Phone polling experience

[SouthernFriedInfidel]

Been getting these calls on my cell phone that seemed rather odd. All of them are (according to my phone's caller-ID) from the west coast, like Oregon or Washington State. I never picked them up, because I figured they were from IT recruiters working very remotely. Then Deb started getting these calls, but being unfamiliar with the area codes, much less the numbers, she never answered. Finally, she decided to call back and see who it was. Turned out it was a robo-call center, looking to perform some sort of polling. She had them remove her number from their call list. How NICE!

It gets weirder.

Yesterday, I got another of these calls, so out of curiosity, I picked up. Sure enough, it was one of those calls. But it makes me wonder. The automated voice said something like "We know that in these turbulent times, with a very controversial election coming up, many people have strong opinions on many issues that are being discussed. We would like to take just a few minutes of your time to ask your opinion on these issues. In return, we are offering you a two-night Bahamas cruise..." Mind you, I noted pretty clearly that they didn't say "a chance to WIN" a cruise... they were offering to give me a cruise just for answering a few idiotic questions over the phone. That sounded WAY too good to be true, so I took my first opportunity in the introductory speech to enter the option to stop the call and have my number removed from their database.

I don't recall the name the recording gave me, but I really have to wonder at it. Is this some Phishing operation? Seems ludicrous that they would offer such an extravagant "prize" to everyone they call in return for the pressing of a couple of buttons. Regardless, I'm clear of that group... for now.

[Jamy]

It's not really extravagant. Bahama cruises are cheap (I've seen them as low as $200, off season). I used to work for a telemarketing company that gave away all kinds of "luxury" gifts like cruises and trips to Vegas. They have some sort of deal worked out with cruise lines and certain vegas hotels so it's not really costing anyone any money or very little money. The catch is that you usually have to attend some sort of sales pitch that can last from 1-2 hours or you'll get stuck with the bill. They also figure they'll make a little money off of the "extras" that aren't covered by the "prize" like food, drinks, souvenirs etc. and of course if you buy their time share or whatever, then that's ultimately what they want. Their thinking is that anyone who would put up with all that, just to travel, probably really loves the idea of traveling, but can't truly afford to. So they explain how owning a time share makes affordable travel possible by saving all kinds of money on hotels, restaurants etc. They use phrases like "The time share pays for itself within a year!" and "You can leave it to your children in your will, as a family vacation property!"

A lot of people get sucked in...they are good at what they do.

[Liv]

There's an Alaskan cruise for like $300 something in July. Unfortunately it coincides with the Secularity annual investor meeting in Dallas.

We get tons of robo-calls too. We just ignore them. I can't believe that out-bound telemarketing works in these days of caller-id.

Generally I'll Google the number if it's an odd one.

If you answer, always answer in a Mexican accent, and then when you need to decline- just tell them you're an illegal alien.

[The Vicar]

It would be interesting if you had listened to the questions and posted them. Every "pollster" who has called me and whose questions I have actually listened to (which I stopped doing last election) was doing thinly-veiled push polling on behalf of the Republican establishment.

[SouthernFriedInfidel]

It would be interesting if you had listened to the questions and posted them. Every "pollster" who has called me and whose questions I have actually listened to (which I stopped doing last election) was doing thinly-veiled push polling on behalf of the Republican establishment.

First off... dude I'd love it if you'd just go ahead and sign up for this site. I love your posts, but Liv's system makes me approve them before they can show up.

Second... In the unlikely event that another polling call comes in, I think I will in fact record what I can of the event. Wish I could just record the conversation, but I don't think my phone has that capability. And I'll be sure to answer every question the opposite of the way they push, just for fun.

But if they try to give me a frickin 2-day cruise to the Bahamas, it ain't gonna happen. I'm done with bloody Nassau.

[Liv]

but Liv's system makes me approve them before they can show up.

Yeah that's because of Spam. If not people would post naughty stuff night and day.

The good news is the next incarnation of this software is supposed to have OpenID which should make things easier.

Registering does have value... like no ads (after so many posts), and email subscribing to threads.

[The Vicar]

If OpenID is in the offing, I'll wait. (Although given how many sites have broken OpenID for Wordpress, where my OpenID account "lives", I may end up having to register anyway. I'm just tired of having to re-register and re-register and re-register and then remember all the slightly different account names and passwords because each site restricts things differently.)

[SouthernFriedInfidel]

My wife got a THIRD call this week from these people, in spite of every time responding that she does not want their calls. Out of curiosity, I looked up some information about this "Political Opinions of America." Seems they're being kind of naughty.

We are currently investigating Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc. and The Berkley Group, Inc.’s violation of the Federal Communications Commission’s Do Not Call List, which prohibits unsolicited commercial phone calls to any number that is on the Do Not Call List. We are conducting this investigation with the aim of potentially bringing a class action against these companies and some of their affiliated companies. We believe these companies make unsolicited calls, purportedly as a political opinion poll being conducted by “Political Opinions of America.” Then, one is offered a “free” cruise on the Bahamas Celebration ship, but this offer is really designed to expose people to sales pitches for resort stays and vacation timeshares.

Of course, before tonight, neither my wife's cell phone nor mine was on this "Do Not Call" list. I had thought that cell phones were automatically verboten to telemarketers. Guess this folks don't give a swut.

So NOW our numbers have been added to the list. And we WILL make a note of every call we get from these people and see what sort of fun and games ensue when we hand our logs over to these lawyers.

[Liv]

Once I went back to college, and my mobile number was out there, I discovered I began getting text-message spam of all kinds.

Spam appears to be on the rise again. Especially on the net, where it's being cracked down on and people are losing their incomes.

[Liv]

Ed's getting them too.