AIBU to let charity workers talk for 5 mins before telling them no?

[margiemoo]

Charity workers regularly knock on my door asking for direct debits to be set up for their charities and they always speak for about 5 minutes before telling you what they want and giving you the chance to turn them down.
They obviously do this to make you feel bad and feel as though you really should sign up since you have let them talk for so long when you're actually not even interested and they always tell you your neighbours have been shockingly supportive and have all signed up as well.
I don't want to be super rude and shut the door in their face but I don't want to sign up either or let them waste their time.
Can anyone think of a way to politely decline the invitation to set up a direct debit when they're only 9 seconds into their long speech and haven't asked for anything yet?
Has anyone ever signed up for a direct debit with a charity who knocked on their door?

yamadori and why do you think people who work for charities shouldn't get paid, exactly?

Where I live (New York) door to door solicitors of any type are required to obtain a municipal license and carry an associated photo ID. None of them bother.

We still get the religious people who want to leave literature and invite you to their church, but very infrequently. I just tell them that I'm already on the parish vestry and am therefore already spoken for.

When I see some is from one of these thing I don't give them a chance to say anything. As soon as they open their mouths to start their little speech I cut them off by telling them if they'll looking for people to sign up at the door, I don't do it.

I'm not rude to them, but I'm not prepared to stand their and waste my time listen to them waffle on.

Just to clarify, when I said that none of them bother I meant that they don't bother to get the license and they're not willing to be arrested over not having one. In 15 years at the same address I've never seen a single one.

bigslice

I had a very similar "interview". Was fresh out of uni and desperate for a job. But once I worked out what that particular job entailed, I realised I wasn't that desperate!

The guy who took me on his rounds was an utter arse. He targeted a huge block of flats in a poor area of town, mostly full of older people or families struggling to make ends meet. He turned on the charm and did manage to convince (manipulate) some to sign up.

He also went into people's flats (despite telling me that it was against the rules!) and made me stay outside for "insurance reasons" - it was winter and getting cold and dark by 4pm, and he made me stand out in dark stairwells/corridors by myself. It was horrible.

I got the job. I also told them to stick it.

If I open the door to find someone wearing a lanyard and holding a clipboard, then I say straight away that I don’t sign up to direct debits on the doorstep.

There’s no point in wasting both of our time when I have no intention of giving out any of my financial information to cold callers.

Same with chuggers. I say that I don’t sign up to direct debits on the street and just keep walking.

We have a sign on our door but they always say that doesn't apply to them as they're a charity so we're replacing it to make sure it says no charity callers either. Would never sign up to them after overhearing one neighbour's card details being phoned in in the middle of a busy street.

I've lived here 4 years and never had a single cold caller. We are pretty rural though. I can't believe you let them start their spiel, it would drive me completely batty. Either don't answer the door or tell them to go away, politely or not, it's up to you.