# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/101 "2012-10-18T15:42:38Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > In other words, you want somebody who will break down crying the first time a customer gets really nasty. This is what’s known in The Real World aka The World of Grown-ups as “Pulling malarkey straight out of your butt.” > [@](#): > > I’ve seen that happen more than once in low-paying jobs. As evidenced by this thread, a lot of people can be really unpleasant to someone else, merely because of the type of job that person has. Well, there are jobs and then there are jobs. Some low-paying jobs provide for a rather nice interaction with the customer. Other jobs, such as the one you’re touting, view people as targets apparently. Unsurprisingly, not all that many folk like to be considered a target. Oh, I undertand that the company originating the request is spending money in a purported effort to better itself or to get some kind of meta-information. The fact of the matter is that you are not that company. You are making cold calls for money, and not all that much money to boot. You may now [del]lie your ass off[/del] attempt to tell me that there is no kind of pressure from your supervisor to get so many calls completed during your shift and out of that many calls a certain number of surveys actually done and that you and your [del]cohorts[/del] co-workers never ever get rude or pressure someone into answering your list of questions. Here’s a concept. Set up survey tables where folks who are interested in taking a survey will voluntarily do so. Or advertise some way for those interested in participating (see, isn’t that a nice word, much better than targeting?) in a survey will happily do so at their convenience and without being nasty to the poor ol’ surveyor. > [@](#): > > I can take it just fine, and I can respond in kind when I feel it’s appropriate, but a lot of people can’t. Oh, yeah, right. When you feel it’s appropriate. How about the feeling of your target? Maybe they feel it’s appropriate when you don’t STFU when they tell you they’re not interested. ---
**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, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/102 "2012-10-18T15:53:30Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > I’d suggest a useful magic incantation for phone spammers, but _Avada kedavra_ doesn’t work in the real world. I’d prefer _Crucio_. Better deterrent. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/103 "2012-10-18T16:43:46Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > Persistance in that “we” did not use the right wording to tell surveyors to stop calling is a pretty dickish thing to do. After all it is impossible to understand it any way other than to do what ever it takes to stop calling us. Why does anyone want to call people back that have no interest in being called? Because it is a company rule? Any company that acts like this is extremly lame and slightly retarded. Right, I don’t understand how this is a policy. If someone says “don’t call” the first time, they probably aren’t going to be happy to get further calls. If they do ever answer the phone and complete the survey, then even if they don’t actually lie, I don’t see how their answers would be helpful. So it’s not only annoying, it’s pointless. > [@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. Well first, the paid surveys like other posters have mentioned is one way. Second, customers are good at saying what they like or don’t like on current products, but bad at estimating what they would want in future products. There have been many times customers have said that they want products to be more X or have more Y, but when the company releases products like the customers said they wanted, the product then flops. People will say they want healthier food but then continuing buying the junk food they had been buying. Or if Apple was asking how to make the iPhone better, I don’t know how many people would have said to make one that was like four stuck together, but once Apple did release the iPad, people do like it. So customer surveys aren’t useless, but they aren’t necessarily that helpful either. > [@curlcoat](#): > > Harassing people until they finally answer your survey is why survey and poll results are such crap. Our land line is only for internet access and I don’t answer my cell unless I recognize the number, but if you kept calling me until I answered your worthless questions, every last answer from me would be a lie. And no, I wouldn’t tell you I’d lied either. You work a crap job, you can have crap results. Same here. I don’t really answer my cell unless I know the number. If it’s a number I don’t know but it’s something important like the dentist calling about my appointment, they’ll leave a message and I’ll call them back. If I do recognize a number that keeps calling I’ll assign the number to the name Telemarketer in my contacts. And that name on my phone is set up so that it never actually rings. > [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > 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. I don’t know if I’d go that far, unless the two candidates were almost completely equal in every other respect. Maybe the job candidate had a learning experience from it, and it helped him deal with stressful situations, and it increased his motivation to job hunt for a better position. And after working at an unethical place like Shady Telemarketers Inc., he looks for ethical companies like Sam Lowry Corp. I don’t think that every person who has worked as a telemarketer is bad. I only think they are bad if they work for a shady company and defend those shady practices and feel no need or desire to move on to a better company. ---
**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, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/104 "2012-10-18T17:31:56Z")
I agree that a company shouldnt treat its customers like this, but try to remember that to telemarketers you aren’t the customer-you are the _mark_. You are a tool that allows them to gather information, and they think nothing of how they treat tools they have no personal responsibility for. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/105 "2012-10-18T18:09:23Z")
I worked for a market research company finding people to come in for paid surveys for about 3 months. I think I only got cussed at once. I had people complain about us calling their cell phones and being on the DNC list etc, but all the numbers we had were people who had previously done surveys or said they wanted to do them. I guess we had higher morals (or maybe it was just me) because any kind of “Don’t call here again” would get me to take them off the list. If we called and nobody answered we would call again if we got to the end of the list and still needed more. Am I still damned to never work for **Battle Pope** , receive the Cruciatus Curse & the Killing Curse, be notified that I had a crap job, etc or does the fact that we paid (if you met the criteria) enough to get a pass? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/106 "2012-10-18T18:19:56Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > \ a lot of people can be really unpleasant to someone else, merely because of the type of job that person has.\ Your job is being paid to annoy people, with no recourse for them to stop you from annoying them, on the equipment and service that your marks pay for, during hours when your marks are trying to relax and have some down-time. It’s not “merely because of the type of job that person has.” It’s because people truly hate what you do to them. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/107 "2012-10-18T18:23:11Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I told him that I doubted the legitimacy of his parents marriage and hung up. Did you ask for a copy of their long-form marriage license? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/108 "2012-10-18T18:35:28Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Well, kinda. I mean, yeah, I get that Lynn \*used \*to be an admin. But it seems weird that someone who no longer has mod under their name still has mod powers. I’m mostly inactive in visible moderating duties. I still retain admin powers, but mostly I use them to zap spammers in the middle of the night, when most of the mod staff are sleeping. I haven’t given warnings or notes in a long time, generally I’ll just click on the Report button if I see something. However, it was pretty clear to me that if I left this thread in the original forum, that a lot of people were going to get Noted or even Warned, and I thought that it needed to be moved right then and there. The move was inevitable…it was just a matter of timing, and whether people got Notes or Warnings. For the most part, regular posters won’t notice my activities. I might occasionally move a thread if the OP clearly wants it moved and I think that I’m the only one who’s going to be awake for the next six hours or so. Most threads don’t need immediate action, though. It’s just that I thought that this one did, so I moved it. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/109 "2012-10-18T19:27:44Z")
I feel the need to point out two things. I suspect that some of you who are eviscerating the OP also keep tabs on current political opinion, read Nate Silver’s blog, etc. If so, YOU are consuming the results of this harassment, and really need to hop down off of that horse. The persistence of the OPs company is what separates the good polls from the crappy Rasmussen polls. Rasmussen keeps calling new people until they fulfill the survey needs, which skews everything towards “people at home to pick up”. Other companies work harder to make sure they don’t just take people more likely to be at home, they are more persistent in getting the randomly selected subjects to answer. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/110 "2012-10-18T19:29:24Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I feel the need to point out two things. > > I suspect that some of you who are eviscerating the OP also keep tabs on current political opinion, read Nate Silver’s blog, etc. If so, YOU are consuming the results of this harassment, and really need to hop down off of that horse. > > The persistence of the OPs company is what separates the good polls from the crappy Rasmussen polls. Rasmussen keeps calling new people until they fulfill the survey needs, which skews everything towards “people at home to pick up”. Other companies work harder to make sure they don’t just take people more likely to be at home, they are more persistent in getting the randomly selected subjects to answer. I just want to point out that I have no problem with the OP’s job, or surveyors, telemarketers, or even debt collectors in and of themselves. It’s the attitude, hypocrisy and outright aloofness that irritates to no end. I recognize that somebody has to do these jobs, but they can be a whole lot more polite about it. You don’t start an “ask the…” thread complaining about everyone like the OP did. It’s not in good form. > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I’m mostly inactive in visible moderating duties. I still retain admin powers, but mostly I use them to zap spammers in the middle of the night, when most of the mod staff are sleeping. I haven’t given warnings or notes in a long time, generally I’ll just click on the Report button if I see something. However, it was pretty clear to me that if I left this thread in the original forum, that a lot of people were going to get Noted or even Warned, and I thought that it needed to be moved right then and there. The move was inevitable…it was just a matter of timing, and whether people got Notes or Warnings. > > For the most part, regular posters won’t notice my activities. I might occasionally move a thread if the OP clearly wants it moved and I think that I’m the only one who’s going to be awake for the next six hours or so. Most threads don’t need immediate action, though. It’s just that I thought that this one did, so I moved it. I think it would be fair to say that if the same thread had been created, but the OP wasn’t so damn antagonistic and unremorseful/unashamed and hypocritical, it probably would have been a perfectly fine MPSIMS thread. But with the attitude and responses Flyer was displaying, it seems obvious that this thread really belongs in the pit, so I fully support the decision. Thanks Lynn! It wasn’t just an “Ask the…” thread, it was more of a tirade of why she hates people she has to call at work, with a “feel free to ask questions!!!” tagged on the end. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/111 "2012-10-18T20:43:31Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > “ask the asshole who stubbornly refuses to make the world a better place by putting a bullet into his own brain,” [Moderating] Just a reminder, folks, wishing harm on other posters is against the board rules. Even if the other poster is a telemarketer. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/112 "2012-10-18T20:57:37Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > You don’t start an “ask the…” thread complaining about everyone like the OP did. It’s not in good form. > > It wasn’t just an “Ask the…” thread, it was more of a tirade of why she hates people she has to call at work, with a “feel free to ask questions!!!” tagged on the end. I disagree with your assessment of it. Yes, there were more than your fair share of peeves listed, but it didn’t read like a tirade to me. Cold calling is a tough job, even when it’s something legitimate like political polling. I’d expect any discussion of it to include some peeves. Now, I was coming into this from the ATMB thread, so I was sort of expecting a “come at me bro” attitude that guaranteed a move to the Pit, but I didn’t get that vibe from the OP. Even so, it turned personal pretty quick. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/113 "2012-10-18T21:52:17Z")
Political polling is legit? Legit as in legal, yes, but it is still an unwanted intrustion that provides no benefit for the person being intruded upon. I couldn’t give a flying fig if a political party does not know who I will vote for, or if a political party does not have the opportunity to waste my time on my telephone trying to sell me its song. Bottom line: keep off my lawn, and keep off my telephone. If a person does not respect that, then they get no respect in return. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/114 "2012-10-18T23:12:34Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I feel the need to point out two things. > > I suspect that some of you who are eviscerating the OP also keep tabs on current political opinion, read Nate Silver’s blog, etc. If so, YOU are consuming the results of this harassment, and really need to hop down off of that horse. > > The persistence of the OPs company is what separates the good polls from the crappy Rasmussen polls. Rasmussen keeps calling new people until they fulfill the survey needs, which skews everything towards “people at home to pick up”. Other companies work harder to make sure they don’t just take people more likely to be at home, they are more persistent in getting the randomly selected subjects to answer. Yeah, it’s annoying but true that the better polls are the ones that call cell phones and call the same numbers over and over in order to get a more random sample. So the Rasmussens of the polling world suck because they are nicer (or lazier) than other pollsters. I wonder if the YouGov format will become more popular as people move more and more toward cell phones and not answering land lines. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/115 "2012-10-19T00:12:18Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > … > > I am still waiting for **Flyer** to explain why he thinks people should give him their time for free. Even the blood bank gives out Mets tickets when they ask for donations. No, the problem is that the OP feels free to call me on my cell phone. _Despite_ the fact that _I_ have to pay for that call. He feels free to cost me at about 15-20 cents per minute, and somehow it’s _my_ fault for answering the phone. And is surprised at my _shortening the call_ when I give a “FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE” response, as I terminate the call. Trust me, **Flyer** , you’re an asshole. A _very_ hated asshole. Stop costing me money. _Then_ I might be willing to talk, but that _won’t_ happen, as long as _you_ are sucking my money. My only question is “why are you sucking my money, you fucking leech?” Answer _that_ question, asshole, and I _might_ give you some consideration. But probably not. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/116 "2012-10-19T02:05:34Z")
OP … people are assholes, as you can see. Don’t take it personally – it’s not you or your job, they’re assholes BECAUSE THEY CAN BE. I’m really not sure what’s so hard about saying “I’m not interested, have a nice day” and then hanging up the phone. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/117 "2012-10-19T02:19:42Z")
> [@PandaBear77](#): > > OP … people are assholes, as you can see. Don’t take it personally – it’s not you or your job, they’re assholes BECAUSE THEY CAN BE. > > I’m really not sure what’s so hard about saying “I’m not interested, have a nice day” and then hanging up the phone. How many times? What’s your limit for doing this? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/118 "2012-10-19T02:31:22Z")
> [@PandaBear77](#): > > I’m really not sure what’s so hard about saying “I’m not interested, have a nice day” and then hanging up the phone. Pleasantries are for people who are, well, _pleasant_. They’re not for people who literally don’t care (read **Flyer** ’s posts about what happens to people who tell him to stop calling) about you doing anything other than complying with their commercial needs. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/119 "2012-10-19T02:37:45Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > How many times? What’s your limit for doing this? Anytime they call? Generally if there’s a weird looking number on my caller ID, I don’t answer it. Pretty simple. I just see no reason to be hateful to someone if it can be easily avoided, especially over petty shit like this. My God, it’s a PHONE CALL for fuck’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056/120 "2012-10-19T02:40:15Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > The hate is for the OP and his/her employer, for refusing to put people on the DNC list unless the target uses the precise wording. > > How is it to a client company’s advantage to have a survey company keep calling people who have TOLD the survey company’s representatives that they don’t want to be called? See, here’s the problem with that. Many people who would LIKE to take a particular survey are the types who won’t even listen to you long enough to even know whether or not the survey is about something they actually care about. THAT’S why they keep calling, because so many people won’t even listen for that short amount of time. I get it, you don’t want your time wasted. However, companies need to have ways to get people’s opinions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-person-who-calls-people-telephone-surveys/638056.md?page=7)