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Folks, I have been through censuses as a child (my whole family was together when the census worker came and gathered the info) and since then, I have been through 4 censuses on my own as an adult (1980, 1990, 2000 and now, 2010).
In addition, I am into genealogy and so have many times thanked the Federal gov't for all the wonderful info I have gleaned about my family through hours of research with census documents.
So I am in no way opposed to giving info for the federal census.
But I am really really really peeved that I am now getting nightly telephone calls, including on the weekends, asking me to "verify" census info.
Excuse me? VERIFY INFO? I filled out the census with my hubby and it is accurate. And so what if it ISN'T accurate? In 1790, you can hardly even READ what info was taken down. They sure have enough info to match up a telephone number with my name and bug the hell outta me daily about "verifying the information."
And what has me fried at this moment (I just hung up the phone after telling the person on the other end - very politely- that I have told five different people who have called here that I WILL NOT give any information about myself or my family OVER THE PHONE) . . . is that someone is paying for these REDUNDANT phone calls!
I FILLED OUT THE CENSUS. The folks calling here immediately confirm that they have my census form in front of them. They further say that I completed it correctly.
So please tell me . . . why are we PAYING for people to get on the phone and harass us? Why is my tax money going to this unnecessary, totally wasteful process?
Am I the only person in Charlotte getting these phone calls?
Tonite, I told the lady on the phone that I truly didn't want to be rude b/c I know she is doing her job, but to please explain to her supervisor that this is the fifth time I have told someone calling from the Census Bureau that I am not now-or anytime in the future-going to give out any information about myself or my family OVER THE PHONE. PERIOD. And to please remove my name from their list, b/c the nightly phone calls are interruptive, even when I do not answer them.
The phone calls, for one thing, register on Caller ID as 1-000-000-0000. That right there is enough to make me not answer the phone, typically. But after getting these calls over and over, we started answering them this past weekend (well, answering SOME of them) and every time have told the caller the same blame thing!
Is anyone else dealing with this?
And could someone explain to me WHY for more than two CENTURIES of censuses the paperwork was the end of the process - so why is the government is now paying for folks to call respondents back and ask more questions????
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,741,920 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by anifani821
Folks, I have been through censuses as a child (my whole family was together when the census worker came and gathered the info) and since then, I have been through 4 censuses on my own as an adult (1980, 1990, 2000 and now, 2010).
In addition, I am into genealogy and so have many times thanked the Federal gov't for all the wonderful info I have gleaned about my family through hours of research with census documents.
So I am in no way opposed to giving info for the federal census.
But I am really really really peeved that I am now getting nightly telephone calls, including on the weekends, asking me to "verify" census info.
Excuse me? VERIFY INFO? I filled out the census with my hubby and it is accurate. And so what if it ISN'T accurate? In 1790, you can hardly even READ what info was taken down. They sure have enough info to match up a telephone number with my name and bug the hell outta me daily about "verifying the information."
And what has me fried at this moment (I just hung up the phone after telling the person on the other end - very politely- that I have told five different people who have called here that I WILL NOT give any information about myself or my family OVER THE PHONE) . . . is that someone is paying for these REDUNDANT phone calls!
I FILLED OUT THE CENSUS. The folks calling here immediately confirm that they have my census form in front of them. They further say that I completed it correctly.
So please tell me . . . why are we PAYING for people to get on the phone and harass us? Why is my tax money going to this unnecessary, totally wasteful process?
Am I the only person in Charlotte getting these phone calls?
Tonite, I told the lady on the phone that I truly didn't want to be rude b/c I know she is doing her job, but to please explain to her supervisor that this is the fifth time I have told someone calling from the Census Bureau that I am not now-or anytime in the future-going to give out any information about myself or my family OVER THE PHONE. PERIOD. And to please remove my name from their list, b/c the nightly phone calls are interruptive, even when I do not answer them.
The phone calls, for one thing, register on Caller ID as 1-000-000-0000. That right there is enough to make me not answer the phone, typically. But after getting these calls over and over, we started answering them this past weekend (well, answering SOME of them) and every time have told the caller the same blame thing!
Is anyone else dealing with this?
And could someone explain to me WHY for more than two CENTURIES of censuses the paperwork was the end of the process - so why is the government is now paying for folks to call respondents back and ask more questions????
LOL, Ani, I haven't gotten any calls, but I'm waiting for them to call so that I can tell someone what a lousy excuse for a census they came up with. Not since 1840 have they asked so few questions. So, please the next time that they call you, please give them a piece of my mind for me.
Since 1850 they have asked "where were you born?" Since 1880, they have asked "where was your father born?" & "where was your mother born?". Then there are all of the other questions that help us when we do genealogy.
LOL, Ani, I haven't gotten any calls, but I'm waiting for them to call so that I can tell someone what a lousy excuse for a census they came up with. Not since 1840 have they asked so few questions. So, please the next time that they call you, please give them a piece of my mind for me.
Since 1850 they have asked "where were you born?" Since 1880, they have asked "where was your father born?" & "where was your mother born?". Then there are all of the other questions that help us when we do genealogy.
Well, I have seen online that people have speculated that the reason they did not ask those questions is b/c of illegal immigrants - that folks don't want to have to explain that no one in the family was actually BORN here, lol.
Now, I don't know if that is true or not but it does make me wonder. It is very evident to folks like you and me who have worked with two plus centuries of census data that this census has been manipulated for SOME reason.
But SB - that still doesn't answer why we are spending tax money having folks call our houses! I have told them - for all I know - this could be a scammer trying to get personal info - and I bet you anything there ARE scammers out there, taking advantage of this stupid policy of calling everyone.
Plus - get this - I really wonder if the calls are being farmed out to an agency in some other country b/c the last 3 people who have called here could barely speak ENGLISH!!!! I AM SO SERIOUS!
Ani, if it is a legit call from the Census Bureau they will have an 8-digit case number to give you that is associated with your household. Additionally, they should say which call center they are calling from and you can call back to confirm that it's legit. I'm about 99% sure that they don't contract out any work and that in fact you have to be a US citizen except in special cases when they need translators for odd languages.
I haven't received any calls though, and it seems odd that they would keep calling if you filed out your forms correctly. I would def check to see if they are legit. It could be that your form was lost or something happened to it making some of the answers unintelligible.
On one hand I agree they shouldn't be using so much money to pay people to make useless calls. On the other hand, they hire a LOT of workers and actually pay well, so I think it's somewhat good timing that in a bad economy we can at least add a few decent government jobs to tide people over.
Yes, they can give you a case number (they have told me) but only AFTER I answer the questions they are asking, lol.
And they gave me a number to call and directed me to the website, but as I told the caller tonite, so what? That number and website are known to everyone who does any research at all.
They said I filled out the forms correctly but that they wanted to ask more questions to verify the information. I told them that this was totally redundant.
The people I have spoken with have very very heavy accents - and sound like the same folks one gets when calling service centers, such as for computers, AT&T, etc.
I agree these jobs pay well and that is why I find it ridiculous that we are manufacturing work and paying with dollars that we are also manufacturing. These are totally unnecessary phone calls. Demographers as well as the federal government have been able to glean all the info needed for over two CENTURIES without re-contacting respondents. Creating busy work at taxpayer expense is not only a waste of money, the calls themselves are intrusive and there is no way on earth to know if the calls are even legit, since no phone number shows up on Caller ID.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,741,920 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by anifani821
Well, I have seen online that people have speculated that the reason they did not ask those questions is b/c of illegal immigrants - that folks don't want to have to explain that no one in the family was actually BORN here, lol.
Now, I don't know if that is true or not but it does make me wonder. It is very evident to folks like you and me who have worked with two plus centuries of census data that this census has been manipulated for SOME reason.
But SB - that still doesn't answer why we are spending tax money having folks call our houses! I have told them - for all I know - this could be a scammer trying to get personal info - and I bet you anything there ARE scammers out there, taking advantage of this stupid policy of calling everyone.
Plus - get this - I really wonder if the calls are being farmed out to an agency in some other country b/c the last 3 people who have called here could barely speak ENGLISH!!!! I AM SO SERIOUS!
Ani, I guess that if you live in Kings Mountain they don't care.
Tell them if they want more information, they should have put it on the form like every other census. If they want additional information, they can send a census worker with the questions (There was one working my neighborhood & he had ID tags.)
KEITH: I am glad to know someone else is getting these calls! Have you actually talked to anyone yet?
BARKING: Miss Scarlett is part of the family! :-)
SB: Why on earth would they need to send a worker 'round, tho, when we are positive we filled everything out correctly - and indeed - the gal on the phone tonite confirmed that we had filled out everything correctly. I mean - why all the REDUNDANCY? In 1990 and 2000, we filled out the form and never even talked to anyone. In 1980, a worker took the info. Why all the razzmadazz with the "follow-up" this year? It makes no sense at all.
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