to NOT want people knocking on my door asking for money at 8.15pm?

[MarkStretch]

I am in my own bloody house, my two year old DS is asleep in bed and someone collecting for a charity knocks on my door asking me to sign up to a direct debit to give money on a monthly basis.

I had another one knock on my door this evening whilst we were eating dinner asking me to do the same thing but for a different charity.

GO AWAY!

P.S. I do give money to charity, in fact I am doing the starlight walk in June to raise money for MacMillan, it just annoys me that they hassle me in my own house while I am wearing pyjamas.

I hate it - but legally they are allowed to knock on your door up until 9pm - provided you are not in a 'no cold callers' area - although I'm in one of those and it makes no bloody difference

We've just had this tonight too, around the same time coincidently. Wanted some envelope they had apparently posted the other day. Couldn't find it. Then feel guilt tripped into giving them some money.

Hate it. TBH I don't like unsolicited callers that late in the evenng anyway.

Laminated signs

I like my windows and doors the way they are - so don't bother knocking
The car hides the drive most of the time - don't bother knocking
I can't afford any electric or gas so no point knocking
I like Jane where she is down the road - no loft conversion needed
Please leave a donation through the letter box as conffesion is in progress
I have to many dusters and tea towels ta muchly

YANBU its a bit late.

They can be too pushy as well. I was stopped by a shelter one and I said sorry can't afford it. They said don't be selfish people are homeless. I answered yes so am I (I was at the time not being facetious) I genuinely did not have any spare money. I am not against the principle of giving to charity but you can't give what you don't have. That's just a fact of life.

It's not the "lateness" that bothers me (when was 8:15 late?! )

It's the knocking at all that gets my goat

YABU to assume that the people knocking on your doors are being paid, and that 'your donations pay their wages,' as has been mentioned above.

For example, it's ChristianAid Week this week, and a lot of people voluntarily give up thier free time to give out/collect envelopes and complete a mamouth count of donations.

I agree that it's frustrating if people coming knocking when its late/the kids are in bed/you're sitting on the sofa watching Jeremy Kyle with a large treat bag of Malteasers, but sometimes people are just trying to do their bit for the less fortunate.
Noone is offended if you politely tell them that you don't wish to donate!

Pachalbel, I have to disagree. Some of them (not all) can be very nasty when you tell them (even politely) that you don't wish to donate. I won't donate on the doorstep, but I do have some dds set up, but when they knock (luckily not so often here now), I start off polite and see their reaction. I can now be fairly abupt if needs be, but I always hope it doesn't come to that.

Speaking as someone who's been out collecting door to door for Christian Aid this week, I'm sorry that so many people are annoyed by this, but all you have to do is say 'no thanks' (or, as in the case of the very un-busy looking woman in the enourmous house said 'I'm too busy') and I'll go away again. I call between 7pm and 8pm, and I'm not signing people up for direct debits. And no, I don't get a cut.

Sonearsofar- how could she look busy, she was opening the door to you?! And did you make the assumption that because she lived in 'an enormous house' that she should be making a donation to you?!

YANBU OP. You can't even go to the supermarket or walk down the street nowadays without being hassled. I certainly don't want people coming to my door ask well.

I donate to charity (by dd) and ALREADY give what I can afford.

sonearsofar- what has the size of the woman's house got to do with anything? Why should the fact she lives in a big house mean she should donate to you?

I'm getting one of these

Bloody hell - knocking on your door at 8.15!

How very rude.

Changed my mind this one is better

This has happened twice this week. One came at 7.30pm and the other at 8pm, we'd just got the baby to sleep and were eating dinner. To say DH and I were unimpressed is an understatement. I don't like people coming to my door to ask for money or sell me dishcloths. We're goingto put a sign up.

We had someone knocking quite late the other week - some charity or other. Not acceptable.

It is Christian Aid week this week though so many people are giving up their free time to post envelopes then come back and collect them (and then be told the people never received envelopes when you know they did because you posted it yourself, I prefer it when people just say i don't want to donate/it got lost/i binned it). I think you have to remember that Christian Aid collectors often work as well so 8pm is not unreasonable really. However people collecting as a once a year thing for Christian Aid usually aren't pushy if you say no thanks, I have done it before and you just smile and say thanks. People who are paid to collect direct debit details can be more pushy but at the end of the day they are just doing a job, ignore the door if you don't want to speak to anyone.

It wasn't Christian Aid knocking on my door it was Macmillan Cancer Research.

re my judgement on mean woman in big house, well, you'll just have to take my word for it, and, yes, I don't think it would have hurt her to have put something in. If that makes me a bad person, so be it.

Firstly, I support numerous charities, some, such as the Meningitis Research Foundation and Great Ormond Street Hospital Childrens Charity, which are pertinent to our family, I support by sponsoredly walking slowly in crap fancy dress doing races, charidee nights etc, whereas others I donate via websites, mopay, shops etc. What I will not do however, ever ever, is give my bank details to some student in a tabard.

"Chuggers" are paid. Between £8 - £16 per hour, I believe. I cancelled my NSPCC DD because of their use of chuggers. I told them that if they could afford to pay a team of 6 chuggers on the high street, then my tenner a month wasn't needed.

Had a chugger doorstep me at about 8pm a couple of months ago (only just moved, not got round to putting up "doorsteppers will be boiled in oil and fed to hamsters" laminates yet), and I POLITELY said "sorry but no, have a good evening goodbye", and chugger demands to know "WHY?"
"Because I don't support animal charities, sorry"
"Can I ask WHY?"
"Because I don't have much money, so I give to charities that mean something to me, have a lovely weekend."
Close door on scowling chugger.

I desperately wanted to say "Because your charity is a bunch of cock who had me overnight a wild duck in my bathtub at the height of the bird flu epidemic because none of you could be bothered to come out and get the fucking thing and anyway the neighbours' cats are a load of dirty pissy bastards"
But I didn't.

I live abroad so when I get chugged in the UK, I smile sweetly and say either I live overseas so my bank doesn't do UK D/Ds, or, I already have a D/D for you thanks.

lalabaloo - sorry but it annoys me intensely when people put things through the letterbox, then expect them back!

Our hosue is way too cluttered and messy as it is without me holding onto envelopes/bags for clothes on the offchance that they may come back for them.

I never ever ever give to any charity who knocks at my door - I resent the intrusion (and the bullying tactics some of them try to pull off). I've got a notice on my door to this effect which deters some of them - but the behaviour of others (cough RSPCA cough) is absolutely ridiculous in terms of shouting what borders on abuse in response to a polite "sorry but no". I quite often look out of the window (and I don't give a flying fuck if they see me doing it) and then make a point of ignoring the door.

It's my home - it's not a double glazing showroom, branch of Bettaware/Avon/whatever else, offshoot of the Labour/Lib Dem party (who seem to be staging a tit-for-tat battle of World War 3 proportions via leaflet drops slagging each other off around here at the moment), or outreach branch for charity fundraising... I REALLY REALLY REALLY get annoyed at it being viewed as such.

If I want to give to a charity, I do it to the ones I choose to (and the reasons behind that are nobody's business but my own) and I'll either find a collecting tin/envelope or internet way of doing it - I'll NEVER go through a chugger and it's only if people stop giving into them that the charities will stop using them.

Worst for door knocking was when we had a tree in our back garden - lovely cherry tree, home to a family of squirrels who kept me amused while doing the washing up with their antics (and provided the cat with many hours of watching through the patio doors)... the sort of thing you want to keep IN your garden (it was far enough away to not be affecting the structure of the house)... the fucking number of dubious looking characters we had knocking at the door offering to chop it down for X amount of quid was ridiculous - starting from about March through to October it was at least 2-3 a week.

I can't bear anyone I've not invited knocking on my door to try and sell me something, preach or ask for money. I believe peoples' homes are a precious sanctuary and should be respected as such - they are not open to random members of the public. It stresses me out when I'm busy with the kids, dinner, office work or even just unwinding to be disturbed by a stranger knocking on the door.

We've put a sign on our door saying no cold callers that we bought on ebay and it does prevent most of them from knocking but we still get a few who ignore it. I just don't answer the door and even if they can see me sitting there I just stare back at them because it's my house at the end of the day and I'm not under any obligation to answer my door.

Also, my MIL is elderly and I hate the fact that despite a sign on her door, people still knock and she always answers because she worries that they can see her. She's in her eighties and I just don't think it's right.

I think cold calling should be banned.

If you answer the door/get stopped in the street the correct reply is "Oh i already donate". Or "Your mate already asked me"