Office for National Statistics Reviews 73

The letter makes out that your info is private and confidential. Why then do they need such identifiable info? Going by the governments past record, your info is definitely at risk with them. I started the online survey which began with lumping wife and husband wit the word partner, which is too PC (any PC is too PC!).The survey got more intrusive very quickly so I abandoned it just before it wanted my D.O.B..
The whole thing rings alarm bells the size of France so I hope they contact me to ask why I never completed it, so I can tell them I don’t trust them one little bit.

Dire. The application form is excessively complicated. Many of the links don’t work. It won’t let you complete certain sections. Five emails sent asking for help, the first two weeks ago, no response. Hanging on the phone for 1 1/2 hours yesterday and today. Eventually I was locked out of the online process because it said I wasn’t responding. Absolutely disgraceful. Thinking of just giving up.

Trying to get through to ons help line. So far. 4 attempts and 8 hours of my life wasted. Do people actually work for the ONS? Ridiculous

I feel I've made a big mistake by filling the form in. The questions they asked would not help improve local services and could be used to discriminate and marginalise people.

Census link says '403 Forbidden' so hit 'contact' to report it and it says '403 Forbidden'. I do not have time to start ringing up for your mistakes. What a bunch of clowns.

I wouldn't like to get into details but let's just say. The IT team can't even get their own URL data right. 6 emails with all wrong data sent to me in an attempt to recruit me. Why in earth would I want to work for a government who csnt even get their own URL address right even after 5 attempt at it. All be it to an incompetent level. Total sham and down right infuriating to think we paid for this ridiculous system with our hard earned going towards tax.

Firstly, I think the surveys are basically genuine but having said that the police/security services would be missing a trick if they didn't use them to get information.
I was contacted by mail and told they would be coming to question me. The first time they came I didn't answer the door and they left a card telling me to contact them. I was suspicious that they called mid-afternoon when I could reasonably be expected to be at work.
I ignored them and six weeks later a woman collared me when I was working in the front garden, also mid-afternoon. I politely said that I didn't wish to take part at which she got huffy and asked me "Are you one of those people who are quite anti Government?".
I am very suspicious, nothing about it felt right. I think they collate information held on government computers and pick people who, for example, have cars worth more than is the norm for the area or who declare earnings less than the norm. Then seek entry into their homes to check out how they live and what they own.

Harassed me, were phoning me to ask my partner to do a survey and had recorded my details as his details, I had to spend money to retrieve voicemails despite telling them that they could not contact my partner using this number. I had actually been the responder to the first survey, which was just generally posted to our household. They took his details and phone number, yet still insisted on phoning me whilst clearly didn't care about my opinion or how I was being affected by Coronavirus.

I would have to use their non-freephone telephone contacts to get them to stop harassing me apparently, which I can't do because I don't have the money for credit. Ironically, the £15 voucher I'm probably not going to redeem anyway has been eaten up just by the costs of the consequences of trying to be a good citizen! One whose further opinion is clearly not worth anything because I'm not the male breadwinner in my household.

ONS are absolutely disgusting, not worth the paltry amount they give you to actually let them have your personal details.

I applied for a number of the Census roles, as a manager I felt I have some excellent transferrable skills. The recruiter Adecco are an absolute nightmare. They ask you to upload a photograph of your ID, which I did on multiple times to be told that it is not suitable. In the end I had to call as it continuously rejected my identification and they said it is reviewed by a computer, so I would need to just keep trying until it accepts it. I gave up in the end as the advisor on the phone was no help, SHOCKING.

The Adecco recruitment is absolutely a disgrace! I don't know how they got the job of recruiting for Census officers for ONS in the first place as they do not know what recruitment is in the first place. I applied for different roles, one at a time of course and after going through the process and doing all my checks including getting references. I got an email that said I was successful, only to be told weeks later after I had waited and waited that I have now been put on the waiting list indefinitely!
My last experience was where I tried to upload my documents I could not. Then contacted customer services who managed to do it, I then tried to reschedule my virtual welcome event, their online page will not let me do so after 24hrs as I was instructed, I contacted customer services again, waited for hours and they eventually sent me a link which did not work! And I contacted them again, and they sent another link but when I tried to book again, and surprise, surprise there were no dates left!! If I had known that their recruitment process is this bad, I would not have waisted my time applying. The only reason I applied was that I thought the recruitment would be done by a decent organisation like the ONS. It is a disgrace that ONS has appointed such an incompetent agency to do such an important task - Another waste of tax payers money!!

After months of telling them no to letter meetings and phone calls all received at least once a week for 6 months, they stopped harassing me now they started on my eldest daughter who lives here

Similar experience to most. I filled out a form then received a call to be asked more questions and now they are going to ring again in 3 months time. Dont understand what this is all about but I dont like it and wont be answering any more questions. They are never happy at what info you give them

Is it this company’s policy for their “interviewers” to try and intimidate and bully their way into peoples homes and demand personal information? It’s truly disgusting! I received a letter from the ONS requesting I take part in a household survey offering me a £5 gift voucher if I did. Obviously I promptly declined only to receive a rude and obnoxious man at my door demanding I take part in the ONS survey I had already declined to participate in. He was verbally threatening and aggressive in his tone and manner, I really feared being physically attacked by the ONS interviewer before I was finally able to close the door. He then sat outside my property for close to an hour, I was about to call the police when he finally left. Horrific experience with the ONS!