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How to deal with greedy members?

Started by July 26, 2013 10:45 AM
3 comments, last by Khaiy 11 years, 1 month ago
I'm running a survey on my website right now and I have it set up so that when someone fills out the survey they get a free one month membership ($10 value) to my website.
I have a group of members who are complaining because they don't want a membership but would rather something else from my store that has the same approximate value.
How would you suggest I deal with these people?

Ignore.

They have no obligation to take the survey, if they're not interested. And the fact that they complain about the reward shows that they're not really interested in the survey either (or that their input would be very valuable). Most people will give you their opinion without a reward, too.

Also, no matter what you do, there are always some people complaining. And every time you listen to the whiners, you lose. Every time you try to argue, you lose. So, just fuck them, ignore their whining.

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Now that was a charming title. Now I sure wish to use your services... You should had wrote "How to deal with special demands from members". Just an advice of course.

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education"

Albert Einstein

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education"

Albert Einstein

What samoth said (and what Dwarf King said).

My response would be:

Make a note of their complaints, keep it in mind with the next contest, and respond with a simple: "Thanks for the feedback, I'll consider that as an option for future surveys.". Letting them know that you saw their complaint/suggestion and heard them, even if you aren't bending to their will.

Plus I wouldn't consider it "greedy", depending on the nature of their complaint. It might not even be a complaint, but a valid suggestion.

If you offer me a free $10 something I don't want, but you also have a $10 something I do want, I'd definitely ask, "Hey, can I have that other thing instead?".

Just because their tone may be self-entitled, that doesn't mean their request is unreasonable. But it also doesn't mean you have to grant the request, even if it is reasonable.

I'd also bear in mind that if I wanted to abuse your system, and create 10 accounts and fill out the survey:

- With a free one month subscription, having a one month subscription on 10 accounts doesn't benefit me, so it's not worth doing.

- With a free $10 download from your store for each account, it provides incentive to scam the system.

If this is something that worries you, you might even openly and honestly mention it as one of the reasons why you won't give store credit. Ofcourse, then you'd have a dozen people who don't understand, offer 'solutions' that take more effort than it's worth to implement it.


I'd also bear in mind that if I wanted to abuse your system, and create 10 accounts and fill out the survey:
- With a free one month subscription, having a one month subscription on 10 accounts doesn't benefit me, so it's not worth doing.
- With a free $10 download from your store for each account, it provides incentive to scam the system.

That is exactly why I offered a 1 month premium subscription as opposed to a store credit. I like your suggestion for a response to give to these people. Thank you very much f or the feedback.


I'd also bear in mind that if I wanted to abuse your system, and create 10 accounts and fill out the survey:
- With a free one month subscription, having a one month subscription on 10 accounts doesn't benefit me, so it's not worth doing.
- With a free $10 download from your store for each account, it provides incentive to scam the system.

That is exactly why I offered a 1 month premium subscription as opposed to a store credit.

And that is probably exactly what the people asking for store credit had in mind, too. Except they'd have 100 accounts laugh.png

Seriously though, it's mighty fine to say "thank you for the suggestion" (and that's probably a good thing too, as to not give the impression of not listening). But that's where it ends, because no matter what you offer, no matter what you do, some people will be unhappy and some people will complain (and not rarely the same people complain before and after).

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This is kind of a me-too post, because I think that the advice you've received above is excellent. But if your members are demanding store credit, instead of giving it away for doing the survey, you could hold a raffle where each completed survey equals a chance to win $10 to your store. This way you can control the number of people who end up with store credit, and there isn't a clear incentive for duplicating accounts to marginally increase your odds at winning $10.

While this addresses the specific problem you're describing here, I'll note that it doesn't solve it and, as others have said, you'll never be able to make everyone happy.

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