Forced Donations.....How does this make you feel?

[Nevilledog]

I've been home all day painting. I just went outside to throw away some trash and found an envelope taped to the front door that said:

Sorry we missed you, we will be coming by
tomorrow morning to pick up donations for
the address numbers that were painted on the
curb, just leave the envelope taped to the
door with your donations.

Thank You,
Community Curb Service

I checked and yup, our address has been rather crudely repainted on the curb. Mind you, there was nothing wrong with the numbers already there.

At no time did anyone knock on the door to ask permission to paint the curb nor did anyone knock on the door AFTER the curb was painted. This really pisses me off.

What do you guys think? I'm not paying for this unasked for service.

[Richard Steele]

1. It's a SCAM. Call the cops. nm.

[Nevilledog]

4. Not sure it's a scam, but more an attempt to shame you to donate.

If they come back and harass us then I'll call the cops. However, it really seems like they're more focused on trying to politely "pressure" you to pay them for a "good deed". I'll be interested to see if they knock on the door tomorrow or limit themselves to just looking for envelopes left on doors.

[EFerrari]

15. It is a scam. When our numbers are painted, I can opt in or out. n/t

[Richard Steele]

18. Try Googling this "Community Curb Service".

I'll bet you that there's no such group
authorized to be painting numbers on your curbs.

The sneaky and ANONYMOUS way they went about this just screams, "SCAM".

[Nevilledog]

22. It's clear from the cheaply printed note that it's not a organization.

I guess when I think of a scam I think more about situations where someone comes to some nice little old lady's door and talks her into paying them to repave her driveway and then they paint it black and take her money. That kinda thing.

[damntexdem]

24. Leave a note in the envelope demanding that they remove the numbers from your curb.

Threaten to sue if they don't.

Could be interesting.

[Nevilledog]

28. Ha.....interesting to YOU maybe.....LOL

Without seeing who these people are (looks, type of vehicles, etc.) I think it would be inadvisable to throw out a challenge that could result in retaliation. The paint looks so thin that I'm sure it will wash away rather easily.

[Belial]

2. For a minute there.. I thought you were going to say you

were in a union.. LOL

[Snotcicles]

3. WTF. nt

[Lars39]

7. If you're anti-union, you are welcome to be paid whatever your employer

deems fit. How's lower than minimum wage suit ya?

[Belial]

13. Sniffle.. my feelings are hurt.. stop it.. LOL

My wife was a teacher in FL and they Unions down there "forced" her to make political donations for things she didn't believe in.. so get over it..

BTW.. she went to work for a charter school.. non union.. makes about 22% more..

[guitar man]

29. was that before 1988?

Just curious, because Beck v. CWA,1988 ruled that no one can be forced to make political donations by their union.

[Snotcicles]

37. uh, oh. nt

[Belial]

40. Its OK folks.. friendly.. yet spirited debate here.. nothing to see..

move along.. LOL

[Belial]

38. umm No.. and the rules don't mean much when the unions

find ways to bend them all the time.. corp America has its issues.. but Unions are competitive with each other and in a lot of cases.. FAR from saintly..

[guitar man]

41. uh, ok

so no one was "forced" to pay anything, just like I thought. Union's just like anything else, when the're wrong, stand up to them, it takes backbone but it's worth it.

[Snotcicles]

43. Union hater's, same old shit. nt

[guitar man]

44. yep

They love to sling bullshit don't they?

[Snotcicles]

46. Yep

Like that 22% extra just came out of thin air. Or maybe they are just special.

[guitar man]

47. !!!

:rofl: :applause:

[WorseBeforeBetter]

35. Shall she take a chill pill as she's getting over it?

Frankie says "relax."

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

50. LOL

[NNN0LHI]

52. All the company suck asses I knew hated unions too. LOL

[dkofos]

5. Put 2 pennies in the envelope and maybe a note telling them what you think

of the quality of their work.

[Nevilledog]

8. I had thought about doing something like that.

Was concerned about retaliation though. Especially since I did not see the people who painted the damn thing.

[rvablue]

34. Yeah, good. Don't do that. These might be some kids trying to get some $$ together.

I think it's best just to ignore it.

I'm sure most of your neighbors will.

If you go with the other penny idea, you might wake up tomorrow with a brick through your window.

[Nevilledog]

36. Sucks that I'd even think about retaliation.

What a wonderful world...sigh. If I'm lucky maybe they'll vandalize my yard by pulling up the weeds and removing that dead bush on the side of the house.

[Sherman A1]

6. Call the Police or perhaps Public Works

ask them if this was authorized by their departments. If not, you perhaps have a case of vandalism (graffiti) in the guise of a donation request. Also was this a licensed charity activity?


There are just so many ways to take the wind out of this scam's sails.

[Nevilledog]

11. Ain't no way this is authorized work.

Guess I really don't want to bother the police, etc. with something that is probably just a poorly devised way to get money. Kinda like more interactive panhandling if you will.

[Snotcicles]

9. Write on the envelope " No Thanks, Take It Back" nt

[Warpy]

10. Call the cops, it's a scam

If the numbers were done badly, you can even be a complete asshole and demand they be removed.

[Nevilledog]

17. What do you think they'd actually do though?

I can't imagine they'd be too interested at this point. Now, if these people come back and try to strong-arm some "donations" I'll call the cops. I wouldn't demand they be removed, I have the sneaking suspicion that will happen the next time it rains...LOL

[Richard Steele]

21. They might get the word out, so your neighbors aren't taken in by this phony "service".

Otherwise, a certain percentage of people WILL
put money in those envelopes.

The Cops or a Public Works official can make a quick call
to your local TV station. They LOVE doing that, y'now-
it's almost zero effort, but gets them mentioned on the news
as someone who's looking out for the little guy. Pure gold.

[Nevilledog]

23. True.

Unfortunately, we don't have a local TV station...too small of a town...LOL I am going to go across the street to my newly widowed neighbor though. She's kinda frail and I don't want her bothered by this...she's the type that would be.

[damntexdem]

27. No, if the numbers were done badly, then THEY are the complete assholes.

Whereas if the numbers were done well, then they are just partial assholes -- semicolons, so to speak.

A demand to have the numbers removed is entirely appropriate, though unlikely to be heeded.

[Nevilledog]

30. Partial assholes....LOL

You do have a way with words.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

12. What is "Community Curb Service"?

Little ol' retired ladies with paint cans? That's how it works in my development, but they never ask for money. Or was this a city/county thing?

[Nevilledog]

14. I've lived in this community for 16 years, never had this happen.

Our town's broke, no way they're going around painting curbs...LOL We don't live in a development either so it's not a HOA thing either.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

20. Ah, OK.

I'd probably just ignore it. But in thinking of "fools" being parted with their money, perhaps calling the cops, as suggested above, isn't a bad idea. The thought of retirees and fixed-income folks being scammed ticks me off.

[Nevilledog]

25. Same here.

I think that's the crux of it for me too. I don't have a problem telling them to piss off, but I know there are actually nice people out there who will feel pressured to pay.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. I would decline to donate. It's kind of like all the stuff some organizations send you in the mail.

If you didn't solicit for the 'free' dream-catcher, calendar, or mug, you are under no legal obligation to return it nor pay for it.

[Nevilledog]

19. I agree there's no obligation to pay or "donate".

I just wondered if anyone else was seeing stuff like this...I really take it as someone's stupid idea on how to make some quick money. I'm not donating and I'll be home tomorrow so I'll keep an eye out to see if there are people skulking about looking for envelopes on doors.

[NeedleCast]

26. Probably a scam, dubious at best

We had a similar circulation go through our neighborhood this past fall. It implied that all the houses in our area were going to have curbside numbers sprayed on that it was manditory.

[Nevilledog]

32. That's even creepier.

I think the cops would feel that situation to be much actionable because it's basically strong-arming people for money. This seems more like these people are hoping their "work" will be rewarded after the fact. If they come back tomorrow though and try to get paid it will be a whole different ballgame as far as I'm concerned.

[ddeclue]

31. You are NOT obligated to do so.

In many communities this is actually against the law.

[Nevilledog]

33. I know there's no legal obligation.

As far as I'm concerned there's no moral obligation either. I wonder if we'll start seeing more things like this where people are trying to make a quick buck by approaching people at their homes. That notion creeps me out, but with this economy it wouldn't surprise me to see this stuff happen more and more often.

[Occam Bandage]

39. Don't give 'em anything. They're just hustling.

[Nevilledog]

42. I never had any intention of giving them anything.

It was an odd occurence and I was kinda wondering if this stuff was happening other places. The funny thing is if someone had knocked on my door and presented themselves in an up front manner I probably would have paid a few bucks to have it done just to help someone else out. Conversely, they managed to just piss me off...LOL

[SPedigrees]

45. The curb is city property.

Call your city clerk's office and ask if painting your house number on the curb was authorized. I'd bet not. If not, I'd call law enforcement and cry vandalism and extortion.

[TexasObserver]

48. That's called being an Officious Intermeddler.

A person who performs services on your real property without your permission is not entitled to any pay. In this instance, they painted the curb, without your permission. They may maintain that the curb is public property, and it probably is. In either event, they cannot require anyone to pay anything. Since they didn't ask you, there is no problem with your blowing them off.

Why give them anything? To do so is to encourage them. Frankly, a neighborhood looks better without those damn things on the curbs, freshly painted.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

49. Leave The Envelope With Nothing More In It Than A Thank You Note.

Of course you don't have to donate anything if you don't want. They're trying to pressure you, sure. But you're too smart for that. Give them a kind thank you and nothing more.

[Raine]

51. I don't pay for them

they've done that here. I didn't want the numbers painted on (they looked ugly) and I wasn't about to pay for them. Don't give them any money.