Chuggers in Glastonbury

I was in Glastonbury last Tuesday (market day) and despite the at times torrential rain I was hampered and hounded several times while walking up and down the high street by about half a dozen chuggers working on behalf of the Aspinall Foundation that were strategically spaced out along the pavement yelling "Hi! How are you today?" to passers by and making it virtually impossible to get past without stepping into the road.

For those not in the know, chugger is the colloquial name for persistent and invasive face-to (and in-your-face)-charity collectors (charity mugger) that seem to blight our high streets as they try to encourage people to sign up by direct debit to whichever charity they are representing on the day.  They are resented by many as in many cases it appears that much of the money raised fails to reach the charities in question and is in fact paid to the collectors and the agencies that employ them. 

In one particular incident, as three of us (that is 3 individuals unknown to each other) were walking up the street one particular chap leapt out in front of us with his arms outstretched, obstructing the pavement until one of us engaged eye contact, at which point he stated something like "Ah, I have eye contact" before attempting to lever himself into a conversation/sales pitch with his victim.  Unsurprisingly the other person just scowled, ignored him and carried on his way. Despite this there must be plenty of people out there who fall for the hard sell or the emotional blackmail and who consequently sign up for something they don't want to.

Now I appreciate that these people are just trying to make a living, and I realise that the charities the street collectors work for rely upon donations to survive, but I don't like the modus operandi which seems to rely primarily on guilt and intimidation for results.  What does anyone else think?