Weird tasks and bad jokes (may be continued ;-) ).
By topffer
@topffer (42156)
France
May 25, 2011 10:02am CST
Affiliate marketing is sometimes hard, especially when you try to do it with a small Indian blog and are looking for sign ups in USA with a banner having the size of a confetti. A sign up task can help. This one was for "all countries" and the honest marketer was saying :
"No need to put your personal information. Just write any fake English name and address should be from USA."
I had a look, and it was for... a moving company, asking your name, address, phone and the address and date wanted for your removal. My first... move was to go away : a moving company has probably connected its address database to a map/gps system, and a fake address would be not paid to my marketer who would reject my task. Suddenly came an idea
. I googled the yellow pages for New-York city, found two addresses in the same zip code area, and asked for the removal of a bedroom from A to B, giving the phone number of A. I checked the box saying that I was understanding that I would be contacted by phone... and the task was done. My satisfied Indian employer paid for it two days later. I would have enjoyed to hear the phone dialog between the moving company and A about the removal of this bedroom : A and B are two cheap hotels in two adjacent streets
.
Have you done some weird tasks ? And some bad jokes when doing a honest task like this one ?
. I googled the yellow pages for New-York city, found two addresses in the same zip code area, and asked for the removal of a bedroom from A to B, giving the phone number of A. I checked the box saying that I was understanding that I would be contacted by phone... and the task was done. My satisfied Indian employer paid for it two days later. I would have enjoyed to hear the phone dialog between the moving company and A about the removal of this bedroom : A and B are two cheap hotels in two adjacent streets.
Have you done some weird tasks ? And some bad jokes when doing a honest task like this one ?1 person likes this
5 responses
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
25 May 11
Hi topffer 
I have done some mystery shopping where it involved calling a moving company. The instructions were that I was to block my number, give a fake phone number and fake name/address. I was to rate the customer service and ability to get a full quote on the phone.
It was quite funny actually because I had to keep remembering I was someone else, so like you I had to go online and find two fake nearby address to the company to be able to pull it off. The young lady was so rude because she wanted to call me back. This would not have been allowed, so I had to push her hard. Sadly I could not rate her generously because I was told that the entire conversation would be recorded. I did try and push her into being nice but she just would not budge. I hope she still has a job, but I was paid $20 for the 8 minute call. lol
I have done some mystery shopping where it involved calling a moving company. The instructions were that I was to block my number, give a fake phone number and fake name/address. I was to rate the customer service and ability to get a full quote on the phone.
It was quite funny actually because I had to keep remembering I was someone else, so like you I had to go online and find two fake nearby address to the company to be able to pull it off. The young lady was so rude because she wanted to call me back. This would not have been allowed, so I had to push her hard. Sadly I could not rate her generously because I was told that the entire conversation would be recorded. I did try and push her into being nice but she just would not budge. I hope she still has a job, but I was paid $20 for the 8 minute call. lol3 people like this
@purplealabaster (22091)
• United States
26 May 11
HWG - Getting paid $20 for the phone call was really good, but somehow it sounds like you earned the money. It is very frustrating when the "customer service" people are nasty and do not want to help you at all. Unfortunately, I have encountered this several times in the past. I have also found out later that sometimes they have even given false information just to not have to look something up and actually find out the answer.
Top - So, we are now learning that you have many different faces. What other secrets are you hiding under that seemingly innocuous and utterly serious demeanor?
Top - So, we are now learning that you have many different faces. What other secrets are you hiding under that seemingly innocuous and utterly serious demeanor?1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
25 May 11
I would not be able to do this : I am a very bad liar, and then very bad for doing a fake phone call. $20 for a phone call was good though. The worst job I had when I was a student was a "store detective" job during two months in summer, but as I hated the idea to catch people stealing canned food to eat, I was a bad detective. When my head section was yelling after me to catch somebody, I was doing some unusual captures : a family mother stealing a thimble or a kid stealing candies. It is after this job that I had some real fun : as I had learned how to recognize a store detective, I played during years at driving them crazy when I was making my shopping.
. It is after this job that I had some real fun : as I had learned how to recognize a store detective, I played during years at driving them crazy when I was making my shopping.1 person likes this
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
5 Jun 11
Yes indeed it can be truly frustrating because I am to play a role and being the kind person I usually try to make sure I can steer the conversation into a positive one as they are not aware of the customer ratings and recordings. Sadly they resist and some fail. But I have to continue to remember that it is a job/assignment and knowing that I tried and they fail well, lets just say I earned my earning. lol
Topffer, thank you for my BR!
1 person likes this
@purplealabaster (22091)
• United States
25 May 11
LOL! I am not sure how "honest" this marketer was, but I do think that was pretty funny. I would also like to be listening in on that phone conversation, especially considering that the bedroom of one hotel was scheduled to be moved to another hotel ... did they think they were slowly being evicted or something?
2 people like this
@purplealabaster (22091)
• United States
26 May 11
LOL! And here I thought you were a completely serious and intellectual invalid that could not do a joke if he was asked to ... 
I do suspect that I may have had a bad influence on you, though, as you were quite shy when we first started interacting. Now, you are having affairs and pulling phone jokes and who knows what else ... not to mention all the games that you are now perfecting.
I do suspect that I may have had a bad influence on you, though, as you were quite shy when we first started interacting. Now, you are having affairs and pulling phone jokes and who knows what else ... not to mention all the games that you are now perfecting.1 person likes this
@Chastised_Dreamz (559)
• United States
26 May 11
That's funny. I like that you gave the dishonest affiliate the punishment they deserved. It wasn't very smart of the affiliate to do this since it's obvious they would be caught, or inconvenience a lot of innocent people if others had done what you did, but chosen home phone numbers and addresses instead. It's completely wrong for this person to do this because they are inconveniencing a lot of people in order to make a few dollars.
I don't think I would do something like that. I would probably just ignore the person and move onto something else because I don't like being dishonest. I think that this person deserved your joke though lol.
@topffer (42156)
• France
27 May 11
I don't understand how some people can be so dishonest when doing an affiliate job. He will be surely caught, when the moving company will realize that they got only a list of fake names from him, and will certainly lost his affiliation. But for the task, I did it honestly, by following his guidelines : he did not mentioned that the addresses should not be addresses of two hotels, did he
?
. He will be surely caught, when the moving company will realize that they got only a list of fake names from him, and will certainly lost his affiliation. But for the task, I did it honestly, by following his guidelines : he did not mentioned that the addresses should not be addresses of two hotels, did he?1 person likes this
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
25 May 11
You, Topffer! You have such curious ways of finding fun on the Internet! First a fake Facebook profile (what were you, a train driver or what?), now a fake command for moving an inexistent bedroom from New York , what's next?
I don't remember making such jokes but I also use fake names when I register for a task valuing 10 to 15 cents. But I haven't thought to use a real name/address from the Yellow pages.
I don't think there is anybody who gives the real name there. Do you?2 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
25 May 11
Hello Inu,
Why a task should not be funny ?
In this task, the moving was imposed by the sign up, but the idea of the hotels is mine.
I always take fake names and use disposable emails for sign ups. But sometimes I regret the name I have chosen. Since I have installed a very interesting cloud computing software, I praise it, and I have referred some friends on the net and in real life : it is a win/win situation, because both the referrer and the referral get 250Mb more of free storage space. But I am a bit ashamed of my supposed "true" name used when I signed up for a free account and that the referral knows when he sign up under when he receives a confirmation email : "You have been referred by..." the translation would be "F*ckintown"
... I have to try to be more serious when I choose a fake name
.
, but the idea of the hotels is mine.
I always take fake names and use disposable emails for sign ups. But sometimes I regret the name I have chosen. Since I have installed a very interesting cloud computing software, I praise it, and I have referred some friends on the net and in real life : it is a win/win situation, because both the referrer and the referral get 250Mb more of free storage space. But I am a bit ashamed of my supposed "true" name used when I signed up for a free account and that the referral knows when he sign up under when he receives a confirmation email : "You have been referred by..." the translation would be "F*ckintown"... I have to try to be more serious when I choose a fake name.
@SmallFryK (115)
• United States
25 May 11
I dunno... In New York City, that might not be such an uncommon occurrence (hehe). I haven't ever had to a doa task like that, but I am not a task-doer either. If I ever came across something this funny, though, I would totally give it a go because it sounds fun.
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
25 May 11
Hello SmallFryK,
Many strange things are happening in large cities. I rarely do weird tasks like this one : an employer asking you to cheat can also try to cheat you and to not pay for your "work" -- well, here it was not a work but a bad joke -- because you have cheated. All cases are possible : I had once a task rejected because I had NOT cheated. I wrote a complaint and was paid by the task site.
. I rarely do weird tasks like this one : an employer asking you to cheat can also try to cheat you and to not pay for your "work" -- well, here it was not a work but a bad joke -- because you have cheated. All cases are possible : I had once a task rejected because I had NOT cheated. I wrote a complaint and was paid by the task site.