MilesBuzz! - Survey: Guest Satisfaction Surveys

Do you take the time to fill out and return the "guest satisfaction surveys" that are often mailed to you after a hotel stay?

Depends on my mood. From the responses that I've received, it seems like the only company who reads and responds to them is Hertz. I've never heard 'boo' from all the surveys I've sent back to Marriott.

I never do. Why should I spend my time trying to make them more money at their request?

Just sent one back to Hilton for a recent stay. Don't mind doing them, constructive
critiques won't hurt. And this one was complimentary, so why not?

bj-21.

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'Tis better to have played and won, then never to have played at all.

I typically do respond to the Starwood surveys which are administered by J.D. Power. Don't know if it really makes a difference or not, but postage is prepaid and it only takes a minute.

I can honestly say I try to fill out all surveys I get. And I usually fill out the surveys in the hotel rooms I stay at.

It takes time... but I like to give feedback to help improve or compliment great service whenever possible.

William

They need to start sending them out regularly for the airlines !!

I would take the time to fill those out !!

LexPassenger never sends the surveys back to Marriott. Guess I'm at least a little glad to hear it probably wouldn't make any difference anyway.

I, however, have been very conscientious about my Hilton program since getting Gold with them. Got a survey from a Doubletree, returned it, and received a reply from the GM.

dbaker, my reasoning was that Doubletree only recently joined the Hilton corp. We were consistently not getting Hhonors credit from Doubletrees. I wrote a polite but pointed note on my survey to this effect. The GM's reply addressed this problem and indicated that it was being paid attention to.

It's certainly worth a few minutes of my time if a problem that takes me much longer to fix (sending msgs to customer service about missing stays) gets brought to their attention and then doesn't recur. Perhaps that's optimistic, but what the heck.

I usually always fill in the surveys because you might end up with a few pleasant surprises in your mailbox.

I try to fill them out mainly at Hiltons once I had a complaint at a Hilton (Santa Fe, I believe) and they refunded one day of my folio charges.
Another time I got some free drink coupons.
Mike

[This message has been edited by MIKESILV (edited 05-12-2001).]

Originally posted by cactuspete:
Do you take the time to fill out and return the "guest satisfaction surveys" that are often mailed to you after a hotel stay?

I've never had a guest satisfaction survey mailed to me. However, I've had many such surveys in rooms, and usually fill them in. I'd prefer to tell a hotel what it's doing right/wrong, in the hope they will improve, than just leave them in the dark.

Yes, i do always fill out surveys.

There are the occasional loyalty bonuses, and problems with operation that aren't explicitly someone's *fault* are rarely noticed. Otherwise, how do they know, objectively, how they're doing?

Even though Marriott promises points as a bribe, as GG says, I hardly ever send back the surveys.

Why? Because by their nature they can't get to the details of what was right or wrong with the stay.

I would need to write a multi-paragraph essay, sort of like a post here, to talk about most any stay.

Recently in Massachusetts the morning breakfast service in a 2 for B stay was terrible. They had hired a bunch of folks who didn't speak English very well & weren't trained very well (I know this is a tough economy in a lot of places....) who had apparently been told to pack us in & give us OJ & coffee & point us toward the buffet & that was it. I don't drink OJ or coffee. Grapefruit juice & tea seemed beyond them. This was not Marriott service as I have come to know it. Now how in the heck can I put this on one of those silly surveys that give you three or four microscopic lines for "other comments"?

I don't expect ever to stay at this hotel again. Why in the world shoud I spend time or energy complaining about this? I'm not cadging for payoffs for complaints.

I was at a brand new -- open less than two weeks -- Fairfield Inn in Nashville last month. My bathtub overflow had not been properly installed and flooded the room below. I offered to change rooms, but they were cool, no problem for me. Then it happened again the next day! My god, what idiots! I wasn't inconvenienced, but the people below me sure were. & this was clearly a construction fault, rather than a break. Now how in the world is that supposed to go on a survey?

I know the companies need feedback. I think they would do a lot better to call and solicit detailed accounts than send us a 1-to-5 scale check-off coupon. I don't think those let me give any useful feedback at all.

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"Service" should be a noun, not a verb.



[This message has been edited by LexPassenger (edited 05-12-2001).]

Originally posted by Kremmen:
I've never had a guest satisfaction survey mailed to me...

I always get them from Doubletree and Holiday Inn Express. I usually fill them out.

I've never gotten one in the mail, but I try to fill out the in-room ones, especially when someone does something unexpectedly nice... nowadays, in most hotels that is when soemone other than check-in says "good morning" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I rarely do fill them. But once I did fill one for SQ -there was a monthly raffle of "one round trip ticket anywhere in the system" going on for a few months. I won! and I gave the prize ticket to my father who used for a JFK-SIN-JFK ticket. Since then I fill all those that have some sort of lottery.

I sometimes do, though more typically when there's a problem. I've had follow-up apology calls AND follow-up-to-that letters from a domestic Ritz-Carlton and an international independent property, so I do think they get some attention, though it probably depends on the property. Starwood once sent me a form letter, but didn't fix the problem, which would have been relatively easy to do, so I guess someone there reads them, if superficially.

I always try to reply if it a prepaid envelope. My thoughts are they will never fix something unless they know what is wrong. I agree we should always have good service but shame on us if we don't let the hotels know what those expectations are.

Hello FTers,

I got a great reply from a survey from that I did for the San Jose Fairmont. They got back to me and told me that they were changing a fitness center fee policy.


Va.SquireFlyer

Originally posted by LexPassenger:
Even though Marriott promises points as a bribe, I hardly ever send back the surveys.

Marriott offers you a bribe?? For years and years, Marriott has routinely sent me a survey after every stay, and -- admiring their customer service commitment -- I regularly filled them out and returned them. But as I got older, and my time got more valuable, I've had to do some cost benefit analysis. And never, in all those years, had I ever gotten a "thank you" from Marriott, let along any Marquis points or anything else. So for about the past year, I've been opening the surveys and looking for a bribe, and if there isn't one I throw it away (unless the stay was either really terrible or really outstanding). A good bribe or two would jump start my habit again real quick.

I sent one to Holiday Inn after a stay in which we had some problems. The situation was not severe, but was mildly irritating - so I told them what happened.

I got a letter with some sincere apologies, and the letter said that they would remove the room charges from my credit card and I could also have a free night in the future.

VERY NICE!! - However, I never noticed a credit to my Credit Card, and never had the occasion to stay there again.

However, it does show that someone DOES read the letters.

DD

A most suprising experience was filling out the in-room survey at the Hilton Rome Airport. Shortly after, I received a response and thank-you letter from the GM sent to my address in the U.S.

The Breakers in Palm Beach, FL, asks guests to complete a brief survey at the front desk while they print the final bill at checkout. As I recall, the survey asks 5-6 simple questions. Completion took me less than one minute.

Yes, I always try to fill out the survey after a stay. I usually complete the in-room survey form on my flight home. Most of the time I get a form letter response, but every once in a while, I'll get a personal call, e-mail or letter thanking me for my business and offering a few added perks on a future visit.

[Edited - Duplicate Post]

[This message has been edited by WBOTM (edited 05-14-2001).]

While not a survey, I do value the letters and cards I get from some of the Relais & Chateaux properties in Europe. Evidently, at some of the properties, the management makes a point of sending Christmas cards or other letters thanking the guest for the stay. The address comes off the folio.

The property in Slovenia does this, and they have my business forever when I am there.

I routinely do the J D Powers surveys for Starwood. On the occasional stays when I have had issues, the hotel has responded with a letter of apology and sometimes additional Starpoints for the inconvenience. I'll keep doing them as long as it appears someone is reading and responding to them.

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Biggest Little 1K (in The Biggest Little City) In The World

Have also stopped filling out the Marriott surveys. If I have a problem, I drop a personal note to the Manager of that property (before I leave). If I experience something fantastic, I drop a personal note to the Manager of that property (before I leave). At least half of the time, the GM calls, stops by, or drops a note back before I leave. I find this to be a more constructive use of my time, as the mail-in surveys never come back with any sort of feedback (even when I explicitly request it).

I also stopped filling out surveys, as most follow-ups were merely forms letters. Though, one exception is a hotel in Thailand where I've been engaged in an ongoing series of e-mails with their marketing department subsequent to some sarcastic remarks I made on the survey form. Ironically, that is the hotel that I now often frequent.