I must attract those people with questionairs, I've tried every method of avoiding them...

Not looking them in the eye
Wearing headphones and pretending I can't hear them
Crossing the road
Looking at the pavement
Running away

but they still always ask me, usually a polite lie, like "I'm in a rush" or "Thats my bus" is enough to get rid, but on Saturday it wasn't.

Some religious bloke with a clipboard wouldn't not go away, he kept pace with me questioning me and I had to resort to a less than polite "f***-off and leave me alone" in a tone of voice that implied "or I'll kill you", before he went to anoy someone else.

I'm not a violent person but he was minutes away from a punch in the face.

These people are one of the reasons I avoid town like the plague and begrudgingly shop at Meadowhall.

I always get my mobile out and fake an animated converstation.

Or you could try dribbling, foaming at the mouth and muttering "GOD.. rhubarb.. rhubarb.. MUST KILL.. rhubarb.. SACRIFICE" - I experimented with assorted fruit and vegetables, but found rhubarb to be most effective.

I generally slow down or speed up so that someone else is in between me and the clipboard wielder.

They are annoying but not annoying enough to drive me to Meadowhell.

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24143

Is anyone else sick of being harassed while shopping or whatever in town? I am SICK of these people and feel very angry to the point of violence... may sound extreme. But having10+ people chasing you with clipboards on the moor in just one day is just intolerable.

The other day, I was on my way to forbidden planet and games station. Stopped by some idiot with glasses and some sort of fishing hat. i said "no thanks" and he tried anything to stop me. So I go to the shop etc. I come out of the shop and head to games station, and he tried it again! following me aswell near to the shop.

This has to be stopped. I do not want to be harassed every time i go and do some shopping. Harrasment is against the law isnt it?

Your thaughts please...

ugh they really do get right up my nose sometimes, but i guess they are doing it (usually) for a good cause.

I just wanna cry when i stand on the top of fargate and all u can see is a river of clipboards. Sometimes its easier to go through tk maxx and avoid alot if u can. Shame u have to miss all the shops tho.

you need to develop your clipboard radar and weaving skills, it take a little practise to perfect but after a while you'll be straight through them like an invisible ninja. Tips include: never make eye contact : keep on their blindside :change direction if necessary. If all else fails and you do get trapped use the old "I'm on my way to work will be late" routine.

Good luck out there

If those ladies on Fargate with their clipboards ignore me, I feel right peeved. I walk up and down, then stand, smile, nod, stare, demanding their recognition. Why should everyone else but me get their attention? What they flogging? I want to know!

Of course, as soon as I have their attention, I lose all interest in their product or charity. I give them an incorrect name and address. Try Roger Rabbit, c/o Buckingham Palace- and just smile sweetly when they give you that puzzled stare. They can't wait to get rid of you, and rest assured - yours is the face they won't forget, and you'll never be bothered by the same clipboard canvassers again. :rolleyes: :evil: :roll: :heyhey:

Going through Shefield on Thursday afternoon, i was asked for
'spare change' twice from beggar's.
Three times- asked if i would like to buy the Big issue.
twice- if i would like a 'fortune cookie'(which was a mobile phone sales booklet with a cookie in with it)
and finally.......... "would i like to buy a CD"(Illegal Copy) near the market.

Good cause or not, it was never ending!

I thought it was bad in my city, it's nothing compared to Sheffield.

I used to feel like this, and yes it is absolutley ridiculous the swarms of them at the top of Fargate. Good cause my eye.

But just last week, when I failed to dodge one of them, instead of my usual "I'm in a rush, etc", I just looked at her in the eye and said politely but firmly "No, I don't want to talk to you". She said (from the script) "oh, it won't take a minute", and I said back "well I still don't want to talk to you".

Small things amuse small minds but I felt better and it is better than lying - I actually had no particularly rush as I had two hours to kill in a coffee shop ahead of me.

Parasites the lot of them.

Originally posted by owl74
you need to develop your clipboard radar and weaving skills, it take a little practise to perfect but after a while you'll be straight through them like an invisible ninja. Tips include: never make eye contact : keep on their blindside :change direction if necessary. If all else fails and you do get trapped use the old "I'm on my way to work will be late" routine.

Good luck out there

yeah but thats the thing. why should we need to develop ninja skills? one city banned big issue sellers. why can't this city have clipboard people banned?

yes that's a fantstic idea, my partner calls them the time share sellers of England cos they are so annoying.

i dont think a ban is needed, alot do it for cancer research etc which is kinda good. I just think there are too many.

U could get a umbrella and aim it infront of you. Then just charge and im sure they wont try to stop you.

Cancer research is good but this is about being able to walk around town hassle free. Personally if I want to donate to charity I will get in touch with them. But I can see that it is a valuable source of income for charities even though it annoys most people.

MOD: Threads merged - please do a search before starting a new thread.

I deliberately avoid the 'chuggers' (Charity Muggers) because if I want to give I give in my own way.

I occasionally take part in market research if I'm bored, and have been known to lie. My cunning plan is that we can subvert the whole process by putting in plausible answers that are totally stupid, thus confusing the company surveys.

The result will be that we either flood the world with products and service no one outside Royston Vasey would ever want, or we cause the company to repeat the research...:)

The ones I REALLY dislike are the folks looking for accident victims. One of these days one will accost me when I'm in a foul mood and they'll be able to claim for their own accidental injuries caused by a glancing blow from a heavy shoulder bag.

Joe :)

Try bringing your own clipboard. They won't bother you then.

Originally posted by Chicago
Try bringing your own clipboard. They won't bother you then.

"can i have a minute on your time please" asks the cheesy smiled clipboard holder.
"only if i can have 2 of yours" you reply.
now make sure you ask them many many many stupid questions as possible until they finally cave in and leave fargate trying to avoid you. (make sure its stupid stuff like their shoe size, fav bands and types of cheese)

Between them and the endless wave of Big Issue sellers, it's a wonder whether anyone is safe to walk down Fargate...

I got accosted TWICE yesterday by the same man begging for money. The first time was in the afternoon when it was busy, he had one big issue in his hand (an old battered copy, he obviously wasn't a seller) and said he didn't want to sell it to me but he had 'nowhere to go that night'. Which wasn't so bad.

But at around 7 or 8pm I went out to get some dinner and was using the cash machine on Division Street (which was completely void of people), when the same guy came up to me at the cash machine. That just made me feel even more uncomfortable than I normally do when approached by people in the street.

All big issue sellers now have official badges and florescent (sp?) tunic things saying BIG ISSUE: SELLING NOT BEGGING, so if you find someone selling them without either of those things you should not buy one and probably tell the Big Issue. I really don't mind genuine big issue sellers because I do not feel threatened by them, as I sometimes do by beggars.

When walking round on my own I have taken to saying PLEASE DON'T COME ANY CLOSER TO ME when people are purposefully walking towards me asking for money etc. One guy scared the socks off me the other day outside hallam uni by walking right up to me and whispering 'want any cheap fags' - i honestly thought he was going to kill me.

In my opinion, market research people are the PITS. Who is it who sends out these poor people? We should find them and all go round their house with clipboards.

Originally posted by DeathAxe


The other day, I was on my way to forbidden planet and games station. Stopped by some idiot with glasses and some sort of fishing hat. i said "no thanks" and he tried anything to stop me. So I go to the shop etc. I come out of the shop and head to games station, and he tried it again! following me aswell near to the shop.

This has to be stopped. I do not want to be harassed every time i go and do some shopping. Harrasment is against the law isnt it?

Your thaughts please...

I know exactly the bloke you mean, Every single day he comes up to me normally I have my headphones on point to them and just say sorry im in a rush, but this last week I didnt have it with me and every time he has come up to me I just said sorry Im really not intrested and walked off, friday he was walking straight towards me pointing, I tried to sidestep him and he kept blocking my way, I told him i wasnt intrested and he was saying look i want to talk to you, so I said to him "Look just F**k off leave me alone, I have said i dont want to talk to you" then as I walked off, he just shouted its my job to convert miserable bitches like you... now that just really spooked me out... has anyone else had confrontations like that with him?

Susie
xx

He's not one of those gouranga guys is he? They make me really really mad.

I was stopped a few years ago by someone who asked me various questions about how much I'd pay for electrical goods. She was obviously an expert in electrical goods because the first question was..."How much would you pay for a DVD player?". The second question (which I don't think was on her sheet) was "Do you know what a DVD player is because none of us do?". :suspect: :loopy: :gag:

Originally posted by JoePritchard
I occasionally take part in market research if I'm bored, and have been known to lie.

:o I'm absolutely shocked! :o

You're supposed to be a Mod - upholder of standards - you can't lie! :P

StarSparkle

Originally posted by kathythebean
He's not one of those gouranga guys is he? They make me really really mad.

Yeah he is, i know a lot of people hes just annoyed in general, when my best friend died her boyfriend was walking down the moor to work and he stopped him and he just went look mate i just dont wanna talk the gouranga guy turned and said to him its not like i wanna kill you is it, and my mate snapped and punched him in the stomach... which i feel most people will think he deserved...

Susie
xx

i once got invited by one to go and taste something..............cant remember what it was now, was about 18 years ago.......took and a mate down chapel walk and to the top floor of a building.

I try and always have my cdman/mp3 player on. I normally just shake my head if not.

I'm dubious about some of the charity ones. I remember that there was a scam running when I was at uni in Hull. You stood around with a thingy for Lung Cancer Research. You kept 1/4 of the profits, the charity got 1/4 and the person organising it got half.

As far as I remember it was a registered charity and its ok to do that as long as the charity itself gets a certain percentage.

Got stopped by a babe the other day. Thought it was a questionnaire but she was a paid person getting people to do direct debits or whatever for some blind charity I never heard of. Very easy on the eye but also very persistent and had right time telling her i wasnt interested without getting into an argument !

If the people who approach you are genuine Market Researchers they will have an identity card issued by the Market Research Society (MRS).

So if they bother you, ask to see their MRS card, if they don't have one get the name of the firm they are representing and threaten to report them to the MRS for 'sugging' (selling under the guise of Market Research).

You'll find that genuine Market Researchers won't bother you too much as they are told to look for a particular age or sex, if you don't fit they won't want to know.

Originally posted by kathythebean
He's not one of those gouranga guys is he? They make me really really mad.

Sounds intriguing - tell us more please?

Another tactic to deploy is to speak a few words in a feigned (or real) foreign language when approached, adding "no engleesh". Shake your head, smile, and walk off.

Oh redrobbo you must have come into contact with one at some stage - I had you down as such a well travelled man! :)Only joking. The gouranga guys are Hare Krishna, I think. They come up to you in the street trying to sell you CDs and get you to say Gouranga, cos apparently it makes you happy. Its weird. Someone once told me they have very dodgy beliefs about women, so now every time they come up to me I ask them "is it true you all believe that women are second class citizens" and they normally just mumble something about 'misinterpretation' and go bright red and try and sell me their books. I don't like them at all, I think they prey on the vulnerable.

Originally posted by kathythebean
Oh redrobbo you must have come into contact with one at some stage - I had you down as such a well travelled man! :)Only joking. The gouranga guys are Hare Krishna, I think. They come up to you in the street trying to sell you CDs and get you to say Gouranga, cos apparently it makes you happy. Its weird. Someone once told me they have very dodgy beliefs about women, so now every time they come up to me I ask them "is it true you all believe that women are second class citizens" and they normally just mumble something about 'misinterpretation' and go bright red and try and sell me their books. I don't like them at all, I think they prey on the vulnerable.

One of these guys once approached me in the street and before he got to me I had already said, "No, I haven't had any accidents or injuries." Needless to say I didn't buy a CD though and after hearing that they think of women as second class citizens I certainly won't be giving them the time of day.

I was accosted at Moorfoot by Gouranga man last night. He's about as spiritual as an NCP car park! He's aggressive, patronising and looks more like a junkie panhandler than a monk.

This fellow is so cynical and false when he talks to you and tries to be chummy before persistently trying to get money off you. It's not like they do anything good with it, they just print more literature and try and convert/bully more vulnerable people.

Looking on the Net today it seems along with not respecting women and nature the movement has been done on endless nasty child abuse claims. And what decent religion (sorry, cult) was started as recently as 1966?

Gouranga = I'm a loser

I usually avoid people with clipboards like the plague, but a couple of weeks ago I was feeling generous so talked to one. She was doing some research on Avon and I agreed to answer a few questions. Took 10 minutes and got £15 worth of free Avon stuff. Nice stuff too. so that wasn't so bad...

Originally posted by Ant
I always get my mobile out and fake an animated converstation.

Or you could try dribbling, foaming at the mouth and muttering "GOD.. rhubarb.. rhubarb.. MUST KILL.. rhubarb.. SACRIFICE" - I experimented with assorted fruit and vegetables, but found rhubarb to be most effective.

ROFL!!!! Oh that tickled me!!! :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi:

The ease with which I lie to these people is astounding - so many times I've been skint/on my way to an appointment/catching a bus - I love it.

The ones who really pee me off are the guys who try and forceably foist flyers on to me, I don't want it so I say I don't want it but so many people take it and then chuck it.

I favour the direct approach mentioned earlier, a firm no to begin with, a firmer one if they persist and a solid "F*** off!" avec steely glare if they don't get the hint.