Rummy Posted February 12, 2011 Posted February 12, 2011 I received a phone call from the NSPCC once, which after a very longwinded 'conversational' greeting by the lady(hello, how are you, nice weather etc) I came to understand was made by the lady on the other end of the phone in order to ask me to give them more money so that they could afford to pay more people to answer more phones at childline for needy children etc because at the time they could not operate the phones 24 hours a day or something but if I gave them more money then they could. This phone conversation lasted about 20 minutes of me protesting that at the time I really rather couldn't(I had no income for a while, and nor did I want to given the way I was approached), it was not until a few days later I realised...she was on the phone asking(unsuccessfully) me to give more money per month, so that more people could be on phones to help those in need. I nearly stopped giving them any money that day.
Pancake Posted February 12, 2011 Posted February 12, 2011 I've started totally blanking them, and they get all put out. I don't feel guilty though, cos they're unprofessional and rude. Quite often they go "have a nice day" in a sarky tone when i ignore them. It's like they think they have a right to your time! I heard they work on commission too. Which makes the "it's all about the chaaariteee" line seem like bull!
Cube Posted February 12, 2011 Posted February 12, 2011 I've been accosted in Sheffield whilst wearing headphones. Sheffield does seem to have a rather large concentration of these people.
Rummy Posted February 12, 2011 Posted February 12, 2011 I've started totally blanking them, and they get all put out. I don't feel guilty though, cos they're unprofessional and rude. Quite often they go "have a nice day" in a sarky tone when i ignore them. It's like they think they have a right to your time! I heard they work on commission too. Which makes the "it's all about the chaaariteee" line seem like bull! They do. A friend of mine did it for a bit(like a couple of days) with a bunch of his friends, only he kind of got sacked for not taking enough donations/names/whatevers and all his other friends went of all around the country doing it and he seemed offended it was like that, though it felt a little like he was annoyed because they didn't keep him.
jayseven Posted February 13, 2011 Posted February 13, 2011 I tend to say "I'm not going to give you anything but if you want to give me the speil then go ahead." Set them up for their own fall and make them feel responsible. If people are trying to hand out flyers then a polite "no thanks :)" will suffice... unless you're in london then you just gotta ignore them outright! Yeah Sheffield was definitely the worst place for charity peeps. I got suckered into donating to greenpeace for a while. They cost me £50 worth of bank charges. Fuckers.
Rummy Posted February 14, 2011 Posted February 14, 2011 I tend to say "I'm not going to give you anything but if you want to give me the speil then go ahead." Set them up for their own fall and make them feel responsible. If people are trying to hand out flyers then a polite "no thanks :)" will suffice... unless you're in london then you just gotta ignore them outright! Yeah Sheffield was definitely the worst place for charity peeps. I got suckered into donating to greenpeace for a while. They cost me £50 worth of bank charges. Fuckers. Some guys did an experiment once where they handed out money on the street like flyers, you'd be surprised how few people took it, just went straight into avoidance mode! /unneeded random little fact
Jimbob Posted February 14, 2011 Posted February 14, 2011 Tell them I've got a train to catch. I use that excuse as well, but it only works 7/10 times. I've been followed by them back to the station, but i lose them once i get past the barriers. I love messing with the Jehovah's Witness that come round the houses knocking on the doors on Sundays. Has given me endless pleasure seeing how little they know about their own religion. Last time they came round, after speaking with me for about an hour, they didn't even bother going to any other houses so either I annoyed them greatly or used up all of their time You can really annoy these Jehovahs. When they are talking about the religion and asking for you to join then (words to that effect really), i just said once i had to dash as i was off to give blood. Should have heard them, they didn't like it. I used to ring people asking if they wanted a fridge. Hated that cold calling job. I did surprise a charity worker before, as i was looking to give to charity (Cancer Research). There happened to be this type of charity worker in town that day.
nightwolf Posted February 14, 2011 Posted February 14, 2011 Use headphones and just walk by, pretending you never heard them saying anything. You're only going to waste their time if you stop. Last time I was caught out I had a hard time explaining that I was in massive debt, had no money in the bank, no job, no job seekers (I was waiting for the forms to be processed) and £10 in cash for the rest of the week. They still wanted me to sign a direct debit. I was once suckered into telling them I was a student and they wanted me to sign up for £12 a month to support a cancer charity, pah! I can barely stand and pay for the £15 internet going out a month and my housemate pays half of that! The ones in Sheffield aren't too bad pushiness wise I find, they can be quite nice chaps, it's just irritating, if I wanted to donate I would do so out of my own time, not when I'm obviously trying to get somewhere. I found manchester could be hellish for that.
Diageo Posted February 14, 2011 Posted February 14, 2011 "I honestly do not care." That shuts them up. Of course this is context sensitive. My favourite is for the NSPCC; "Children disgust me." That sounds so funny. I want to do that now. Use headphones and just walk by, pretending you never heard them saying anything. You're only going to waste their time if you stop. Last time I was caught out I had a hard time explaining that I was in massive debt, had no money in the bank, no job, no job seekers (I was waiting for the forms to be processed) and in cash for the rest of the week. They still wanted me to sign a direct debit. I don't ever get approached, I assume it's either because of the earphones thing or because I look young. But outright ignoring works wonders on anyone.
heroicjanitor Posted February 14, 2011 Posted February 14, 2011 I just say no all the time, crisis averted
Recommended Posts