Deleted thread about the Labour Party telephone canvasser

[Crossfitmyarse]

Yes, this is a TAAT, so do your worst.

'We don't usually delete whole threads but we do so when it is to protect a poster's privacy.'

Aah, poor wee poster got flamed bang to rights on an AIBU so you delete the whole thread? BASED ON WHAT?

Seriously MNHQ? SERIOUSLY? Which one of you is she related to? I can't physically roll my eyes back in my head far enough to express my cynicism and weariness over this.

What is going on around here these days? Who/what are you scared of, exactly?

By the way I have never reduced a pensioner to tears by canvassing either though I have changed lightbulbs for older people more than once.

You don't know that EELisaveta!
Both my MIL and DM would have been very polite to you, but have rung me up afterwards and been upset about it.

I'm sorry to hear that bruffin but I struggle to see what is so upsetting about "which political party do you feel closest to. Oh, you don't want to say? Fine, thank you for your time". Which is the script.

Because they belong to the "obedient generation" and feel pressurized to give out details they don't want to.

This has got me thinking, I'm generally very anti discussing my voting choices with anyone in real life, I'm also anti cold calling and am registered with the TPS. I live in a historically safe seat and have never had to think too hard about who I vote for. However this time I am totally undecided and will be looking out for opinion polls etc, so far there is very little info out there about my constituency. It occurred to me that if everyone adopts the same "it's private" attitude as me, then it's no wonder there's no information out there, I would be hypocritical to take note of other people's opinions while not divulging mine. So perhaps from now on I will discuss it with anyone that rings.

Cheers WhoKnows - speak to you later!

Bruffin, I know loads of activists in their 60s, 70s and 80s who have no problem expressing their views. Some of them might even find your attitude patronising.

Elisaveta, my mum is in her 80s and would delighted to discuss her voting preferences. The canvasser might regret it though. She can really talk.

Well my MIL and DM weren't the activist types, and as I said had more than one phone call from them upset by people pressurising them to give out information they didn't want to.

Maybe you should suggest a form of wording Bruffin - "I don't discuss my vote", and hang up. Getting to the point of tears might be a bit of an over reaction.

SetPhasers my dad was a theologian and LOVED Jehovah's Witnesses calling.

OK didn't see that thread but why bully someone and hound her on twitter? What if anything did that achieve other than to show some people find it satisfying to bully online. I wonder if they are bullies in RL or do they not have the guts.

Just don't ring in the first place! It's really not necessary and an invasion of privacy.

I've just realised I kept my post about canvassers. .

EElisavetaOfBelsornia. I wouldn't be surprised if you have never reduced someone to tears however I would be suprised if your calls haven't inconvenienced and bothered people. Egs People who are sleeping or who are sick, people who are waiting for important calls, people who have mobility problems or simply people who are busy doing something else like bathing or feeding a baby. Cold calls ARE intrusive.

My MIL is 94 and is panicky when she gets a call - she struggles to get to the phone. She wouldn't be upset but it would inconvenience her. She is registered with the TPS though so, hopefully, she shouldn't receive any calls from canvassers.

Anyway here are the FACTS about TPS and political canvassers that I highlighted in the original thread.

If you are signed up with TPS and have not explicitly given permission for a political canvasser to call you then they are not allowed to call you and you should report them to to THE ICO - using the online reporting form HERE. It only takes a couple of minutes. I report every single spam call or text I get.

HERE are ICOs ( the Information Commisionaires Office )
'Guidance on political campaigning'

It's clear that phone calls made as part of a political campaign ARE subject to TPS.

....57. If a person has specifically agreed to an organisation telephoning them, then it may do so even if they have registered online with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). Otherwise, however, it cannot make phone calls to anyone, including an existing supporter, who has registered with the TPS or who has objected to the organisation directly about the use of their information for direct marketing purposes. For more information, please visit the TPS website. Where the organisation is permitted to telephone an individual, it must identify itself at the start of the call, and if requested provide an address or number where it can be reached free of charge to object to marketing. It should also record and respect any objection to marketing made by the individual at the time of the call

Political campaigning 20141218
Version 2

I've rarely told people to fuck off face-to-face and I suspect the same is true for the posters on that thread. Most people find that bravery only on the phone or the keyboard.

I've never felt the need when being asked who I want to vote for. I usually tell them at length.

Like the people who've met SetPhasersTaeMalkie's mum, some of them might have regretted asking.

Making a phone call and ending it politely when the person doesn't want to talk is not my idea of an invasion of privacy.

I'd include political canvassers, market research companies and companies you have existing contracts with trying to sign you up for additional services such as Sky, BT, O2, British Gas or whoever.

Obviously I'd exclude people trying to plunder your bank account details by pretending to be from Microsoft. But we can't stop those.

In fact, I welcome political canvassing.

And before anyone talks about vulnerable old people, my mother died two years ago at 90. She was perfectly capable of holding lucid conversations until about 12 hours before death. My father died at 72 with Alzheimer's and you couldn't have trusted him to cross the road by himself in the final year.

Not all old people are the same and many of the people railing about invasions of privacy are young.

Not that 71 is old. Mick Jagger is 71.

SetPhasersTaeMalkie I was asked for my opinion on the Budget in general and George Osborne in particular by a polite TV researcher doing a vox pop in the street.

I'd have loved to have given it but I looked like shit that day

I have been hugely inconvenienced by nuisance calls from everyone from pollsters to criminals attempting to scam me.

I really am someone frequently sick in bed and asleep.
I also have mobility problems.
I also have family overseas and cannot just ignore calls.

Well over 50% of calls to my home are junk calls.

It really doesn't matter whether I say "So sorry, I'm not going to speak to you" or "Fuck off". By the time I have got to the phone, the damage has been done.

It's just typical of the mindset of junk callers, as on the other thread, to think the person they're bothering only exists during the time they are on the phone: that there's neither a before nor an after which has been affected by the act of the phone ringing and having to be answered.

It might help to know that if you tell a pollster from a particular party that you support their opponents they won't bother you again. If you don't express a preference they will phone again to try to find one.

I rarely got calls from strangers until about six months ago. I'd don't know what's changed but I now regularly get calls about PPI. I've never taken out PPI - more's the pity because my brother recently got £6,500, though he did the process himself, which is what I'd do.

At first I used to answer them. They were perfectly polite when I told them I wasn't interested. The contact lasted less than two minutes. These days I just use voicemail to screen and call back the people I want to speak to.

I thought this was what everyone did.

I've only had one abusive cold call. It was someone who wanted me to switch energy providers and when I asked him to send me literature by post and I would use it to decide, insulted me and hung up.

I imagine he was on a commission-only deal and was staring his rent in the face. I don't feel bad about his reaction and I certainly don't feel bad about mine. I could have told him to fuck off but I didn't think quickly enough.

With hindsight, I feel telling him to fuck off wouldn't have made his day worse. Not that I care about his feelings but I like being the kind of person who doesn't tell people to fuck off on a regular basis.

We have secret ballots for very good reasons but it's beyond me why anyone outside a terror state would be afraid to state their political allegiance.

I think it's healthy.

It was a horrible thread, IMO. People saying 'If you ring me uninvited I reserve the right to tell you to fuck off' etc.

I mean, I dislike unsolicited cold calls as much as anyone else, but I was genuinely shocked by the level of vitriol.

EElisavetaOfBelsornia Have you ever read Things Can Only Get Better (18 miserable years in the life of a Labour voter) by John O'Farrell?

He was a member of Battersea Labour in London and there are very funny and moving passages about canvassing for local and national elections.

One of the things he pouts about is that the weeny Labour group on Wandsworth Council (Margaret Thatcher's pet local authority) joined calls to get LA flat blocks to have decent security systems.

This wouldn't have happened unless lots of residents in those blocks weren't right-to-buy.

Anyway, those entry-systems were installed - Hurrah! - and he could no longer canvass - Boo!.

All the canvassers have the entry codes now.