Red Cross Will NOT Stop Calling--VENT!

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Agree. If the phone reps are telling OP (and others) "Ok we'll remove you from the list", that leads the caller to believe its immediate and no further calls will be received. If there's actually a time lag, letting the caller know that would be sufficient. I'd bet the OP would be more understanding if they were advised of exactly how and when they'd be removed from the list, so everyone is on the same page.

Agreed for sure

 

[Wishing on a star]

I would do anything, and go as far up the ladder, if I had the time and energy to do so.
This IS harassment.

Who is the head of the Red Cross right now?

And, this might not be a touchy-feely popular opinion, but for those who mention that they have a rare blood type...
I don't care how rare. It is your/my blood.
There is simply no right.....

 

[Scifidiner]

Try this, it works every time. Next time they call let them get through their initial pitch then say "so what are you wearing?"

 

[kaytieeldr]

Try this, it works every time. Next time they call let them get through their initial pitch then say "so what are you wearing?"

OMG, thatsthat's bad. Hilarious, but bad. Awesome suggestion.

 

[kaytieeldr]

What would the FCC have to do with it?

Sorry. FTC.

Another suggestion: tell the caller you just had unprotected sex with a heroin addict.

 

[nkereina]

Another suggestion: tell the caller you just had unprotected sex with a heroin addict.

I think you're joking, but its actually not a bad idea. Tell them you have hepatitis or recently traveled to Botswana. Those who have or had hepatitis can't donate, and if you travel to an area that has malaria present, you can't donate for at least a year.

 

[Jennasis]

This isnt worth the angst or drama or threats of scorched earth. When they call, just hang up on them. In the grand scheme, answering a phone call isnt a big deal. Answer and hang up or dont answer.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

This isnt worth the angst or drama or threats of scorched earth. When they call, just hang up on them. In the grand scheme, answering a phone call isnt a big deal. Answer and hang up or dont answer.

I agree. Just hang up. Or don't answer.

Ring, ring. "Hello, may I schedule your next appointment to save a life?" "NO, LEAVE ME ALONE or I will call anyone and everyone and have them shut you down How dare you bother me!!!!"

Or, ring, ring. "Hello, may I schedule your next appointment to save a life?" Click. Easy, peasy.

 

[nkereina]

This isnt worth the angst or drama or threats of scorched earth. When they call, just hang up on them. In the grand scheme, answering a phone call isnt a big deal. Answer and hang up or dont answer.

I agree. Just hang up. Or don't answer.

Ring, ring. "Hello, may I schedule your next appointment to save a life?" "NO, LEAVE ME ALONE or I will call anyone and everyone and have them shut you down How dare you bother me!!!!"

Or, ring, ring. "Hello, may I schedule your next appointment to save a life?" Click. Easy, peasy.

This works fine for the occasional solicitation, but if they're truly calling every day and multiple times per day, that is disruptive and annoying to many people. It also now comes down to principle, because they are not doing what they said they would do by taking OP off their calling list. Why should they not be held accountable for that?

 

[BLAZEY]

I'd be pretty surprised if there weren't Red Cross blood drives in your area (or any area of the country, for that matter).

Red Cross no longer does ANY blood donation services in Canada and hasn't in 20 years. Depending on where he is it's very possible the Red Cross DOESN'T have blood drives. Blood donation is done by Canadian Blood Services and Hema Quebec. We are not paid for donating blood, but we do get a cookie and juice!

 

[gotomu212]

This isnt worth the angst or drama or threats of scorched earth. When they call, just hang up on them. In the grand scheme, answering a phone call isnt a big deal. Answer and hang up or dont answer.

Ehhh unsolicited calls are one of my annoyances too. Every time the phone rings I have to drop what I’m doing and run to grab it (since there are some calls for work or kids that I need to take). I get about 4-5 annoying calls a day. Running to grab the phone while cooking, doing dishes, changing a diaper only to find that it’s some nonsense is a hassle. I get it’s first world problems, but it’s still a problem. Several calls from the same organization every day would drive me up a wall.

 

[mummabear]

I was referring directly to your comments only.

No they are not calling you to harrass you to make an appointment. The Red Cross, Community Blood Centers, and all the other entities out there are not calling to harrass you. They want you to make an appointment as a point of necessity. That's why I said tactics aside. Individual people may be rude, may be unkind in trying to set up an appointment but that doesn't mean the entire system we have set up in the U.S. with all the entities out there that collect blood for donation are actually harrassing you as their intent when a person picks up the phone to call you.

If you had said that the persons the OP has dealt you felt crossed into the harrassing territory I wouldn't have commented. You framed your comment as a general description of blood donations.

And my rebuttal was coercion was not what I was refer it to. It's blood donation. It's life saving. Now if persons on the phone were threatening people (like the IRS scams out there that are completely false where the person threatens to have someone come get you and throw you in jail unless you pay $X amount) that would be different. That would unfortunately be an indidivudal person's choice if they interacted with previous blood donors that way.

We are going to have to agree to disagree.
I don't think they should be calling me to hassle me in the first instance. If I want to donate, I will arrange an appointment.
Honestly I think it comes off as them being ungrateful for what has been donated already.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We are going to have to agree to disagree.
I don't think they should be calling me to hassle me in the first instance. If I want to donate, I will arrange an appointment.
Honestly I think it comes off as them being ungrateful for what has been donated already.

Yeah..we'll just leave it as agree to disagree.

 

[soccerdad72]

Red Cross no longer does ANY blood donation services in Canada and hasn't in 20 years. Depending on where he is it's very possible the Red Cross DOESN'T have blood drives. Blood donation is done by Canadian Blood Services and Hema Quebec. We are not paid for donating blood, but we do get a cookie and juice!

He's in Sacramento: https://www.redcross.org/local/california/gold-country.html

 

[camreesmom]

They were calling me several times a day also. They finally stopped calling me after I told them that I had traveled out of the country. They asked where and I said Haiti (which is the truth). They said, ok, you can't donate for a year. So evidently, I'm off the list for a year now.

 

[Jennasis]

This works fine for the occasional solicitation, but if they're truly calling every day and multiple times per day, that is disruptive and annoying to many people. It also now comes down to principle, because they are not doing what they said they would do by taking OP off their calling list. Why should they not be held accountable for that?

Ehhh unsolicited calls are one of my annoyances too. Every time the phone rings I have to drop what I’m doing and run to grab it (since there are some calls for work or kids that I need to take). I get about 4-5 annoying calls a day. Running to grab the phone while cooking, doing dishes, changing a diaper only to find that it’s some nonsense is a hassle. I get it’s first world problems, but it’s still a problem. Several calls from the same organization every day would drive me up a wall.

I get MULTIPLE calls a day on both my cell and land line from those random automated robo calls:

"Hi this is Rachel from card services..." CLICK
"Attention business owner, your Google listing..." CLICK
"Wait! Don't hang up..." CLICK

I get a call while I'm on the other side of our very large barn cleaning a horse's stall and have to leap over a 4 wheeler and run the length of half a football field to get the phone only to hear a robo msg. Yeah, it's a minor hassle in the grand scheme of things, but I have much more important stuff to do and worry about. I just hang up. Plus I got my cardio in for the day. LOL. YMMV.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I think you're joking, but its actually not a bad idea. Tell them you have hepatitis or recently traveled to Botswana. Those who have or had hepatitis can't donate, and if you travel to an area that has malaria present, you can't donate for at least a year.

Nope. 100% serious.

As for my suggestion to tell the callers you live in X (somewhere with a different blood company), i once donated blood in Las Vegas, to get free Penn & Teller tickets. They called me every few months for a couple of years, until i explained i live across the country and wasn't planning on being back there.

We are going to have to agree to disagree.
I don't think they should be calling me to hassle me in the first instance. If I want to donate, I will arrange an appointment.
Honestly I think it comes off as them being ungrateful for what has been donated already.

No. They're grateful. But there is always a need for blood, and too few donors.

 

[gotomu212]

I get MULTIPLE calls a day on both my cell and land line from those random automated robo calls:

"Hi this is Rachel from card services..." CLICK
"Attention business owner, your Google listing..." CLICK
"Wait! Don't hang up..." CLICK

I get a call while I'm on the other side of our very large barn cleaning a horse's stall and have to leap over a 4 wheeler and run the length of half a football field to get the phone only to hear a robo msg. Yeah, it's a minor hassle in the grand scheme of things, but I have much more important stuff to do and worry about. I just hang up. Plus I got my cardio in for the day. LOL. YMMV.

That’s great that it doesn’t annoy you as much. I’m sure you have things that do annoy you that I would find ridiculous. Lucky for me I have so few things to worry about that hassling phone calls top out the list.

 

[cabanafrau]

I get MULTIPLE calls a day on both my cell and land line from those random automated robo calls:

"Hi this is Rachel from card services..." CLICK
"Attention business owner, your Google listing..." CLICK
"Wait! Don't hang up..." CLICK

I get a call while I'm on the other side of our very large barn cleaning a horse's stall and have to leap over a 4 wheeler and run the length of half a football field to get the phone only to hear a robo msg. Yeah, it's a minor hassle in the grand scheme of things, but I have much more important stuff to do and worry about. I just hang up. Plus I got my cardio in for the day. LOL. YMMV.

Perhaps some of the unsung reasons some find these calls so bothersome is much more intrusive than your situation. But hey, LOL.

 

[yeahdisney]

I gave to Heartland, I think, not realizing that they are separate from Red Cross and now I'm called all the time from both companies a lot. I let them go to voicemail and then I delete.