The email landed in my inbox one afternoon, as I frantically sandwiched work in between feeding the dog and doing the school run, its subject saying: ‘A quick reminder for you, Antonia Hoyle.’ Oh God, what now? Had I forgotten to pay a bill? Missed a deadline?
It was worse. I hadn’t left a review for a company I’d purchased skincare supplements from – and six days after their initial request, they sounded disappointed, adding reproachfully: ‘We would like to remind you that writing a review of your experience will help us improve our customer satisfaction.’
Presumably they were referring to customers other than me, because, having already forked out a small fortune on the supplements, I felt decidedly unsatisfied that they now wanted to take up the time I needed to earn the money to pay for their extortionate product in the first place.
They’re not alone. Each week I am bombarded by email requests for feedback on seemingly every single service or item I’ve ever bought, from my picture frame provider to my delivery driver.
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