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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To detest charity muggers...

127 replies

pecanpie · 13/06/2011 18:52

You know, the ones who accost you on the street for £2/month where over half goes into administration costs. I feel like I am running the gauntlet every time I walk from the tube station to work. There was even an attempt to accost me between the Royal Free Hospital and the tube station - it's not even in Central London! Even worse, I now get similar house calls. I can't escape these 'chuggers' and above all, think it's so intrusive that they come after me at home - literally like being mugged on your doorstep! Whatever happened to good old junk mail?

Should be illegal in my opinion...Anyone willing to help me mount a campaign?!

OP posts:
SugarPasteFrog · 13/06/2011 22:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Riveninside · 13/06/2011 22:22

I never get approached by chuggers. Wheelchair users are immune bwahahahahahGrin

madhousewife · 13/06/2011 22:22

DP and I got into a huge fight and he stormed out of the house. Five minutes later there was a knock at the door and assuming it was DP I threw the door open, snarled, and was shocked to see a bloody chugger standing there, (great name BTW!). He had a huge, fake grin on his face and jumped right into his spiel. Still fuming over DP and not impressed to be accosted in my own home I slammed the door in his face AND HE KEPT ON TALKING!!! Very irrational on my part, I know, but they are cheeky buggers.

microserf · 13/06/2011 22:22

i hate hate hate chuggers, with their pavement blocking friendly banter bollocks. i am excessively rude to them too - i'm not actually proud of that, i just hate being accosted in the street.

weird, as i'm a mug for anyone shaking a tin for any charity, but there you go.

befuzzled · 13/06/2011 22:24

microserf - I'm the same - I think they cross the line somehow

befuzzled · 13/06/2011 22:25

i actively think up sarcastic one-liner put downs now as I drive into the car-park - sad but I am so sick of saying "no sorry, I'm in a hurry" 38 times when I pop into town for an hour to do some shopping.

Jaspants · 13/06/2011 22:26

Yanbu at all, I have stopped my DD to 2 charities who use them. I refuse to allow our hard earned cash to be used to pay for these phoney over friendly bringers of bollocks banter....and breathe

befuzzled · 13/06/2011 22:27

ha ha ha ha I was just chanting "Chunts, chunts, chunts" under my breath too!

Deaddei · 13/06/2011 22:36

I have never been approached by a chigger.
I have even hovered round looking interested, but have never been set upon.
Maybe I look like a tight bitch or impoverished.

BrianBadonde · 13/06/2011 22:41

Anyone watch Balls of Steel on C4? I love when a Chugger approaches The Big Gay Following, gives him his lines and asks if he'd be interested in donating. TBGF asks him nonchalantly if he "Fancies a bum?" The chuggers face is a picture and its him who tries to get away. :o Can't find a clip anywhere to post a link too though.

TastesLikePanda · 13/06/2011 22:42

hehe Have just remebered the time a young and perky girl jumped in front of me with an animal charity logo plastered accross her tabard and trilled 'Do you like animals?' at me.
To which I replied with uncharacteristic wittiness 'Only with gravy' and carried on walking.

HipHopOpotomus · 13/06/2011 22:50

I just ignore them. I walk fine this high street daily - different lot everytime. Alternative wld be to engage with them daily which clearly isn't going to happen. My internal radar just fuzzes them out and I go about my lunchbreak without them.

But I agree they are very annoying and should be banned. Think they get to keep a percentage of the donations by way of payment so not a great way to donate really. Must work for the charities though?

splashymcsplash · 13/06/2011 22:55

Does anyone else find they preferential accost mothers with grams?

I'm young, and look younger - about 18 I think and pre baby times they left me alone most of the.time,though I did have a couple ask for my number..

Now the Pam just seems to be a magnet ..

splashymcsplash · 13/06/2011 22:59

Sorry should say pram am on my phone

jetmonkey · 13/06/2011 23:10

I hate being approached either on the street or at home by (almost) anyone Grin
I'm not rude though, even though I would sometimes like to be...

befuzzled · 13/06/2011 23:26

Yes! they definitely target people pushing prams - think we are soft touches. Maybe because we are slower as well. They thought wrong when it comes to me. I am getting more militant by the day.

Sadly for the animals, the ones are the worse here too and when one of them tried the "do you love cats and dogs" line on me the other day (blocking my path) I said "I don't mind cats but I can't stand dogs and if I have any money to spare it would go on babies and children, my own first and then any others, that doesn't leave anything left for you and the cats I'm afraid"

She just caried on, only x pounds a month DD, blah blah blah.

Must learn to ignore them and rise above!

Pandemoniaa · 13/06/2011 23:45

I object to running such an insistent gauntlet and am amazed that this offensive style of fund raising continues. I cannot believe that extorting money in the street from unwilling punters results in sustainable charity fundraising either. It might be that a few victims sign up in the hopes that they'll get released by the Tabarded Hordes but I'll be surprised if the direct debits continue for long.

The opening gambits never fail to amaze me too. In Brighton the other afternoon, a very large chugging girl loomed out at me, blocked my path and asked "Are You A Nice Person?". I wasn't.

Orbinator · 14/06/2011 00:27

A friend worked for one of these charities a few years ago as a student - got £8ph and was quite appalled to find out that in our County that is the same as an admin office job, which he had thought was a step up.

I feel that if they can pay that much for guilt tripping people into giving then they must have enough to halve the workforce and give that bit more...

Although I have to note that the ones here are now all female students who target men shopping on Saturdays. Turns out men are far more susceptible to the wily ways of a 19/20yr old shaking a pot and wielding a clipboard than us poker faced women :) Bless them, they get held up for 30mins and actually seem to blush at the wonder that the girl picked THEM! Gotta be a win/win for feminism, non?

Orbinator · 14/06/2011 00:29

Oh and if anyone wants to avoid being molested, I usually have my headphones in (even if they aren't actually turned on) - makes it much easier to walk past without a backwards glance Grin

yummybutterbiscuit · 14/06/2011 01:09

They stopped me and OH today, a young girl who spike to OH directly an blanking me even though he said multiple times that he was a skint student and that I had all the money. But apparently all she wanted to do was chat to OH even though I was standing right there.

In the end she suggested that he sign up and then cancel it so that she could get a sign up today... Hmm

MrsvWoolf · 14/06/2011 01:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sungirltan · 14/06/2011 01:34

Yanbu. I would go as far as to back a campaign to ban them. The british high street is struggling appaeently and im sure they dont help. They are a gauntlet here in plymouth too and spoil visits to town. Yy to the im wacky me he he

neepsntatties · 14/06/2011 02:48

They do not get commission. It's a shit job with a very high turn over.

I did it years ago, wanted to do something where I thought I was making a difference. I didn't last long. My bosses were putting constant pressure and the general public were vile. One day I just walked out.

I got thank you cards from a couple of charities because of the money I raised for them, but it was the worst job I have ever had.

Morloth · 14/06/2011 05:44

YANBU.

I once had one grab DS1's hand after I had said 'No thank you' politely.

He was only 3 or so at the time and got really scared. It took everything I had not to deck the idiot, the only reason I didn't break his nose was because DS was there. I think I scared him with my snarled 'Let go right now'.

Fuckers.

I give them the meanest look I can muster these days, seemed to work, though there are less of them around here, or perhaps it is because I am in the car more and not on foot.

sunnydelight · 14/06/2011 06:03

I thought it had been made illegal in the UK a few years back (under harassment legislation) but obviously I'm wrong! i got stopped for the first time ever here in Oz a few days ago and snarled "I hate chuggers" which stopped him in his tracks. Horribly rude I know, but when someone won't take no for an answer it's hard to be polite about it.