Charity Pests in City Centre.

MonsieurD

I am sick of being accosted by charity employees everytime I set foot in Cruises Street and Lower Thomas St/Bedford Row. I use the description "employee" because these people are remunerated for the job they do.

They are absolute pests who can't take NO for an answer. They are using sales techniques that are certainly "not charitable" to the unsuspecting people who step into these streets. These salespeople are using intimidating techniques to sell their product. They approach you and try to grab your hand in a handshake. They play on the common decency of people, who then feel obliged to listen to this smiley person who is holding you hand - who has only one thing in mind (i.e get your donation and get their commission)!

Don't get me wrong, I know that charities have to raise money. I personally, have a few monthly direct debits in place to charities that I support and am quiet willing to stop up at the people who set up outside shops (with a table and poster hanging down the front) and give a few bob.

I would really like to know peoples' views on this.

Builderfromhell

Interesting topic.
I personally have a policy whereby I donate a small percentage of my income each year to a specific charity. So, on a good year I give a lot and on a bad year I give very little. For this reason I have no problem saying no to all street charities.

On a separate matter, beggars really, really piss me off. I was having coffee with friends outside the Carlton in Thomas street when a beggar asked everyone for money. The three people next to us all gave them money. There donation guarantees that these beggars will be there every week.

If no one gives money to beggars beggars stop begging. Simple!

Shan75

I agree about these people who try to shake your hand and effectively bully people into giving money.They just leave me cold with their fake cheer and overbearing behaviour.A look of almost hatred is usually enough to dissuade them but some of them are very persistant.I'm surprised none of them have got themselves into trouble.I think most people react better to the guys with the tables who just ask if you'd like to contribute.I did this myself years ago throughout Munster and I felt that just politely asking people was the best way.In fact a lot of people will donate if you stay quiet and don't annoy them.

MonsieurD

Builderfromhell wrote: »

Interesting topic.
I personally have a policy whereby I donate a small percentage of my income each year to a specific charity. So, on a good year I give a lot and on a bad year I give very little. For this reason I have no problem saying no to all street charities.

On a separate matter, beggars really, really piss me off. I was having coffee with friends outside the Carlton in Thomas street when a beggar asked everyone for money. The three people next to us all gave them money. There donation guarantees that these beggars will be there every week.

If no one gives money to beggars beggars stop begging. Simple!

True Beggar Story: Saturday before Christmas 2007 on O' Connell St. Time: approx 4.30pm; Scene: Streets are full and buzzing with people.

Beggar sitting on path outside Empire Music. I bumped into a friend outside Savins and we decided to go for a pint in Aubars. As we approached the guy sitting on the path, my friend dug 2euro coin from his pocket and threw it into begging guy's cup/box. The begging guy says to my friend "Is that all you have?". My friend is a bit taken aback by this and say "Sorry, what do you mean?" "Surely you can give a fiver" says the beggar. "Sorry thats all I have" says my friend.

True story. If I had not witnessed it, I would have found it hard to believe. Cheeky bas**rd! My friend was a bit taken unawares by the whole thing and in hindsight would have loved to have taken his 2euros back.

Same beggar is still operating in same spot on O' Connell St.

talkingclock

yesterday morning, milkmarket. we have them there every saturday. they get barring orders every week but they are back like vermin.
i'm sure you all have seen that old romanian gypsy woman (long fawn coat, black headscarf, crutch, tremor and cathcline "hungry children!") in town.

yesterday her grandchild (or another member of that tribe) aged around 14 or 15 and normally not shy to run around in full health was wearing her costume and was walking around with the same limp and tremor...

The_Dave

No doubt related to the Romanians who get collected from the GPO in an Audi after their days work is done

gloobag

I don't believe in charity, period! Most of these 'organised' charities are nothing more than a business.

Anyways, I once got stopped by some girl outside Easons, usually I'd just ignore them, but this girl was gorgeous, so I said I'd stop for a quick flirt :cool:

Anyways, she's giving me the whole spiel, blah blah blah, then asks me to give her my bank account details for a monthly debit. I said,"I'm not in the practice of handing out my bank details to complete strangers."

She trys to assure it's all completely above board. I say, "How about this? You give me your bank details, and I'll put the money in your account, and you can pass it onto the charity."

She was half through saying, "I ain't that ****ing stupid!" When she stopped and turned away.

100% true.

zuroph

had a chat with a german girl on cruises st yesterday who was actually nice and ended up not asking about the charity stuff at all.

as for the romanians, the message really needs to get out to stop giving these con artists money. if we stop, they move on to a different town. the same group were here two years ago and then headed up the country before coming back. they've stolen money from a friend of mine at an atm, the exact same crutch (look out for the white tape on it) is passed from family member to family member to elicit sympathy. they cant ALL be crippled, otherwise that was one AWFUL car crash. If you dont believe they're con artists, follow them, see the fancy cars, the mobile phones, etc etc..

siouxie sue

The Romanian gypsies go into the charity shops on William street and steal clothes they usually have a kid with them to distract staff and shove tops jumpers etc.. under their long skirts! True. :eek: I always wonder why the staff don't phone the guards.

bullets

Oh a chance for me to vent my frustration and moan and whinge about
chuggers (Chuggers a bit like muggers but for charity)
I cannot resist.....


Easons and Pennys front entrance MMMmm Prime spots.
Between the two Bank Of Ireland ATM's 2nd place.
The Entrance to the New Dunnes reserved for Muffin the Dog from LAW.
Bus stop oppisate Empire Music reserved for the Romanian Granny.
In between Empire music and O'Mahonys books. Dude that sits down without shoes.
Cruises street 3 pairs of chuggers bottom top and the middle to catch he peeps
that try to snake down the side streets.
William street has the least Chugger activity but to compensate it does
have a lot of chairty shops up along it.


I like to support my chosen charity when I choose. I don't want to be badgered
by people parked outside ATM's and shop doors heckling a spiel.

Nothing worse that trying to goto the ATM with a charity table parked in front
of it. Walk down the street and get buckets and clipboards waved into your face.

I'm not too fond of people charities as I favor the animal welfare charities.
Most of the time when they collect they dont often pester people. They let
people donate to them without actively bugging people.
(At least thats been my experiences with them more so than other charities)

You cant even go into Eason's to buy a paper on a Saturday morning without some
chugger in front of the main entrance.

Even if you do give some money to a charity your bound to bump into loads more
on a Saturday in town. Long gone were the days where you would get a sticker! to
wear to show you had parted with a few coins!! so you would not get pestered walking
down the street.

I cant stand the teams of people that come up and try to act all friendly and
as if they are buddies. There are so many scammers out there they must think
people are Looney to think they will fill out their Bank details in the middle of the street.

The worst offenders are the double acts that call door to door to your home.
I'm fed up with them. Usually a Male & Female dressed all smart usually good communicators and sometimes attractive knock on your door....try everything in their power to get you to listen to their story even if you say you are not interested.
They offer to call again etc etc. I've had people call to the door asking if they
could come in!!! Total strangers.

Ahhhh feel much better now!

~B

RINO87

bullets wrote: »

I'm not too fond of people charities as I favor the animal welfare charities.
Most of the time when they collect they dont often pester people. They let
people donate to them without actively bugging people.
(At least thats been my experiences with them more so than other charities)

~B

agreed. LAW are the only ones ive ever had say thanks to me

Champ

bullets wrote:

The Entrance to the New Dunnes reserved for Muffin the Dog from LAW.

My folks are always quite happy to see Muffin of LAW, consequently it's probably the only 'charity'(mmm that doesn't quite fit the bill for LAW in the strictest sense does it?) that we consistently support.

They do good work as far as I know?... So no regrets donating to them.

krudler

hate them, cant have a saturday without some guy bounding up to me like a lost puppy wearing a wacky knitted bobble hat thats probably made of hemp, calling me mate and acting like hes my best friend, trying to get me to give him my bank account details, i was with a friend who gave one an absolute bollocking on cruises st once and nearly made him cry it was hilarious

Rineanna

bullets wrote: »

Easons and Pennys front entrance MMMmm Prime spots.
Between the two Bank Of Ireland ATM's 2nd place.
The Entrance to the New Dunnes reserved for Muffin the Dog from LAW.
Bus stop oppisate Empire Music reserved for the Romanian Granny.
In between Empire music and O'Mahonys books. Dude that sits down without shoes.
Cruises street 3 pairs of chuggers bottom top and the middle to catch he peeps
that try to snake down the side streets.
William street has the least Chugger activity but to compensate it does
have a lot of chairty shops up along it.


I like to support my chosen charity when I choose. I don't want to be badgered
by people parked outside ATM's and shop doors heckling a spiel.

Nothing worse that trying to goto the ATM with a charity table parked in front
of it. Walk down the street and get buckets and clipboards waved into your face.

I was laughing out loud reading your summary of the Limerick Chugger scene, because it was so accurate and summarised my feelings towards the whole situation verbatim!

Just today I was walking down Thomas Street, intending to turn down the side street where Krank's Corner used to be to get to William Street. I was veering to the right to get to turn off Thomas Street, and I wasn't really taking much notice of who was coming towards me until I noticed out of the corner of eye an unmistakeable Purple Blob with a clipboard coming towards me and veering sideways to intercept me before I left Thomas Street. I decided to quickly veer to the left and get to William St. by going around by BT's without making eye contact with her so I wouldn't have to deal with her, as I had previously, and foolishly, stopped out of courtesy to hear one of them out before, and couldn't get away from her for about 20 minutes on Cruises Street. No Word of a lie, the purple blob (I'm referring to the colour of the t-shirt!) with her clipboard altered her course and came straight at me and blocked my path. The whole "we're best buddies" routine was executed by her, but I just said something in the lines of "I've already signed up" or something, to which she replied most condescendingly "Gud awn yaz".

My Rant also over.

I know they're just doing their job, and the charities are worthy, but I wish they'd take a leaf out of LAW and Muffin's book in terms of street etiquette!:D

um7y1h83ge06nx

I wonder do these chuggers affect a shop's business?

If they are one or two of them on say Cruises St., close to some shops, will people not just rush past them and not look at the shop displays or enter the shops close to the chuggers?

It probably won't affect business if people have already planned to go to a specific shop and buy something, but it might for people just browsing that may impulse buy.

The Crescent for example only seems to have allow charities in the main square area and not down the wings, and then most of the charities that operate in the Crescent aren't as annoying as some of the w@ankers in town.

I wonder have any business in town complained to the City Council about it.

They really p*ss me off as I work in the centre of town, especially the nasally, whingy voice of the one that is often outside the front of Easons, endlessly repeating "Support asthmaaaaa". The poor staff that work the front checkout in Easons must have their heads wrecked listening to her all day.

Anyway, rant over.

zuroph

if we're talking about the heavy one, then iv a story for you! my sis worked collecting for childline there for a while, just ur standard 2euro scratchcard stuff, no direct debits, and that one attacked her one day for "standing in her spot". punched her!!

ninty9er

Feel free to use this letter. It is explicity not copyright!!

knipex

They used to follow me around like I had a sign on my back saying "Sucker".

It always took half an hour to walk down cruises st and even then there were normally at least 2 people still following me. They used to call to my door a couple of times a week (and the Mormons were as bad).

I eventually got myself a Boxer. A nice big friendly dog that looks mean. If any of them are still brave enough then I have trained him to growl on command. If they really invade my space then he don't like it and they quickly move back.

No more problems.:D

Plus he is great company and women seem to love him.;)

MonsieurD

Lainey Sharp Ringer wrote: »

I wonder do these chuggers affect a shop's business?

If they are one or two of them on say Cruises St., close to some shops, will people not just rush past them and not look at the shop displays or enter the shops close to the chuggers?

It probably won't affect business if people have already planned to go to a specific shop and buy something, but it might for people just browsing that may impulse buy.

The Crescent for example only seems to have allow charities in the main square area and not down the wings, and then most of the charities that operate in the Crescent aren't as annoying as some of the w@ankers in town.

I wonder have any business in town complained to the City Council about it.

They really p*ss me off as I work in the centre of town, especially the nasally, whingy voice of the one that is often outside the front of Easons, endlessly repeating "Support asthmaaaaa". The poor staff that work the front checkout in Easons must have their heads wrecked listening to her all day.

Anyway, rant over.

Think you have a point there Super Sonic. After the recent unrelenting blitz on Cruises by "chuggers", regular punters on the street must be put off by the constant harassment. It must affect business.

Ninty9er's letter to outline to the Garda our civic offence to these "chuggers" seem like a good idea.

source

MonsieurD wrote: »

Ninty9er's letter to outline to the Garda our civic offence to these "chuggers" seem like a good idea.

these collectors don't come under the street collections act, as they are not collecting cash, therefore there aint a lot the gardai can do about it, it's also why they can have so many on the street at any one time, unlike other collectors who have to apply to the local chief super at least 14 days before the collection stating where they want to collect, how many people will be out and the nature of the collection..................I have heard rumours that chuggers are to be brought in under the act which if they are will mean a greatly reduced number of them on the streets

The_Dave

I wonder can Revenue do something about them, I doubt they're declaring all their earnings

BigglesMcGee

I always have a bit of fun with them. If enough people did this it would become uneconomical for them to collect this way.
Listen to them sound interested. Question them for about 10 mins and when the inevitable request for your bank account details comes, say you dont have them with you but the can give your a leaflet and you'll think about it. I ask them how much they donate and are they donating what they are getting paid for talking to me.

I give to charity already. I dont need the guilt trip they lay on you.

Just had a thought. Why not record the conversation on your phone an we can have a thread where we post the conversations and the longest one without paying is the winner

Builderfromhell

BigglesMcGee wrote: »

I always have a bit of fun with them. If enough people did this it would become uneconomical for them to collect this way.
Listen to them sound interested. Question them for about 10 mins and when the inevitable request for your bank account details comes, say you dont have them with you but the can give your a leaflet and you'll think about it. I ask them how much they donate and are they donating what they are getting paid for talking to me.

I give to charity already. I dont need the guilt trip they lay on you.

Just had a thought. Why not record the conversation on your phone an we can have a thread where we post the conversations and the longest one without paying is the winner

Brilliant idea. Wonder how many Chuggers will be out harassing the Munster supporters today.

ninty9er

foinse wrote: »

these collectors don't come under the street collections act, as they are not collecting cash, therefore there aint a lot the gardai can do about it, it's also why they can have so many on the street at any one time, unlike other collectors who have to apply to the local chief super at least 14 days before the collection stating where they want to collect, how many people will be out and the nature of the collection..................I have heard rumours that chuggers are to be brought in under the act which if they are will mean a greatly reduced number of them on the streets

But they're soliciting bank details

Raiser

Does anyone know if there's a charity or support group for Chuggers who have been seriously assaulted?

- 'Cause if they keep pushing me I might just have to..........

P.S. How much commission do these little loud-mouth, skipping, obnoxious sh|ts take these days to buy themselves woolly hats with eco-friendly ear-flaps and Ugg boots to contain the ends of their tracksuit bottoms?

W@nkers

source

ninty9er wrote: »

But they're soliciting bank details

doesn't matter, unless cash is changing hands they don't come under the act.

But this is under review to curb the amount of them that can be on a street at any one time

ninty9er

The Superintendent's office replied informing me that chugging in itself could not be deemed an illegal
practice, but they are aware of it.

HOWEVER theSuper drew my attention to

Section 9 Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 wrote:

Any person who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, wilfully prevents or interrupts the free passage of any person or vehicle in any public place shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200

If these people prevent you from going about your business officers at Henry St Station will deal with any complaint you make.

happyoutscan

A friend of mine sold charity tickets in Galway a few years ago. The tickets were 3EURO each with 1Euro to my friend, 1Euro to her boss and 1Euro to charity. I have never bought one since, what a ****ing joke.

Incidentally, in Germany street charity collectors have small booths set up sporadically. These are usually located in good areas where they do not cause an obstruction. They are a success for the obvious reason that people do not mind giving as long as they are allowed do so in their own time (ie without the hassle of confrontation).

betonit

could you just punch one and say it was self defense by saying the assualted you by invading your personal space??

Or an you get on to some "charity permit issuer people" and complain them therefore leading to revoking their permit. They could do this by watching them for a day and see whats going on.. then at least give them a warning.

ie you were monitored for a day and your aggressive, intrusive style will lead to revoking the permit??

anywho punching seems the way to go

adaminho

Scarf - Own
Fleece - Own
Skirt - Mothers
Cup - Free
Plastic wallet - 1.50
Copy of Issues - 3.00
Profit for night - 42.36

Look on her face Priceless

Insect Overlord

adaminho wrote: »

Scarf - Own
Fleece - Own
Skirt - Mothers
Cup - Free
Plastic wallet - 1.50
Copy of Issues - 3.00
Profit for night - 42.36

Look on her face Priceless

:eek:
You're one of them!!!!