To feel a bit harassed by charity worker

Oh now I've read this thread and know who they are I'm going to get very shouty next time they approach me - they are there pretty much all the time at Farringdon 😡

I got hassled by collectors for a similar looking CIC on Oxford Street a few months ago. I was early to meet a friend and in the time I was waiting for her I felt really intimidated by the collectors who repeatedly hassled me.

In the end I got quite vocal about wanting to be left alone, tweeted about it linking them in and emailed the CIC's info page. I didn't hear back but it made me feel much better!

I just shout at these guys now. I don’t even care about making a scene. I literally yell STOP FOLLOWING ME! I SAID NO, NOW LEAVE ME ALONE.

Usually works.

If it’s not a charity are they even allowed to collect on the street? Don’t they have to apply for a licence? ( sorry only know the rules in another country I lived in)
OP is it worth getting an attack alarm and keeping it on your wrist or bag strap. If you’re ever harassed again at least the nouse would drown them out.

Any charity which sends people out to demand donations on the street doesn't get anything from me, ever.

Report them, he sounds awful.

I just called the number on the website. Random bloke answered. No ‘Hello. Uplifterz’ or anything. We should all be calling him!!

Chuggers are a menace. I think all street collectors are immoral and I think all charities that collude in it are terrible. However, this sounds actually illegal, not just terrible. Can't you tell the BTP you've been mugged on the platform? I mean, it really sounds like you have.

I googled it..it’s not a registered charity. He obtained your money by falsely representing it and he harassed you. I would phone the railway police and report it. Come back and let us know how you got on,

Report this to your bank please.

By the look of it, this outfit isn’t actually a charity at all. It bills itself as a community interest company which is not the same thing.

What they offer appears quite nebulous: a lot of vague babble about mentoring and empowerment but no real detail of how individuals can avail of it. There’s also no face to this organisation either.

The whole thing stinks. I’m sorry this happened to you.

My 17 year old son was at Farringdon today and I just asked if he was approached and he said yes and that the guy was aggressive so he just kept walking. Seems like someone needs to report this so they can be moved on. Wish I'd taken more notice of what he looked like now.

The other thing that occurs to me is who do they bank with? If they are acting with potential criminal practices reporting it to your bank might be worth it anyway even if they refuse to reimburse you because it may flag their bank account as carrying out criminal activities. Banks are increasingly wary of this type of thing.

@girlofsandwich my husband was caught out by a locksmith too and he’s absolutely not the type you’d imagine to be ‘vulnerable’ in any way, shape or form. It really shook him up.

I felt so sorry for you reading that (and PPs dad with dementia and very sorry for OP too) I don’t understand how locksmiths and predatory fundraisers of the CIC type get away with it. It’s really appalling and there should be much tighter regulation

Agree with previous posters saying get loud - scream ‘help, I’m being mugged’

Was this at Farringdon? I've been approached by a pushy bloke twice there over the last few weeks (I've been there twice so it's a 100% strike rate!) and been irritated by the pushy attitide. It's either one rogue guy or a policy decision by the charity to have this up-front attitude.

And actually doing some digging it could be classed as conspiracy to defraud

Regulation 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 ('the Regulations') prohibits aggressive commercial practices that would 'intimidate or exploit consumers, restricting their ability to make free or informed choices.' In order for an aggressive practice to be unfair it must cause, or be likely to cause, the average consumer to take a different transactional decision. This subjectively drafted regulation is wide ranging in scope and creates significant risks for businesses who find themselves facing investigation or potential prosecution by Trading Standards for what they considered to be simply enthusiastic practices and showing passion for their products. Consideration of recent cases goes to further demonstrate the potentially severe implications of business' sales techniques stepping over an increasingly thin line.

In 2016 the Court of Appeal considered the case of R v Waters[1] and found that customers being 'bombarded with sales calls and pressurised' amounted to aggressive sales techniques. The court, found that, in determining whether sales were 'aggressive' the commercial practices of the company had to be looked at on the specific facts of each case. The case was prosecuted by Trading Standards and involved the sale of products to customers with mobility needs. The finding of the court clearly emphasised the subjective approach to the Regulations and the need for companies to carefully consider and refine their sales tactics in light of their individual customers.

The case of R v Anas Ahmed[2] involved the sale of airline tickets through a 'sub-agent' company, whose sales were conducted by telephone and email. The case was prosecuted by Harrow and Brent Council Trading Standards department, for offences under the Consumer Protection Regulations, including the use of aggressive sales techniques. When telephone conversations took place with customers who sought to seek a refund for their airline ticket there was deemed to be a 'shift in the tone and mood of the staff who they were speaking to' and that there was often nobody available to speak to. The case highlighted that not only the words used by a salesperson, but the demeanour and manner in which consumers are spoken to may amount to aggressive sales, which, in the present case led to a prison sentence being imposed.

The sales tactics of a Cardiff based building business were recently viewed as intimidating elderly and vulnerable people who felt forced into having work carried out[3]. The tactics of the builders was investigated over a two year period by Trading Standards' 'Scambusters' department. The use of 'deliberate, consistent and cold blooded' techniques to customers, led to prosecutions and eventual prison sentences for conspiracy to defraud, as well as offences under the Consumer Protection Regulations.

https://www.jmw.co.uk/services-for-business/business-crime/blog/aggressive-sales-techniques-trading-standards-investigations

Intimidating money out of someone and physically not allowing them to leave is absolutely not legal, whether it is fraudulent or not (pretending or misleading people into thinking they're donating to a worthy organisation, whether a charity or a CIC is fraudulent though!)...

Absolutely report to bank/card..
TFL - local authority - police.

And I'd take a whistle next time and blow the fucking thing in their face if they come within a few feet of you. Aztec death whistle would do the trick nicely.

He's a chugger. Gets a big cut of that. Report him.

Sorry OP it's such a horrible feeling when you know you've been taken advantage of. Same happened to me when I was scammed by a "locksmith" this year, it's very hard to put your foot down when you're feeling vulnerable and they are so intimidating you'd do anything to get away. I had to borrow money from family to get through the month and I was mortified! But talking about it made me feel better as loads of people have been caught on the hop and been done over.

Good advice on the thread but don't beat yourself up over it. They know exactly what they're doing and you'll only be more aware and diligent going forward. Hopefully you get your money back and if not it's a relatively inexpensive learning moment, even though I know it doesn't seem like that now!

If it was done under duress using practices which were unlawful such as high pressure sales then it's still something you could challenge because it would still be a problem.

The transaction wasn't fraudulent though. OP was pestered for a donation to a knife crime charity and gave one.

Unlikely a bank would reverse a charge for buyer's remorse.

Chuggers should absolutely be banned from soliciting donations in the street though.

I'm sorry you felt so intimidated if your ever in this situation again cause a massive scene, they will back down if everyone is watching them.

Chuggers! Hate them. My elderly dad with dementia keeps getting caught out by them & keeps getting signed up to direct debits.

Report to the charity & owner of the location eg sounds like it was a railway station. Some towns have banned them due to complaints.

Name & shame the following charities have taken advantage of a frail, elderly person with dementia: Save the children, cancer research, MacMillan cancer, Great Ormond Street charity. Chuggers are thieves.