the spectrum. We had an absolute jerk of a CM at the MK gate one day and I made sure to mention it on the survey. I hold Disney to a high standard and they do too. Always be honest.

 

[Jennifer777]

I struggled with this on our last cruise. By DCL standards, our servers in the MDR were not what we would expect. The most attentive conversation we had with our server the entire time was about the survey and how it was so important to get a perfect rating. I felt awful because I didn't want to put his job in jeopardy or cost him any additional money (and that was what was implied would happen) and I didn't know why the service was so slow and inattentive. The compassionate side of me wondered if maybe they were short staffed or maybe he was new. What if it wasn't his fault at all? The food was still amazing, he wasn't rude and he looked like he was working hard when we did see him. I ended up giving him one less than an excellent rating and still go back and forth between feeling bad about it and being mad at myself for not being more honest because I know that if there wasn't such a strong push for a 100% excellent rating I would have knocked off more than one.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I just wish that the dining staff would quit begging for the highest marks and let people decide for them selves when filling out the survey.

I nip that little exercise in the bud. I let them do the "excellent" speech..... once. And then say "OK, you've done your speech, now I don't want to hear it again." And I mean it. If they start in again, I remind them of what I've said, and if they still persist, it's time to talk to the head server. I've actually only had to do the second step once, and never had to go to the head server, but I would. For the most part, we didn't get the "excellent" speech on most of our cruises, maybe about 1/3 to 1/2 of them.

I don't let it influence me, and mark the survey truthfully. I also bring along extra paper on the cruise to include comments, as the survey card only has 3 little lines for comment, and that's never enough.

And they now include in the survey:

 

[Fuhnuh]

I wish these surveys were built with the idea that less than excellent is okay, just something to be noted and worked on. It's always hard with these things because I would consider most DCL service better than average, but less often excellent and rarely is perfect. Part of me wonders if DCL has found out that by putting their cruisers in the position that they feel compelled to leave the highest ratings for the staff, they are skewing the customers' perceptions and memories of the cruise towards the positive. I don't think any company should allow their staff to influence surveys by urging good reviews. I would rather that they did not allow this while being more understanding that "perfect" service to large numbers of people is a just an unreachable goal towards which their staff should aim.

I think that I am in the camp that inflates my ratings because I worry about the job security of less-than-perfect servers and other staff. I do have a problem with it in that my answers don't help Disney at all in focusing on problem areas. I guess I justify it by the thought that other less-than-perfect CMs who are good at convincing customers to leave inflated ratings are the only ones that would profit from me totally honest.

 

[WanderLit]

Surveys are meaningless and have no value if those being surveyed try to influence your rating by any other means than simply asking for your sincere and honest assessment.

I don't mind when someone says something like, "if you feel you would be unable to give us the highest rating, please let me know of anything I can do to be more deserving of it"

I do mind when someone says "I need the highest rating or I could loose my job/I'll get in trouble/it means I've failed" (come on, get a grip!)

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Surveys are meaningless and have no value if those being surveyed try to influence your rating by any other means than simply asking for your sincere and honest assessment.

I don't mind when someone says something like, "if you feel you would be unable to give us the highest rating, please let me know of anything I can do to be more deserving of it"

I do mind when someone says "I need the highest rating or I could loose my job/I'll get in trouble/it means I've failed" (come on, get a grip!)

Exactly.

 

[Jennifer777]

Surveys are meaningless and have no value if those being surveyed try to influence your rating by any other means than simply asking for your sincere and honest assessment.

I don't mind when someone says something like, "if you feel you would be unable to give us the highest rating, please let me know of anything I can do to be more deserving of it"

I do mind when someone says "I need the highest rating or I could loose my job/I'll get in trouble/it means I've failed" (come on, get a grip!)

Yes!!! Only I would argue there's no need to mention the survey at all. They can ask, "If you feel my service was anything less than excellent, please let me know so I can make it right." or something like that. If DCL truly wants honest feedback to improve upon, the survey procedures they currently use are not productive. The fact they have a question asking if you felt pressured to give an excellent rating shows that this is an obvious potential problem. I love the WDW surveys that come after a stay at the parks where you can take them with no pressure and you have plenty of space to leave extra notes.

@PrincessShmoo, I love your idea about taking extra paper along to leave extra notes for the survey! I'll be doing that next time. There are so many times I had a CM go above and beyond but there's just not enough room to include everything.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yes!!! Only I would argue there's no need to mention the survey at all. They can ask, "If you feel my service was anything less than excellent, please let me know so I can make it right." or something like that. If DCL truly wants honest feedback to improve upon, the survey procedures they currently use are not productive. The fact they have a question asking if you felt pressured to give an excellent rating shows that this is an obvious potential problem. I love the WDW surveys that come after a stay at the parks where you can take them with no pressure and you have plenty of space to leave extra notes.

@PrincessShmoo, I love your idea about taking extra paper along to leave extra notes for the survey! I'll be doing that next time. There are so many times I had a CM go above and beyond but there's just not enough room to include everything.

Well, that tip was a long time coming. There were a few cruises at the beginning that I wound up using the stationery in the desk for the additional comments.

 

[MUN]

have you ever lied on the end of cruise survey. I have one cruise I had really bad service from the server. But he was so nice and kept apologizing for all the mistakes I just couldn't give him a bad report. So I gave him all the top ones. But if people keep doing that lie the bad ones will stay. I guess I should of been honest.

No, I don't lie. Yes, you should be honest.

 

[bumbershoot]

The huge problem is that they grade the surveys like car dealerships and connected mechanics. Anything under Excellent is, in fact, a failing grade. With dealerships even if it's excellent, if you say more, the person you are reviewing fails.

That is precisely why they tell you about it. It's THAT important that it not be anything but Excellent.

And if you didn't know that about dealerships, now you do.

 

[WanderLit]

The huge problem is that they grade the surveys like car dealerships and connected mechanics. Anything under Excellent is, in fact, a failing grade. With dealerships even if it's excellent, if you say more, the person you are reviewing fails.

That is precisely why they tell you about it. It's THAT important that it not be anything but Excellent.

And if you didn't know that about dealerships, now you do.

And that is why surveys are meaningless. If it's a Pass/Fail then there should not be more than two ratings on the "survey". If a company uses surveys to "fail" perfectly serviceable employees, then one would think that company will experience some pretty serious labor turnover problems.

Even so, I stand by my earlier post that if an employee in that situation says, "if you feel you can't give me an "excellent" rating, please let me know of anything I can to do earn it." I can respect that. But don't ask me to pretend an employee is "excellent" just to perpetuate a ridiculous validation system.

Surveys like that are meaningless. "Excellent" doesn't mean "Excellent", it means "you're ok and I don't want to be responsible for you getting fired."

 

[lorimay]

What annoys me most is when they keep repeating the "excellent rating" speech and you're wearing a platinum lanyard.
After the first time I want to ask them if they think we don't know the spiel already, but I just can't be rude because I know how hard they work everyday, so I just sit and listen.

 

[squirk]

I don't see any point in lying on a survey. That would be a waste of my time. If I don't have great ratings for the server, but didn't want to get them in hot water, I just would not complete the survey.

Yes, the "excellent marks" pitch gets grating after a while, but honestly, it seems like it's just as painful for them to deliver it as it is for us to hear it. I like @PrincessShmoo's tactic of telling the servers that they don't have to waste their time or mine by delivering that speech more than once.

 

[phinz]

The huge problem is that they grade the surveys like car dealerships and connected mechanics. Anything under Excellent is, in fact, a failing grade. With dealerships even if it's excellent, if you say more, the person you are reviewing fails.

That is precisely why they tell you about it. It's THAT important that it not be anything but Excellent.

And if you didn't know that about dealerships, now you do.

I was about to post the exact same thing. Having worked a decade at a car dealership one year, we caught *hell* if our surveys weren't perfect.

 

[Steve Dexter]

This is a big deal to me and my wife. I like your idea Shmoo, I also wish they would just recognize we are Platinum and understand we have heard it many times. Another thing that we hear too often is how much they work and how hard they work, describing it as if I couldn't understand what it's like. My wife and I work a lot of long, hard, stressful hours during the multiple tax seasons, I suspect that many people have to work a lot to pay for Disney cruises. We had our Palo experience ruined once by a server who wouldn't let up about how hard he works. It's a real downer, like they are trying to make us feel bad. I would never say that kind of thing to my clients, they shouldn't either.