national Trust deceptive gift aid tactic and hard sell.

prowla

I've found the NT people very pushy; we would buy annual membership on occasion, but they always tried to insist on the direct debit, which I would refuse.

The prices for visiting one of their parks for a walk are very high, and we generally only go these days if there is a freebie.

When we do go, we often have a tea & cake there, and their prices are quite high but the food is generally good quality.

vikingaero

[QUOTE=hybernia;56813651
We've just cancelled this year's subscription renewal. Emotional blackmail is bad enough when it comes to charities devoted to the lives of human beings and animals. But being put on the spot about please please help us with this medieval building that we charge £18 for two people to have a look at. . . is nauseating.

The NT should charge what it thinks it needs to operate efficiently, and scrap all the sharp-practice begging bowl stuff now.[/QUOTE]

Hyberia,

My view is that if an organisation or charity wishes to adopt the sharp practices and borderline morality of commercial organisations then they and those who work for them should be aware of the fallout. Tell them why you disagree and don't worry about being rude about it. Those on the frontline may not deserve it but the message needs to be reinforced higher up the chain.

Charities that utilise commercial tactics and chuggery thuggery may gain in the short term but they will do untold damage in the long term. We may think of the National Trust as a wonderful conservation body in 2012, but in 2022 they may have alienated a large proportion of the public who will rightfully compare them the the worst companies in the commercial world.

Red_Cat

I came across this practice with the NT when I visited Breatrix Potter's house in the Lake District whilst on holiday this year. The pricing was clear, but it puzzled me as to why I would have to pay more to permit gift aid to be applied.

Anyway, not to defend any sharp practices, but the NT staff are sometimes volunteers, who perhaps are not as well trained as their employed counterparts.

zagfles

It's worth paying the extra 10% for gift-aided admissions if you are either a higher rate taxpayer or you claim tax credits, as you'll make savings much greater than 10% in reduced tax/extra tax credits.

Also for the NT you can join the New Zealand NT for a much lower price apparently, and that gives you admission to the UK sites https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4026015

roddydogs

hubb wrote: »

Have you read my post ? I said they charged me the gift aid price without me knowing and didn't tell me the real price.

In other words, you didnt read the prices which are adequately
displayed. Hampton Court Palace is the same, we just said "2 OAPs, no gift aid." thanks.............. no problem.

Altarf

This isn't just a NT issue, but can be an issue at any place that operates gift aid.

The person offering admission is not permitted to apply gift aid to the standard price, since that is not a "gift". There must be a gift of at least 10% greater than the standard price (and the gift aid then applies to the whole amount).

The other alternative is that gift aid is available on annual memberships, so some place (like Eden) will offer you an annual membership for the same price as entry for the day if you gift aid.

So whenever and wherever you are asked "do you want to gift aid", unless you are getting an annual ticket, you will be "donating" 10% more than the standard price.

http://www.museumsassociation.org/publications/12098

tgon

Seems NT havnt changed much. I cancelled my membership many years ago after feeling pressured to make additional donations and making changes in my will that favours them. I didnt. Such a shame as NT are, in principal, a worthwhile charity.

qetu1357

tgon wrote: »

Seems NT havnt changed much. I cancelled my membership many years ago after feeling pressured to make additional donations and making changes in my will that favours them. I didnt. Such a shame as NT are, in principal, a worthwhile charity.

To those who are saying the NT are unethical, frankly you are talking rubbish.

If you don't want to give a donation, say so and say if you don't want to be asked again.

If you don't want to pay the GA admission say so.

If the NT didn't get additional donations and legacies they would have to charge more for admission.

If they didn't get Gift Aid they would have to charge more for admission.

Rotor

qetu1357 wrote: »

To those who are saying the NT are unethical, frankly you are talking rubbish.

If you don't want to give a donation, say so and say if you don't want to be asked again.

If you don't want to pay the GA admission say so.

If the NT didn't get additional donations and legacies they would have to charge more for admission.

If they didn't get Gift Aid they would have to charge more for admission.

I think you are missing the point ! You can't make a decision if you arn't made aware of the choice.
The fact that they would have to charge more for admission if they didn't charge you more for admission is moot

sniggings

Just looking a job vacancies for the NT I can understand why the guy tricked you, they expect ALL their staff to be sales people and up sell to customers, they have very tough sales targets to reach, the few job vacancies I viewed sounded more like an ad for a dodgy double grazing salesman than a tour guide.

It really put me off applying, as I don't agree with signing up to achieving set targets on sales as part of your job description as it leads to this kind of thing and a bad experience for the customer.