What are you paying me?

Hmmm, interestingly, I received a call from a China lady who claimed that she is from the "Singapore Market Survey" company and wanted to ask me a couple of questions... she started with whether I am using 3G, the brand of my mobile (I forgot to tell her that I own Nokia, Vodafone, Samsung, Sony Ericsson... which one does she want?), my Surname and lastly my Given Name...

I had worked as a telemarketer before, and understand that part of the unspoken "benefit" of calling up strangers and asking questions is gathering fresh data about a person - such as their current mobile phone number, for use in future marketing activities.

So, in response, I asked her, quite a few times, what BENEFITS will I receive if I help her with HER survey. I am most willing to comply and help out, IF I am paid to do so in a form or another. For example, I am most willing to click on Gmail ads because Google gives me a great email product. I buy Amway because I get paid a Performance Bonus for using their stuff. I recommend Amazon because I am an affiliate.

Now, genuine surveys usually come with some sort of rewards for the respondent, so when she could not produce any, and sounded sheepish over the phone, I said Goodbye to her, and that was the end of the conversation.

As an aside, she insisted that I give her my name in CHINESE - which makes the whole call suspicious, because in Singapore, we conduct interviews in ENGLISH, seldom CHINESE.