AIBU to hate these people knocking on my door?

Chuggers is what they are - charity muggers - I hate them and tell them to their face to piss off and if they pester me again I'll be calling the police.

They think they have the "right" to demand donations but they're just pests who should be banned by law from doorstep muggings.

Like all those religious freaks banging on doors demanding attention, as an Atheist I tell them to piss off too!

A polite no thank you and just shut the door.

I just shut the door in their faces.

There is a clear and explicit sign which says no cold callers, doorstep sales, charity collectors etc and if they ignore it, well, then I owe them no politeness.

This is why they get lovely young people to do the chugging for them.

I just tell them that I support charities that I choose.
I agree they are a pain. We had one earlier in the year who was quite rude when I said I didn’t have the funds to support more than those I already do (I have direct debits to 3 charities monthly). She looked around at our vehicles and horse box before turning on her heel and leaving.
Frankly it should be banned.

Posters saying they have stickers but if anyone does knock they just point to it are just proving my point!

If youve ever had people force their way into your home when you were alone (and I have) then it makes you feel negative and suspicious against anyone who knocks. Its upto them to prove their legitimacy. I now have CCTV all around the house plus a ring doorbell. The lights come on as soon as anyone walks along the path to my door. There is an intimidating notice warning off all but people with appointments. No political/religious/sales/collections or unsolicited callers. Delivery services have an implied appointment as I sent for the goods.

When the bell goes I check them out. Occasionally its an unexpected health visitor from my GP surgery to do a blood test or give me a jab. I can usually recognise them on sight. Anyone else not holding a parcel to deliver gets told in my terse voice that "I dont buy at the door. Try another house" and I dont engage further. I can answer the door from my phone, tablet, smart TV or computer snug and warm while they stand there in the cold and wet. If someone wants to argue I can turrn on on the alarm and then they wont be able to hear themselves think.

Many years ago, we signed up to a 'family magazine' charity club whereby you paid £5 every so often (it seemed to vary as to the frequency) when the man turned up at your door. The 'magazine' was a very small pamphlet - maybe 16 A5 pages at most - filled with rubbish word searches, generic boring content, hilariously obvious 'tips' and a write-up about the charity that it was all 'in aid of'. Except for Christmas and the summer, when they were double-price 'double issues', which curiously contained no additional pages to the normal ones.

We foolishly assumed that the man was selling the magazine on behalf of the charity, who would thus receive the vast majority of the money after publishing and printing costs, with a small proportion paid to the distributors. Until one time when we were bored enough to actually bother looking at the magazine, instead of just dropping it in the recycling after paying for and receiving it - and we discovered that it was a business enterprise, with the publishers and collectors getting the vast majority of the proceeds, with something like about 2.5% of them 'donated' to the charity!

We cancelled it from the next time he turned up, ignoring his "But the charity!?!" protests. That said, charity Christmas cards are mostly the same: where shops sell them at a premium price and people choose them over cheaper ones 'for the charity' - yet it's often shocking how tiny a percentage of the sale price the charities usually end up getting, when most customers will naturally be led to assume that most of what they pay will go to the charities, with the shop taking a very small commission - not most of the profit.

Exactly this. If they ask me why I say “personal choice” and close the door.

I do think that using chuggers is a very bad PR move for any charity. A lot of people who otherwise would have given will deliberately avoid giving to a charity - even directly, not involving the chuggers - when they learn that the charity does use chuggers.

They neither want to do anything that could be seen to endorse the practice, nor to give to a charity that merrily gives away a large chunk of their donated money to third parties.

Many of the big charities have become so arrogant, bloated and dismissive of the ordinary everyday people who actually give and keep them going, using chuggers does mark them out as being much less trustworthy and reputable in many people's eyes. They just rely on snaring the people who don't think about it too much, or don't really understand how it all works.

As a bit of a side-note, I've seen occasions where third-party 'fundraising' businesses, or even the charities themselves, cite Gift Aid as a 'justification' of giving away money with deceitful assurances that "100% of your donation goes to the charity".

It's often framed as mysterious extra money that comes from literally nowhere. In reality, it's an expected, planned valuable boost to what they receive - which would be available for an extra 25% thoroughly good charitable purposes if used wisely and not just seen as disposable. Also, if you want to be ultra hardline about it, technically, taxes given to charities by the government by way of Gift Aid must result in a loss of public spending and services somewhere, so we all pay in that sense - that money hasn't magically dropped from the sky.

If it’s a charity I tell them that I already give to the causes most important to me (none of whom do doorstop sign ups, or not that I’ve ever experienced anyway). Religious people get told I’m a humanist and I respect their opinions but won’t change my views and don’t want to waste their time. Anybody else gets a firm but kind “no thank you” and the door closed. DH on the other hand is a bloody liability - signed us up to some mad weekly biscuits thing because he couldn’t say no!

I always offer them a couple of quid. In cash. Then of course they refuse and go into their spiel about direct debits, blah blah, and I say ‘no direct debits, bye’.

That way they are forced to refuse my actual donation in cash, cash that I would have happily given them. Chugging is a stupid way to get money for charity.

should be illegal IMO

all it does is to pressure people who are uncomfortable saying no. Absolutely disgusting.

Sign up on door “No cold callers”
Stops most of them

If they still knock, just say you already donate to charities you chose.

Even more so if you replace 'toddler' with 'pet tiger'

The charity probably won't get a penny of what you send for that 6 months. :(

No matter how lovely the chuggers are, you are being conned.

I used to work for a charity who used chuggers, I freakin' hate them. They give a bad name to the charities who use them.

We’re getting loads of them at the moment too.

I always just say “sorry I’m feeding my toddler” and they soon rush off

Why do you try to make up excuses for them? You don't need to. It's absolutely fine to say something like "I have my charity giving sorted out, thanks, and I'm not going to add to the list". If they won't take no for an answer, tell them you have to go and close the door.

Not that you owe them any explanation at all, but I always find it better to say "It's not in my budget" rather than "I can't afford it" whenever anybody is trying to cajole you into giving money - especially if it isn't a stranger on the doorstep but a colleague whom you have to see every day.

If you tell them you can't afford it, they'll often see that as a challenge for them to 'help' you to find a way - and they'll probably come out with the old chestnut of 'if you just bought one fewer coffee out each month' or taking your own sandwiches into work instead of buying them etc.

'Not in my budget' is suitably vague, more dignified and empowering, puts you more in a position of strength and can be repeated ad infinitum until the askers eventually get the message that it's most definitely a No and then give up. It can also equally mean that you are skint and simply could never dream of affording it, you're channelling Phoebe from Friends in saying "I wish I could... but I don't want to!" or anything in between!

You're lucky.
Round my way they all ignore that, feign ignorance, and then get highly offended when I say I don't do business transactions at the door.

These people hang around in supermarkets too. It pisses me off no end.

However as soon as they start their spiel I always say, " If this is about signing up to a direct debit the answer is no." That stops them in their tracks.

No need for rudeness. Just say you already donate to charities of your choice and can't afford to donate to anymore.

One problem is that, quaint as it is, a lot of younger callers wouldn't actually know what the words 'hawkers' or 'circulars' actually mean... or, if they do, they might claim that they don't, considering they aren't nearly as commonly used nowadays as 'salespeople' or 'leaflets/flyers'.

Also, although they are essentially salespeople working on a commission basis, many chuggers would argue (might even actually believe it themselves) that they are fundraisers, charity collectors or similar - thus even if the sign did say 'no salespeople', many would still knock in hope and/or ignorance.

OP, as soon as they start their spiel, just say, “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested” and close the door. The end.

I used to be oh so kind and answer and at least say “oh, I’m sorry, not now, I’m working/ cooking dinner/ can’t control the overexcitable dog.”

Now I just look on the doorbell and say no via that.

I don’t think the people who come are bad people, but I do resent being pestered in my own home. I would never buy anything from a doorstep chugger or vendor. Goods and services are 99 times out of 100 a scam, and charities, well, I pick my charities and donate to them monthly.

I feel absolutely no shame in saying a flat no to these people. Single parent, not enough money to go round. It’s depressing this is still worthwhile for chairities. You’d hope they would get better returns from corporate bodies looking to morality wash their profits …

I'm sure it's not many people's idea of a dream job; but... the same as - as you say - it can be dangerous if people try to get them in their houses (I'm guessing most people are just trying to be 'hospitable' or 'polite', or are terribly lonely and want a chat, but obviously some could indeed be very dangerous), for all some of the householders know, THEY could also be dangerous to them.

If somebody knocks on your door unexpected, you have no idea if they're going to be very much wanted, helpful, irritating but easy enough to get rid of or downright dangerous - physically, high-pressure or seeking to outright scam you.

Even if it's a friendly-looking petite woman who knocks, you have no way of knowing that she doesn't have a couple of big burly blokes with her, hiding off to the side, waiting to force their way in as soon as she gives them the signal that a woman, elderly or otherwise vulnerable person has answered.

Also, I'm sure your DD has always been polite to people; but a lot of these chuggers equally quite happily treat their targets like absolute shit too.