Law firm investigates alleged phone sugging by ‘polling firm’

US— A law firm is kicking off an investigation into Political Opinions of America (POA), which bills itself as a research firm but is accused of selling under the guise of research – a practice known as ‘sugging’.

Complaints have been raised by members of the public who report receiving a call from POA, which uses an automated calling system to ask questions about President Barack Obama’s performance, before being transferred to a real person who offers them a free cruise in a deal that sounds like a timeshare sales pitch, according to reports.

Attorneys-at-law Shapiro Haber & Urmy say they are investigating the company’s Caribbean Cruise Line and the Berkley Group, who are reportedly behind the calls. The companies are accused of trying to circumvent the anti-telemarketing Do Not Call list by posing as pollsters – whose calls are exempted from the do-not-call rules.

An attorney for Berkley told a Fox News reporter that the company is doing nothing illegal, suggesting that POA is using the cruise offer as an incentive to increase response rates.

POA’s website describes the company as working with “many of Non Profit and Political research organizations in conduction surveys and opinion polls on the nations top issues [sic]”. No staff or contact details are listed, although an email contact box is provided. Meanwhile, all the surveys listed under the “News” section of the site link to polls conducted by Gallup – which is unaffiliated to POA.

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Research Live is published by MRS.

The Market Research Society (MRS) exists to promote and protect the research sector, showcasing how research delivers impact for businesses and government.

Members of MRS enjoy many benefits including tailoured policy guidance, discounts on training and conferences, and access to member-only content.

For example, there's an archive of winning case studies from over a decade of MRS Awards.

Find out more about the benefits of joining MRS here.

0 Comments


Display name

Email

Join the discussion

Newsletter
Stay connected with the latest insights and trends...
Sign Up
Latest From MRS

Our latest training courses

Our new 2025 training programme is now launched as part of the development offered within the MRS Global Insight Academy

See all training

Specialist conferences

Our one-day conferences cover topics including CX and UX, Semiotics, B2B, Finance, AI and Leaders' Forums.

See all conferences

MRS reports on AI

MRS has published a three-part series on how generative AI is impacting the research sector, including synthetic respondents and challenges to adoption.

See the reports

Progress faster...
with MRS 
membership

Mentoring

CPD/recognition

Webinars

Codeline

Discounts