Thursday, May 14, 2015

Sadly, Customer Service Fails at Charities too!

Sadly, Customer Service Fails at Charities too! 

    

 
     Sadly, Customer Service Fails at Charities too! For the last two months I wrote about my view of some businesses I’ve conducted business with them. Sadly, that isn’t the end of it. How about dealing with the customer service department/donor care and membership departments for charitable organizations?  Have you ever donated to a charity and got treated as if you were a consumer dealing with a large corporation rather than dealing with a charity appreciating your time, effort and money? Have you ever felt taken advantage of by a charity? I have and specifically with a few charitable organizations that are quite large. Large in scope and large in money and large in resources, but not large in appreciation toward their donors.
                                               

     In fact, I’m highly disappointed with three specific charities I donate to regularly, which places me in a conundrum.  I value the causes. I believe in the causes, but I don’t appreciate being treated with disrespect. It’s terrible the way charities treat their donors. Granted, I can’t afford to donate thousands of dollars to my charities, but I do donate enough to pay for one meal at a fine restaurant annually. What’s a donor to do? Stop donating to the causes that matter most?

     It’s no secret that I love animals, all animals, large and small, domestic and wild. Most of my charities I donate to are for animals. I love manatees and donate to Save-A-Manatee.org. Every year when I donate, I receive a full color calendar from the charity, which I love hanging up. It reminds me of the cause every time I look at them. This past January came and went and no calendar arrived from this charity. I telephoned to inquire and the response was they didn’t know. Imagine that. They’d resend it. Okay. No problem. Time passed and still no calendar. I called to inquire again. No calendar. I called again and received a rather rude man, who without looking into the situation or asking me about it, proceeded to inform me how the calendars are mailed. Naturally, his rudeness prompted me to ask for a supervisor followed by the usual apologies for the delay and rudeness.


The exact same thing occurred with the Humane Society of the United States and the ASPCA, two more animal charities I donate to annually. No calendar which meant calls to their donor care departments and more disrespect. I also had to report instances of animal cruelty. Imagine this: Neither charity called back to gain further details. Since action speaks louder than any words, it’s more than obvious that no one cares there about the causes I support. Not even the charities themselves. Sad.




It leaves me with a dilemma. Should I knowingly continue to donate to these large charities that have so much clout they care little about their donors? Or should I stop and donate to smaller charities without clout that might treat me better? What do you think? What would you do? For now, because I believe in the cause of helping/speaking up for and protecting animals, I will continue to donate to them and hope they do better for the cause than they do with handling customer service with their donors. Without donors, there is no funding. Perhaps, one day they will realize that. Perhaps not. What do you think? Have you experienced anything similar? I would love to hear about it. I do know that if they don't improve, they may one day go way of a bad company.

Until next time, I wish you well. Have a great day, a great week and a great month. May all your dreams come true. Be safe. Be happy. Show compassion. Be kind to one another, especially those without a voice. Love one another. Don't follow the crowd. Go against the flow. And no matter what, don't ever share your personal information just because one asks for it.

    Regards, 

    S.J. Francis
    Advocate for the underdog, and cat, et al.
 
   In Shattered Lies: "It's All About Family."  Coming in 2015 from Black Opal Books.

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Copyright 2015 by S.J. Francis. No portion of this blog post may be reprinted, modified or used without written permission of the author.

Opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, S. J. Francis and are meant to entertain, inform and enlighten, and intend to offend no one.

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