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phone survey thread

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by cwerdna, Apr 18, 2012.

  1. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Sigh... why don't I ever get phone surveys for a subject I'm interested in (e.g. the Polk hybrid suryey, cars, alternative energy, technology, etc.)? Today at ~6 pm, I received a call from Utah. I figured it was Investools calling me since I do need to talk to them.

    Turned into a 17 minute phone survey related to my city council, people running for city council (I'd never heard of any of the names), (so and so candidate) did (blah blah blah.. and blah blah), from that, are you more/less likely to vote for that person, etc. I'm not political. I went from kindergarten thru high school in this city, moved back here for 5 years, away and back again for maybe 9 months. I couldn't name a single person running for or on the city council the entire time I've been here. I don't care.

    Feel free to post about phone surveys you've answered...
     
  2. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    That's a problem. If you're hoping that democracy will somehow go away and leave you alone, that may happen. Maybe it already has.
     
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  3. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    I'm just not political. The amounts I care about (and that's not very much) are on the larger scale, mainly at the national level and maybe state level. Even then, I'm pretty disillusioned. Candidates (of all parties, where applicable) like to make all sorts of promises they can't keep. There are special interest groups, lobbyists, money, etc.

    I find people sometimes spend a lot of time arguing about and becoming angry/emotional about political issues... I have better things to do than that. I don't have access to FHOPol and don't want it.

    I suspect that in my city, if you asked random residents on the street in my city about the names that were rattled off to me (who turned out to be city council candidates), at least 50% of them wouldn't know who they are. I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers were closer to 80%.
     
  4. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    At the federal level your voice and vote make no difference. It's at the local level where (on occasion) democracy can actually function. I have worked for people I knew and trusted who ran for local office. Some have lost and some have won. A the local office you can, occasionally, make difference. I have no people skills, but I helped out with office work, preparing flyers, putting up and taking down yard signs, etc.

    As for the phone survey, you can always just hang up. Or you can tell them you're not interested. You don't have to answer their questions if you don't want to.

    The ones I hate are the ones that pretend to be a survey, then as a "reward" for participating, they offer you a "free" cruise, which turns out to be anything but free, as they want money from you for "port fees" up front, immediately, no time to think about it, and no refund if you change your mind. And if you take them up on it (I did not, but I read about them afterwords because I was curious) they hit you up for more fees in order to actually take the "cruise" which turns out not even to be a legitimate cruise ship, but rather a crappy converted ferry boat. The phone survey is a fraud, and the "free" cruise will cost you more than a legitimate cruise of the same duration.

    I generally do not mind legitimate surveys. I say "No thanks" if I am busy, and I never give ANY personal information.
     
  5. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    I am quoting this because it is a very important concept, yet foreign to most voters in the U.S. Most of us think of federal elections as being important, while local elections are mostly a waste of time. Daniel has this right. No person's vote or lack of a vote has ever changed the outcome of a federal election. It never has, and never will. The numbers are just too large. Of course if many people stop voting it makes a difference, but not for any single vote. It's one of the paradoxes of our system.

    But on a local level you can make a big difference, both by voting and being willing to serve. Most of the elections in our local village receive less than 300 votes; often less than 100. Each vote has the potential for being a tie-breaker, and the decisions of my local government affect me daily.

    It is for this reason that I am the president of our local school board. It doesn't pay well, and I donate my pay back to the school. There aren't any perks associated with the position, and I don't command much useful power. What I can do is make a difference, and in the process protect the school district from those that would do it harm. If you leave a vacuum, something will fill it, and you may not like that something.

    Tom
     
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  6. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Yeah, I should've just hung up and/or told them I'm not interested. :( I didn't realize it would be such a long survey and I didn't know what it was about. They didn't start off with even saying it had anything to do w/city council or my city. They started off asking me about what issues I felt were the top issues in my community (w/o even naming the city). I had to ask for clarification re: community. My City? County? State? Country?

    After asking me stuff relating to issues, went thru a list of names asking me if I'd heard of each of them before and so on... Sigh... It wasn't until more than halfway thru did city council come up.

    The "free" cruise crap, I don't think I've had any of those recently, but yeah, I know better than to fall for that.
     
  7. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    I for one, are really getting tired of the damn Robo Calls. I used to enjoy telling whatever candidates telephone helper, "There is not a chance in HELL your guy will be elected, so I am not wasting my vote on him!" At least It made me feel better during the dinner interruption!
    Robo Callers, just don't care, so I hang up as soon as I detect "Robo Speak"
    It's really too bad you can't send a *69 "Erase C Drive, Yes I am sure" back at 'em! :eek:
     
  8. davesrose

    davesrose Active Member

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    I don't get too many survey calls...a lot are solicitations for museum or newspaper subscriptions. What I find most surprising with your example is that you got the call at 6PM! Everyone seems to be following the telemarketer mantra of calling right at dinnertime!

    I got my first political phone solicitation during the GA primaries. I was actually just sitting down to dinner and got a call from some girl who was obviously reading from a script. She didn't let me get a word in edgewise until she finished explaining the need for keeping a one cent sales tax for water services. She only paused when she wanted to hear me say yes to "Will you vote yes?" .....I said that I had been planning to vote yes. The irony is that when I showed up to vote, I noticed that ballot measure wasn't even listed in my district. I was surprised to see another Sunday alcohol sales for my county. I tend to do my civic duty and vote most elections...since a lot of people don't, whether it makes a difference that I do is anyone's guess.
     
  9. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    A couple of nice tricks if you are feeling uncharitable: (These only work when it's an actual person; no point with the robocalls.)

    1. Very quietly set the phone down, without hanging up, and walk away. They will keep talking, unaware that you've gone away.

    2. Hang up on yourself: Hang up while YOU are speaking, in the middle of a sentence. Better yet, in the middle of a word. They'll think they got disconnected. Nobody ever imagines that you would hang up on them while you are talking. If they call back (extremely unlikely) accuse them of hanging up on you and get indignant.

    Note: The person calling is probably getting minimum wage or less, and is doing this lousy job, which makes them feel worse than you do at the interruption, because they are desperate for work.

    Another note: If the call is soliciting donations for a charity, ask them how much of your donation would go to the named organization, and how much goes to the company that's paying them to phone you. I asked this question of someone begging money for a charity for Policemen. His answer: 20% goes to the cops, and 80% goes to the company doing the fund raising. His excuse: fund raising is expensive. My reply: No, I'm not going to donate money to your company.

    Solicitations by mail operate the same way. Some charities run their own fund raising. Others hire companies that keep a BIG chunk of your money. NEVER donate money through solicitations, whether mail or phone. Always donate directly to the organization you want to support, either by mailing a check IN YOUR OWN ENVELOPE to their official listed address, or by going directly to their main web site. Even an unmarked envelope in a solicitation may be addressed to a P.O. Box or address that's used only by the fund raiser, so they get a chunk of all money sent there. Instead, look up the proper address and use your own envelope if you don't do it on line, or by phoning their official phone number.