Curious Why Census Workers Are Still Calling

CBS

Are you getting phone calls or visits from census workers?

Maureen from Townsend Declared her Curiosity and told WBZ that she was visited by a census worker even after filling out her form.

"I was visited by another worker, and I am now receiving phone calls about my form. How many questions do I have to answer?"

Maureen Blanchard is not alone.

The census is trying to clarify confusing material from almost four million addresses just in the northeast.

A NUISANCE

Blanchard says the calls she got were a nuisance.

"Mostly the calls came during dinner, just like a telemarketer," she said.

Blanchard's quiet life of making quilts was interrupted when she made the mistake of mailing back her census form after the April 16 deadline.

She got two personal visits and half a dozen phone calls.

Blanchard says she answered a long list of census questions over the phone, but the unannounced visits continued.

"She came around in the back yard and spoke to my husband where he was working and he said we already answered your questions we are not answering anymore," Blanchard explained.

NOT A MISTAKE

Filling out the US Census is required by law.

"Our mission is to count everyone once, only once, and in the right place," said Bruce Kaminski, the regional director in New England.

Kaminski says his people are trying to clarify information from almost a million addresses in Massachusetts alone.

It is not a mistake if you are getting calls at home from the US Census.

They think you made a mistake on your form.

But they just won't tell you that.

Kaminski said, "We don't want to say you did something wrong because we don't know if you did something wrong. We just need some clarification, and they should say they are trying to clarify information."

MAYBE THE LAST CALL

Blanchard says she knows she got the personal visits because she filled out the form late, but she does not know why they kept calling her even after she had answered their questions.

"I asked, 'Why are you calling me?' They would not answer the question or they didn't know either," she said.

Blanchard says the last phone call was about a week ago.

She is hoping it's the last until 2020.

Those calls from census workers originate from eleven call centers located outside of New England.

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