Why do people hate Market Researchers?

[littleone85]

Probably gonna get some flack for this but, my job is to phone people and ask them if they would like to take part in surveys. I don't want to sell anyone anything and I make that very clear when i speak to people and my introduction probably takes up a maximum of 10 seconds of a persons time. I understand that people might not want to take part in surveys, if they say they don't want to thats fine and I won't call them again. But no, instead of that i have people screaming at me, swearing at me and calling me all the names under the sun every day, five days a week. Why is this,? Why are people who I assume are reasonably regular, nice people most of the time so enraged by somebody asking for a bit of their time? Why can't they just say 'No, thankyou'

[littleoldme]

I'm not excusing that behaviour for a moment, but I suspect you are by no means the only cold caller most people get. Even though I've signed up to that service that is supposed to stop most of these calls, I still get quite a few. Add up your call and those from other market researchers, plus those people who ARE trying to sell something, factor in that most calls take place in the evening when people are trying to cook/eat dinner, relax, unwind after a hard day at work etc and it's no surprise it can get irritating.

That said, I do understand that you are only doing a job and you shouldn't have to put up with vile abuse. A polite but firm "no thank you, I'm not interested" and a swift hang up of the receiver is enough.

[rosepetal]

Although there is no excuse for being rude, it could be for the following reasons:
a) Yours may be the umpteenth market research/sales call they have had that evening.
b) You are calling at an unreasonable time (personally for me this is before 9am, after 8pm, Sundays and during my favourite tv programmes!).
c) People don't believe that it's just market research. I've fallen for that old chestnut in the past and been subjected to numerous 'You've just won a holiday' and other pain in the backside calls as a result.

[kempie]

I do say "No thank you" in as polite a manner as I can muster at the time, but no doubt a note of exasperation / desperation is often detectable in my voice.

I have been tempted to ask the caller for their home number and when they will be finishing work so that I can call them back at my convenience and respond to their questions at that time.

[jake-the-peg]

There are an awful lot of unscrupulous telesales people who start off asking people to take part in a survey - because they know if they come out and say that they are sales people will just say no or hang up.

I've had to report one company for calling my TPS line already this year.

Unfortunately you're a victim of their bad behaviour as much as the people they call.

I think if your line is TPS registered then being rude and obnoxious to tele-sales people is fair game. It hopefully increases staff turnover and hence costs for the scumbags who can't be bothered to follow the rules.

[divegirl]

I always try to say 'No thank you', but you always get the odd persistant bu**er.....so I ask them for ID.

Lisa x

[heathfield]

Any commercial cold call is an invasion of privacy.
The information you do managed to collect will probably be passed to some company who might use it to adjust their product range and advertising in order to sell more to the public, increase their profits, and give their directors huge bonuses.
Why should I provide information resulting in other people lining their pockets?

[mikeyp]

I'm not sure why people are so rude, I get rung up a lot, but in the greater scheme of things it's not much of my time. I do get annoyed that my mobile phone provider dishes out my number to a bunch of people who ring me up asking to upgrade my phone, even when i've already done it. I realise that market research is not the same, if the survey doesn't take long i'm not really fussed.

I watched a rather shocking, but funny video online of the most abusive response ever, perhaps you've seen it? I dont' think I can link it here, but if you go to www.youtube.com and search for abusive telesales, that's the one. Be warned, it's not for the easily offended. I feel very sorry for this guy!

[drchasuble]

I can't speak for the survey thing as nobody has ever called me to take part in one but I do get the double glazing/ conservatory/ charity calls all the time. I will always endeavour to be polite but sometimes I feel that I have to be very firm bordering on short and sharp with people so that they get the message. When I say I don't want double glazing, it's because I don't want it. I don't then need to be bored with a list of benefits and prices and deals. I'm just not interested.
Oxfam is the worst. I used to get calls all the time.

[littleone85]

Thanks everyone, this is obviously a popular topic, i've never recieved so many replies for any post i've made before! I've found all the answers very interesting and people do often assume i'm trying to sell something even when I specifically tell them i'm not, I didn't realise that people would see me as part of a group of calls including unscrupulous telesales people and not as an individual caller taking up 10 seconds of their time, I guess its human nature to try and put people in boxes, so I suppose I might understand people being a little short with me, however most of the people I speak to are EXTREMELY rude. I still can't understand any person who is so very rude to another person. Heathfield, I completely understand your point of view, I wasn't asking why people don't take part in Market Research but why they are SO very rude when a 'No, thankyou' would suffice, as a side point although I concede that some surveys are on behalf of commercial companies, a lot are actually on behalf of charities seeking to improve their methods of fundraising and government organisations trying to improve public services.

[EDLEE]

I can sympathize with you ,having done many hours of cold calling as a beginning insurance agent. Trust me when I say that you haven't seen the worst of it. Human nature is what it is, and will not easily change. I found my best luck was when I introduced myself at the outset. A first name , at least. I wish you much good fortune but , please remember that if this behavior bothers you too much , you might be better off in a different field. Enjoying what you do is much more important than how much you earn. ( My insurance career was shortlived for this reason. I've spent the last thirty years in construction and have enjoyed most all of it.)

[heathfield]

Point taken, Littleone. Just be thankful you don't get responses like this one! ;-)

[littleone85]

Hi, thanks everyone, Edlee thanks for your tips, I do actually try to introduce myself first but it usually goes a litttle like this 'Hello, my na.....', 'F@ck off, why are you calling me? don't you have anything better to do? blah blah blah .... waste of space, you're all scum, blah blah blah i hate you people, I'm on TPS , i'm gonna report you 'Sir, the telephone preference service only prevents sales calls, because I have nothing to do with sales thats why I'm able to call you', I don't care f@ck off, line goes dead. This is NOT an example of a minority of calls, i would say this accounts for about 85% of the responses I get, not only would 'No, thankyou' be politer, it'd probably take less time for the person I call than lauching a tirade of abuse. As for getting a new job, I would love to, the reason I'm still there is because as a recent university graduate, i'm searching for a graduate job so until I get one, i've stayed at the place I was at while I was studying (I chose this while I was studying because aside from the horrible bits, it is VERY flexible for students) and theres no point swapping one crappy job for another, also I'm saving to buy a house with my partner and get married in the next couple of years so the job allows me to do as many hours as I want, so I'm currently working a 60 hour week, not fun especially with the rude people I speak to but its worth it when I get paid, you've got to do whats required to achieve your goals.

[Bellringer]

I usually say "hang on a minute" then lay the phone aside until the caller gets fed up. I have tried the one heathfield mentions. It worked a treat.
Yes I do feel sorry for anyone getting abuse for doing their job but so many 'surveys' are actually sales pitches.
But keep trying. Have you had a reply from someone suffering from Alzeimers, that should confuse you, I have heard my Mother in law talking to a sale person.

[littleone85]

Yes, I have had a person who i think might have alzeimers, also partially deaf people and people who speak very little english, I usually try to ask them a few times to make sure they know what I'm asking them to do, but if they insist that they do want to take part I have to do the survey anyway, especially because of the low rate of surveys we get (I probably get 3/4 in an 8hr shift depending on how lucky I am) bellringer, as for laying the phone one the side until the person gets bored, I've had that a few times too and although I much prefer that to being screamed at, I'd rather get on with speaking to someone who might take part but we have to stay on the phone for at least 5 minutes in case the person really is doing something and will come back. Isn't it easier just to say 'No, thanks'?

[Bellringer]

I suppose that by putting the phone to one side I am trying to get some sort of revenge for being interrupted bty such calls. I won't do it again. Although I may wind up an Asian with the "Murder scene" thing again.

[littleone85]

See this is the problem, its about revenge. Revenge is a strong word and to want to seek revenge on someone you've spoken to for maybe ten seconds is something i'm sure is very uncommon to you and most people in most of their lives. I'm not trying to criticise you because your way of dealing with cold calls is much nicer than most others. I'm just trying to demonstrate the absurdity of the cultural reaction to market researchers, that one profession can drive what I assume are lovely people most of the time to seek revenge whether verbal abuse or laying the phone by the side to waste the persons time ( although I prefer your method, its still revenge behind it) is absolutely amazing. I just think if people were nicer to each other (even market researchers!) the world would be a better place. As for the murder scene prank, it was pretty funny but the reason its so funny is that people identify with it , at the heart of it is the unified acknowledgement of dislike of market researchers. I know being interrupted is a pain but I truly think that a 'No thanks' would suffice and also since most market research companies phone numbers randomly using a random number generator it doesn't affect the likelihood of being contacted again whatsoever.

[Hahh2912]

Hi,

I try never to be rude to telephone researchers because I know they are only trying to do their job (even though as I have signed up to try to stop unwanted calls).
However I do get irrate when you try to say "thanks but no thanks" and they wont get off the phone keep harassing you.

I think with most people there is just a general distrust of cold callers and market researchers.

Some can be very unscrupulous and it gives a bad name to everyone. My Mum and Dad had a terrible experience a few years ago when a fuel company turned up to try to get them to switch.

My Mum is Chinese and although her english is good enough for everyday life she is not very good with understanding formal paperwork.

The cold caller convinced my Mum to sign a form and told her that she was definitely not to sign up to switch to them but to prove to his boss that he had visited. A few days later my Mum and Dad got a letter through to "thank" them for deciding to switch supplier. Very unethical and no surprise my Dad called up and went absolutely potty!

[littleone85]

Hahh2912, I'm really sorry that you've had problems in the past and I do understand that salespeople can be very persistent, I've had a good few annoying ones myself, but thing is sales people are not market researchers and vice versa. Just like any other job, Market Researchers have a code of conduct that they must adhere to which prevents them from harrassing people, if anyone has any problems I would advise you to report them to the Market Research Society on its freephone number 0500396999. You get horrible people in every walk of life, most market researchers are students, single parents and retired people trying to make a bit of money and would never dream of harrassing anyone and furthermore if they were caught harrassing anyone they would be fired on the spot.

[Bellringer]

I have changed. I had a call recently from some one doing a 'survey' so I answered all her questions properly and she didn't try to sell me anything.
I won't wind them up again as long as it is only a 'survey'

[littleone85]

Result!
The mini revolution starts here!