PROFFESSIONAL BEGGING

Absolutely agree they get on my nerves, I sometimes feel violent to
them, though never am. I also ride along the Taff Trail into Cardiff
and then stroll along Queen Street - a place where they are like
locusts at time. How I have never shoved a pen up someone's nose
mystifies me.

"andy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Walking along the banks of the Taff yesterday, nearing the Blackweir. I
arrive at a gate on the path only to find people in bright yellow jackets
stopping passers by and asking them to sign standing order forms, this
time
I think for regular contributions to some cycling charity (SUSTRANS) or
other. It is so annoying, I cannot walk through the centre of Cardiff
without being accosted at least 3 times by these, I suppose you would call
them "professional beggars", now its getting to the point where they are
hitting the countryside as well. I can see a time when they will be on
the
top of Penyfan waving their bits of paper and handing you a pen.

The difference with the people collecting for SUSTRANS was that they said
they had nothing to do with the various companies that hassle people on
the
shopping precints, which was a lie. I had been conned into filling in the
paperwork when at the point of signing the authouristion for the standing
order I noticed the words "this fundraiser is employed by an agency".

On the subject of charity collection agencies, has anyone noticed a common
'bonding' technique that male canvassers use. It involves identifying a
very normal looking middle aged woman and standing in front of her with
(the canvassers) legs spread apart as far as they will go and the pelvis
spread forward. As a middle aged bloke I tend to get really slimey
insincere
looking females approaching me as if we are best buddies. PUKE PUKE....

I find it best to shout "NO NO NO NO NO NO" as soon as they start talking at
me.

Doki said:

I find it best to shout "NO NO NO NO NO NO" as soon as they start talking at
me.

Can't you be a bit more subtle? Try and sell them your "Big Issue"
while muttering "buggrit, millennium hand and shrimp" under your breath.

--
not me guv

andy said:

I cannot walk through the centre of Cardiff without being accosted at
least 3 times by these, I suppose you would call them "professional
beggars",

Chuggers, we call 'em down here - charity muggers. Shower of [censored], the
lot of them.

There are parts of London where you can't move for them, but those are
parts of London which would be full of some other variety of antisocial
good-for-nothings (knockoff watch merchants, amateur beggars, evangelical
preachers, scientologists) anyway, so i can't complain. I did once meet
some Sustrans ones on the Lea towpath; they gave me a sticker for my map
in return for a vague and insincere promise of support. Seemed like a fair
deal.

tom

--
THE POWER OF MATHS COMPELS YOU, THE POWER OF MATHS COMPELS YOU! -- Jon

andy said:

Walking along the banks of the Taff yesterday, nearing the Blackweir. I
arrive at a gate on the path only to find people in bright yellow jackets
stopping passers by and asking them to sign standing order forms, this time
I think for regular contributions to some cycling charity (SUSTRANS) or
other. It is so annoying, I cannot walk through the centre of Cardiff
without being accosted at least 3 times by these,

Try Cheltenham on any given lunchtime.

--
Hywel
http://kibo.org.uk/

"Nick Kew" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Doki said:

I find it best to shout "NO NO NO NO NO NO" as soon as they start talking
at me.

Can't you be a bit more subtle? Try and sell them your "Big Issue"
while muttering "buggrit, millennium hand and shrimp" under your breath.

I'm not a subtle sort of person.

andy said:

On the subject of charity collection agencies, has anyone noticed a
common 'bonding' technique that male canvassers use. It involves
identifying a very normal looking middle aged woman and standing in
front of her with (the canvassers) legs spread apart as far as they
will go and the pelvis spread forward. As a middle aged bloke I tend
to get really slimey insincere looking females approaching me as if
we are best buddies. PUKE PUKE....

You have got to stop spreading your legs like that! :-D

~PB

"liz baron" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In said:

I had been conned into filling in the
paperwork when at the point of signing the authouristion for the
standing
order I noticed the words "this fundraiser is employed by an agency".

This is the bit I don't understand. How did you let them get any further
than "Excuse me...?" before either saying
a) "No. Would you mind getting out of my way, please?" or
b) "No. P!ss off and leave me alone."
...depending upon how polite you felt, of course.

Aye... whenever I'm accosted in the high street by chuggers or 'market
research' people, they never get any further than "Excuse me" before I've
said, "No thank you" and I'm on my way. I don't think I even slow down
walking....

I'm more than happy to give to a charity or charities of my choice, but it's
done in private.

Cheers, helen s

In said:

I had been conned into filling in the
paperwork when at the point of signing the authouristion for the standing
order I noticed the words "this fundraiser is employed by an agency".

This is the bit I don't understand. How did you let them get any further
than "Excuse me...?" before either saying
a) "No. Would you mind getting out of my way, please?" or
b) "No. P!ss off and leave me alone."
....depending upon how polite you felt, of course.

Same goes for all the other scumsucking vampires that go around bullying
people into donating, under the guise of "charity." If I wish to give
money away, I'll do it in private.

L
🙂
--
http://www.redshift.uklinux.net/
Windcheetah No.176
Linux Counter No. 275325
*Remove Spamcatcher and x for email reply

I fell for the girls cute smile :-(

"liz baron" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In said:

I had been conned into filling in the
paperwork when at the point of signing the authouristion for the
standing
order I noticed the words "this fundraiser is employed by an agency".

This is the bit I don't understand. How did you let them get any further
than "Excuse me...?" before either saying
a) "No. Would you mind getting out of my way, please?" or
b) "No. P!ss off and leave me alone."
...depending upon how polite you felt, of course.

Same goes for all the other scumsucking vampires that go around bullying
people into donating, under the guise of "charity." If I wish to give
money away, I'll do it in private.

L
🙂
--
http://www.redshift.uklinux.net/
Windcheetah No.176
Linux Counter No. 275325
*Remove Spamcatcher and x for email reply

what annoys me is the way they turn on their heels towards you in a
friendly "let me buy you a pint" manner, I'm sure they get training for
this. I rate them slightly lower than the people who ask you to sponsor
a trek across Peru.
As a hardened L2B mug I get all the junk mail from the BHF; they gave
me a priority application to ride from Stansted airport to Amsterdam, a
mere £400!! but you got it for free if you raised £1k (of which a
whopping £600 went to the charity).

wafflycat said:

Aye... whenever I'm accosted in the high street by chuggers or 'market
research' people, they never get any further than "Excuse me" before
I've said, "No thank you" and I'm on my way. I don't think I even slow
down walking....

Market researchers I simply say, "Certainly. I charge twenty pounds
sterling per hour or part thereof for consultancy fees, cash up front,
do you still wish to consult me with regard to your questions?" So
far I haven't had to trouble Inland Revenue with any income. :-)

R.

andy said:

The difference with the people collecting for SUSTRANS was that they said
they had nothing to do with the various companies that hassle people on the
shopping precints, which was a lie. I had been conned into filling in the
paperwork when at the point of signing the authouristion for the standing
order I noticed the words "this fundraiser is employed by an agency".

Perhaps it's just me, but I don't find this nearly as offensive as many
here seem to. A polite "no thankyou" or "sorry, but no" has worked with
every such person without recourse to rudeness or witty retorts.

As for "training", I'm reasonably confident that you'll find that most of
these "professionnals" are doing that for the simple reason that they need
the minimum wage that they're paid in order to live. In most university
towns many will be undergrads or postgrads.

From the responses here I get the impression that some people believe that
the pledges received go straight into their bank accounts. By all means
make your donations in private, but if you're happy enough with what you
do in private, why make it public by telling us?

Jon

Jon Senior said:

Perhaps it's just me, but I don't find this nearly as offensive as many
here seem to. A polite "no thankyou" or "sorry, but no" has worked with
every such person without recourse to rudeness or witty retorts.

In general I can ignore them and feel sorry for the people that have to
do that sort of work for a living. But I did draw the line at a pair of
MBNA agents who stalked me round a Homebase store and wouldn't take NO
for an answer. Filed a complaint with the store who has allowed them in
and told them I didn't come to their store to be harassed. Not that I'd
ever take an MBNA card.

--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

Tony Raven said:

In general I can ignore them and feel sorry for the people that have to
do that sort of work for a living. But I did draw the line at a pair of
MBNA agents who stalked me round a Homebase store and wouldn't take NO
for an answer.

There used to be (probably still is) a couple of people at the bottom of
the escalator in Edinburgh airport trying to sign people up to the (I
think) Goldfish card. They tried to grab me a couple of times a week (used
to fly a lot) even though I told them I had one (which I did). In the end,
one day I was about to go up the escalator I took out my card, licked it,
stuck it to my forehead then walked past them. They never bothered me after
that 🙂

Graeme

Graeme Dods said:

Tony Raven said:

In general I can ignore them and feel sorry for the people that have to
do that sort of work for a living. But I did draw the line at a pair of
MBNA agents who stalked me round a Homebase store and wouldn't take NO
for an answer.

There used to be (probably still is) a couple of people at the bottom of
the escalator in Edinburgh airport trying to sign people up to the (I
think) Goldfish card. They tried to grab me a couple of times a week (used
to fly a lot) even though I told them I had one (which I did). In the end,
one day I was about to go up the escalator I took out my card, licked it,
stuck it to my forehead then walked past them. They never bothered me after
that 🙂

I just tell them I don't use credit cards, that usually leaves them in
stunned silence.

MartinM said:

I just tell them I don't use credit cards, that usually leaves them in
stunned silence.

I don't either - just a couple of charge cards that have to be paid off
in full each month. I know too many people with very large credit card
debts built up because you can. But you do need something to buy bicycle
bits on line ;-)

--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

Quoted message said:

Perhaps it's just me, but I don't find this nearly as offensive as many
here seem to. A polite "no thankyou" or "sorry, but no" has worked with
every such person without recourse to rudeness or witty retorts.

Thanks, Jon, you encapsulated well what I'd been feeling about a lot of
these smug, self-satisfied posts.

I doubt we'd be so rude to people who have lousy but necessary jobs,
like refuse collectors or street cleaners. But nowadays there are so
many lousy but useless jobs (like the folk who knock on your door or
ring you up) and my reaction is - so glad it isn't me - so I try to be
polite as I slam the door/phone down.

I've collected for charity myself - for free - and was amazed how rude
folk could be about third-world poverty. We weren't being stupid by
collecting in the poorer areas.

As to market researchers, they've heard it all before. I've never done
it in the street, but if I'm bored at home I might. To the question
"how many people work at your worlplace" I once ventured "about half of
them" but apparently lots of folks crack that one. To Richard with his
£20 an hour fee, my reply would be "Oh, you must be a solicitor. Which
kind?"

You used to get street researchers, but nowadays they seem to have died
out round here (most who look like them seem to be catalogue
recruiters, or perhaps employees of the business you're using. I think
much more market research is internet-based these days) but there used
to be a worthwhile street one* where you'd be taken to some upstairs
room to "test" some new product. Once it was even beer - but I doubt
that'd be allowed nowadays since nearly everybody bloody drives (see I
knew I could get this back on topic!)

George Orwell, who did all sorts of lousy jobs, says that if you see
someone distributing handbills you should always take one to help the
person finish the job. So I always do, but once I took what I thought
was a leaflet from a Hare Krishna type, but it was a book, and he
insisted I'd "bought" it and had to pay - wouldn't take it back. I
thought this was a bit much, but you have to have some respect for folk
who give their time to a cause for nothing. Even Jehovah's Witnesses, I
guess.

Oliver

*in Liverpool, Preston or Bolton

Tony Raven said:

MartinM said:

I just tell them I don't use credit cards, that usually leaves them in
stunned silence.

I don't either - just a couple of charge cards that have to be paid off
in full each month. I know too many people with very large credit card
debts built up because you can. But you do need something to buy bicycle
bits on line ;-)

Visa debit card; does it all, if you can't afford it don't buy it
(seems a bit of a Victorian concept these days). And for bigger
purchases the BS's are desperate to lend you money (aimed at getting
punters to pay off credit card bills) at very low rates.