How do you deal with reports that ask you the same question 3 and 4 times.

I've had to fill out reports, where the same question is asked 3, 4 or 5 times. Only worded different. What did the sales person tell you about the product?....how did the sales person explain the product?.....did the sales person tell you about the product, what did they say? If you asked about the product, what did the sales person say?...it's the same friggen questions over and over. How do you deal with forms like this? Than at the end you're asked....describe in detail the sales presentation. Which you just did...3,4 and 5 times.

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You answer the question 3, 4, or 5 times.

What else can you do, if you want to get paid?

And try not to make comments like, "As I said the last three times you asked this question, ...."

Time to build a bigger bridge.

I could do a copy and paste? LOL (kidding). Sometimes I just reword my answers. They want to reword the same questions, I can just reword the same answers.

You have to grit your teeth and give then a slightly different wording.

Then you have to decide if it's worth the effort to fill out an asinine report that requires you to explain the same thing three different ways.

I hate it when they do that!

For how did the salesperson explain the product, I would write an answer. For the other three, I would write a different answer and copy and paste it.

For the sales presentation: They greeted me. They asked how they could help me, etc. They told me this about the product. They explained that about the product. They mentioned the return policy or whatever. They asked if I had any questions. I asked about x, and they said y. I told them I wanted to think about it, and they gave me their name, etc, etc.

Pretend you're talking to your children. That helps me. lol

I know exactly what you mean! I get really annoyed with companies that require video shopping and then expect you to complete a full report as if you hadn't video'd the whole thing. I keep wanting to type in "LOOK AT THE VIDEO!" In the end I have to keep going back to the video myself to get the answers.

I did say something similar in an Ellis report. For the question asking if anything unusual happened that could verify you were there my response was the video would be my verification.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

Agh, I just finished entering a Coach Store shop I completed yesterday. Asking the same question 3-4 times is an understatement with this one. Never. Again.

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The harder I work, the luckier I get.

I triple- and quadruple-check those sections after I finish writing them, because the last thing I need after going through the hassle of rehashing everything multiple times is to accidentally make a contradictory statement that gets the whole thing rejected.

@pyrofuego wrote:

I triple- and quadruple-check those sections after I finish writing them, because the last thing I need after going through the hassle of rehashing everything multiple times is to accidentally make a contradictory statement that gets the whole thing rejected.

I had that thing happen to me and despite my detailed answer, I was still asked, "But why did you say the FSR did not
ask for your personal information and your goal." I said because he spent time in describing his recommendation and explaining the chart. During the 40 minutes I was there, he did not ask any personal information. All I provided was the scenario.

So the next question was what personal information did he ask. And how did he make his recommendation correlate with the personal information you provided. I said N/A. It came back to me saying N/A cannot be accepted as an answer. So I said the FSR did not ask any personal information. I used the scenario that I had $100,000 to invest and he did not ask my marital status or age but went ahead and made his recommendation.

I said a prayer, "Please let this stop." And that was it. It stopped!

I was thinking they probably wanted me to contradict my earlier answer.

I'd first try to determine what the real difference might be. For example, one section might just want the actual words the person used to be quoted. Another one may be asking for the persons demeanor to be described: smile, eye contact, tone of voice, etc... The third may require a chronological paragraph.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

Just answer the questions so I get paid.

A Dad shopping the Ark-LA-Tex and beyond.

I did a shop at a small chain of restaurants based in Philadelphia. The fee was $15 and the reimbursement was $10. I thought it was odd to get a fee higher than the cost of the meal. Then I began to fill out the report. Then I got to fill it out again, adding redundancies everywhere. Then I got to fill it out a third times with even more detailed redundancies. If the MSC had contacted me again, would have told them to just cancel the shop. Plus the instructions required getting recommendations from the order taker, which made no sense because you are required to order at a walk-up terminal (no option for a human being, I tried, no they would not come out and help you either). Now the shops just sit. I think they have run out of their pool of first-time shoppers. I often feel that the second time will be easier, but in this case I know that a second shop would be even worse since I would know what it coming.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

Thats why I like those recorded phone shops. If I have forgotten something I can just replay the recording and remind myself what is said. Maybe that's why they want the shop on video? lol

@isaiah58 wrote:

I'd first try to determine what the real difference might be. For example, one section might just want the actual words the person used to be quoted. Another one may be asking for the persons demeanor to be described: smile, eye contact, tone of voice, etc... The third may require a chronological paragraph.

Yep. I take them ultra literally. For example "What did they say?" would indicate a quote. "JoAnn said 'This product is very popular.'" What did the person tell you about the product? "I was told the product came in three colors and two sizes." How did the sales person explain the product? "JoAnn explained the product by using demonstration. She took it apart and showed me each part and elaborated on it's quality and purpose."

Frustrating? Yes! As soon as I get a hint of this repitition insanity, I read forward through all the questions to see how extensive the insanity is. I also then C&P my already written answers out of the report into Notepad, so I can think better without looking at the annoying questions. Then I write a long freestyle paragraph and C&P the elements back into the report depending on where they fit most literally, per each question.

Where are we going... and why are we in a hand basket?

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How do you deal with reports that ask you the same question 3 and 4 times.

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