[nagdu] EXTERNAL:Re: Consumer report

Wed Sep 1 16:15:54 UTC 2010

In adition to the number of returns in the first year, I'd like to know
why returns happened. Did someone go skiing and break their leg and felt
the dog shold be returned as recovering from the leg mean they couldn't
bond with and work with the dog ina way they were comfortable with? Did
someone's husband say "me or the dog" and the personc hose the husband?
Did  a dog suck at traffic or was very distracted by animals? 
To me, the details matter
I retired my second dog about three and a half years after I got her.
Had I had my daughter sooner, I'd have retired and maybe returned my dog
sooner. Should that be the school's problem and impact them negatively?
Some might say yes, and that's fine. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2010 2:11 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: EXTERNAL:Re: [nagdu] Consumer report

Hi Julie.
I like statistics, too, but they have to mean something, and they have
to
be consistent across the board, somehow.  Remember the discussion about
how many hours each school spends training a dog, based on the GDUI
survey?  The answers were wildly different, so either each school is
counting hours differently, or some are training their dogs in a lot
shorter time than others.  I think the upshot of the discussion was a
bit
of both.  (And is shorter worse?  GDB claims it can train dogs faster
using clicker training than the old way.)

I would be extremely interested, for instance, to know how many dogs
were
returned to a school within a year.  That ought to tell me quite a lot
about customer satisfaction.  But I seem to recall Jeanine saying that
schools were not too eager to share that data, and the average graduate
wouldn't know it.

And even a satisfied customer can see room for improvements.
If we could figure out how to ask the right questions, it could be very
interesting.
Tracy

> It goes back to the discussion last week or the week before.  Why
won't
> people name the school when the review is negative?  The answers
varied a
> bit, but it generally came down to fear of repercussions.
>
> Perhaps people would feel safer if their name was in no way attached
to
> their statements.  And I agree that statistics aren't the answer to
> everything, but for me at least, they would be one more piece of
> information
> to figure into the equation.
>
> JMHO
> Julie
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)" <REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, August 20, 2010 10:23 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Consumer report
>
>
>> Why not treat it like any other business? When Mark asked what
schools
>> people liked, we all can say "I like Seeing Eye because..." or "I
don't
>> like Seeing Eye because..." and trust that Mark will figure out what
he
>> wants. Like anything else, he isn't stuck for life with the school he
>> picks today. The school that is right for him as a late teen may not
be
>> right for him as a mid twenties adult.
>> Just sounds like we're making this way harder then it should be.
Tracy
>> is right, statistics don't cut it, and she's also right about folks
with
>> an ax to grind, but why can't we trust Mark to figure out what he
wants?
>>
>> We have a concert venue my parents hate due to something that
happened
>> some 30 years ago. They refuse to go back there and if you asked the
if
>> this was a good venue, they'd say "hell no" and go into why. I've
been
>> to this venue and love it. It has its flaws, but so does everything.
Why
>> not use the same approach for schools?
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
>> Sent: Friday, August 20, 2010 10:47 AM
>> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nagdu] Consumer report
>>
>> I think some kind of consumer report would be great, though I don't
know
>> how it could be done right.
>> When I read "A Guide to Guide Dog Schools", it made some schools who
>> have
>> a bad reputation sound great, and some with a good reputation sound
bad,
>> so plain statistics don't really do the job.
>> Then you have those who think their school can do no wrong, and those
>> who
>> have an axe to grind from something school X did 20 or 30 years ago.
>> And
>> those who are reluctant to talk about problems.  I find myself
sometimes
>> hesitant to "air dirty laundry in public."  But, if someone can
figure
>> out
>> how to get around those problems, a consumer report would be a very
good
>> thing.
>> Though of course it would have to be updated from time to time, as
>> schools' policies and training change.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>
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