Concern just rang me asking for more money...

Red Alert · 19-06-2006 07:26PM

what was the barnardos ad about?

DOLEMAN · 19-06-2006 08:59PM

Hugh Hefner wrote:

Everytime I pass someone who's being talked to by a chugger, I laugh to myself.

I always think, "they must be lonely and need someone to talk to."

They always seem to be fashionable types as well, which makes me think they are indeed lonely sorts...

DOLEMAN · 19-06-2006 09:01PM

Could I wear an "AIDS Charity" t-shirt, ask people for their bank details, and then transfer money from their account to my bank account each month?

SpitfireIV · 19-06-2006 09:14PM

Nightwish wrote:

I had two guys from Gorta at my door a few years ago looking for me to sign up and I gave him bank details of an account I'd closed down years ago, just to get them to piss off.

Evilllllllll

....but good thinking!

I'm the sort that once one of these chuggers corners me, I cant tell them to feck off, I know I should but the last time I did get caught I gave a false address and phone number, the guy laughed when taking down my number and replied 'hah, the amount of people who give me false numbers' to which I was thinking 'hehe....theres one more for ye buddy!', couldnt think of my old mobile number for a split second, sort of like a homer moment....

Mr Burns: Who are you??
Homer: *Dont tell him your real name!!*.......My name is Mister Burns...

I give to one charity anyway, something to do with blind people in Ireland and thats more than enought for me thank you!

Blisterman · 19-06-2006 10:12PM

Donate money to St Vincent de Paul. It's all run by volenteers and as far as I know, doesn't employ chuggers.

ronbyrne2005 · 19-06-2006 10:29PM

millions are dying ,keep giving to reputable charities, the person who called you isnt a concern employee,they get agencies to call people/fundraise,call/email concern headquarters and outline your concerns .all reputable charities publish their accounts outlining the amount that goes into administration and i know the vast majority goes to those who need it through concern.
"charity begins at home"-bullsh1t -no one in this country dies of malaria/lack of water/basic medicine and other outrageously simple things that no one should die of in this day and age

BMH · 19-06-2006 11:06PM

Red Alert wrote:

what was the barnardos ad about?

Anyone know? I'm curious.

nlgbbbblth · 19-06-2006 11:42PM

Show them this thread

the Shades · 19-06-2006 11:54PM

I find my earphones ususally do the trick. On one occassion I did have a particularly annoying chugger (and no earphones) who kept hassling me, and eventually asked why I kept saying no as I repeatedly walked past him. In a moment of inspired honesty I just simply called out 'because I don't give a f**k.'

His hassling ceased

Sparky · 20-06-2006 12:18AM

Sitting in traffic at the end of Camden St one day, I seen this girl at a bus stop doing some sort of dance, its only untill she turned around that I seen Concern on the back of her white jacket.
She didn't bother with the women, just the lads.
Then to my supprise across the street was a lad with the same top on and doing the same as her, half dancing and walking backwards trying to chat people up.
Then after about two minutes he decided to walk into the pub, where I could see him going up to the women in the window seats, one look interested while the other kept nodding.

I thought that was all of them untill I spotted another one down near megabikes.
I'm glad I was in the car tbh.

nesf · 20-06-2006 01:15AM

Easiest way to get rid of a chugger is to tell them that you work in sales and that they need to work on their pitch. Then point out that if you wanted to sign up you'd have done it already.

Most of them get the message. Hard to pitch someone critising your pitch. Puts bad salespeople off-balance.

numorouno · 20-06-2006 01:29AM

Blisterman wrote:

Donate money to St Vincent de Paul. It's all run by volenteers and as far as I know, doesn't employ chuggers.

would agree but i heard from somebody that they use some of their donations as bail money for persons when they are arrested or brought before court.(i am open to correction as i am not 100% certain). i agree and do donate to charities but i dont want my donations to be spent in this manner. i know innocent until proven guilty and all that jazz but id prefer to be sure that my money was being spent on more vital outlays. just a personal opinion

the_syco · 20-06-2006 02:40AM

CroppyBoy1798 wrote:

I know I should but the last time I did get caught I gave a false address and phone number, the guy laughed when taking down my number and replied 'hah, the amount of people who give me false numbers' to which I was thinking 'hehe....theres one more for ye buddy!'

Give them the name of the head honcho, and the bank details of the organisation that they're meant to represent!

Name of organisation: Thai Concern Foundation
- Contact person for the Occupational Loan Fund: Jumroen Yaichid
- Contact person for the Thai Concern Foundation: Somchai Sirisujin
- Address: 348/4 Jaroenpathet Road, Chang Klan, Muang, Chiang Mai 50100
- Telephone: (053) 205-133
- Fax: (053) 205-134
- Email: tcf@loxinfo.co.th
- Bank account name: Thai Concern Foundation
- Bank account number: 407-1-01275-7
- Bank: Thai Farmer's Bank, Chang Klan Branch, Chiang Mai

The highlighted info above is the info you give them. Lets see how long it takes them to cop on:cool:

r3nu4l · 20-06-2006 09:11AM

I donated to St. John of Gods by direct debit for a while. One of the brothers of St John of God called to the door, an elderly chap. He didn't try to guilt me into anything he was very matter of fact, told me about the work that they do (I already knew as my Uncle used to volunteer with them before eventually becoming a psychiatric nurse) and said why they eneded donations. There was no sad music and whiny, reedy voice imploring me to give generously before baby Jesus started to cry.

Simple, matter of fact, great

The only time St. John of Gods ever contacted me after that was to say thank you for donating, we are very grateful and that their prayers were with me.

That was it, nothing else.

I kept that direct debit going for a long time.

As for Concern and a lot of others, I'll never donate so much as a cent to them again. They completely disgust me with incessant harassment.

matu · 20-06-2006 11:12AM

nesf wrote:

Easiest way to get rid of a chugger is to tell them that you work in sales and that they need to work on their pitch. Then point out that if you wanted to sign up you'd have done it already.

Most of them get the message. Hard to pitch someone critising your pitch. Puts bad salespeople off-balance.

Hmm yes this sounds like a good idea I work in a call center so I can deliver this message perfectly to them just like Bruce Lee 1 inch punch they wont know what hit them.

dudara · 20-06-2006 11:23AM

Walking up Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork last evening, there were people in yellow t-shirts out collecting for cancer related charity. One of them caught my eye, I clearly shook my head (this usually works), but instead he came straight towards me, and starting his spiel.

Grrr... Can we actually ring the Gardai about these people, it's getting to the point where they're impeding you on the street, and they're surely not allowed to do that.

nesf · 20-06-2006 11:25AM

It's the system that messes things up imho. Quite a few of them are on commission only. No sale, no money. It tends to bring out the worst in sales tactics in my experience.

Maximilian · 20-06-2006 12:27PM

I find the whole chugger thing a bit of a disgrace. I don't think a charity should be run as a business i.e. employing dozens of chuggers to extract cash on the basis that they will generate more revenue then their own wages.

I once was at a meeting with a colleague, a solicitor, who had a client suing a well known charity (that employs chuggers) for unfair dismissal. As part of the case, they obtained Discovery against the charity and obtained financial records. She said she was utterly shocked to see how much donated monies were swallowed up by "administration" costs. I can't recall exactly but it was something in the order of 5-10% actually went where it was supposed to. I won't name the charity because in fairness its just hearsay really but you have all heard of it.

So folks, the moral of the story is be careful to whom you give money. Just think, from the €1 you donate, 95c of that may be paying for company cars, mobile phone bills, advertising costs, wages, rent, etc. etc.

Archeron · 20-06-2006 12:51PM

Maximilian wrote:

So folks, the moral of the story is be careful to whom you give money. Just think, from the €1 you donate, 95c of that may be paying for company cars, mobile phone bills, advertising costs, wages, rent, etc. etc.

Can anyone please point us towards somewhere that we can obtain this type of information that isnt based on hearsay? (no offense Maximillian) I give to a number of charities through DD, and the amount of people making statements like that above are starting to really make me think twice. I have no objection to the donations, but if comments like the above are true, I will certainly be re-thinking my position.

I know Concern have stated a number of times that app 5% goes on admin. Am I being gullible by believing this? What about the other charities that are not as forthcoming with this type of info?

tbh · 20-06-2006 01:15PM

Archeron wrote:

Can anyone please point us towards somewhere that we can obtain this type of information that isnt based on hearsay? (no offense Maximillian) I give to a number of charities through DD, and the amount of people making statements like that above are starting to really make me think twice. I have no objection to the donations, but if comments like the above are true, I will certainly be re-thinking my position.

I know Concern have stated a number of times that app 5% goes on admin. Am I being gullible by believing this? What about the other charities that are not as forthcoming with this type of info?

From http://www.charityfacts.org/fundraising/fundraising_factsheets/street_fundraising/what_it_costs.html (I know it's a UK site)

The costs of face to face come at the beginning - the charity usually pays a flat rate fee per supporter (typically around £70) to the fundraising firm - while the benefits come in over the longer term.

This means that someone who pays a small amount by monthly direct debit for a year may not donate much more to the charity than the cost of signing them up, but by the second year, their regular donation begins to make a significant difference.

If you look at http://www.concern.net/docs/accounts05.pdf

they say that in 2005, voluntary donations were 75,800 (€,000) and the cost of generating this was 12,831. That would presumably include advertising etc. I hate chuggers as much as the next man, but from the charidees perspective, it seems to be a case of if you don't ask, you don't get.

20-06-2006 01:15PM

Im dreading going back to Dublin because of these assholes. They should be banned. Nobody has the right to block you in the street and make you feel uncomfortable especially when they´re getting paid. Every tactic I try to avoid them is thwarted. I usually pretend to be foreign but then they start asking where I´m from and loads of them speak Spanish and start talking to me in that. I´ve pretended to be underage but thats not working now I´m 21. I´ve said I have no money and they don´t believe me. I usually genuinely don´t, last year I was eating bread and pasta for a month and I dont appreciate being made to feel selfish. I´ll give some money when I have some bloody money. I donate my time to charities, for FREE unlike them. Feckers.

tbh · 20-06-2006 01:20PM

Joe Delightful Tear wrote:

Im dreading going back to Dublin because of these assholes. They should be banned. Nobody has the right to block you in the street and make you feel uncomfortable especially when they´re getting paid. Every tactic I try to avoid them is thwarted. I usually pretend to be foreign but then they start asking where I´m from and loads of them speak Spanish and start talking to me in that. I´ve pretended to be underage but thats not working now I´m 21. I´ve said I have no money and they don´t believe me. I usually genuinely don´t, last year I was eating bread and pasta for a month and I dont appreciate being made to feel selfish. I´ll give some money when I have some bloody money. I donate my time to charities, for FREE unlike them. Feckers.

Listen, don't let them get to you. Just say no. If they persist, ask for their name. If they ask you why, tell them straight out you would like to complain about them. Don't let them make you feel guilty or uncomfortable - just don't engage with them.

Archeron · 20-06-2006 01:22PM

thanks TBH

BArra · 20-06-2006 02:47PM

the ones in cork are the worst, oliver plunkett street is absolutely littered with them, i remember yesterday there was at least 5 of them with about a 2 yard space between them all of them trying to pounce on unsuspecting gullable people

its the female ones that piss me off, they only target guys and try to use a bit of womenly charm to catch them so they can let out their spiel.

ive done a bit of charity work myself.. and of course i was not paid for it, these goons are all on a nice enough wage, i wonder how many of them are signed up to their respective charity...

if one of them does their "dance" to gain my attention i just say say no, but ive had a few try and harass me further so i just tell them to get a real job and stop hassling people

bill_ashmount · 20-06-2006 03:01PM

giveth wrote:

I started a monthly direct debit donation with concern about 4 years ago. I responded to an ad in a newspaper.

Since then, I've been harrassed on the street by them on a regular basis. I've had email and post from them on a regular basis. And now today while busy at work I get a call from someone who goes into a long speel about children dying in Africa for about 5 minutes. Then she asks me to increase my monthly donation.

I think I've had it with them now. I'm going to stop the direct debit and give my money to people who dont constantly harrass me. I mean I'm all for giving money to charity but I'll do it when I decide to do it and I dont want to be manipulated and guilted into it on a regular basis. I mean they always phrase their questions in such a way that you feel like such a selfish uncaring sh!t for saying no. I'll give my money to another charity I think.

Has anyone else gotten calls from them?

I'm thinking of doing exactly the same thing, They seem to spend all the money i donate bombarding me with more mail and appeals. I'm sick of them.

Hobbes · 20-06-2006 03:34PM

Archeron wrote:

Can anyone please point us towards somewhere that we can obtain this type of information that isnt based on hearsay?

Well I know in the US they are much open about it. When buying charity stuff it would always have "XX% of money goes to the actual charity" where that amount was around 10-20%

I think I would be a bit miffed if I was paying for someones company car.

the_syco · 20-06-2006 04:31PM

Now a days, some of the chuggers, once they get past a certain target, get X amount an hour. When I did a stint once, I found out that you get a third of what you collect. IE: You collect £150 (it was back then), I'd get to bring home £50 Which, for doing pretty much f**k all, was good money. I left, as I was only getting sh|te money, but I saw that some of the girls were raking it in, some even getting "regular" tips from particular guys. A bit dodgy, tbh, but thats the only way it would get done.

=-=

Even though I hate the chuggers, I'm surprised @ the amount of people who complain about the chuggers doing it for money. It was always the way. Even back in the 90's before large corporations started getting involved. How else do you think they would collect?

If I was paid to stand around, and do sod all, I'd do sod all. But if it were a commission based pay scale, I'd work my balls off.

nesf · 20-06-2006 05:22PM

The problem for chuggers is that quite a few of their contracts are of a "self employed contractor" type. i.e. You have none of the rights of a normal employee and can be fired instantly for any reason. It's a bitch of a system and while it seems like good money it really isn't unless you are a good salesperson and if you are a good salesperson you can do a lot better than chugging from an earning's side of things.

That said, from knowing quite a few people who've done it, there are a fair percentage of "believers" there who are doing it mainly to raise money for charity. Which is something at least.

nesf · 20-06-2006 05:24PM

Hobbes wrote:

Well I know in the US they are much open about it. When buying charity stuff it would always have "XX% of money goes to the actual charity" where that amount was around 10-20%

I think I would be a bit miffed if I was paying for someones company car.

That's done here with promotions and partnerships etc. But that figure only means that the charity gets that amount, admin etc still has to come off that.

chigli · 20-06-2006 05:26PM

I purposely never give to those charities who use chuggers. I donate to my local hospice foundation because they do great work. St John of Gods is another very good charity to give to.

I personally think that chuggers should:
a) Not be allowed out in public
b) Only approach people with a specific tattoo that signifies that they want to be stopped and harrassed

In the past, I have been so tempted to tell them that I have no social conscience when they stop me! But generally I just walk really quickly and tell them I am in a hurry and walk past them. Though once or twice, I got some snide remark about my lack of caring.

Concern just rang me asking for more money...

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