General gripe

[ghostjmf]

Charities are wonderful. Those that aren't scams, that is.

But when I am at the supermarket, or the drugstore, I want to pay for my groceries/prescriptions, not have to pick my way past a screen of "do you want to contribute $3.00 to the Jimmy Fund (local pan-hospitals charity for children)" or whatever Tom Brady (of the NE Patriots football team) is sponsoring this week.

I will give to charities of my choice, when I want to, & certainly not in a way that gets tied to my credit card or Star Market (local grocery chain) or CVS.

There is often other stuff to navigate at CVS as well, usually "do you want this on automatic refill". NO! I do not.

[BackInTex]

I'm with you on this.
Taco Bell always asks "Do you want to donate a dollar to help a kid graduate?"
I have no idea who or what the charity is.
Same at a local grocery store asking to donate to the local food bank at each transaction.
I'm sure they are all worthy causes, but I hate being hit up for extra money every time I spent it.

I do however donate at PetSmart for homeless pets. The amount I donate equals the amount of credit they give me when I show them the prices of the exact same items on their website is cheaper than their in-store price (up to about $5). If the credit is more than $5, I usually top the donation at $5.

BTW, always check the PetSmart.com price when shopping in store. (They will also price match Chewy.com and PetCo.com).

[tlynn78]

I'm with you guys. I have no problem saying "No thanks" - the stink-eye from those in line around me notwithstanding.
Another thing I've noticed lately on EFB; birthday notifications that say, "Birthday Person would like you to donate to XYZ Charity on their behalf for their birthday." Whaaa? First, do people's facebook friends normally buy them presents? 'cause if that's the case, I missed about 287 of them last year. And what if I was going to buy them a present? Can I not, now? What if I don't like their charity of choice? It's weird, that's all.

[littlebeast13]

The "Would you like to donate X amount to Y to help Z" line is obnoxious at the register. However, I almost always do the round up the change to the next dollar thing when it's offered. Every sundae I buy from Dairy Queen gets CMN 42 cents. Every pizza I buy from Domino's gets St. Jude's 34 cents. Much neater and it keeps my cups of change from getting any larger. And I'm a selfish bastard who generally shuns charity....

Then again, I'm apparently one of the last people on earth who still likes to use cash for small purchases....

lb13