Were you called by Sean Ardagh last night?

Dangger

This is slightly off topic but you may be able to help.......

It appears that last night Sean Ardagh used an autodialler to call homes in Dublin with a pre-recorded message looking for votes. It has become apparent that many ex-directory numbers were dialled too. The media has picked up on this and there is a call out for anyone who may have the actual message sitting on their answer machine still. Does anyone out there have it?

This raises serious issues, did Eircom offer a service to reach EVERY voter, or was it as I'msure will be argued just pot luck and random numbers?

spongebob

An auto dialler would dial numbers in a sequence like

9900000
9900001
9900002

and so on

if the numbers beginning 990 were in his constituency.

The annoying bit is being left with the impression that he cared enough to ring his constituents personally....which he didn't....preferring to let a machine do it for him.

assuming he 'hits' 2 people per house @ 6.2c (minimum call charge)

8000 people is a quota to get elected.

thats 3.1c per person * 8000

€248 to ring 8000 persons........ the same price as 40 posters

His campaign limit is €20.000 euros.

M

Bard

Apparently Bertie Ahern has done it as well with people's mobile phone voicemail numbers, leaving a pre-recorded message for them along the lines of "Im counting on your vote on Friday".

This may be confined to Vodafone, - it may be confined to a list of people who were at a certain event... but it shows its not an isolated incident.

Jpaulik

Hello, this is Homer Simpson, a.k.a. Happy Dude. The court has ordered
me to call every person in town to apologize for my telemarketing scam.
I'm sorry. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, send one
dollar to Sorry Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. You have the
power.

aidan_dunne

I read about this in the paper today and the first thing I thought was, "Eircom involved with another FF politician in a dodgy scam." I mean, let's face it, Eircom and FF go hand in hand (or should that be backhander to backhander!). How is it it always seems to be a FF politician involved in these reports, never a politician from any other party. Firstly, Mary O' Rourke rejects the flat-rate amendment in the Comms Bill, which looks to all the world as if someone from Eircom got to her first and made sure she would reject it. Now we've got this crap going on with Sean Ardagh. Smacks of serious Eircom/FF corruption and double-dealing to me.

And that, my friends, is why FF didn't get my vote today!

rymus

Originally posted by Jpaulik
Hello, this is Homer Simpson, a.k.a. Happy Dude. The court has ordered
me to call every person in town to apologize for my telemarketing scam.
I'm sorry. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, send one
dollar to Sorry Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. You have the
power.

Awww nuts, I was just gonna post that

jd

Originally posted by aidan_dunne
Smacks of serious Eircom/FF corruption and double-dealing to me.

And that, my friends, is why FF didn't get my vote today!

ehh-what do eircom have to do with it?
Ardagh td admitted it was an autodialler-
maybe rardagh (leap) could tell you more about it

Meh

Originally posted by Bard
Apparently Bertie Ahern has done it as well with people's mobile phone voicemail numbers, leaving a pre-recorded message for them along the lines of "Im counting on your vote on Friday".

So I have to pay to listen to it? That's a bit cheeky...

jd

from
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=756771&issue_id=7441


Inquiry urged over parties' dial-a-canvass



OUTRAGED consumers have demanded tough regulations to stop politicians canvassing constituents with pre-recorded phone messages as a storm erupted over the new marketing practice.


The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) last night said he would examine the legal issues involved.


He was responding to thousands of angry phone owners with unlisted numbers who protested that they had been canvassed.


Tanaiste Mary Harney, PD minister Liz O'Donnell and public accounts committee member Sean Ardagh were among those who used the latest computer technology to blitz constituents with the recorded messages on the eve of yesterday's election.


Consumers Association chief Dermot Jewell called it "spamming by phone" - the practice where email subscribers are deluged with junk mail unless they make a specific request to companies to take them off their list.


"Clearly this is intrusive. It needs regulation. This is the thin end of the wedge. It takes far more work to delete these messages off your phone than it does to throw election literature in the bin," he said.


"People who have ex-directory numbers, clearly do so for a strong reason. They should not be subjected to this."


Mr Jewell said consumers were confused about where to lodge a complaint. He said it was another argument in favour of a telecommunications ombu
.................
Mr Ardagh (FF) said his sons in the IT business had put him in touch with a friend who had the computer expertise to set up the phone canvass.

..........

Mr Ardagh confessed he was "totally taken aback by the number of people with unlisted numbers. I never realised it was as high as 35pc".


He sent out a 24-second message without any option to erase it before listening to the message in full.


Mr Ardagh agreed that something would have to be done about regulation.


Public Enterprise Minister Mary O'Rourke signed an EU directive into law on May 8 which gave consumers the opportunity to "opt-out" of receiving direct marketing telephone calls.


The DPC is now examining whether this legislation covers political canvassing and charities.

..................

java

An incredible invasion of privacy which strangly enough didnt seem to dent Sean Ardaghs share of the votes. However, it did make me change my vote. Theres nothing I hate more than spam and this stunt is a form of it.