So you've now convinced me to NEVER donate to you ...

[Pixelated]

Got a call this morning. Caller was working for some firefighters' organization, fundraising for something or other (kids' soccer team? I don't remember)

His canned speech sounded really canned; I actually thought I was listening to a tape recording. Pushing for a $50 to $100 donation.

I explained that I have not been working for quite some time and am expecting to start a new job in October so am not donating to anything right now but keep my name on their books and perhaps next year ... ?

He goes back to his canned speech. Now pushing for a $25 to $50 donation.

Me: lather, rinse, repeat.

Him: "Okay, but can I just say one more thing?"

Me: "Uh, okay."

Goes into a THIRD canned speech, now pushing for a $15 to $30 donation.

At that point I just said "NO" and hung up.

Didn't occur to me until later to say, "Ya know what? You can take my name right off your list because after this, I can promise I will never donate to you at any time, or for any reason" and THEN hang up.

Who sets up these protocols, anyway? All they do is seriously antagonize would-be donors. Last call I got like this, when I explained my situation, the caller said "Oh, okay, thanks" and that was it.

[taxguykarl]

Who sets up these protocols, anyway?

Typically, professional phone solicitors who have no connection to the organization for whom they are trying to raise funds. These telemarketers keep the lion's share needless to say.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Typically, professional phone solicitors who have no connection to the organization for whom they are trying to raise funds. These telemarketers keep the lion's share needless to say.

I wonder if the "Telephone Doctor" works for them, and if she's ever REALLY been in any kind of customer-facing role.

I just remember having to sit through one of her DVDs at my job, and thinking to myself "The people who really need these lessons are the gorram callers, not the people taking their calls!" Especially the rule about not eating or drinking anything while on the phone with someone.

[ladyjaneinmd]

Didn't occur to me until later to say, "Ya know what? You can take my name right off your list because after this, I can promise I will never donate to you at any time, or for any reason" and THEN hang up.

Who sets up these protocols, anyway? All they do is seriously antagonize would-be donors. Last call I got like this, when I explained my situation, the caller said "Oh, okay, thanks" and that was it.

Oh, they drive me CRAZY! They seem to think that being 'broke' means I'm down to my last million. I tell them why would I donate money to them if I don't know how I'm going to pay the rent this month? Usually gets a snotty 'Ma'am, I don't need to know your whole financial situation', to which I say, 'Then stop calling me!'.
Heck, even now when I *have* money, I refuse to donate to anyone who calls on the phone. I have my charities, and I send them money. I don't need this nonsense.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Typically, professional phone solicitors who have no connection to the organization for whom they are trying to raise funds. These telemarketers keep the lion's share needless to say.

This, this, this, this, THIS!

Exhibit A as to why I am VERY careful who I donate to.

[notalwaysright]

I don't donate over the phone, but that's besides the point because I don't pickup if I don't recognize the number so I wouldn't have been speaking to them anyway.

My mom gets cranky when one of the local high schools calls to beg for money for this or that activity. Why? Because there are two high schools in my town and the one neither myself nor her went to is the one that calls. It's also the rich school so when my mom says "no thanks" they really shouldn't act so butt hurt. Solicit money from people who are going to your school or even alumni. Nobody in our house is either.

[gerund]

The Door to Door solicitors around here act all butt hurt when I tell them they are on private property and they have to leave. One of the biggest things is, they try to shame me "because we're only trying to help people and everyone else here has been wonderful."

Yeah right. I answer, "If you're going to stand there and argue with me, I'll go and call the police now." They always look surprised that their little act didn't work.

[Buzzard]

Had one donation solicitor outside a WallyWorld try to shame me into donating to whatever the hell it was, using the beer I was loading up on the bike as ammunition for goading. Thing is, I don't drink, and the beer was the cheap way to pay for work I needed done.
Quite frankly, I wasn't interested in donating before, and after that bit of crap, I'd be damned before he got a penny from me.

[SpyOne]

The Old Rule:
I used to take a tiny bit of joy in saying to the telemarketers who called collecting for the Fire Department (they're volunteers), the Police Benevolent Association, or the like, that the Police (or fire department) had made a statement on the news that they don't collect money by calling people, so anyone who called and said they were from that organization was lying.
Occasionally, one would bluster and say that things had changed. I'd respond, "Then perhaps the police should say so on the news. Until they do, I'm going to assume that you're lying."
Some would say that they were a legitimate fundraising organization, and I'd point out that I never said they weren't, but that the agency they claim to be collecting for says they are not associated at all.

My brother is much more tolerant of this nonsense than I am: I'd usually hang up at this point, but he'd take the opportunity to discuss how working for an employer they know to be dishonest must be harming them spiritually (Dishonest in that they imply a sponsorship they do not have. Knowing they haven't done anything illegal because it was their intent to walk right up to that line.)

The New Rule: I never answer my home phone. Period. It exists mostly as a condition for my internet access. Leave a message. I might be sitting right next to the phone and will hear your message. If not, it may be DAYS before I play the messages.

I never answer my cell phone. Anybody who doesn't leave a voicemail is someone I didn't want to talk to anyway. And I never return calls that didn't leave a voicemail and aren't on my contacts list.

Note to coworkers: the Store Phone is on my contacts list, your cell phone is not. If you call me from your cell phone and don't leave a voicemail, you get ignored.

[mjr]

Had something similar happen to me -- twice, and I think it was the same person/organization, because the person sounded the same and used the same name both times.

The first time was shortly after I'd gotten out of the hospital after a major surgery. I told "Ray" that I had just had a major surgery and didn't have the money. He still tried to get $25 out of me, so I hung up on him.

A few months later, I got another call from "Ray", and at the time I wasn't making money because I'd been laid off. I told him so, and he still pressed for a $25 donation. I hung up on him again.

You may ask yourself why I even answered the phone for a number I didn't recognize. Well, as I said, at the time I was looking for work and was expecting calls from employers and tech recruiters.

[Food Lady]

They're probably temporary employees trying to keep their jobs. I did it once. I don't think I lasted long.

[Kittish]

I did that once, cold calling people trying to get donations for a charity. I lasted half of one shift. The rules we had to follow were shady as f*ck. Weren't allowed to say what state we were calling from if the people asked. Told we were required to flat out lie in response to several common questions. Nope, nope, nope. If, by some miracle, you actually got someone to agree to donate, you had to raise your hand and wait for a supervisor to come 'round to you, before you could take any payment details from the person on the phone. The supervisors were never in any rush to get to you, either. I saw several instances where people agreed to donate, then changed their minds and hung up because it took too damn long.