General Etiquette > All In A Day's Work

Charity hard sell

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Lisbeth:
This is a topic that makes me feel uncomfortable-I guess because I don't like any kind of hard sell tactics.

Yesterday when I was on my lunch break, a guy stopped me on the street to try to sign me up for one of those sponsor-an-overseas-child charities.  I listened to his spiel and was even willing to take a package from him about a child, but he wanted me to commit right then and there to sponsoring a child.

This is more than I was willing to do at the time-I wanted to check out the charity as well as go through my own finances and see if I could even do it.  But he insisted that the charity doesn't allow its outreachers to hand out packages-he said that there had been issues with people photocopying the forms to use to claim fraudulent tax deductions.  Okay, but stopping someone on the street and expecting them to give you their credit card or bank information then and there seems to be a tad shady to me!

FoxPaws:

--- Quote ---the charity doesn't allow its outreachers to hand out packages
--- End quote ---

Lights should flash; bells should sound - this is fishy. My (admittedly cynical) guess is he didn't want you examining the fine print before he had your credit card/checking account number. Legitimate charities are usually overeager to hand you paperwork showing that they're on the up and up.

Lisbeth:
I know-when he said that, red flags went up in my mind too.  So I didn't go for it.

I tend to think that a legitimate, respectable charity will not just accost you on the street and expect you to donate without allowing you to ask questions.

gjcva1:

--- Quote from: KeenReader on December 08, 2006, 07:28:46 PM ---This is more than I was willing to do at the time-I wanted to check out the charity as well as go through my own finances and see if I could even do it.  But he insisted that the charity doesn't allow its outreachers to hand out packages-he said that there had been issues with people photocopying the forms to use to claim fraudulent tax deductions. 
--- End quote ---

methinks that this man should know all about fraudulent tax deductions.  maybe it's just me, but i have NEVER EVER heard of a legitimate charity that objected to a potential donor checking them out.  bypass this person just as you would (hopefully) ignore a proposal from a Nigerian bank to split millions with you. 

Sirius:
You were wise to leave that situation.  Any charity that doesn't allow people to have a copy of their paperwork to read at their leisure has something to hide.  On the other hand, in this case it was most likely the person doing the accosting who was trying to scam you, not the charity itself. 

If you remember the name of the charity, you might look them up on the internet.  If they're legitimate, you might drop them a line or an e-mail telling them what happened.  Or, if they're not there, you'll know that the whole thing was a scam. 

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