Chuggers Getting Fresh??

c_man

It's such a horrible job, worse than arms dealing :pac:




Seriously though, chuggers are c*nts.

SHOVELLER

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Dump Banned. Re reg.

Not having a go but can you explain that?

Micky Dolenz

SHOVELLER wrote: »

Not having a go but can you explain that?

He re registered with an alt account to get around a current forum ban.

psychward

jackal wrote: »

Disagree, I think the buck stops with the clowns who must sign up with them, otherwise there would be no incentive and they would disappear.

Dump wrote: »

I agree, the same as giving money to junkies, romas etc.

I agree except for the point that some people are just mentally vulnerable and are plainly taken advantage with malicious intent with no regard as to whether they can afford to pay this money or not. I have seen docile more vulnerable less nimble older folk trying to get away from chuggers who block their path and then use every verbal trick in the book to snare their prey. It's almost an act of violence.. a high pressure sales technique that not everyone can fend against.

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

I am pie wrote: »

I've never, (in Dublin or anywhere else) seen a chugger preventing someone from walking past them or jumping out in front of old ladies like some backstreet mugger !

ive seen it... there is a few on o'connell street that do it all the time.

one old lady clobbered the guy with her umbrella.... it made my chuckle.

I've seen it too. It's a disgrace. Chugger scum should be banned from our streets.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

saa

I feel bad ignoring another human being so I said hi back and kept walking this young girl on O connel street (they were zig zagged across the street) started walking beside me standing so close she was touching me I stopped turned around and asked

"How many steps have you followed me down the road for?"
She stepped away had a guilty smile and said ummm two? (It was more like 6, because after 4 I was like ugh no)
I said I did this work before (which I did for about a week when I was 17 horrible stuff) and I wasn't allowed to take more than 3 steps so what are you playing at, and walked off.

I know its a horrible job and I don't want to be rude or nasty but they need to be regulated on how they can operate, If I choose to stop and talk that's fine but as I was walking on you obviously can't block my way or follow me.

nermal15

I worked for PAWS for a grand total of one day. I couldn't stomach it, it made me feel like a terrible terrible person. Would never consider doing anything like that again.

howrethangs

I worked as an 'on street fundraiser' for concern worlwide for years. Alot of the stuff that im reading up here is the exact stuff that we never do yet people continue to accuse us with using these tactics in the most ignorant and blasé manner. One chap on here described how someone in a concern 'jacket' pulled his ear phones out of his ears. Quite frankly that person is a liar! Firstly we dont wear 'jackets' so he got the facts of his imaginary tale wrong. Secondaly I was a team leader for Concern for a year and half and it was our job to make sure no violoations of the publics privacy and space would be broken like that. I can tell you now that ridiculous scenarios like that do not happen with Concern.

1. We dont get commision. Its a flat hourly rate which takes away any incentive to 'harass people'

2. We are signed up to fundraising codes of ethics that we take very seriously and implement rigorously

3. We dont stand in front of people or invade their space. We stand in one spot and ask people if they have a minute. We ask people into our space we dont invade theirs

4. We dont guilt trip people. This is against our code of ethics. We are not allowed to compare something here in Ireland to something in a developing country e.g 'Instead of buying a pint you could be buying school books for the worlds poorest.' Anyone caught making suggestions like that can be reprimanded and sacked

5. Our aim is to make people feel that they can make a positive difference. When you do this and a person signs up its more likely their donation will last for a long time. If you guilt someone into doing something they dont want to do they'll go home and just cancel it

5. We dont work for an agency. We work directly for concern and are paid by them. We receive ongoing training which puts us in contact with field staff to keep us informed on Concerns work so we can give the public an informed view of our work. Indeed quite a few fundraisers have gone onto work overseas for Concern

6. The government put the case of on street fundraising to the attorney general in 2000, who's response was that there was no legislation stopping it however he suggested that it should be looked into and a corollary added dealing specifically with on street fundraising for non cash donations. Due to the fact that Concern are widely regarded as the most professional and ethical on street fundraisers the government asked the head of our department to aid them in drawing up a proposal. This proposal would have had no affects on the ways in which we work since we were already working according to the codes of ethics drawn up between all the relative charities, moreover it was aimed at reigning in those who were non-compliant. Unfortunately from what I heard, the bill was never passed because there wasn't enough interest in it. It may have come before the house once but from what I also heard there weren't enough members of the house present on that day to vote on the bill.

Another guy on here said that 'chuggers' are worse than gun runners. Firstly I wouldn't know anything about that because i was never a chugger since that implies mugging someone and ive never mugged anyone in my life. In fact it is our policy to give a verbal disclosure to people when they stop with us which just lets them know that we get paid but dont earn a commision. Therefore nobody who ever signed up with me was mis-informed and certainly not mugged.

I dont work for Concern anymore i've moved onto something else but working with them was a privilege and an honour.While working for them I was raising 5 times more that what my salary was and since I have left and am therefore not earning anymore Concern are still getting monthly donations of all the people that i signed up. I have worked in the developing world since then and have directly seen the effects of these donations and this work. In fact before Concern set up their on street fundraising department they were working in 12 countries. Now they are in 25 as a direct result of that new dependable income. I am very proud to have contributed to that and more so to have done it in a very professional manner. Me and none of the colleagues that I worked with were ever involved in any of the accounts similar to the interactions with fundraisers I have seen posted up here. In fact I would go as far to say that due to my training which guided how I should speak to people, ever person I signed up to Concern was very happy if not delighted to so.

Now if your willing to accept that we dont harrass, accost or guilt trip people and are quite respective of peoples space and ethical in our approach would you say that it is not such a bad thing for someone to ask you for a minute on average at worst once every second day. (seeing as we simply cannot know who has or hasn't been asked although when your experienced enough you'll recognize faces of people and you'll know you've asked them before so you wont again). At the end of the day we may need to ask a thousand people to sign up just 1. So we need to ask lots of people and all people have to say is no. You dont even have to be polite, christ you can ignore us if you want thats your choice and your entitled to it, but for those people who we do sign up every day and whose donations make a huge difference, they probably wouldnt sign up if we weren't there. 2% of our annual donations come from on-line donations. Around 20-25% from on street fundraising. And they are also regular donations which allow us to plan and budget which is essential and makes it a really valuable source of income for the charity. It's just a fact that people need a little push to donate. Those figures iv'e just given go some way to alluding that. So therefore we need to be out there asking people for a minute. And is it really so bad if a few people get asked more than once (not done on purpose) in order to get to those who do want to help. Is that so bad when you think of all the people who have been helped in the last 10 years since we started direct dialogue. Is it so bad that we just ask for one minute. Weight the options up. Ask yourself Is it better for them not to be there so they wont annoy me because i done like people asking me for a minute, or is it good that they are there raising lots and lots of money which is directly benifting the worlds poorest and I can put up with being asked for a minute because i know its for a good cause and they're professional and nice in how they go about it? All you have to do is say no..

Gummy Panda

^^ TL;DR

cloud493

Erm, they do? Yellow jackets, on Henry street?>

Birdie086

Not chuggers, but I had two guys knock on the door one evening on behalf a charity, and before I got a chance to politely say no thanks, they had launched into their sales pitch. After about 30 seconds I interrupted them and said 'look lads I have my own problems, maybe after all the arrears on my own mortgage are cleared I might be able to help someone else' - to which they replied - ' ya and in the meantime how many children will have died'. And with that I slammed the door shut.


On a side not I used to do a monthly donation to a charity called 'deaf child' for about six months and then when I started to struggle financially I cancelled the direct debit. That was about three years ago. I happened to get a phonecall from them yesterday thanking me for helping in the past and could I possible help again, when I said I wasn't in a position at the moment, they guy on the phone was really nice saying he understands completely, and thanking me again for helping in the past.

howrethangs

cloud493 wrote: »

Erm, they do? Yellow jackets, on Henry street?>

Common misconception. Those guys are from total fundraising. They are a private company who fundraise on behalf of the charaties. Concern fundraisers wear green bids which say in big letters on the front and back 'CONCERN WORLDWIDE.'

howrethangs

Birdie086 wrote: »

Not chuggers, but I had two guys knock on the door one evening on behalf a charity, and before I got a chance to politely say no thanks, they had launched into their sales pitch. After about 30 seconds I interrupted them and said 'look lads I have my own problems, maybe after all the arrears on my own mortgage are cleared I might be able to help someone else' - to which they replied - ' ya and in the meantime how many children will have died'. And with that I slammed the door shut.


On a side not I used to do a monthly donation to a charity called 'deaf child' for about six months and then when I started to struggle financially I cancelled the direct debit. That was about three years ago. I happened to get a phonecall from them yesterday thanking me for helping in the past and could I possible help again, when I said I wasn't in a position at the moment, they guy on the phone was really nice saying he understands completely, and thanking me again for helping in the past.

You have absolutely every right to be angry with that fundraiser. If someone said that to me id have to restrain myself. That is an absolute disgrace. I suppose I cant talk for any other charities and their means of fundraising I can only speak for Concern direct dialogue when I say we would never ever do that. If we were caught doing something akin to that or there was a complaint made about us on those grounds we would at the very least recieve a warning. But in my time with Concern that never happened.

scopper

howrethangs wrote: »

Common misconception. Those guys are from total fundraising. They are a private company who fundraise on behalf of the charaties. Concern fundraisers wear green bids which say in big letters on the front and back 'CONCERN WORLDWIDE.'

In your original post you stated that you don't wear jackets...

howrethangs

scopper wrote: »

In your original post you stated that you don't wear jackets...[/QUO

Yes well done i certainly did. And if you read my last post properly you would have noticed that i said Concern wear green bibs. Total fundraising wear yellow jackets. Concern worldwide wear green bibs.

howrethangs

Gummy Panda wrote: »

^^ TL;DR

????? I dont understand this. Can someone explain?

psychward

howrethangs wrote: »

????? I dont understand this. Can someone explain?

Google gives you the answer just by putting TL DR into it. Are you that lazy

howrethangs

psychward wrote: »

Google gives you the answer just by putting TL DR into it. Are you that lazy

i just found out what it means. very good. I enjoyed that

phasers

Are you sure you're not Concern's PR person? If not then you should be.

howrethangs

phasers wrote: »

Are you sure you're not Concern's PR person? If not then you should be.

Ha ha enjoyed this too. But seriously when I worked with Concern we were constantly being told that we were the faces of the Charity since most peoples only interaction with the charity was through us. If we were going around blocking peoples paths, pulling their earphones out and telling them if they can spend money on drink then they can donate to charity then they wouldn't have got a very good impression of the charity. It was our aim to give a good impression, an impression of professionalism and respect therefore I suppose every on street fundraiser with concern is a Concern PR person.

scopper

howrethangs wrote: »

Firstly we dont wear 'jackets' so he got the facts of his imaginary tale wrong. Secondaly I was a team leader for Concern for a year and half and it was our job to make sure no violoations of the publics privacy and space would be broken like that. I can tell you now that ridiculous scenarios like that do not happen with Concern.

Short memory or something?

bijapos

howrethangs wrote: »

One chap on here described how someone in a concern 'jacket' pulled his ear phones out of his ears. Quite frankly that person is a liar! Firstly we dont wear 'jackets' so he got the facts of his imaginary tale wrong.

"jackets", bibs, tabards, vests, hi-viz etc etc.......... I think its a bit obvious what the poster meant.

I've met Concern, Trocaire and others on the streets, they don't all behave as professionally as you seem to believe in your post, some are fine but some are just downright annoying obnoxious cnuts, and yes, they were from Concern.

howrethangs

howrethangs wrote: »

One chap on here described how someone in a concern 'jacket' pulled his ear phones out of his ears. Quite frankly that person is a liar!

Jacket, bib, vest whatever you want to call it. Reading your posts I get the impression that you registered solely to defend Concern and their tactics. I have never seen a chugger from any charity or organisation just standing around in the one place. They are constantly on the move trying anything they can to get a possible marks attention. They will block peoples way, follow people down the street shouting/making snide remarks and when ignored or told to piss off they will get nasty. Plenty of people have posted on the site about negative encounters with chuggers.

howrethangs

Deleted User wrote: »

Jacket, bib, vest whatever you want to call it. Reading your posts I get the impression that you registered solely to defend Concern and their tactics. I have never seen a chugger from any charity or organisation just standing around in the one place. They are constantly on the move trying anything they can to get a possible marks attention. They will block peoples way, follow people down the street shouting/making snide remarks and when ignored or told to piss off they will get nasty. Plenty of people have posted on the site about negative encounters with chuggers.

The next time you see fundraisers from concern (and make sure they're concern with the green bibs that say concern worldwide in large print) stop and observe them. Stand at the other side of the street or something and just watch how they work. Listen to how they greet people. Notice how they invite people into their space and never invade or block anyones path and certainly never follow people, because your view of fundraisers certainly is not in accordance with how Concern work in fact it is everything that they avoid.

doctor evil

You mean trick people into their space and in doing so catch them off guard.

Chugger mind tricks.

cloud493

howrethangs wrote: »

The next time you see fundraisers from concern (and make sure they're concern with the green bibs that say concern worldwide in large print) stop and observe them. Stand at the other side of the street or something and just watch how they work. Listen to how they greet people. Notice how they invite people into their space and never invade or block anyones path and certainly never follow people, because your view of fundraisers certainly is not in accordance with how Concern work in fact it is everything that they avoid.

I have seen them follow people. I have seen block people. So have others here. Unless we're all wrong.

howrethangs

howrethangs wrote: »

The next time you see fundraisers from concern (and make sure they're concern with the green bibs that say concern worldwide in large print) stop and observe them. Stand at the other side of the street or something and just watch how they work. Listen to how they greet people. Notice how they invite people into their space and never invade or block anyones path and certainly never follow people, because your view of fundraisers certainly is not in accordance with how Concern work in fact it is everything that they avoid.

I have seen them block peoples paths and I have seen them follow people down the street. Fund raisers for Concern are interested in one thing, getting as many people to sign up as they can.

face1990

While I'm sure it's true that Concern tell their fundraisers to be respectful and not use aggressive tactics, it is equally true that many of them disregard that and do it anyway.

This isn't an anti-chugger conspiracy, it's fact that they bother people.

psychward

Gummy Panda wrote: »

^^ TL;DR

The concise version is chuggers are untrustworthy scum who should be banned.

howrethangs

cloud493 wrote: »

I have seen them follow people. I have seen block people. So have others here. Unless we're all wrong.

It's very difficult to hold my tongue when untruths are thrown around as fact. I worked for Concern for a long time and I know inside out how they work. There is absolutely no way anyone from Concern has ever step out in front of someone to block there path or followed them down the street, no way. People on this forum may have seen other fundraisers doing it and believe all fundraisers to be the same but thats not true. Im not doubting that some agencies employ tactics like that but i can 100% Unequivocally state that Concern do not. As someone who was involved in training and supervising fundraisers for a long time I know this to be fact, I also know too well how the public brandish us all with the same brush. Some of the comments on this forum remind me of the comments that I would get on the street from passers by. The misinformed comments such as, your on commission, only 1 cent out of every euro gets there etc. When you'd say to these people can I have a chat with you about that they'd just walk on. Very few would stop and have a converstaion about it because generally they were quiet happy in their ignorance. Some people just like to be angry at the world. It is clear to me that from various opinions on this forum that that is the case here aswell. If you want to inform yourself have a look at my previous long blog, or observe Concern fundraisers someday, even go speak to one. Just tell them that you don't want to sign u you just want to ask a couple of questions. Dont't get angry get curious. If you don't want to infrom yourself and you want to continue using the 'every one says it so it must be true line' then have a think about this and ask yourself is it true of you:

"Ah the unmistakeable argumentative rhetoric of the ignorant, where emphasis compensates for truth."

I'm not going to get involved in any more discussions on this forum. I think i've said all I want and to be honest the amount of silly, twisted and warped comment on here makes me disenchanted with the whole process.Too many of the people commenting seem incapable of having a reasonable discussion.