chuggers, apparently

[tamaranth]

BBC news item on charity cold-callers.
I became very annoyed with a group of charity workers the other night. Walking home from Tonbridge Station, I was accosted by no less than three of 'em at different points, all wanting to ask me 'just a few questions'. On a busy High Street in daylight I might have been polite, but I don't take kindly to young men rushing up to me in a dark street, especially after a long day and 90 minutes of Southern Trains.

When they knocked on the door a little while later, we didn't answer.

And it's not that I don't support their cause (one of the breast cancer charities, I forget which) but this is not the way to collect money. Cold calling is bad enough, though I still reserve the right to refuse to answer the door, just as I sometimes ignore a ringing phone: it's my privacy. But being approached in a residential area seems rather more intrusive than being hailed in a shopping precinct.

Comments

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

Approached in a residential area? That's a step beyond 'causing congestion outside a tube station'. If you could remember which charity they were collecting for, a letter to be passed onto the chugging agency they use might be an idea.
I got doorstepped once by someone who obviously was sadly in need of Clue™. I mentioned that I actually worked for a charity, and he said "Oh, what do you do for them?" On being told that I worked on the database, he announced that I looked like an IT worker. Sorry, mate - the charity sector is the traditional refuge of those who aren't keen on corporate dress codes, IT or not.

[ivory-goddess.livejournal.com]

Any chuggers knocking on my front door will get short shrift & a door in the face! Just like the Jehovah's Witnesses.

London streets in daylight is one thing - annoying, but avoidable if you have the right attitude.* Suburban streets or doorstep cold-calling - that's something else.


*head down, no eye contact, keep walking - works for me.

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

Write to the chief exec. "I have always supported the aims of your organisation, and have donated to numerous campaigns. However, I was recently disturbed at my home by one of your over-insistent commission-based fundraisers, masquerading as a market researcher. I shall no longer support your charity due to the tactics of your fundraisers, although I am still supportive of your broader aims."