An unsettling survey

Clivebenss SG

IT IS not uncommon to see insurance companies setting up booths at MRT stations or atriums of shopping centres. I had always managed to avoid them until Monday at IMM shopping mall.

A Prudential booth was set up in front of the escalators on the ground floor. As I got off the escalator, I was approached by a representative from the company. I was taken aback as she knew which store I had visited and started asking me questions about what I had bought there. She then asked me to fill up a survey form.

The form was structured to look as though it was a survey for the mall when it was actually for the insurance company. Questions like 'How many times a week do you shop at IMM' aided in giving that impression.

As with all other surveys I have participated in, I did not provide my contact details. The representative then asked why I was being defensive and was disinterested in my survey answers. It appeared that the survey's purpose was to 'ensnare' people into giving out their personal details.

What does Prudential do with such data collected? And does it provide proper training for its staff to conduct such surveys?

Tang Shangjun

^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~ SG

IT IS not uncommon to see insurance companies setting up booths at MRT stations or atriums of shopping centres. I had always managed to avoid them until Monday at IMM shopping mall.

What does Prudential do with such data collected? And does it provide proper training for its staff to conduct such surveys?

Tang Shangjun

alot of places also kenna same thing from prudential...

They talk abt shopping, then slowly move to income... then the rest is all common story liaox...

Problem is, most of them do not take "no" for an answer... I had to completely ignore some of them b4 they will leave me alone...

It's irritating when u're in a hurry, they are for a survey, u said no and then they ask "why" -______________-

Clivebenss SG

they are quite pesty.

Clivebenss SG

I REFER to the Forum Online letter by Mr Tang Shangjun ('An unsettling survey'; May 27), regarding the encounter he had at a Prudential roadshow in IMM shopping mall last week.

We thank Mr Tang for bringing this matter to our attention and regret his unpleasant experience during the encounter.

We assure Mr Tang and all consumers that Prudential has a set of standard operating procedures for roadshows. All financial consultants are required to adhere to the procedures and standard of conduct prescribed therein.

It is also mandatory for all Prudential financial consultants to complete the company's roadshow training programme before they are allowed to participate in such an event.

We also want to state that we respect the trust consumers place in us when voluntarily providing us with any personal data for the marketing of our financial services. Consumers are always free to decide not to provide us with any personal data, and all our financial consultants are taught never to pressure anyone into providing us with any personal data.

We view Mr Tang's feedback seriously and are in the midst of conducting an internal investigation into the matter. Upon completion of the investigation, we will take the appropriate action against the parties involved to ensure that the professionalism and ethics of our distribution force remain at a consistently high standard.

Patrick Teow

Chief Distribution Officer

Prudential Assurance Company Singapore

Clivebenss SG

WE REFER to Monday's Forum Online letter, "Don't kill the passion to volunteer" by Mr Tan Tiong Heng.

We have contacted Mr Tan and apologised to him for his unpleasant experience as a first time e-filing volunteer.

We are also sorry for the miscommunication about the award and the delay in sending the certificate of appreciation to him. Mr Tan has since received his certificate of appreciation.

We have also counselled our officers to be more helpful to our volunteers at Fuchun Community Club.

We would like to take this opportunity to share that the Volunteer e-Filing Service (VES) is a joint community project by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) and CitizenConnect centres at the community clubs that started in 2005.

Volunteers, including those from schools, non-profit organisations, community groups and active volunteers, participate in VES to help the less IT-savvy taxpayers to e-file.

Iras organises hands-on e-filing training sessions for the volunteers and equips them with basic income tax information before they commence their volunteering sessions at the CitizenConnect centres.

E-filing has been made simple and easy for taxpayers as most of the income and tax relief claims have already been pre-filled for them.

Hence, volunteers usually need only help taxpayers navigate the e-filing system and file their tax returns via the Internet. Tax queries that are more complex are directly channelled to Iras to handle.

We thank Mr Tan for his feedback, which will help us improve the VES and enhance the experience of our volunteers going forward.

Deanna Choo (Ms)

Director (Corporate Communications)

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore

Ooi Hui Mei (Ms)

Director (Corporate Communications)

People's Association