Dallas woman claims Census worker harassed her

DALLAS, TX (KTRK) -- A Dallas woman is outraged after she claims one U.S. Census worker showed up at her door for a housing survey and would not take 'no' for an answer.

The woman says the Census sent her several letters and then started knocking at her door.

Sonia Platz tells a Dallas TV station she verbally declined to do the survey with one worker when another showed up at her house later in the week. However, that worker would not accept her rejection.

Platz said when the woman showed up at her house, she rang the door bell, knocked on the door and then camped out in her yard for a half hour after Platz said she didn't want to take the survey. Platz says the worker repeatedly came to her door to see if she'd changed her mind.

Platz told a station in Dallas, "That is a whole, other level. That's not following up. I felt like she a part of the mob. I was just telling her to please leave, we've declined participation. ... Some people were stunned. Some people couldn't believe it. They were kind of shocked like, 'that can't be a true government Census Bureau worker'."

However, as the local station reported, she was a real federal Census worker. A supervisor told the station employees are encouraged to be "pleasantly persistent" - and never take "no" for an answer at first.

Platz says it's not a good look for a government agency that survives on voluntary participation, the local station reports. She said she hopes the Census Bureau has finally gotten the message.

She said, "No, no thank you!"