Chuggers - when will charities ever learn!!!!

Herbalus

Ignoring them is an art.

It takes a while to override the natural inclination to make eye contact or respond when somebody talks to you, but once you've mastered it you can walk around town unencumbered by their requests and hindrances.

There shouldn't be a need to have an excuse like "no bank account mate" and I shouldn't have to explain my refusal to engage with a clever line. Avoid eye contact, don't react, and walk past.

Herbalus

And for what it's worth, telling customers that their money is going to save Tony Polar Bear without disclosing their commission incentives is quite frankly the epitome of mis-selling.

Malthusian

Me too. I told the guy it was a stupid decision by the charity.
I think lots of people would have chucked change in a bucket/tin.

You and others wondering why you couldn't make a one-off donation have missed the point. They wouldn't get any commission from one-off donations.

Probably a good thing that they refused, as if they'd accepted it it would have either gone straight into their pockets or, if they weren't that unscrupulous, chucked into the nearest fountain. They're not going to go to the bother of transferring a few quid in shrapnel to the charity.

Pollycat

Malthusian wrote: »

You and others wondering why you couldn't make a one-off donation have missed the point. They wouldn't get any commission from one-off donations.

Probably a good thing that they refused, as if they'd accepted it it would have either gone straight into their pockets or, if they weren't that unscrupulous, chucked into the nearest fountain. They're not going to go to the bother of transferring a few quid in shrapnel to the charity.

I didn't miss the point at all.
It was merely an observation that I would have donated a bit of small change if that had been an option.
I had no intention of commiting to a direct debit.

The person I was referring to - and probably the same for libra10 - wasn't your run-of-the-mill chugger who wears a different vest every week and clogs up the high street with his cohorts.

It wasn't a case of the person refusing a donation.
I asked if they had a collecting tin.
They said 'no'.
End of conversation.

Bobcrowther

Chuggers on my high Street today were wearing jackets that said "try avoiding the main causes of heart disease" (or similar) on the back.
Felt like that was basically winding up those who try to avoid the chuggers, pretty nasty.
My path remained fixed, I will not alter my course to avoid these clowns and if they have any sense they won't impede me.

hollydays

Bobcrowther wrote: »

Chuggers on my high Street today were wearing jackets that said "try avoiding the main causes of heart disease" (or similar) on the back.
Felt like that was basically winding up those who try to avoid the chuggers, pretty nasty.
My path remained fixed, I will not alter my course to avoid these clowns and if they have any sense they won't impede me.

Im not really sure what you mean by your first two sentences .

Hermione_Granger

hollydays wrote: »

Im not really sure what you mean by your first two sentences .

It means that Bobcrowther thinks that the comments on the chugger's jackets ("try avoiding the main causes of heart disease") was a dig at members of the public who try to avoid the chuggers themselves.
I agree with his interpretation.

Pollycat

Bobcrowther wrote: »

Chuggers on my high Street today were wearing jackets that said "try avoiding the main causes of heart disease" (or similar) on the back.
Felt like that was basically winding up those who try to avoid the chuggers, pretty nasty.
My path remained fixed, I will not alter my course to avoid these clowns and if they have any sense they won't impede me.

I wonder if the tabards had been supplied by the charity (BHF?) or the agency that BHF employ to supply the chuggers?

Malthusian

I didn't miss the point at all.

You missed the point of why the chugger was standing there. You thought the point was to raise money for the charity and therefore it was odd that they wouldn't accept a one-off donation. It's not, the point is to get people's bank details and phone number so they can milk them for every penny they can spare (and every penny they can't), for which they get commission.

For the same reason it's a mistake to say "don't they realise that this annoys people and causes them to cancel their donations". They couldn't care less if people like you or I cancel their £2 a month or stop donating a few quid every so often when they can bully some old or vulnerable person into increasing their DD to £10 or £20 a month or more. That's where the big bucks are. People chucking change in a bucket is small-time stuff.

msallen

I've had a rule for years now that I never give anything to any charity that asks me (directly I mean - I don't include general advertising). That applies to chuggers, spam, junk mail, telesales etc.