Odd MySky Promotional Call From Sky

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#1324380 14-Jun-2015 11:22

k1w1k1d: Every three months we get a phone call where they ask every member of the household a series of questions on their employment for the previous week. That includes the kids too. Participation is compulsory, can't tell them to go away.

Can't you lie to them and say that some of the other family members aren't home?

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

B1GGLZ

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#1324386 14-Jun-2015 11:32

k1w1k1d: Initial contact was a knock on the door. Tried to tell them we were not interested, but they won't take NO as an answer.
Same rules as the national census that happens every few years.
If a govt department says jump, you basically have to ask "how high".

We have a fridge magnet with a ten digit code. The caller asks us to get the magnet and then gives us the code to check that they are legitimate. If they know the code, we have to answer their questions. We will get 7 calls. One every 3 months for 2 years. Had 2 so far. The first call was no problem, but the second was hopeless. Will ask for supervisor if we have any more problems.

I don't buy the "compulsory" thing.
I was selected at random for a Health Survey by Health Dept. But when the Survey person arrived it was made clear it wasn't compulsory.

Rikkitic

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#1324387 14-Jun-2015 11:33

wsnz:
Rikkitic: What is the penalty for refusing to comply? Surely just a fine and not a criminal conviction. If this happened to me I would be prepared to fight it through the courts. Not if I was an employer, I can see the justification for that, but certainly as a private citizen.

Provisions by the Statistics Act 1975, allow for an individual to receive a criminal conviction and a fine not exceeding $500, while for businesses the fine is up to $2000.

Thanks for answering my question. This seems crazy to me, very much over the top. I guess my next question would be if this cannot be challenged in the courts. It seems to smack very much of the individual being crushed by overwhelming and unaccountable government force. Surely the Bill of Rights has something to say about this?

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k1w1k1d

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#1324399 14-Jun-2015 12:19

Did you folks fill out the last census forms, or did you have your day in court? My guess would be that you just filled out the forms.

The questions we get asked aren't too bad. I'm the only one in paid employment and it takes me a couple of minutes at most to answer the questions. The rest of the family just answer "no" to all the questions, so about one minute for them. Not worth getting all upset about.

We don't have a problem with a government department asking these questions.
We do have a problem with the poor English language skills of the caller, and to her disregarding our requests to slow her speech down.
As I said previously, we will not accept any future calls if their spoken English is not up to an acceptable standard.

Rikkitic

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#1324404 14-Jun-2015 12:49

I have never filled out a census form. It is a matter of principle for me, not a matter of what questions are asked. The principle is the fact that the data is not anonymised, and is held forever. Trust us, they insist. On the basis of recent government department privacy breaches, I do not trust them. If the data was anonymised I would not have any problem with the questions, but as long as it is not, I will not provide information.

I do not break any laws. With the census, the legal opt-out is to go overseas and that is what I do every time. It costs about the same as the fine and is a good excuse for an enjoyable island holiday. That does not seem to be an option with those telephone surveys, however, and I see that as an unacceptable intrusion into my privacy.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

ZollyMonsta

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#1324437 14-Jun-2015 13:50

bales: that sounds dubious at best can it be compulsory?

It IS compulsory.

I got forced to do a lifestyle survey with Statistics NZ, every year for eight years. There was no escape.

Check out my LPFM Radio Station at www.thecheese.co.nz - Now on iHeart Radio, TuneIn and Radio Garden

As per the usual std disclaimer.. "All thoughts typed here are my own."

wingbat45

233 posts

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#1324586 14-Jun-2015 20:00

What about changing numbers?

I only use my cell now and telemarketers don't bother me now, Bocked or private = voicemail for me.

But as a sky tech calling people is difficult as my number is blocked. You win some you lose some.

Quic Broadband

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hamish225

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#1331751 25-Jun-2015 21:14

k1w1k1d: I assume call was actually from Sky, not another scam?

We have been selected by the NZ Statistics Department to give details of our employment and income. Every three months we get a phone call where they ask every member of the household a series of questions on their employment for the previous week. That includes the kids too. Participation is compulsory, can't tell them to go away.
The last lady to call had an accent that I found hard to understand, especially at the very fast speed she spoke at. I asked her to slow down as I have some industrial deafness. She ignored my request and carried on as before. I got sick of asking her to repeat the questions. My wife and daughter also had problems with her.

I seriously considered ringing NZ Statistics to complain.
I hope that the call was recoded and that her bosses listen to it.

I know that NZ is becoming very multicultural, but organisations engaging with the public need to ensure that their staff follow the suggestions that Jimmy gave above.

stuff that, i'd tell them to piss off and dissconnect my landline.

what are they going to do, arrest you?

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

ZollyMonsta

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#1331754 25-Jun-2015 21:22

Yes. I believe they can. They would come around at least and if you are non compliant, who knows.

Check out my LPFM Radio Station at www.thecheese.co.nz - Now on iHeart Radio, TuneIn and Radio Garden

As per the usual std disclaimer.. "All thoughts typed here are my own."

tardtasticx

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#1331807 25-Jun-2015 23:10

ZollyMonsta:
bales: that sounds dubious at best can it be compulsory?

It IS compulsory.

I got forced to do a lifestyle survey with Statistics NZ, every year for eight years. There was no escape.

This sounds mildly terrifying. 8 years is a very long time. Are the surveys short like in the 2 year long survey OP and others mentioned (as in, does it take minutes to complete each time)?

ZollyMonsta

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#1331809 25-Jun-2015 23:19

Took about 30 mins. They woild always try to book over phone. I got married into the last two years so then my wife got roped into it too. Personal details, salaries, health etc etc. I hated doing it and always made it difficult for them.

Check out my LPFM Radio Station at www.thecheese.co.nz - Now on iHeart Radio, TuneIn and Radio Garden

As per the usual std disclaimer.. "All thoughts typed here are my own."

DarthKermit

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#1331827 26-Jun-2015 00:49

ZollyMonsta: I hated doing it and always made it difficult for them.

I don't blame you. I have no love for our government bureaucracy and all the crap that we have to put up with from them.

JimmyH

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#1332600 27-Jun-2015 15:37

If it is really annoying and they make you answer under duress (threat of fines etc when you have said you don't want to) then, in my opinion, it is perfectly OK to then retaliate/respond by aggressively poisoning their data. Answer the survey questions with utterly false information.

If they results they keep getting from such tactics are patently nonsense, then hopefully they will get the message and change tack?

andrewNZ

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#1332713 27-Jun-2015 18:57

Keep in mind, Statistics NZ doesn't actually care about you personally. The answers you give are used to make decisions like where to roll out UFB next.

Re the census not being anonymous. The data has to be able to be used as a trend over multiple surveys. You cant do proper trending of you just have a bunch of anonymous data each time.

Imagine getting a bunch of data outlining server reboots every month.
The anonymous data says 2 servers of 100 are rebooted every month.
The Unit specific data says one server reboots every month, while the other reboot is spread randomly amongst the other 99.

You might say just ask the questions, but you cant do that retrospectively.

Finally Statistics NZ cant survey only people who say yes. It skews the results because you're only asking one group of people.

For those who refuse to answer questions, don't fill in census forms, or just sabotage the results. Don't come crying if your area misses out on a government project.

Rikkitic

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#1332727 27-Jun-2015 19:21

andrewNZ:

For those who refuse to answer questions, don't fill in census forms, or just sabotage the results. Don't come crying if your area misses out on a government project.

Fair enough. You keep your project and I'll keep my data.

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