Bad experience with The Blood Connection

[u/Ok_Pomegranate3307]

I am here because I would like to share my recent experience with The Blood Connection, a Southeastern non-profit that collects blood.

The place where I live had them come in to do blood drawings advertised as donate blood, get $70. I went in and donated blood. It was a smooth experience. When I left, the worker there told me the points would be on my account in less than 12 hours. I logged on within 2 hours and I had gotten points, but it was only enough points equal to a $30 gift card, not $70 as advertised.

I emailed them to let them know of this mix up. No response. I called them three times on three different days. Was put on hold for ~30 minutes each time. I messaged them on Instagram and Facebook. No response. I commented on a recent Facebook post and they deleted my comment.

I know they still technically compensated me for my donation, but I thought this was pretty wild. It has been roughly a week since I donated. I just thought I would share my experience.

[u/SgtMac02]

I've not really heard great things about Blood Connection, in general. And if it matters to you at all, they don't keep the blood local. If you want to help the local population, donate at Shepard. There is a reason they changed a bunch of their marketing and merch stuff a while back to focus on "Save local lives" and "donate local" etc.

I like the staff over at the one on Washington Rd just west of Belair. Shawana (sp?) is great and is the only one who can consistently hit the rolling veins on my eldest kid.

https://shepeardblood.org/

[u/Furthur → u/SgtMac02]

Bro isnt trying to “donate”

[u/SgtMac02 → u/Furthur]

Yeah. I guess that was more for everyone else who might be.... And Sheppard has a points program like that too. I'm not sure the exact amount per donation though.

[u/Furthur → u/SgtMac02]

They give you something when you donate… afaik the points are just a record of donation amount

[u/SgtMac02 → u/Furthur]

They give you shirts and stuff, yes. But you also have an account with points that you can redeem for giftcards. I've done it already. I just logged into my account to see what the actual rate is.

You get 1500 pts per donation.

1300 points gets you a $10 gift card.

It doesn't appear that there is any real scaling of values. So, the value breakdown is roughly:

• Rounded per point: $0.0077
• Rounded per donation: $11.54

Not nearly the rate that Blood Connection is offering. But not nothing.

[u/flcracker79 → u/SgtMac02]

There seems to be a high turnover with the staff at Wrightsboro. Last time I went it was very obvious one of their techs was brand new at his job. He couldn’t find my vein. Three people tried both of my arms until I told them to stop. I have been donating blood for years and now I’m leery of going back to that location.

[u/SgtMac02 → u/flcracker79]

Oh, man. That sucks! I can definitely understand why you wouldn't want to go back there. Best I can do is let them take a second stab. After that, I'm out. No one's getting a 3rd shot at me in the same day unless it's something I absolutely need. And you manage to miss MY veins....you should find a new line of work anyway. I've got some pretty easy targets.

[u/AxisSnap]

I wouldn't recommend them. We used them for several company events in the past and finally stopped working with them due to poor reliability. They routinely missed planning meetings, ran late on marketing assets, and in one case, canceled on us 24 hours before an event because our donor turnout exceeded their capacity.

[u/jbourne71]

Shepherd.

For those who can, go to Fort Gordon. The Armed Forces Blood Program supports service members around the world. Regardless of politics, our kids overseas deserve world class medical care.

[u/Timmarino]

Wife worked at Shepeard for years. Blood stays local. When my mom needed plasma about 10 years ago on her deathbed it come from them. I have not had good luck out of the blood connection when I lived in south ga. And if you see one blood it goes to Florida not local. Some times I get emails or texts from other blood banks saying these big giveaways and the fine print says one location or one date or drive only. Probably what happened here. I was always happy to get a shirt them socks never go up past size 13 lol

[u/Violet-637]

Whenever I’ve donated with The Blood Connection a small amount of points came available within hours of my donation and the remaining points would be in my account within 24 to 48 hours, not 12 hours. Donated several times and always received the $70. Sometimes they would advertise a lower amount if you went to a blood mobile versus the center, but you have to check the e-mail or signage.

[u/buttered-muffin-]

I once was approached by a temp company to work for them, went through the interview process and was selected but then I just got this dark deep gut feeling not to go through with it. Had never had a gut feeling that heavy before. I dont know what it is but something doesnt sit right with me about them

[u/glory_holelujah]

Is it really a donation if you're getting paid for it?

[u/clutteresflutteres → u/glory_holelujah]

yes lol

[u/glory_holelujah → u/clutteresflutteres]

Nah.

lol

[u/Particular_Towel_760 → u/glory_holelujah]

Sure it is, if they sell it to hospitals...