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Survey distribution and response issues

Troubleshoot survey distribution problems: resend surveys, fix worker response issues, check survey completion rates, and export survey data.

Written by Harrison Kennedy

If a survey is not reaching workers, or response rates are unexpectedly low, the cause is usually email delivery, recipient configuration, or the five-response group threshold.

  • Workers receive surveys via email; check their spam folder first

  • Confirm the right recipients are added to the survey

  • Aggregated group results require at least five responses before they display

  • If a worker can't open the link, check whether their email forwarded or modified it

  • For ongoing low response rates, send a reminder via email or Slack/Teams (see article 8.4)


Workers not receiving the survey email

  1. Confirm the worker is on the recipient list (open the survey, click Manage Recipients)

  2. Ask the worker to check their spam folder

  3. Confirm the worker's email address on file (Settings → Employees → click the employee)

  4. Ask your IT team to allow-list emails from app.refresh.tech

  5. Resend the invitation from the survey detail page


Worker clicked the link but cannot start the survey

  • The link is unique and single-use; if it was opened in another tab and closed, opening it again may show a "completed" or "in progress" state

  • Some email clients rewrite links; ask the worker to copy the URL into their browser address bar manually

  • The link may have expired if a maximum survey window is configured; resend a fresh invitation


Aggregated results not displaying

ReFresh hides group-level results until the group has received at least five responses. This is intentional: aggregated scores in groups smaller than five effectively reveal individual answers.

To get group-level results, ensure each group you want to report on has at least five recipients and a high enough response rate to clear the threshold.


Low response rate

If response rate is below expectations:

  • Send a reminder email from the survey detail page

  • Post a reminder in your Slack or Microsoft Teams channel using the integration (article 8.4)

  • Ask managers to encourage their teams

  • Make sure workers know how long the survey takes (the survey introduction tells them)


Related articles

  • Distributing a survey (3.4)

  • Anonymous and identified responses (3.5)

  • Reading survey results (3.6)

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