Have you noticed that almost everything we do these days is followed up with a request for Feedback? I suppose with retailers, I can understand then wanting to make sure their customers are satisfied but this need for feedback on every little purchase is getting a bit tiresome.
A few weeks ago I ordered odds and sods on Amazon. These days the stuff all comes from different distributors so instead of feedback on the whole order, I am now being inundated with requests from no less than four companies. I ordered a small, temporary greenhouse so I can start some seedlings before May (which is when gardeners in Chicago are advised to leave planting till). Along with the greenhouse, I bought some starter seedling trays, some herb seeds and some fertilizer/pellet stuff. I know I could have popped along to a local shop but I thought that since I was shopping on Amazon, I might as well order it all at the same time.
Wrong. As I said, it's coming from four different vendors, and not all at the same time. I keep getting delivery notifications for stuff I've already received, and nothing for the seeds that still haven't turned up. And now - e-mails asking for my feedback - on plastic seedling trays and seed packets fer cryin' out loud. (If they knew me they'd know I'd have been onto them if anything was wrong, but never mind.)
I was thinking about what might be driving the need for all this feedback, and then I spied a line in one of the e-mails -
Our goal is for you to be completely satisfied with this transaction. If this is not the case, we would appreciate it if you would give us a chance to address your concerns before leaving feedback.
Aha! In other words - if you're not happy - tell us, don't go shouting your mouth off on one of those review sites. I don't blame them really; some people on sites like Amazon and Yelp are so negative it's almost funny and I would hate to be on the receiving end of the criticism without being given a chance to rectify things.
Do forgive me if I don't leave any feedback this time though. You can be certain I'll let you know if I'm not happy.