Was this a charity mugging or just an admin error?

In the last issue, John Stones (Bampton Village Store), had a rant at Menzies for sending him unsolicited goods via a third party. As a result, Menzies promised to remove him from the list.

Oops. Then he got sent raffle tickets for NewstrAid’s 2014 Grand Xmas Draw and, although John is of a charitable nature, he doesn’t like it foisted upon him.

He had previously rejected the summer draw (and says from past experience that it takes a while to get the fiver back that Menzies bills him for), so he responded vigorously to the NewstrAid Benevolent Fund, saying he was putting in a formal complaint to the Fundraising Standards Board.

He queried why, when he had opted out, he was still getting tickets and without any notification.

Alan Mottram-Playfoot, marketing director of the charity, apologised and assured John that he had once again been ‘opted out’. He assumed that John had only received tickets this time because it was a local raffle being organised by a volunteer area committee. He also expressed surprise that John had not received the customary letter of notification. John says he was notified of neither draw.

John had, understandably, laid all the blame at Menzies’ door, but Alan reassured him that the fund has nothing to do with Menzies. “We exist only to help people from the news trade, not hinder them.”