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Charity Workers At The Checkout???

  • 15-05-2014 9:49pm
    #1
    MadDog76
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,162 ✭✭✭


    Just wondering what people's general feelings are regarding charity workers at supermarket checkouts?
    I'm all for charity myself but I find this particular form of fundraising extremely irritating to put it mildly.
    It starts with "Would you like helping packing your bags?" to which I reply "No thank you" .......... this is of course ignored as they stuff tins of beans onto your sliced pan which ruins the beans on toast you'd planned to have later as well as making you feel obliged to "volunteer" your change to their charity of choice.
    It's a very passive/aggressive form of fundraising and I really wish supermarkets would ban this practice ........... or maybe have a designated "No Charity" checkout???

    Anyway just wondering how other people feel about this?
    Tagged:


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Comments

  • #2
    athtrasna
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,420 ✭✭✭✭athtrasna


    Most Supermarkets do have packer free checkouts? Personally I always decline but throw a euro or two into the bucket if I think it's a good cause. Bag packing is actually a really successful way of fundraising, it's all about large volumes of small donations.

    Having said all that I don't think kids should be allowed do bag packing, it should be adults only..for a load of reasons.


  • #3
    MadDog76
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,162 ✭✭✭MadDog76


    athtrasna wrote: »
    Most Supermarkets do have packer free checkouts? Personally I always decline but throw a euro or two into the bucket if I think it's a good cause. Bag packing is actually a really successful way of fundraising, it's all about large volumes of small donations.

    Having said all that I don't think kids should be allowed do bag packing, it should be adults only..for a load of reasons.

    I shop regularly in two well-known supermarkets and any time there's charity bag packers I could never find a "packer free" checkout .......... believe me I've looked, more out of principle than anything else.

    I agree that it is a very successful way of fundraising, that's my point ........ it's successful because (I feel) it put's people on the spot, almost embarrassing people to give to charity instead of standing back and allowing me to choose to give or not to give as I see fit.
    I know I obviously do have that choice but it can be awkward if you choose not to ......


  • #4
    lycan238
    Registered Users Posts: 1,244 ✭✭✭lycan238


    I have seen this in a few supermarkets and taken part in it once but been involved in organising it on a number of occasions.

    At all times it was the responsibility of the cashier to ask the customer would they like help packing their bags or indeed help out to their vehicle of choice. People fundraising were asked to stand back and they would be called forward if they were required. A bucket was left at the end of the register where customers had the option of giving money even if they did not avail of the bag packing service. I find this the fairest way of getting the most donations as customers are more inclined to give larger donations when it was/is their own decision on whether or not they require assistance.

    If a customer wanted help and I was asked to help I would always ask them what did they want me to pack (to avoid the situation above).


  • #5
    MadDog76
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,162 ✭✭✭MadDog76


    lycan238 wrote: »
    I have seen this in a few supermarkets and taken part in it once but been involved in organising it on a number of occasions.

    At all times it was the responsibility of the cashier to ask the customer would they like help packing their bags or indeed help out to their vehicle of choice. People fundraising were asked to stand back and they would be called forward if they were required. A bucket was left at the end of the register where customers had the option of giving money even if they did not avail of the bag packing service. I find this the fairest way of getting the most donations as customers are more inclined to give larger donations when it was/is their own decision on whether or not they require assistance.

    If a customer wanted help and I was asked to help I would always ask them what did they want me to pack (to avoid the situation above).

    Totally agree .......... I put a fiver in the bucket of a gentleman who respected my space and reply of "no thanks" to his offer to pack my bags (I'd just rather pack them myself either way) .......... I gave a pushy teenage girl 8 cents for "packing" my bags when I clearly said "no thank you" to her offer.


  • #6
    masonchat
    Registered Users Posts: 663 ✭✭✭masonchat


    It shouldnt be allowed i think , its hard to say no to some poor kid who is doing a good thing , it does put people on the spot , and you cant tell someone what to pack it would take twice as long or probably or be done wrong,

    I dont even think they should be allowed stand at the doors.


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  • #7
    dudara
    Registered Users Posts: 33,519 ✭✭✭✭dudara


    I'm not crazy on the idea of other people packing my groceries. I like to do it myself, and I definitely don't trust a teenage boy to have the experience to do it correctly (even if he has the best intentions in the world).

    Don't be embarrassed to say "No Thanks". It's as simple as that.


  • #8
    calex71
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,126 ✭✭✭✭calex71


    I've always said no thinks for the same reason as above , bread gets packed 1st and anything and everything put in on top :mad:

    Just say no thanks, if it's a good cause I'll put a euro in the bucket anyway but not if they ignore my wish not to pack the bags for me.

    The major issue I have and I have noticed it a lot more recently in our local tesco is them being groups from outside the locality, the likes of GAA clubs etc. by locality I mean groups from Dublin in a Drogheda shop :mad:

    National charity fine, sports team from outside the area ? No change for them.


  • #9
    LynnGrace
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,347 ✭✭✭LynnGrace


    I decline politely, because I prefer to do my own packing, but usually throw in a couple of euro, or whatever I can afford, and depending on what the collection is for.

    I have a much greater objection to those collectors who sit, often outside post offices/ banks/ shopping centre entrances, and yell at me, as I pass, to support some charity I have never heard of, or one with a vaguely similar name to a well known charity.


  • #10
    Calhoun
    Registered Users Posts: 7,447 ✭✭✭Calhoun


    I actually stopped shopping at a local dunnes as every time I went in to do my weekly shop every checkout had them on them. It seems that it's not enough for you to give your custom to a place you also have to be guilted into handing over some money.

    Worse is when you say no to them and they sit right at the end of your checkout in the way.


  • #11
    Yamanoto
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,489 ✭✭✭Yamanoto


    dudara wrote: »
    Don't be embarrassed to say "No Thanks". It's as simple as that.

    You're right of course, but it's precisely that embarrassment that's fundamental to the success of this particular shake-down. I'm sure many folks would prefer to outright decline the offer of assistance, but they succumb to the low-level social pressure of the situation, allowing their actions and responses to be dictated accordingly.

    Cha-ching!


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  • #12
    skelligs
    Closed Accounts Posts: 196 ✭✭skelligs


    Yes, its very annoying and one of the reasons I don;t shop in Dunnes because they seem to always have them. I don't mind every now and then.

    However, if any organisers are looking here - here's a far better idea.

    "We'll wheel the trolley out and place goods in your car and bring your trolley back to the trolley bay in exchange for the euro in your trolley."
    By only asking for a euro and providing a "concierge" service, you're bound to get extra donations and goodwill especially on rainy days and you don't annoy people by bad packing.


  • #13
    Malari
    Registered Users Posts: 18,150 ✭✭✭✭Malari


    I usually say no to the packing (if they even ask before grabbing your stuff) and throw them some coins anyway, if it's a charity I support.

    I do find though, that even if you find a till that does not have helpers at the end, they will migrate over from other tills if they see you going through it! Quite irritating.


  • #14
    pinkypinky
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,616 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    I was in Dunnes last weekend - don't normally shop there.
    There were kids doing packaging. No checkouts without packers.
    I wasn't looking forward to the mild embarrassment but was surprised to discover that they came forward, asked if I wanted help, I said no thanks, and then they went back to stand against the wall.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



  • #15
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,373 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Often it is not for charity, its funding what are basically kids holidays.

    If I owned a supermarket I would certainly not let them in, legitimate charities included. It does not bother me much personally since I almost always have a backpack for carrying my shopping, if I need more I have those bag for life things. But they can see me getting a wallet etc out of my backpack and never once has someone offered to pack it -it would be far to intrusive to take someones personal bag like that. It'd be sort of like rooting in a womans handbag.


  • #16
    MadDog76
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,162 ✭✭✭MadDog76


    It's not just the packing part that bothers me, it's the fact that there at all ............. in your face, staring at your shopping, staring at you handing over the money, staring at your change ............. waiting for that moment when you have to either push past them to leave or put money in their bucket ............ most people (I guess?) succumb to social pressure and give in to their "demands"!!! lol


  • #17
    Miaireland
    Registered Users Posts: 4,063 ✭✭✭Miaireland


    I am not mad about them tbh particularly when they are young kids who have no idea how to pack a bag and are doing it for some sport's club outing.

    However I have come across excellent ladies and gents doing bag pack for Cancer services in Cork so I cannot speak badly about all of them.

    My local store does have one till where there is no bag packers and it is the same till all the time which is handy.


  • #18
    Comhrá
    Registered Users Posts: 4,753 ✭✭✭Comhrá


    I used to feel slightly intimidated by these packers and embarrassed not to donate whatever the cause.

    I have now toughened up a bit and politely refuse the offer to pack but if I like the charity (and it's not a football club organising a trip for kids) I sometimes drop a few bob in the bucket.


  • #19
    Fred Swanson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21,730 ✭✭✭✭Fred Swanson


    This post has been deleted.


  • #20
    hdowney
    Registered Users Posts: 12,921 ✭✭✭✭hdowney


    I hate bag packers. I don't mind the collections by the door (I was one of them today for the Irish Heart Foundation). But bag packers. Pushy, greedy at times. Often not for charity but for some trip for kids (pay your own kids trips thanks, I can't even afford one for myself).


  • #21
    wmpdd3
    Registered Users Posts: 9,624 ✭✭✭wmpdd3


    3 years ago a letter went out to all students in a local school detailing how much extra the school will have to find because the local supermarket reduced bag packs to once a month and they were too late to book one.

    basically calling for a boycott of the store.

    in the end after many calls from customers, a weekend was found.

    i hate bag packers, love the idea of the we'll bring your stuff to the car for a euro.


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  • #22
    pleasant Co.
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 7,376 Mod ✭✭✭✭pleasant Co.


    wmpdd3 wrote: »
    3 years ago a letter went out to all students in a local school detailing how much extra the school will have to find because the local supermarkret reduced bag packs to onve a month amd they were too late to book one.

    basically calling for a boycot of the store.

    Wow, what a ****ty life lesson to teach students, well done blackmailing school, I adjust my monocle in your honour.


  • #23
    SoulTrader
    Registered Users Posts: 850 ✭✭✭SoulTrader


    3 or 4 times lately, when paying with a credit card (in the US), I've been asked if I would add a dollar to my bill for some charity or other.


  • #24
    Fries-With-That
    Registered Users Posts: 776 ✭✭✭Fries-With-That


    SoulTrader wrote: »
    3 or 4 times lately, when paying with a credit card (in the US), I've been asked if I would add a dollar to my bill for some charity or other.

    Bag packers love them or hate them its at the discretion of the person that has had their groceries packed to donate or not.

    They do not ask for any particular amount.

    What irks me is when buying fuel at Topaz, the counter assistant asking me for an extra €1 for their particular charity. If Topaz want to support a particular charity by donating a cent per tank fill or whatever that's fine, but by asking me to give a €1 its taking the p*ss unless they match it Euro for Euro.


  • #25
    Lisha
    Registered Users Posts: 8,693 ✭✭✭Lisha


    SoulTrader wrote: »
    3 or 4 times lately, when paying with a credit card (in the US), I've been asked if I would add a dollar to my bill for some charity or other.

    I hate that tbh and I really hope that topaz's effort to start this here fails miserably.

    Bag packers I don't hate it as I respect people who fundraise but I will be more generous to schools / play schools/ genuine charities not ones funding holiday trips.


  • #26
    Fries-With-That
    Registered Users Posts: 776 ✭✭✭Fries-With-That


    Lisha wrote: »
    I hate that tbh and I really hope that topaz's effort to start this here fails miserably.

    This is here (Topaz Ireland) I was responding to the poster that mentioned about being asked to put an extra $1 on his credit card.


  • #27
    Lisha
    Registered Users Posts: 8,693 ✭✭✭Lisha


    Fries-With-That wrote: »
    This is here (Topaz Ireland) I was responding to the poster that mentioned about being asked to put an extra $1 on his credit card.

    Sorry I was actually responding to both posts. (Must figure out how to quote multi posts in phone)

    To clarify I dislike the American custom of asking if you want to add $1 to credit card bill and I hope that topaz efforts to start this annoying American type custom here in Ireland is unsuccessful.


  • #28
    homer911
    Registered Users Posts: 5,112 ✭✭✭homer911


    Fred Swanson wrote: »
    This post has been deleted.

    Its hardly a case of Lidl and Aldi banning such practices - their business model does not support packing of goods at the checkout


  • #29
    Fred Swanson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21,730 ✭✭✭✭Fred Swanson


    This post has been deleted.


  • #30
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,610 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    SoulTrader wrote: »
    3 or 4 times lately, when paying with a credit card (in the US), I've been asked if I would add a dollar to my bill for some charity or other.

    I think I quite seriously shocked the assistant in a TJ Maxx in a poor-ish part of Oregon by agreeing to that - they'd just asked in general without an amount and I ended up giving $5. Was saving more than that with their 0% sales tax anyway...


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  • #31
    danjo-xx
    Registered Users Posts: 5,393 ✭✭✭danjo-xx


    homer911 wrote: »
    Its hardly a case of Lidl and Aldi banning such practices - their business model does not support packing of goods at the checkout

    amen for that, least we got something good outa the Germans.

    I hate the whole principal of bag packers its intimidating... except for a few of the older ones who have more sense.

    In my local supervalue, there is hardly a weekend in the year that there is no bag packers on the checkouts, its ridiculous and over kill.

    I love the charity collectors at the main door who say 'please support xxxx and as you walk by they say THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Who! are they to judge Me, I could be dying of cancer for all they know.:mad:


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