When did opt-out become the new opt-in?

Robin Hood, eh? When he wasn’t riding through the glen – or wooing Maid Marian – he was taking from the rich to give to the poor. What a nice chap.

Except… well… not if you’re one of the rich.

Now, in defence of Robin Hood, he (a) may not have existed and (b) didn’t necessarily rob everyone who had money. “But loke ye do no husbonde harme, that tilleth with his ploughe. No more ye shall no gode yeman that walketh by gren-wode shawe; ne no knyght ne no squyer that wol be a gode felawe.” At least, that's what the kids sang in 1450.

However, I can’t help feel there’s a similarity between Mr Hood and today’s trend for opt-out charitable donations.

Head for a restaurant and you may find an extra £1 added to the bill to help the homeless. Oh yes, you can ask for it to be removed, but it’s already there and you need to opt-out. (And what sort of cad would do that?)

It’s the same when you head to a De Vere hotel. They’re adding £1 to your bill and giving it to the Variety Club.

When did this become an acceptable form of promotion? If a restaurant added a bottle of wine to the bill – “it’s okay, we’ll take it off if you insist” – we’d be livid. If hotels charged us for the movie channel – “tell us when you check-out if you didn’t watch it” – we’d probably never return. If every Big Issue seller picked our pocket for £1.70 when we walked past – but published a disclaimer on their ID badge – we wouldn’t be particularly happy.

It’s also worth noting that the establishments themselves don’t mention any donation they’re making. Sure, they’re promoting the schemes and they’re collecting the money, but there’s little or no expenditure. To quote StreetSmart, “The scheme is a very cost efficient way for restaurants to fulfil their social and community responsibility.”

So here’s an idea. First, give me a choice. You’ve already put a leaflet in my hotel room, why not let me put it ‘yes’ side up if I want to make a donation? Better still, why not offer to match my donation? If you can’t afford to do that, perhaps you could let me opt-out of having my towels changed in return for a matched donation? Maybe I could choose a smaller portion at the restaurant and the restaurateur could give some of their money, too?

Surely charities should follow the lead of marketers, who are encouraged to only contact customers that have opted-in to receive communications. This isn’t just backed-up by the law, it’s backed-up by common sense. No-one wants to be hassled into doing something – even if it’s a good thing they end up doing.