I just hung up on a slanderous Puke who interrupted my Sunday!

[Walk away]

He originally identified himself as a survey taker with questions about the next election (2011). He asked lots of general questions about local and state politics and issues and I answered the usual positives about my Democratic Senator, Mayor etc. and negatives regarding Chris Christie and his crew.

Then it started. He explained that he would now read several statements and I was to tell him if they made me continue to support Democrats. He then proceeded to read lie after slanted lie about every Democrat running for office in my area including Senator Sarlo. Really vicious stuff about him voting to release violent prisoners and spending tax dollars on their own campaigns. I assume there were many more of them but I stopped him and told him that because he had wasted my time with his garbage that I was going to work twice as hard for each and every Democrat up for election and that I would make it a point to spread verbal poison over Christie every chance I get. He said he would have to throw my survey out if I didn't listen to his entire spiel. Then I called him a Teabagging ass hole and said bye!

Pehhh!

[Uben]

1. It's rude to just hang up on them......

....that's why I almost do it immediately! The instant I realize the person on the other end is selling something or taking a survey....click! Rude? Yeah, but they are the rude ones for disturbing me at home on my leisure time. Fire with fire.

[Name removed]

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[Contrary1]

2. I like to let them waste their time...

I answer each and every question slowly, and inject a few of my own personal experiences just to run the clock.

Often I will go completely off the subject, tell an amusing anecdote, bring up the weather, talk about my kids...whatever.

I figure their time spent with me equals about 4 or 5 other calls they would have made.

[KT2000]

3. I like that!

Terrific idea. :applause:

[XanaDUer]

4. Depending upon your mood

you can also just put down the phone and let the connection still go. If you can run some ambient noise in the background so they can hear it, like a horror movie, or an appliance, all the better.

I have only done with is landlines, so I don't know if it works with cell phones. :)

[pipi_k]

11. I can't ever remember to play with them

like some other people, so I do what you do.

I have a little push button Anti Telemarketer fart machine a friend sent me.

So that's what gets played to them.

brrrrrraaaaaaaaap!

chew on THAT!

hee hee

:+

[Betsy Ross]

5. The people who call you are trying to put food on the table.

We all hate the calls, but the people calling probably hate them as much as you do. Get off the line and let them move on.

[gateley]

6. That's my view, too - The only time I was polled like that I prefaced

it by saying "I can see this is slanted against Democratics, but I'll answer all your questions if you need me to do that to get credit." She said Yes! THANK YOU!! So for the "do you support XXX even though he eats babies?" I'd just say YES.

These people don't have any input into policy, they're just trying to make a living, as you noted.

:hi:

[Systematic Chaos]

7. You said it with more tact than I would have.

n/t

[Cervantes]

13. You have it 100% right. I'm a student and I work for a survey company

99% of my colleagues are also college kids trying to make rent.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. ''They were just following orders'' ceased to be a valid excuse for being a dick decades ago. -nt

[johnaries]

17. They are spreading lies and slander. By that logic, criminals are

just trying to put food on the table, so they shouldn't be arrested.

[Squeech]

8. Two kinds of polls

A legitimate poll will just ask the horse race questions.

But what you got was a "push poll," where the slanderous Puke starts out pretending to be a legitimate pollster, then starts in with the slander. The subterfuge is to look legitimate at first, so the recipient believes it to be genuinely non-partisan and solely interested in public opinion. Then, once a presumption of trustworthiness is established, the caller starts unleashing the disinformation, hoping to get you to take seriously some hogwash you'd immediately delete if you got it in an email from your teabagger uncle. It's yet another propaganda vehicle from the political philosophy that can never honestly win on the issues and is forced to lie, cheat, and steal elections.

Probably you know this already. I tend to talk back to these guys anyway, both to waste their time and to inform them that there's a segment of the electorate that's adequately informed about their slimy tactics.

[saras]

9. It doesn't work with teabaggers, but I talk to them about how dishonest polls are, and how obnoxious

... and, if they let me, I counsel them on getting a better job and life for themselves. I used to do this with telemarketers until I started getting telemarketing calls from people in prison.

The teabagger doing the survey probably has no idea what he's doing. He's a tool. He's told what to do and what to say, and is strongly encouraged/coerced to stay on script, no matter what.

On the surface, the "purpose" is to find out which of these lies has staying power. But in reality, no matter what you THINK about them, they're in your head now, and the STATISTICS tell advertisers that that technique PAYS OFF. For every person that REMEMBERS to keep rebelling against the manipulation, a large number eventually forget where they heard the story, but keep the emotional tone of it, if not the facts.

In these cases, I think the "just a minute - something's on the stove", and set the phone down until you hear the "off-the-hook" alarm is an effective approach. Or come back to the phone every five minutes, answer one question breathlessly, then go back to your ongoing emergency...

[Gormy Cuss]

10. Sounds like a clumsy push poll.

You were right -- he was just wasting your time.

[Curmudgeoness]

15. The first thing I ask when someone wants to poll me is

"who are you with? what company is this poll for?" because I am not going to play a game with these type of polls.

And the first thing I ask when a poll is quoted is "what was the original question, word for word?" Don't give me that 94% of people are pro-life when the question you asked is "do you believe we should kill babies?"