05 May 2014

Poll Taxing

I have been registered for years to be involved in online surveys with a well known, top tier survey company. The parent company is best known for TV ratings. In general, their online polls are very professionally done. But occasionally they work as a vehicle for an outside agency (with all sorts of disclaimers to this effect, for reasons that will become apparent). Tonight I was rejected by not one, but two, of these outside pollsters for reasons unknown, but related to personal data (age, income, type of work, age of cars, etc.)

The silliest question I have seen in a while follows. Note the range of answers and then explain the last two. I suppose either of those could include "I don't know" which is technically a legitimate answer, but it seems unlikely there would be enough of those to matter.

Which of the following pets are present in your household?
Please select all that apply
    Cat(s)
    Dog(s)
    Bird(s)
    Fish
    Amphibians (frogs, toads, etc.)
    Small animals or rodents (hamsters, mice, rabbits, ferrets, etc.)
    Reptiles (turtles, snakes, lizards, etc.)
    Horse(s)
    I do not have any pets
    Other
    None of the above
And why did they ask my age right after asking my birthday? It's the internet. I bet if you're clever, you can find today's date and compute my age.[1]

But the best, the very best part of it all, was the text that I could neither copy and paste nor get a screen shot of[2] because they disabled such shenanigans. This survey led off with a set of statements to the effect that I could not discuss anything from the survey with anyone, especially online in any shape or fashion. Neither could my family. It then claimed to be a legally binding contract. I forget the penalty, but the whole effect was highly entertaining, although someone who didn't know better would probably feel Extremely and Properly Warned. Sadly, I did not qualify for their survey so all I can illegally discuss here is their "legally binding contract" and that I Did Not Qualify. But I have high hopes that those two offenses will get Alcatraz to re-open. I could be the Bird Man for a while.

They spelled everything correctly (bonus points for correct use of "your", along with "ferrets" and "lizards") and they put a period on the end of "etc." This puts them ahead of at least 20% of everything posted to the internet.

NOTES
[1] If not, you just may be in the wrong business.
[2] At least on that window; I didn't think to get an entire screen shot and cut that part out.