# Ask the person who calls people--telephone surveys **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 17, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056 "2012-10-17T20:07:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![prettydorky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@prettydorky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prettydorky)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/61 "2012-10-18T07:59:30Z")
I don’t really want to speak for the OP, but I read “the last four years” as referring to the administration and current economic climate, and not the time spent pursuing his/her degree. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/62 "2012-10-18T07:59:39Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Flyer, with the way you think that it’s OK to harass people over the telephone, it’s no wonder that you can’t find a proper job. There’s something wrong with you. You know, if I’m ever in charge of hiring people and I have two candidates who are otherwise even as far as qualifications and suitability but one worked as any kind of telemarketer or phone surveyor, that would be a good enough reason to not employ them. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/63 "2012-10-18T09:46:20Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > I believe **Flyer** is in Colorado. Colorado’s [harassment law](http://www.haltabuse.org/resources/laws/colorado.shtml) says that “repeated communications at inconvenient hours that invade the privacy of another and interfere in the use and enjoyment of another’s home or private residence or other private property” are harassment. > > If I’ve told you not to call me, doesn’t that mean I’ve defined all hours as inconvenient? And if you’re calling my phone, then by definition I don’t have full use or enjoyment of it at that time. (I have doubts that a court would see it that way, unfortunately.) One also would not have “use and enjoyment” of their home if being constantly interrupted (or kept awake, such as shift workers) by the phone, and no, “turn off the ringer” is NOT an acceptable response, since that also eliminates WANTED or NEEDED calls (e.g., family emergency). ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/64 "2012-10-18T09:52:35Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Why in the world would I be ashamed? Research is important. (And yes, I’m serious.) > > About “harassment”–#1, people choose to have a phone in their house/on their person. #2, they choose to answer it. It’s “harassment” that they voluntarily consent to. I do NOT choose to have some selfish jerk harass me by calling me over and over after being told not to! There is a shift worker in my household, who could easily endanger his own life and the lives of his co-workers if he’s going to work sleep-deprived because the phone keeps ringing! I pay for my phone service FOR MY OWN NEEDS, NOT to be pestered by someone with so little human decency that he refuses to accept “no” for an answer. My phone provider makes blocking numbers pretty easy, unless you’re also a liar who fakes a number to keep your victims from fighting back. In which case, hello FCC website and possibly police (yes, phone harassment IS illegal!). ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/65 "2012-10-18T09:54:57Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > For all of you who hate surveys, how are companies supposed to improve their products and services without surveys? Just make random guesses? > > No. Surveys and focus groups are extremely important in making the products and services we use daily _better_. > > I have worked for two different survey companies in the past. Yes, there were some surveys that most people didn’t care about, but I can also remember a number of surveys where lots of people were more than happy to take the survey. > > If it’s for something you truly care about, then it makes sense to take the survey…because you are getting the chance to shape company behaviors. > > Now, granted, you can often accomplish more with some smart, targeted facebook posting than by taking a survey…but you’ll spend more time on the facebook posting too. Find CONSENTING participants. If you can’t manage that, at least take “NO” for an answer on call #1. DO NOT CALL THE SAME PERSON OVER AND OVER! That is harassment. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/66 "2012-10-18T11:41:30Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > **Musicat,** re-read post #27. You need to re-read post #40. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/67 "2012-10-18T11:56:19Z")
If I have the time (or am bored enough) I don’t mind doing phone surveys. Robocalls get the instant hang-up & true telemarketers trying to sell something get a polite no thanks and then hang up (assuming I have even picked up the phone after looking at the caller ID), but a survey for something that interests me I MIGHT do. But - I’m more likely to take the time if there isn’t a giant spiel to listen to first, if I know how long this will take, and if you sound like you yourself aren’t bored to tears and detest the thought of listening to me. And if I say, “no, sorry, not interested…” just say thank you and hang up. Attempts to keep me on the line will not make me any more receptive. And don’t call again. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/68 "2012-10-18T11:56:44Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Also, the responses we might give might not match up with your scripted response requirements, thus causing even further delays! Yeah, working in medical research - but using questionnaires to find out how the participants have been doing - I’ve noticed that many of these things are really, really terribly designed. Pisses me off. Between that and how crazy-long some of them are, I don’t bother answering any phone questionnaires, even if they’re for something I might care about. I don’t know you, I don’t answer the phone. > [@Flyer](#): > > These two quotes perfectly illustrate the portion in my OP where I talked about misconceptions. We are not selling anything, so there’s no “business relationship” to establish. Flyer - I was specifically asking if your collecting data on behalf of another company results in the establishment of a business relationship between the consumer and that company, not with **your** polling company. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/69 "2012-10-18T12:02:57Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > For a little over two months, I have been employed by a company that does telephone sur _\_ ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/70 "2012-10-18T12:10:18Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > For all of you who hate surveys, how are companies supposed to improve their products and services without surveys? Just make random guesses? Yelp, Epinions, Amazon Reviews, Trip Advisor, etc. When people have a strong enough opinion on a product or service they will actively seek out a way to voice their like/dislike. Randomly surveying will just get you a lot of opinons from people who just don’t give a shit. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/71 "2012-10-18T12:30:26Z")
For those who don’t want these calls: I have telemarketer contacts saved in my phone (eg: tele1, tele2, etc). Those contacts are set to not ring or respond in any way. As far as I know, they don’t. Each time I get one of these calls, they get saved as a new phone number for the current tele# contact and I never “hear” from them again. Unfortunately, I can only save 20 phone numbers for a single contact, hence the tele1, tele2, etc. As for the calls that get through, I don’t even respond any more. As soon as it’s obvious that the caller is not for business I just hang up. I was raised to be polite to people, but that has long gone. I can now hang up on starving orphans grieving their recently dead kittens while thinking “go fuck yourself!” It sucks that the tele-??? industry even exists. If a company really wants legitimate research information, I’m thinking that phone surveys are not a sound choice. So the companies employing you have been screwed by some sales guy and they deserve the crap information that they get. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/72 "2012-10-18T13:15:13Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > :eek: > Perhaps you missed the part where I explained that we call cell phones? Not in this country, you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/73 "2012-10-18T14:00:12Z")
This genre of thread follows a by-now-depressingly-familiar pattern. Whether it’s “ask the telemarketer,” “ask the phone surveyor,” “ask the snotty, petty-tyrant customer no-service drone,” “ask the payday loan slimeball,” “ask the serial urinal shitter,” or any other “occupation” in the larger category “ask the asshole who stubbornly refuses to make the world a better place by putting a bullet into his own brain,” it’s always the same: 1. OP recites a list of petty gripes about his shit job, and why the people he’s harrassing/ripping off/etc. are idiots who are completely to blame for being victimized. 2. Backlash predictably ensues. 3. One or two fellow slimeballs and/or Stockholm syndrome sufferers sniffle that they just _can’t understand_ the level of \*vitriol \*and \*hate \*being afforded the poor OP who’s just trying to make an “honest” living! 4. OP responds to the complaints with more snottery and half-assed justification, implying that they’re the _real_ victim in all this. Extra bingo points for: “fine, YOU find me another job!” “I have to put FOOD on the table!” “I’m only doing this temporarily until my job at the orphan’s cancer ward is available!” “If you don’t want to talk, just don’t answer your phone when I call it 20 times a day!” etc. 5. GOTO (2) ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/74 "2012-10-18T14:19:18Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > For all of you who hate surveys, how are companies supposed to improve their products and services without surveys? Just make random guesses? > > No. Surveys and focus groups are extremely important in making the products and services we use daily _better_. > > I have worked for two different survey companies in the past. Yes, there were some surveys that most people didn’t care about, but I can also remember a number of surveys where lots of people were more than happy to take the survey. > > If it’s for something you truly care about, then it makes sense to take the survey…because you are getting the chance to shape company behaviors. > > Now, granted, you can often accomplish more with some smart, targeted facebook posting than by taking a survey…but you’ll spend more time on the facebook posting too. Companies pay people to answer surveys. I cashed out over $200 in Amazon gift certificates last month from VOLUNTARY surveys I did over the course of three months in the privacy of my own home at my pace when I felt like it. That’s what ethical companies and ethical people do. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/75 "2012-10-18T14:22:45Z")
**Flyer** , why don’t you go ahead and post your home phone and cell phone numbers on and internet message board like this one? Evidently, there are a lot of people eager to give you an opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/76 "2012-10-18T14:27:30Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > “If you don’t want to talk, just don’t answer your phone when I call it 20 times a day!” etc. I like the variation suggested in this thread: “If you don’t want to talk, just pick up the phone and answer all our questions, then we won’t bother you again!” Except…now you’re on the list of people who respond, and will get called for other surveys… I have a suggestion for the telemarketers. If you think our responses are so valuable, why not pay for it? If I saw a call from a “999” area code (let’s assume that means I get paid $1 per minute), I might actually answer. Put your money where your mouth is, Pardner. Your problem is you want valuable data for free, then get upset when you are refused. Try that attitude at a gas station sometime. > [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Companies pay people to answer surveys. I cashed out over $200 in Amazon gift certificates last month from VOLUNTARY surveys I did over the course of three months in the privacy of my own home at my pace when I felt like it. > > That’s what ethical companies and ethical people do. Preach it, brother. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/77 "2012-10-18T14:29:37Z")
**Flyer** , Does a legitimate number that I can block show up when you call? If I ask for your company’s name and a call-back number, will you give it to me? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/78 "2012-10-18T14:29:53Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > That’s what **ethical** companies and **ethical** people do. And right here we have the underpinning of the whole thread. Some people are ethical some are not. We can go over this all day long but it’s that simple. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/79 "2012-10-18T14:31:38Z")
FYI, legitimate online survey companies include: Opinion outpost Ithinkpanel Valued opinions Socratic forum Zoom panel Direct Analytics They pay in cash, checks, amazon gift certificates and prizes. I typically get about seven of them a day and do two while watching television or during down time at work when I have nothing else to do. I will do political phone surveys for free. Whenever I get any other kind of survey call the first question out of my mouth is always are you paying me. Since the answer is usually no I tell them then fuck off and hang up. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/80 "2012-10-18T14:36:00Z")
Hello, do you have a few minutes to answer a few questions about…_click_ I understand the need, and appreciate political polls. I might respond if I knew that’s what it was up front. But frankly, I don’t give a crap about the commercial stuff and certainly won’t bother to participate. The last poll I had was regarding the service I had received from Cox communication. When I was asked to assign a number value, 1 to 10 to a specific question and I answered with a comment, the idiot on the other hand insisted I give him a number. It’s about then that I told him that I doubted the legitimacy of his parents marriage and hung up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056.md?page=5)