November 23, 2012

privacy and vulture circling young estate agents


Daisy is 65, recently retired, and is distressed by the number of personally addressed letters from young estate agents being stuffed into her letterbox every week, begging her to sell her house, and she feels like the vultures are circling the oldies, impatient to pick their pockets and she blames slack government privacy regulations for her plight.

"I realize, of course, that they are just drumming up business and the 'interested parties' they rave on about are non-existent, otherwise these people would contact me directly and cut the agent of his commission," says Daisy, "but I am distressed that these agents address their letters to me personally - where did they get my name from? – and since these letters have arrived thick and fast since I retired, I am particularly suspicious, believing that they are targeting retirees - but how do they know I am retired, where are they getting this information from?"

"I am angry, too, that they disguise these letters by using handwritten envelopes without any indication of the sender, forcing me to open the letter just to see who it is from," says Daisy. "How cunning is that?"

"Right now, I don’t know whether all recently retired people are being harassed by estate agents, or whether it's just happening to those of us who own a house, or those who live in my particular area," says Daisy. "It is so incredibly distressing because they must also know that I live alone, and not getting a response from me may resort to urban terrorism to scare me into wanting to sell up and move to a safer place."

"Dammit, I've only just retired!" says Daisy. "For the first time in my life I have lots of time to devote to decorating and gardening - and generally enjoying my space - and now the vultures are circling."

"I have absolutely no plans whatsoever for selling up and moving until I'm on my last legs," explains Daisy. "This house is not just my home but my insurance policy that when my time comes I will have the funds to pay for good aged care."

"I realize, too, that the government may be behind all this," says Daisy. "From census data the officials find out how old you are and how many bedrooms you have, and because they want to save on infrastructure by stuffing as many people as possible in existing well-serviced suburbs, they may be tipping off estate agents in an effort to move out the oldies and move in the young families."

"There's absolutely no point whatsoever for me to sell up now and move - to where?" asks Daisy. "I have everything I need right here, and a nice garden, and I could linger on for another 30 years before I need nursing care."

"This vulture circling of estate agents is something I never expected," says Daisy. "Over the years I have been here I would receive a couple of calling cards from established estate agents every year - if you're interested in selling please call us - but personally addressed handwritten letters, never, and from the names of these agents you can tell they are young things, barely out of school."

“Cheeky young vultures!”









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