Beggars

[fowler9]

There's no need to be nasty or to ignore people so I smile say hello then say no. That's my response to ANYONE who asks me for money in the street, be that people begging for change or people begging for charity money.
Same thing in my book.

I would agree with that.

 

[jon0844]

I agree with that for normal people, but chuggers.. They're fair game to me!

(Actually I just ignore them completely, but don't have a problem with others telling them to sod off).

 

[Bletchleyite]

I agree with that for normal people, but chuggers.. They're fair game to me!

I will say no, thankyou politely. If they then go away, fine. If not, I will be rude (though not swear).

It's the same as any sales telephone call.

"Hello, can I speak to NW please"?
"Yes, who is calling please?"
"I am calling from <company X I have no current business with>"
"Is it a sales call?"
"Yes"
"OK, then I'm afraid I am not interested, thank you"
"Thank you, goodbye".

OK with that. A not terrible little interlude on my day.

However, you increasingly get:
"Hello, can I speak to NW please"?
"Yes, who is calling please?"
"I am calling from <company X I have no current business with>"
"Is it a sales call?"
"No, it's for your information" (or similar)
"Well, I'm afraid you are a liar. Do not ever call me again or I will be taking further action, noting that I am signed up to the Telephone Preference Service and as such you are breaking the law by calling me in the first place. Bye" <slam phone down>

Be polite and truthful to me, and I will be polite and truthful back. I cannot abide liars and those who will not take a polite "no, thankyou", and I will not be civil to them.

 

[jon0844]

That's my outlook on life too. Always give people the benefit of the doubt, but try and lie to me and I've lost all respect and now my actions from then on are fully justified (to me)!

When a salesman mentions anything like 'we can do a discount now, but you'd need to buy in the next few minutes' then it's game over. Whatever the product was and however much I might have wanted it, the sales process has finished.

Hence me not doing any business over the phone with a company I haven't previously approached, or where I haven't called them instead of the other way around.

 

[joke2711]

As a frequent Liverpool - South East train traveller, it appears that there is a growing trend for passengers (especially those who smoke!) to be approached and asked for cigarettes and money.

This is a definite problem at Euston, even more so at Liverpool Lime Street.

Who has responsibility to monitor this and move people on. Are they actually on railway property and is anything been done to counter act this?

Thoughts on this would be appreciated.

J

 

[AM9]

It's everybody's responsibility to ignore them. If that happened, they would go away.

 

[Antman]

It's everybody's responsibility to ignore them. If that happened, they would go away.

Exactly and that includes 'chuggers'........I make my charity donations online.

 

[EM2]

If you refuse and they persist, then contact station staff and they should ask the person to leave. If they still refuse, then it becomes a matter for BTP.

 

[route:oxford]

When a salesman mentions anything like 'we can do a discount now, but you'd need to buy in the next few minutes' then it's game over. Whatever the product was and however much I might have wanted it, the sales process has finished

Ah typical double glazing salesman...

I gave my neighbour a bit of advice when she was having hers done and went around to offer support.

She booked three companies in at 5pm, 6pm, 7pm and had to leave at 8pm for nightshift.

The salesmen weren't impressed that they only had an hour to come up with the best offer, the first two even less so when they found out that a competitor would be around on the hour...

As to vagrants begging either in towns or stations. They are clearly vulnerable people who need to be taken from the streets and provided with some protection far away from temptation until such time as they can either be returned to their original home town or volunteers take them into their homes.

 

[fowler9]

Its normally the concourse outside Lime Street where you get the ciggy and some cash beggars, surely not railway property? I was outside Lime Street about 9 tonight having a ciggy. This fella came up looking around to see if anyone was watching and proper rifled through the bin looking for food. What he found he ate and he wolfed it down like he hadn't eaten for days. The kind of stuff you see in films where people are starving. I gave him the rest of my change which was about a fiver. I've never seen someone look so grateful. If it was a ploy it was a weird one because eating out of bins isn't going to keep him alive long. I chatted to him for a bit. He just seemed embarrassed. I think he may have been ex forces.