WTF?  I got this crap in the mail with a letter that says "my response to this survey is required by law.  There is a penalty for not responding."

I flipped through it.  A whole bunch of personal questions including the identity of everyone in my home, ethnicity, etc.

I don't like this one bit.  In addition to the time I will have to waste filling it out, I don't like giving out information like that.  What if my questionaire falls into the wrong hands?

So my questions are this:  What if I don't fill it out?  What could happen?  How could they prove I ever even got this piece of shit in the mail?

What if I make up names and/or give false info?  How can they prove I actually got it and filled it out myself?  How do they know someone else didn't get my mail and filled it out, fooling around?

I seriously think I might just run it through my shredder.  Fuck the .gov

shameless bump for responses

Feds or State?  

Token response coming.........................  Move out of fuckshit commie land.

Who did it come from? I've never received anything in the mail like that, except for the national census crap. It sounds bogus. Toss it out and say you never received it.


ETA: Make sure your dogs are safe.

Long thread about it here:

archive.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=470635

6 years ago my Florida county, Brevard, was targeted by the Census Bureau with the American Community Survey.

Sortly after I got the questionnaire I attended a community meeting with our congressman.

It was the number one topic at a meeting that had been scheduled for an entirely different purpose.

The congressman and his staff were really surprised by the anger.

The upshot - We were told that the only census that carried the force of law is the ten year census mandated by the Constitution. We were also told we could safely ignore the American Community Survey.

I did, and I’m still here to talk about it.

Note Bene - this information is 6 years old. Check with your congressional rep.

Mike

Thanks guys.  To those who asked, it looks pretty official, even coming with a brochure from the US Census Bureau.

The archived link is not available to me (a plain 'ol member).  

I'll be filing it in the round file.

Just run some searches using google, this is a big thing that gets discussed on a lot of the boards I read.

I don't recomend making anything up.

I personally would throw it away but I would also expect someone to follow up and try to get me to fill out the next copy they give me.

There are only a few things you have to give info on according to the original census info, such as how many people are in the house and a few other things.

These really big questionaires want way too much info and as far as I am concerned the government does not need that sort of information in one big form.  The gov. has most of the info but it is with seperate agencies and what not and that is bad enough as far as I am concerned.

It used to be the fine was no biggy but I believe they increased the amount of the fine a few years back because so many people were unhappy with the big questionaire.

Anyway, run some searches on it.

UPDATE:

The first copy went right into my shredder.

2 Weeks later I got another one in the mail.  BZZZZTTTT.  Shredded.

Today they called me.  The Caller Id said "Census Bureau" so I didn't answer.  They left a message to call them back and reference some number.  Deleted the msg.

How the Fuck did they get my number if the survey was supposed to "not go to me personally but rather to my address, selected at random?"

This is pissing me off.

Certified letter?
If not...BZZZ, right into the shredder.

"Sorry sir, never got the letter."

Quoted: Certified letter? If not...BZZZ, right into the shredder. "Sorry sir, never got the letter."

Yep, exactly.  Let them deliver it to me personally, my mail is obviously unreliable.

And then, after I finally get around to filling it out, maybe it will get lost in the mail going back to them, too.

i ignored it and they stopped bothering me after a couple months.  As I understand, the only information you're required by law to give them is the number of people in your household.  I was living in a dorm room at the time..... I think they knew the number of people in my "household".

shred it
CS'ers
I hate big .gov

Shred it. Fuck em.

Put down someone you dont like address and put down that 80 illegal Mexicans live there.

Quoted: Put down someone you dont like address and put down that 80 illegal Mexicans live there.

great idea, but there is some type of barcode on the form so they know who it came from

Shit in the envelope and mail it back to them.

Quoted: Put down someone you dont like address and put down that 80 illegal Mexicans live there.

like anything would happen except people from the .gov would show up at your door and go "would you like some tax money to spend?"
CS'ers

You can win this battle, but it will take time, research, and persistence.

Read the old thread for how to.

They'll quit after about 2 months of trying.

Don't let their amateur intimidation tactics scare you.

Another phone call this morning.  The last one was on a Sunday afternoon.  This one, a Saturday morning.

I didn't answer.  No message on the machine this time.

I couldn't find the old thread the last poster mentioned.  Cliff notes, anyone?

I'm the person from the archived thread.  They will start sending folks over to your house and they will be real a-holes.

I never filled it out and nothing was ever done to me, but it took them a while to leave me alone.

Good luck!

Eric  

Quoted: Another phone call this morning.  The last one was on a Sunday afternoon.  This one, a Saturday morning. I didn't answer.  No message on the machine this time. I couldn't find the old thread the last poster mentioned.  Cliff notes, anyone?

Well,

Here’s a few tidbits from when I got tagged for that crap.

They will continue to write letters, call, leave messages on your front door, etc. in an effort to wear you down, so you eventually give up all your private information. This is their primary tactic.

When that doesn’t work, they will threaten you with fines, arrest, prosecution, etc. but they are bluffing.

When you don’t respond to their letters, calls and message left on your door,  they will send someone to park and observe your house, so they can intercept you when you leave/arrive for work.   They will also try to intercept/pressure the wife as well.  She should say something like “My husband handles all those matters, you’ll have to talk to him”, and keep repeating it until they leave her alone.   They may also try to interrogate your kids (yes, they are .gov  idiots).

I beat them by ignoring all their calls and written notes they left on my door.   When they intercepted me arriving home from work, I didn’t answer any of their questions and made statements to them like “stop harassing me”, “stop threatening me”, “please remove yourself from my property”, “I have no comment at this time”, “what is the name of your supervisor”, in a slightly louder tone of voice than normal.  

I talked right over their questions, and DID NOT engage in a conversation.  NEVER ANSWER A SINGLE QUESTION, REGARDLESS OF HOW SIMPLE OR INNOCENT IT SEEMS.   If you answer just one question, they will badger you even harder because they think they are making progressing in breaking you.    They will try hard to sucker you into conversation, ask a million questions, and  fill out that form while you walk from your car to your house. When they threatened me with federal prosecution, something likely to scare most citizens, I just kept repeating my statements, as if they had said nothing at all.   I had three visits.

They will probably give up after the third interception fails to get they information they want.   Then they will talk to your neighbors to get some information, but it won’t be 5% of they info they originally sought.  

At that point, YOU WIN!!   You have successfully given Big Brother a firm  boot in the ass and it is unlikely he will try you again.


I think one of the key plays is to not say or do anything they can use against you.   Don’t threaten verbally or physically, and don’t say anything other than a few harmless phrases (a dozen times if needed), certainly nothing that can be construed as a lie to a govt agent.

If you want to get a little satisfaction, photograph or videotape them and tell them you’ll give it to the evening TV news show as proof of govt harassment.

Wait until they show up and knock on your door to ask you those same questions face to face.

Quoted: I think one of the key plays is to not say or do anything they can use against you.   Don’t threaten verbally or physically, and don’t say anything other than a few harmless phrases (a dozen times if needed), certainly nothing that can be construed as a lie to a govt agent. If you want to get a little satisfaction, photograph or videotape them and tell them you’ll give it to the evening TV news show as proof of govt harassment.

If you ask them to leave, and they don't, why can't you just call the police and have them charged with criminal trespass?

Quoted: If you ask them to leave, and they don't, why can't you just call the police and have them charged with criminal trespass?

Cuz they're from the gov't and they're here to help, DUH!

A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

I just had to do it! I am throwing my second one out at this very moment. As I recall I got one a few years ago also and just pitched them. Never heard a thing back.

All the Constitution requires is how many people in your household. I answer that and always refuse to answer anything else

I can not wait for " Chip Implant Van " to come to my house

One of these people left notes on my door for a month.  Then she finally showed on a Saturday.  I never got calls because i only have a cell phone.  And i rarely check my mail.


I invited her inside, answered what i thought appropriate and did NOT answer any question i didn't feel comfortable with.  I simply said "we'll be skipping that one" in a friendly but firm tone and she didn't give me any grief over it.



Basically the government got "1 person lives here and works 15 minutes away."  


I was more upset because the fatty didn't accept my offering of gummi worms.  

Quoted: Basically the government got "1 person lives here and works 15 minutes away."

Those weren't the  only kinds of questions they asked me.  The original letter said I ( my address) was selected as representative of my area and the .gov wanted to know about CRIME experienced by anyone in the household.  I ignored the letters  for months and ended up with a visitor on a saturday.  I told her squat.  I then called the bureau in Dallas and got a supervisor on the phone to have myself removed from the list.  
AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN is what I was told.  After 30 minutes the woman was pissed and said "Well when they show up, just tell the agent you don't want to talk to them !"

I did that twice before a supervisor of some sort showed up on a sunday evening .  She wanted to know why I refused...after all, it's confidential.   I told her that  the government  couldn't protect jack when it came to information and I didn't trust them for this either.

Then she threw me....she asked if her agents should be afraid of coming to my door.  WTF ?    "No, not even a little bit , they're just doing a job" was my reply.

That was 8 or 10 months ago and I haven't heard from them since. Before that it was every 6 months , like clockwork.
My dog is still alive and the neighbors are still friendly but I suppose I could be on a list of some sort since I regularly get deliveries of ammo, powder, reloading components and gun parts..... not to mention the fact that I cruise ARFCOM daily

Just tell them in Spanish that your an illegal "immigrant" and they'll leave you alone

Oh believe me, I went thru all the options with the Census Bureau in Dallas.  I must have gone thru 4 flunkies and been on hold for 20 minutes to get to this one. The woman pointed me to the law , and even the part where I didn't have to answer if I didn't want to. I told her the answer would be the same every 6 months but according to her they just have an Address that they Must check every time since tenants change, people die ,etc.

Well I for one, am very glad to know that my tax money is being spent on such an obviously worthwhile undertaking.        

I did that thing once, they sent me a $40 debit card and gave me the pin # after I did a little phone interview. All I had to do was describe what I did the day before, how long I slept, how long I brushed my teeth, how long it takes to drive to the store, how long it takes to mow the lawn etc.

3rd phone call this morning... left a message same as the first one

Quoted: I did that thing once, they sent me a $40 debit card and gave me the pin # after I did a little phone interview. All I had to do was describe what I did the day before, how long I slept, how long I brushed my teeth, how long it takes to drive to the store, how long it takes to mow the lawn etc.

Man, that sucks, I would have given $50 cash for your soul. Oh well.

Quoted: Just tell them in Spanish that your an illegal "immigrant" and they'll leave you alone

Actually, they might start sending you checks every month.

Quoted: Shit in the envelope and mail it back to them.

  Give them a business card from your attorney, and
tell them he/she is your spokesperson.

 ETA-  What is the contact info on the form?  Post it here.

I forget - does the envelope say "Community Survey" or something recognizable like that on the outside?

If it does, before you open it mark it "Return to Sender" and put it back in your mailbox with the flag up.

Quoted: I forget - does the envelope say "Community Survey" or something recognizable like that on the outside? If it does, before you open it mark it "Return to Sender" and put it back in your mailbox with the flag up.

Yes it does.

But that's now how I want to play it.  As far as they are concerned, I never got a thing in the mail or any messages to call them.

Yesterday afternoon: Telephone call number 4.  No message.  If their pattern continues, the next phone call should be on a weekday morning and they will leave a message.

F-ing jerks!

Quoted: WTF?  I got this crap in the mail with a letter that says "my response to this survey is required by law.

OK, start with what you are required to give them, A) your name, B) number of people in your household, C) nothing else. You might get pressed for your SS#.

So, you can answer all of the other questions with "I don't know"

This will stop the letters and advance you to the phone calls. When they call, answer those questions required A) and B), and answer "I don't know" to everything else. It helps if you sound drunk-as-a-skunk when you are speaking. After a question is ask, ask why they want to know this information, then feign ignorance and ask for the question again, Then question the sturcture of the question, and ask again why they need to know.

Then if all else fails, say, "There has been an accident in front of my house--gotta go."

Phone call number 7 just now.  I picked up the phone but never said anything.  After hearing the bitch say "Hello... hello.... hellllooooo?"  I hung up.

I picked up the phone but never said anything. After hearing the bitch say "Hello... hello.... hellllooooo?" I hung up.

I worked for the census one year.  It was good money, and all of us were part timers.  At the time the policy was to make three visits, and then pass the questionnaire to another agent who would make another three visits.  I feel that it is only polite to hold off on answering until the third visit if at all to allow the agent to maximize their hours and travel time.

They had some script to read to people about civil and criminal penalties, but I never used it bc some people hate to be bullied like that and I was not particularly looking for an ass kicking.

Another census policy was that any employee who had any media interaction was terminated immediately, even if they were only caught on camera furtively scurrying away, so you could pretend like you are a reporter who was called by the home owner to report on .gov intrusions.  Of course film it and report back here.

Thank you RockHind for the info!  As soon as I see one outside I will certainly engage...with video camera, of course!!!

Do they have a warrant when they come? Couldn't you just say to get the off the property until you have a warrant or you will be shot? (Probably not a good idea, FYI )

Quoted: Shit in the envelope and mail it back to them.

Best idea yet.

HEY!

YOU'RE WINNING!

Keep at it.   You should have enough info from this thread to beat them at their game.

post back when they start showing up at your house.  

Cheers     for taking the time and effort to send Big Brother's agents back to their hole empty handed.

Quoted: WTF?  I got this crap in the mail with a letter that says "my response to this survey is required by law.  There is a penalty for not responding." I flipped through it.  A whole bunch of personal questions including the identity of everyone in my home, ethnicity, etc. I don't like this one bit.  In addition to the time I will have to waste filling it out, I don't like giving out information like that.  What if my questionaire falls into the wrong hands? So my questions are this:  What if I don't fill it out?  What could happen?  How could they prove I ever even got this piece of shit in the mail? What if I make up names and/or give false info?  How can they prove I actually got it and filled it out myself?  How do they know someone else didn't get my mail and filled it out, fooling around? I seriously think I might just run it through my shredder.  Fuck the .gov

I can't believe you even had to think about it That, my friend is your sign that you have been in NY for way too long.