# The Red Cross is like a crazy ex... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833 "2012-03-15T05:45:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/21 "2012-03-16T19:06:49Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Get a false positive for Hep C. They’ll stop asking. > [@stpauler](#): > > “I’m experimenting with men now” and you’ll be off the list. But I don’t want to stop donating - I just want them to stop calling me. **TriPolar’s** bizarre trilateral commisionesque claims aside, I think donating blood is important, and I’d like to continue doing it. Even my blood type is a plebeian A positive. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/22 "2012-03-17T02:24:58Z")
The Red Cross can be pretty intense. One time in my past, I helped out in a very minor – and I mean _very, very minor_ – way in a certain natural disaster that I was on the periphery of, and for a year later I was bombarded with mailings advertising pens and pins and maybe coffee mugs and other stuff I could buy that would be a personal memorial/tribute to my efforts. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/23 "2012-03-18T23:42:11Z")
> [@bup](#): > > It’s true. The private blood market was working just great until the Red Cross ruined everything for everybody. Hear, hear! The Red Cross was formed in 1863. Before that, the main private collector of blood was [this guy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_the_Impaler), who started ~1455. He was way more… efficient. The worst offenders for me are the robocalls which give no information about who is calling. ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/24 "2012-03-19T02:33:09Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > Stop calling me!!! > > I used to give blood pretty regularly, but my blood pressure kept getting higher and higher until I finally couldn’t give anymore until I started medication… Maybe you can try donating blood more often to lower your blood pressure (yeah, I know it won’t work, even if they let you do it more often). Seriously, if all of the phone calls are bothering you, and from what you have said, they certainly must be (why the heck do they keep calling?!), I’d do what others have suggested and request that they remove my number. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/25 "2012-03-19T03:28:04Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > But I don’t want to stop donating - I just want them to stop calling me. **TriPolar’s** bizarre trilateral commisionesque claims aside, I think donating blood is important, and I’d like to continue doing it. Even my blood type is a plebeian A positive. I wish I could donate again. I got up to a gallon before the stupid Hep C test. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/26 "2012-03-19T03:54:40Z")
Just had the call half an hour ago. We went through my ever changing list of current meds. Apparently the topical\* steroid cream puts me on the do not call list for the next four months - or until I can afford glasses that do not trigger the nickel allergy, whichever comes first. \*On the skin, not up to date on current events. ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/27 "2012-03-19T20:36:36Z")
Canadian Blood Services is very efficient. They used to just call when they wanted my blood. Now they call me when they want other people’s blood. Seriously. I’m the “Partners for Life” Champion for my company - I’m the sucker who agreed to be the volunteer coordinator. CBS is worried about the appointment numbers for the next clinic and they called me to see if I could get the word out. I tried. Email to everyone on the list, posters in every kitchen for four floors…hope it helps. ---
**Author:** ![michell54](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@michell54](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/michell54)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/28 "2013-05-29T07:45:10Z")
After being stalked and harrassed by the Red Cross for 8 months I think I may have found how to get them to stop calling!! I donated blood at a blood drive at my county job thinking I was doing a great service for them but I was wrong! I started to receive calls everyday and sometimes 3-5 times a day! I was able to block them on my personal phone but not my county work phone. I tried talking to the Red Cross supervisors, I told them to take me off the list but nothing worked! I told them over and over I knew where to donate and no I did not have time to make appointments right now…blah blah blah and dont even begin to think the “do not call” registry works because it wont!! Why? because the Red Cross is a charity and exempt from the list. I even resorted to telling them I had HIV and Hep-c with only 3 months to live! I was desperate! Well now I think I have the answer. I called 1-800-733-2767. It will give you the Red Cross Ombudsman in Washington D.C. I left a not-so-nice voicemail explaining my problem and within 1 day I received a call from a man at the ombudsman’s office that told me to give him two weeks and he would get my name off the Red Cross call list! Please pass this information around and let the ombudsman know if you are being harrassed also! I hate to put down a good charity but if we dont push this issue not only will this bad behavior continue but it will hurt the Red Cross. I personally will never donate blood again due to this problem…but the more people complain to the ombudsman the sooner the problem can be fixed!!! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/29 "2013-05-29T11:21:04Z")
My gf gets a call on her landline (which has its ringer shut off) every day or two. She is on daily medication to hopefully stop recurrence of her cancer. They do not want her blood. I haven’t gone a year without a tattoo in decades. They do not want _my_ blood. She tried calling them to inform them, but the person she spoke with basically admitted it was nearly impossible to stop the calls. Apparently we recieve them from three different locations and they do not coordinate call lists or some such excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/30 "2013-05-29T13:36:01Z")
I donate through work, which uses the New York Blood Center, which is NOT Red cross affiliated (guess they’re trying to break the back of Big Blood) and they too are extremely aggressive about getting their hands on my sweet sweet O+. If you don’t answer they will call and call and call. However, they stop calling when asked. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/31 "2013-05-29T13:55:29Z")
I donated relatively regularly for several years until I made myself ineligible. I’ve never gotten a call reminding me to go donate. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/32 "2013-05-29T14:21:55Z")
Makes me happy that I have the Mad Cow and can’t donate. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/33 "2013-05-29T14:56:27Z")
And me that there’s little demand for vitriol. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/34 "2013-05-29T17:42:28Z")
Hmm, this strikes me as odd. I have given blood sporatically all my life, to the Red Cross and Life South, ususally at blood drives at my office or church. Neither group has ever called me to ask me to come in, nor has anyone I know received such a call unless they had a rare blood type in particularly high demand. It has been almost a year since I last donated (ineligible due to a trip to Haiti), but no call. Maybe they don’t like me… Seriously, could it be that some Red Cross regions call an others don’t? ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/35 "2013-05-30T12:58:04Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Seriously, could it be that some Red Cross regions call an others don’t? I’d imagine that it’s all based on need. If they are getting enough walk in / unsolicited registrations, then they don’t need to call. In the Northeast, with our high population density, they don’t. They call regularly to my house. My beef with them is the search system they use when they call. It doesn’t search based on distance. You can ask about specific towns, but not “when is the next closest one to zip code xxxxx or Anytown USA?” The last drive they called me about was over an hour away from my home or work, and only ran from 12-4PM. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/36 "2013-05-30T14:05:36Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The Red Cross killed my friend. They suck. Do not give them money or blood. Your money will be spent on incompetent executives and real estate investments. Your blood will usually be thrown away because it isn’t needed. Their blood drives are an attempt (mostly successful) to monopolize the blood supply. Can you elaborate on this? Or will the Red Cross ninjas visit you in the middle of the night and steal all your blood to silence you? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/37 "2013-06-01T12:16:32Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Hmm, this strikes me as odd. I have given blood sporatically all my life, to the Red Cross and Life South, ususally at blood drives at my office or church. Neither group has ever called me to ask me to come in, nor has anyone I know received such a call unless they had a rare blood type in particularly high demand. It has been almost a year since I last donated (ineligible due to a trip to Haiti), but no call. Maybe they don’t like me… > > Seriously, could it be that some Red Cross regions call an others don’t? This has been my experience as well. I’ve always been a walk-in, never made an appointment, and the most I ever get is a mailer every three months listing all the upcoming donation drives. And now that I haven’t been able to donate for years due to my anemia I don’t even get those. Maybe the Cleveland area is just so good at donating they don’t need naggers? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/38 "2013-06-01T12:24:48Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The Red Cross killed my friend. 😕Are you confusing them with Manfred von Richthofen and the German Flying Cross? If not, what he said: > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Can you elaborate on this? Or will the Red Cross ninjas visit you in the middle of the night and steal all your blood to silence you? ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/39 "2013-06-01T12:29:28Z")
I’m happy to report that I haven’t received any calls since the OP! Given that, I tried to give last summer by just showing up at the center. The place seemed slow, yet they still turned me away saying I should make an appointment. Yeah, and start the stalking again? I don’t think so! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833/40 "2013-06-01T22:59:49Z")
Last time my mom donated blood, she had some sort of episode (right at the donation place) and had to go to the doctor and eventually had some sort of treatment for low iron or something (I forget exactly), but anyway she’s wound up okay, but the doc told her not to donate blood anymore. Yet every few months, here comes the Red fucking Cross begging her to donate again. I think it was a good 5 years before they finally got the message to quit harassing her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-red-cross-is-like-a-crazy-ex/615833.md?page=1)