back to article 'The People's' cell operator to offer expensive data - but it's for cheridee

A new mobile phone network in the UK will give a quarter of its profits to charity. The People's Operator, which piggybacks on EE's network, hopes giving cash to good causes will attract customers, who can also direct 10 per cent of their bills to charities of their choice. It's offering rates roughly 20 per cent higher than …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. JDX Gold badge

    Or you know...

    ...you could just give to charity directly.

    1. Pen-y-gors

      Re: Or you know...

      yeah, after all, how difficult is it to set up a standing order for a fiver a month?

  2. Mike Brown

    scam?

    How much are the owners and directors taking? This sounds like a great way to claim "charity" status, pay much less tax, and get paid a whooping fortune.

  3. Jemma

    Charity...

    Piggybacking on the-thieving-gits-formerly-known-as-orange... Now *that* is irony...

    Whoever thought up this little gem should be seconded to the Darwin Awards testing team without delay and preferably with extreme prejudice.

  4. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Stop

    There aren't many charities I give to nowadays

    I refuse to give any money to a charity who either uses chuggers, or makes marketing calls to me. I feel desperately sorry for the good folk who actually collect money by freezing their 'nads off shaking a bucket, when you realise that the "charity" is then going to spend that money with a commercial outfit, and on directors salaries.

    A few months ago, working from home, I noticed a car pull up outside (we live in a cul de sac). Out got 4 guys, clipboards and lanyards at the ready, and they proceeded to flashmob the street, for .... Macmillan Cancer. Won't take a penny, but are *very* pushy to get a monthly DD signed up. I haven't checked, but I suspect that if the DD is cancelled before the collectors made any commission off it (why do you think they do it) then they will be able to clawback a fee from the charity.

    1. jonathanb Silver badge

      Re: There aren't many charities I give to nowadays

      Their commission is as near as damn it 100% of the first two years of standing order payments. The charity gets to keep any money collected after that time.

    2. pig

      Re: There aren't many charities I give to nowadays

      "I haven't checked, but I suspect that if the DD is cancelled before the collectors made any commission off it (why do you think they do it) then they will be able to clawback a fee from the charity"

      Last I looked, the fees per sign up were around £80-£150.

      This is paid up front by the charity who hope, and statistically do, make it up from the donator over time.

      It does mean though that if you sign up, and cancel the DD, you are effectively losing the charity money.

      I really thing the chugging model is wrong, and would love to see it stop (I'm not sure how, or rather "why" we could ban it though).

      1. JimmyPage Silver badge
        Unhappy

        Sadly

        "I really thing the chugging model is wrong, and would love to see it stop (I'm not sure how, or rather "why" we could ban it though)."

        is to tax charities.

    3. Jacqui Caren

      Re: There aren't many charities I give to nowadays

      "A few months ago, working from home, I noticed a car pull up outside (we live in a cul de sac). Out got 4 guys, clipboards and lanyards at the ready, and they proceeded to flashmob the street, for .... Macmillan Cancer."

      We had similar for RSPCA. Only the scumbags doing this targeted little old ladies and threatened to remove their pets unless they filled in an "assessment form". A pensioner friend was almost caught out by this but they failed when asked for her bank details - she does not have a bank account!

      We called Surrey police who said it is legal and not their problem. We contacted the charity who said that it is an agency and they are not legally responsible for these activities.

      RSCPA has been on my shit list since this (and their brutal killing of ten rehomable GSD's in wales)

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: There aren't many charities I give to nowadays

      I'm with a charity you might give money to. We don't do fundraising or pay salaries.

      I don't think I can tell you the name, as that might count as asking for money. It is a Christian organisation, a so-called "faith mission" - which means we trust God to motivate people to send what's needed (people, stuff, or if necessary cash). As you might imagine IT is a bit chaotic here, but we get by and amazing things have happened along the way.

      There are probably secular charities that work in similar ways... one option would be to donate to open-source projects that produce software for charities - CiviCRM is a prime example.

  5. Mike Brown

    Im actually kind of against charities

    We shouldnt need charities to prop up our society, i pay tax, and that tax should be enought to help the citizens of this country who are disadvantaged, be thro blindness, cancer, war wounds or what ever.

    I know we do need them, but i still think we souldnt have to have them.

    1. JimmyPage Silver badge

      I read a lovely quote recently

      Someone said they'd know when they lived in a better world, when schools and hospitals have all they need, and the army has to do a sponsored walk if they want a tank.

    2. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Im actually kind of against charities

      So we should pay more tax then? Thanks!

    3. dotdavid
      Holmes

      Re: Im actually kind of against charities

      Not saying your examples aren't worthy causes, but the very fact that different people consider different things to be worthy causes is pretty much why charities exist and why a lot of stuff isn't paid for by tax.

      For example I might be quite happy for my taxes to go up to help fund a local animal charity, but someone else might say "well they're only animals" and resent it. Who is to say who is right? At least with a charity we can make our own choices.

      1. Vic

        Re: Im actually kind of against charities

        > At least with a charity we can make our own choices.

        How about discretionary taxes?

        You pay an amount according to your earnings, but you get to decide where some of it goes...

        Vic.

  6. Busby
    FAIL

    Outrageous Data Costs

    With those data costs I assume they are pitching this squarely at the Bill Gates Warren Buffet billionaire philanthropist section of the market? Sure they must be cause nobody else could afford it!

  7. The Vociferous Time Waster
    Flame

    blah blah charity blah blah

    ....aaaaaannnnnd here we have the usual selection of people using whatever excuse they can to justify not giving any money to charity. We have the usual selection of 'minimum wage chuggers get paid too much' and 'the CEO gets paid nearly half what a CEO gets paid elsewhere' all the way to 'in my socialist ideal world you wouldn't need charity so I am going to ignore the fact that in the reality of today we do'.

    I don't care if you don't want to donate to charity; maybe you can't afford it or maybe you're a c**t but please don't try to dress it up as some noble protest.

    (My personal favorite is the fella who walks past me when I am stood there with a bucket and says 'my wife did race for life last year' and carries on walking; and of course the blokes that say they have no change and then pat their pockets to the obvious sound of jingling coins.)

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: blah blah charity blah blah

      So the fact that those arguments are all valid doesn't matter? To you it's simply about the money - if you can't get your grubby mitts on my cash then I'm a fraud if I don't simply admit 'I don't want to' as the reason?

      I have no interest in paying you to wander around with a bucket, why don't you get a proper job? I'd rather give my money to a charity who spend it on the cause, not people like you.

      How much of your money do you give to the charity? Or are you exempt... remember "please don't try to dress it up as some noble protest."

    2. Mike Brown

      Re: blah blah charity blah blah

      Do you do your "charity" work for free? If not, shut the hell up.

    3. dotdavid
      Meh

      Re: blah blah charity blah blah

      "and of course the blokes that say they have no change and then pat their pockets to the obvious sound of jingling coins"

      Just curious (because I am one of those very blokes) would you rather I walked past and said "sorry mate I'd rather keep my change for something more worthy"? I'm not sure why you'd get offended by random strangers telling little white lies.

      1. JDX Gold badge

        Re: blah blah charity blah blah

        When you stop and tell them you already give to other charities, sometimes they decide to try and 'convert' you about how theirs is more ethical and so on. One had a go at me once when he didn't approve of the charity I give to!!

  8. Fookmyoldboots
    WTF?

    The "you need to be rich" Peoples Operator

    £10 top-up with Three gives you 100min, zillion text's and 500mb of data with 150mb bonus data on top just for topping up. Just for a 150mb usage via TPO @ 12.5p per MB = £18+

    I don't mind giving to charity but I ain't busting my balls for the privilege

    1. Mike Brown

      Re: The "you need to be rich" Peoples Operator

      not only that, but if you give that £8 difference to charity, you get more allowance, and give more to charity! Everyone wins. Apart from TPO.........

  9. The Vociferous Time Waster
    Mushroom

    Hmmm... funny you should ask...

    "How much of your money do you give to the charity? Or are you exempt... remember "please don't try to dress it up as some noble protest."

    "Do you do your "charity" work for free? If not, shut the hell up."

    Time for some education...

    By law the people collecting cash in buckets *cannot* be paid so they have to be volunteers. You can ask any one of us to see our permit to collect and our ID from the charity which identifies us as volunteers. Occasionally employees of the charities come out and do a bit as well but they are doing it voluntarily and are off the clock when they do it.

    Under the same law charities are allowed to reimburse us our travel expenses up to 10% of what we raise so you can be sure that for every pound you are too tight to put in a bucket at least 90p would have gone towards the charity and no more than 10% of it would have gone help the often student volunteers get there in the first place.

    (Note that it's at the charity's discretion for actual travel costs with receipts - if you raise £1000 you don't get to pocket £100 if you walked to where you were collecting).

    So yeah, mate, I do it for free. As I have a job (a senior position at a major storage vendor) I choose not to reclaim any travel expenses, neither do most of the other volunteers I work with. I founded an online community for fundraisers a few years back that has raised just off £500,000 by us spending our spare time helping charities.

    "Just curious (because I am one of those very blokes) would you rather I walked past and said "sorry mate I'd rather keep my change for something more worthy"? I'm not sure why you'd get offended by random strangers telling little white lies."

    A simple 'not today, mate' will suffice. Perhaps even a 'not today but good luck, fella'. We're people and we're volunteers so don't be dicks to us.

    1. Fookmyoldboots

      Re: Hmmm... funny you should ask...

      Thank you for that insightful reply.

    2. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Hmmm... funny you should ask...

      Fair enough. I'd always be polite to people who don't come chasing after me - but some of you guys are a nightmare.

    3. Mike Brown

      Re: Hmmm... funny you should ask...

      fair enough. i didnt realise bucket shakers were not paid. Ive worked for charities in a fund raising capacity and i was certainly paid ;-), so i thought you guys must be the same.

      Good on you for doing it for free.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like