Give Blood

[RacersEdge]

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I fully support giving blood and do at least once a year, but this has me feeling not so good about it.

The Blood Brokers-How the Gift of Life Became a Billion Dollar Business

Interesting read, although it doesn't dissuade me from giving, because in the end, lives are still being saved by people donating blood.

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That was an interesting read and may explain the relentless telemarketing I get from my local blood bank.

I'm an irregular donator who gives maybe once a year. For the past six months or so, the blood bank has aggressively campaigned to get me in more often. They normally call twice a day. Some days they call as often as four times. (I know this due to caller ID.) I've asked them to stop, a request which they blow off.

While I don't normally answer when they call, the call volume has become quite a nuisance. Without exaggeration, I imagine they've called my house roughly 400 times in the previous six months. The few times I've answered (to beg them to stop calling) the caller makes every attempt to schedule me. I imagine the callers are getting spiffed or compensated somehow for appointments made.

In short, donating blood is a good thing, but dealing with the blood bank has become a burden.

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Wow, that's amazing. 4 calls a day? Obviously they get paid by number of appoitments they set, but that's way over the line. After dropping a few F-bombs on the telemarketer, I would call the Blood Bank and let them now that their tactics might be driving people away from giving.