As I'm sitting here in my church office this morning, I just received a call from the Association of Chief's of Police requesting a contribution.
"Gary" asked to speak with the person who is in charge of making charitable contributions. I informed him that we, as a church, do not make those types of donations, but would be happy to receive them from his organization.
"Gary" made the comment that he thinks that we probably already have too much money, but that is "another thing".
I immediately asked to speak to his supervisor. He said his supervisor was in a meeting. I asked to speak to his supervisor's supervisor. He said that's who he's meeting with.
I told him that I didn't care that they were in a meeting, I wanted to speak to the supervisor immediately. (I am surprised he didn't just hang up on me.)
The supervisor came on the line and told and asked how he could help me. I explained the situation and told him that the comment was inappropriate and and was unappreciated and was offensive. He went on to tell me that they were in a collection campaign for something or other. I interrupted and told him that I didn't care WHAT they were doing that the comment and call was inappropriate. He finally agreed. He said that they weren't supposed to call churches anyway. He said he would take our number off the list and speak with Gary. I asked him to take our home phone number off the list, as they had called us many times at home.
My goodness! What is this world coming to?
6 comments:
Oooh!!! I LIKE that response! I am going to use that one -- our family could always use a contribution, so we can turn around and give it to a REAL charity that deserves it (like Gospel for Asia or something similar).
Up until now, my tactic has been either A) tell them "I do hope you realize this is a business number (they get off the phone with lightening speed); or B) ask them for THEIR number and what time they eat dinner, a la Jerry Seinfeld. I like your approach much better, though. :)
Hi Marie!
Thanks for your visit and taking time to comment! You are welcome here!
That Seinfeld episode is great. One thing I did back when my kids were very young: some guy called right at supper time. My younger daughter was pitching a fit about something, so I held her on my lap and put the phone to my ear between her and me. I tried (or at least pretended) to listen, but couldn't hear a word he was saying. He kept asking me questions that I had to have him repeat. He finally said he'd call back at a later time. I thanked him and told him that I'd be sure to have my daughter handy when he called.
Thank the Lord for the National Do Not Call List!
And, when you consider that these "groups" often times keep 98% of what they raise and give so little to the group they are "working" for...breaks my heart...
And, it breaks my heart for those who think they are helping...but, they are just paying for some agency to call and be rude to us!
When they called before, I asked where they were located. They said somewhere out of state. I asked how they help my police chief as I happen to know them. They then said, "do you want to donate or not?"
This is one that I don't like at all. I might have to do a little investigative reporting on this...
Great way to handle the situation! I will have to remember that the next time one calls.
Good call
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