The Receiver Archives - understand-culture

Amateur Night at the Apollo

Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem began in 1934. In 2020 a CBS station in New York described the rule: “There’s no panel of judges here.” Instead, “the audience decides, and they are not forgiving.”

Dave Chappelle was booed off the stage. Luther Vandross was booed off a record four times. The theater has had a so-called Executioner. Several people have held the role, including Howard “Sandman” Sims. His job was to “usher amateurs off the stage.” The same audiences launched careers. In 1934 a 17-year-old named Ella Fitzgerald was discovered there.

Customer Service Equal to the Best in Business

On September 11, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12862. It said that “the Federal Government must be customer-driven.” It then set a rule: “The standard of quality for services provided to the public shall be: Customer service equal to the best in business.”

Every executive agency that provided significant services directly to the public had to “survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services.” The order defined a customer as “an individual or entity who is directly served by a department or agency.”

Students Grade the Professor

At the end of a course, American college students are often asked to rate the teaching. In a 2016 report on a survey of 9,314 faculty members, the American Association of University Professors wrote that for faculty on the tenure track, “student evaluations may be important in the promotion and tenure processes.” Many non-tenure-track instructors commented that evaluations are used “solely in the context of renewal or nonrenewal of contract.”

In May 2018 the University of Southern California decided that student evaluations “will no longer be an element of tenure and promotion review.” The decision, announced by Provost Michael Quick, followed studies suggesting that such evaluations favor white men over women and minority faculty. USC kept the student surveys to help instructors improve their teaching.

Would You Recommend This Hospital?

After a hospital stay, American patients may receive a federal survey called HCAHPS. It asks: “During this hospital stay, how often did nurses treat you with courtesy and respect?” It asks how often “the area around your room” was “quiet at night.” It also asks patients to rate the hospital from 0 to 10, and: “Would you recommend this hospital to your friends and family?”

The federal agency that runs Medicare introduced the survey in October 2006. It first published results in March 2008. As of 2022, about 5,100 patients completed it every day. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 tied it to payment. HCAHPS has counted toward Medicare’s Hospital Value-Based Purchasing payments since discharges in October 2012. As of 2022, its domain made up 25 percent of a hospital’s score.

Below 4.6 Stars

After every Uber trip, the passenger can rate the driver on a five-star scale. A 2014 document for drivers in San Francisco said that “a driver rating below 4.6 out of 5 could cause drivers to be deactivated.” The acceptable level depends on the average driver rating in each city.

Drivers rate riders too. On May 29, 2019, Uber announced that riders in the United States and Canada whose ratings fell well below the local average could be deactivated. An Uber safety executive wrote: “Respect is a two-way street, and so is accountability.”

Four Emmys and Low Ratings

At the 2004 Emmy Awards, Arrested Development won four statuettes, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Critics praised its “sharp, complicated writing and stellar acting.” But the series “earned low ratings from the beginning.” In its third season it averaged around 4 million viewers. In February 2006 Fox canceled it.

In 2013 the series came back for a fourth season on Netflix.

Would You Recommend Us?

In December 2003 Fred Reichheld of Bain & Company published “The One Number You Need to Grow” in Harvard Business Review. The number came from one question: “How likely is it that you would recommend [company X] to a friend or colleague?”

Customers who answer 9 or 10 are promoters. Those who answer 6 or lower are detractors. The share of detractors is subtracted from the share of promoters, and the result is the Net Promoter Score. According to Wikipedia, versions of it were used by two-thirds of Fortune 1000 companies by 2020.

Researchers have questioned the claim behind the score. They found “no empirical evidence” that the question predicts growth better than other questions.

Worn Out and Still Satisfied

In 1912 Leon Leonwood Bean sold the first 100 pairs of his new hunting boots. Ninety came back because the leather separated. He returned the customers’ money. He later said: “I do not consider a sale complete until goods are worn out and the customer still satisfied.”

The lifetime return policy lasted 106 years. On February 9, 2018, L.L.Bean limited returns to one year, with proof of purchase. Executive Chairman Shawn Gorman wrote that some customers were “expecting refunds for heavily worn products used over many years.” Others asked for refunds on items bought “through third parties, such as at yard sales.”

After the first year, the company will still consider returns of items “defective due to materials or craftsmanship.”

Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back

Aaron Montgomery Ward issued his first mail-order catalog in Chicago in August 1872. It was a single sheet listing about 150 items. The company aimed especially at “consumers in rural and farming communities.”

According to Britannica, the 1875 catalog added “a money-back guarantee of customer satisfaction.” The Chicago History Museum gives the company slogan as “satisfaction guaranteed or your money back” and calls it an industry first.

The Super Bowl Ad Meter

Since 1989, USA Today has asked registered viewers to rate the Super Bowl commercials. Anyone who signs up as a panelist can vote. Nearly 150,000 panelists took part in 2022.

That year Coinbase ran a minimal ad built around a QR code. It received the lowest Ad Meter score. In June it won the Grand Prix for Direct at the Cannes Lions advertising festival. The next year an executive creative director at the Martin Agency said: “when it comes to the Super Bowl, the USA Today Ad Meter is the only list that really matters.”