Ice, ice baby. If you’ve been around the military community for a bit, you’ve probably heard these words uttered from a military spouse. And, no, they were not referencing the song by Vanilla Ice. They were referring to the Interactive Customer Evaluation (ICE), a program designed to collect interactive comments from those who use services on a military installation. The biggest question regarding ICE comments are, “Do they really make a difference?”
Go Ahead, Leave One
There are two ways to leave an ICE comment, on paper or online. Sometimes the hard-copy comments are a good option, but let’s be honest; no one has time to sit there and fill out a form by hand. The majority of ICE comments are done online — when the website is working.
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out under which department you should leave the comment. Don’t let this stop you from leaving a comment, though. Find the best fit, and leave a comment! Also, most places have the cards there, so you could also ask them which department they are in for your online ICE comment.
Good and Bad
Now, before we go down the rabbit hole of the places you want to type out a negative comment about, let’s also make sure you know you can leave positive comments as well. Think of these as “(N)ICE” comments. It’s important to acknowledge when things are done well. Just as the bad things need to be addressed, the good things need to continue.
When Your Comments Get Comments
One thing that concerns people about leaving comments is the blowback. You can give anonymous feedback; but, of course, if you do not leave any identifying information, they cannot respond to you.
There are times, however, leaving your contact information can help someone get back to you and fix the problem. Natasha Harth, a Marine Corps spouse, shared this experience about the response to one of her ICE comments. “I had to [leave an] ICE comment because of electrical maintenance issues that were causing sparks to fly in on-base housing because Lincoln didn’t do anything. Finally, got it taken care of and they reimbursed me for the crock pot and Keurig that blew up because of sparks flying out of outlets and loose connections. Again, an ICE for the win!”
So, as you leave your next appointment at the military clinic or the person at DEERS was super helpful when you renewed your ID card, make a note, log on to ICE, and leave a comment. And hum to yourself the “Ice, Ice, Baby” tune as you do it.
Photo credits: Marisa McDonald Photography | Unsplash
