Customer surveys are a pervasive piece of consumer culture. Pinpad ratings, surveys for call center-based services, and online surveys for a variety of businesses allow customers to give feedback on services they received.
Sometimes such surveys include an incentive for customers, like a discount, a free item, or an entry into a raffle, regardless of the type of feedback left.
One bank teller, @financialteller on TikTok, is asking customers to leave a high rating on these surveys, as a bad survey rating can have a profoundly negative impact on workers.
“If you do those little surveys after going to a bank or credit union, this video is for you,” @financialteller says in her video. “Here’s a little tip for you. If nothing happened to the point where you want to complain and you were just fine with the service, please give us a 10. The reason I say that is because in the eyes of financial institutions, it’s either a perfect score or you fail.”
It is also important for employees working in such institutions that survey respondents be careful about how they answer questions, she says.
“If you hated us, you can just give us a zero because honestly you could put a five and then say your online banking sucks and that’s not really our fault, but they’re still just going to give us a zero anyway,” she says. “Also, pay attention to what the survey says. If it says talk about your experience with this teller, then talk about the person you were with. If it says talk about your experience with this financial institution as a whole, then it’s talking about the bank or the credit union.”
She said poor responses for things beyond her control had caused her to miss out on a workplace incentive previously.
“Do you know how many times I’ve gotten a ‘fail’ because somebody didn’t like our online banking or somebody didn’t like the decor in the lobby or the music?” she says. “We don’t have any control over that and we are the ones who get punished or lose out on our incentive because we didn’t get a perfect 10.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @financialteller via Instagram direct message regarding the video.
@financialteller #banktellers #bankersoftiktok #bankers #customerservice #foryoupage #fyp ♬ original sound – Financial Teller 🔮
Several viewers shared that they had encountered similar results from poor survey responses, often for things that were not their fault.
“I got a 9 this week because we don’t have a bike rack,” one commenter wrote.
“Got a 1. Why???…..because the POST OFFICE delivered their checks to their neighbor,” another user said.
“I got a 7 because I didn’t offer them other products…. While I was in the drive up,” one user echoed.
Some wrote that they had even received poor survey scores because of something someone else did.
“I’ve gotten bad surveys because of other bankers but It still counted against me even if they mentioned the other persons name,” a user said.
“I got a bad one because the ATM down at the other branch,” another commenter wrote. “and one because the other branch had no half dollars.”
*First Published: Oct 6, 2023, 10:58 am CDT
Brooke Sjoberg
Brooke Sjoberg is a freelance writer for the Daily Dot. She graduated with her Bachelors in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020.
