...or that the question could have multiple interpretations and could be answered in different ways depending on the interpretation?

eta: and, thus, you could have been answering it "wrong" for lots of reports.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2019 07:31PM by shoptastic.

No

And then you're too embarassed to ask for clarification, so you keep answering it the way you always have, but still aren't sure if it's right? YES!

Am I supposed to count the employee cars on the lot for "How many cars are on the lot?" I always count the cars that are parked in the stalls AND have people in them, not the empty ones at the back of the lot that I assume belong to employees, but I'm not sure. I've been doing these shops for years and feel like it'd be too awkward to ask at this late date.

Nope.

Oh, yes.

@HoomanShopper wrote:

And then you're too embarassed to ask for clarification, so you keep answering it the way you always have, but still aren't sure if it's right? YES!

I've been embarrassed to ask, but I have/will (future tense also, b/c there is one like that right now) asked.

I think the MSC and client would understand, because a lot of times it's their own fault for how they wrote the question. Maybe "fault" is too harsh of a word...Sometimes, they may not have taken into account factors that could lead to a question being answered differently.

Heck, I think even U.S. Census or other official survey questions may experience the same problems from time to time. It's not easy to get these things perfectly nailed down I'm guessing.

I definitely empathize with you regarding initial embarrassment. That's my FIRST emotion...maybe along with fear. Fear that I've done something terribly wrong and it's negatively affected the client's results.

Then, I think WAIT...LOTS of OTHER shoppers are probably interpreting the question in different ways too. It's a question problem and not a shopper problem. Shoppers aren't intentionally answering these questions incorrectly (assuming they are). We just didn't know and the question itself was open to various interpretation.

Nope.

Yep, but I blame the guidelines for being contradictory or unclear.

Hah. The fine line between "fault" and "responsibility".

DEFINITELY the MSC's responsibility to produce clear guidelines.

Well.....I do keep hoping...but it's probably just a pipe dream!!!

I always ask if I am confused but unfortunately I do not always get a response to my question. One restaurant shop I have done for years asks me to count how many diners are there. the way the question was asked I thought it meant in the whole restaurant but the drop down only went to 9 so that answered the question for me. Years later, the question was phrased the same way but the drop down went to 99 so I changed the way I answered. I would hope if they wanted to know how many were at my table and my answer was always 27 to 43 they would get in touch with me. Vica versa when I was counting my table and the wanted the entire restaurant that they would figure that out if there were always 2 at dinner hour in the entire restaurant.

I encountered this recently. Apparently, this particular survey has a jargon that we shoppers must learn. I left a note for the editorial team in the space for information which would not be passed along to the client. i explained what I intended (to praise the employee) and how this was not reflected in the given answers. I hope that the answer options will be revised so that what I experienced and meant would be consistent with the ratings provided. YMMV.

The wording there seemed to be like that odd little quirk of liking or disliking. 'I like it little' indicates that you really do not like it much if at all. 'I like it a little' indicates that you might have a little liking for it but you do not like it very much. The report asks a follow up question as if it heard the opposite of what you meant.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2019 01:49PM by Shop-et-al.

Sure, I've done this - multiple times. My own fault, but, I do have to say the guidelines change and often I don't catch them.
Most egregious that I've misreported:
A "Blue' gas station has a total of 10 pumps, 2 of which are diesels.
The first question is "how many pumps are at the site (excluding diesel only). I say 8 pumps.
Next question asks about missing pumps. I say yes. If so, which, they are the 2 diesel only pumps, pumps 9 and 10.
Further down they ask about any diesel branded pumps under the main canopy. For that question usually I can say "yes". The 2 are under the main. But often, the 2 diesel only may be away and so I say "no".
But the last question asks about the color of the diesel nozzle (all branded pumps offering diesel). It has to be an "SDE Gray or Green nozzle". It also, according to diesel nozzle guidelines has to have the special decal on it. I have not seen any with the decal, no matter if they're gray, green yellow or whatever.
So, even if the nozzle is the correct color, there is no decal and so I answer "no". It asks for a photo which I provide. I say 'no" for diesel mixed pumps under the main canopy, diesel only pumps under the main canopy and diesel pumps not under the main canopy.
Only if I say "NA" does the red writing come up and specify that they are referring to "All pumps under the Main Canopy". This explanation should be part of the main question, not just for the "NA" selection.
So, I have been answering incorrectly! It was only when a sharp editor who caught my mistake did I realize the error.

A lot of dining shops have this question(s):

Did the server suggest a SPECIFIC (caps mine) appetizer...drink...dessert, etc.

I've accidentally selected "yes" before when they had not. Instead, the sever suggested GENERAL appetizers, drinks, etc. A specific drink would be Coke. Just asking if they can get you a drink is not enough.

To this day, I still have to be careful on these.