Chuggers/fundraisers should take your first "no" for an answer

[Parkingmoan1]

I've just been walking through the town centre on my way to catch a bus and was caught by one of those fundraising groups who accost you in the street.

As soon as she started talking to me I politely said no thank you, I don't have the time to talk and carried on walking. Instead of taking that as my final answer she chose to walk alongside me saying "I'm a fast talker" and continued her speech.

I felt a bit intimidated to be honest, she was quite loud and bolshie whereas I don't like confrontation and hate things like this.

I said I don't have any spare money, she said if I didn't want to make the one off payment to the cause (£25 bloody quid) the magazine they're selling is "only" £5.

I ended up buying the magazine just so that she'd leave me alone.

AIBU to think they should have to take your first "no" as an answer and leave you be?

I complained to my council numerous times about the ones in town basically making the high street unusable. It does seem to have improved. I would complain about their behaviour, the council gives them permission to be there.
i was late catching a train and they stood in front of me to try and stop me ‘get the next one’. I complained to the council and the charity.

I will never give money to a charity which uses these tactics, they’re on commission. My office is at the front of the house and I see them coming down the street, I don’t answer, no one does, so many people have ring doorbells now so they don’t have to.

I hate it and puts me off donating to these big companies who fundraise in these ways. I am not sure why they I would hand over my bank details to a random person on the street. I did get so annoyed with one that who walked and hassled me down the high street, that if he would give me his bank details first then I might be inclined to give him mine. Strangely he said no.

You lot are aware that these are actual human beings you are talking about? They wouldn’t be doing it for the fun of it, they just have bills to pay and mouths to feed like the rest of us. Some of you sound really self righteous and not very nice!

So are other scammers - in fact, many of them are based in very poor countries and see no other way to make enough money to feed their children other than by scamming westerners online or over the phone.

And yes, I do consider chuggers to be scammers. Unless, when they approach you, they make it very clear that they are a professional third-party being paid to solicit your bank details and that a large proportion of your donations will go straight into their back pocket - and that your agreeing to sign up for a direct debit will almost certainly lead to your being pressured to give more as time goes on. Which I highly doubt a single one of them has ever done.

I complained to my council numerous times about the ones in town basically making the high street unusable.

I feel so sorry for all of the shops and other businesses - paying very high business rates to that very same council - who happen to be located within the section where the council has allowed the chuggers to operate. I honestly think they should get a rebate on their business rates for all the days when the council makes their trading area a no-go zone.

I'm amazed at the big supermarkets who allow the chuggers in to hover by the entrance, to drive their customers away - but at least that's a decision that they've made for themselves (for whatever reason).

I highly doubt we ever will see it happen, but we really need to get away from the idea that anything labelled as 'charity' is automatically a worthy cause, run by altruistic people who actually care about the charity that is invoked.

In an ideal world (well, not one so ideal that there would be no need for charities to exist), I'd like to see two very clear categories for fundraising, with the operators forced to clearly state which one they fall under (like the hygiene ratings on food shop doors): one for people volunteering and one for people seeking to make money directly for themselves from the use of the charity's name.

ask her… do you really think I will engage with you after I told you no, and you are harassing me? Good bye.

and then grow a thicker skin, it really doesn’t matter if they shout at you

I had a run-in with a couple of charity cold callers/churglars recently.

The first one managed to get some money out of me-£10 exactly, and at the time, I was okay with this as I thought it was a one-off donation. Until I received a text half an hour later when I found out he'd set me up for a direct debit (but done it in a way that I'd never heard of before) to take the £10 every month. I quickly cancelled that and it left me with a sour taste in my mouth after what had seemed a nice interaction.

He was polite and friendly, and explained the charity well. He described how he'd been up and down the estate all day and how all the neighbours had donated £10/£20 and so I thought, oh, well, what's £10?

So, I donated.

The second one called a few weeks later, just as polite and friendly as the first, but used the same tactic of "all your neighbours have donated," which I think adds pressure and makes you feel like an asshole if you don't-and started to go on about it, "it's just £2 a week, who can't afford £2 a week? You couldn't get a cup of coffee for £2 nowadays."

Well, internally, I did the math and thought, actually, that's £104 per year and damn right you won't be able to get a cup of coffee if you're donating to everyone that knocks on the door! I promptly said no, that time and his attitude which had been chatty and polite and very friendly when he thought was getting money changed. He wasn't nasty or rude or anything-but his demeanour shifted and he just went "Ok, bye," and rushed off. Precisely what I wanted.

I feel like it's easier when they're on the street as you can just walk away. It's harder when they call at the door as it feels rude to slam it in their face, but with the second one, as soon as I saw him, I thought, "Why did I answer the door?"

On the one hand, I want to immediately say that I'm not interested, no thanks, but then on the other, it'd feel rude to do that because you haven't listened to them so throughout the interaction you're looking for a moment to go, "no, thanks." In some ways it's quite funny to keep them talking, knowing you're not giving them money and they're just wasting their time.

It's just annoying the tactics that they use to make you feel cheap if you say no. "It's only..." "couldn't buy a coffee for that," "all your neighbours have been really generous," (implication that you won't be generous if you refuse).

I'm now vowing to up my assertiveness game and say, "no thanks," right from the off and close the door before they continue.

I had one woman once who knocked on my door as I was in the middle of conference call-it didn't require my input and I was expecting a delivery so I answered-thinking I'd be one minute, oh, no, it wasn't my delivery. I tried to tell her I was busy and at work and didn't have time, and she got the immediate hump with me, and said she'd just come back later if I didn't deal with her then. I repeated I didn't have the time-she huffed off. Never came back, though. 😂

but used the same tactic of "all your neighbours have donated," which I think adds pressure and makes you feel like an asshole if you don't

"Oh, well, obviously not everybody will be able to afford to give anything, but I'm really glad to hear that you've managed to raise so much support already. Well, bye!"

I was rushing to get to the train station as my father had died when one a visited me. I was visibly upset and in a rush and said ‘No’ when some twat approached me. She kept trying to engage and talk at me so I screamed ‘will you just fuck off you stupid bitch!’ Not the best response but I wasn’t exactly I the best frame of mind. I now despise them and withdraw my support for any charity that uses them as I refuse to have my money sending them into my path.

They are also paid pretty well, that is money that should be used to do charity work. I withdrew my support from one charity who kept asking me to increase my donation and then sent a CD out in the post. How much must it have cost to produce and send fucking CD’s as well as twice weekly letters to increase my donation ?? Money that could have been used more wisely.

When they ask ‘don’t you care about xyz?’ I just say ‘no’ there is not much they can say to that.

They are also paid pretty well, that is money that should be used to do charity work.

Aside from all of the emotional blackmail, aggression and general annoyance they employ, this is why I consider it to be basically a blatant scam.

If I were to stand outside Tesco rattling a bucket with a charity's name on it and then took an hourly 'wage' or a generous percentage 'commission' out of it for myself before passing whatever was left to the named charity - if this were discovered, I would (rightly) be in very serious trouble.

Even if I tried to be 'transparent' and had a big placard saying "Please give generously - 50% of all donations will be given to X charity with the other 50% kept by me for my trouble," I would probably still be in hot water - and obviously wouldn't be given anything from anybody who had seen the sign anyway.

Whichever of these methods I tried, people would be horrified and would label me disgusting and a scammer - and I wouldn't disagree with them. Bear in mind that what the chuggers are doing is much worse than this, as in addition, they also actively approach people, use pressure and emotional manipulation, often tell lies, are seeking indefinite sign-ups and never tell anybody that lots of the donation will be kept by them or their company and never be seen by the named charity.

Why this isn't banned by law, I will never understand.

The whole charity sector needs reform in my view. Too many charities, too much corruption (see Oxfam), too much duplication.