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The door bell rang unexpectedly three times in three days. The first on Wednesday, was a couple high school kids trying to drum up some window washing jobs. They seemed like good kids, and after telling them I already had cleaners, I felt sort of bad sending them away empty handed. I hope they get some jobs in the neighborhood.
The second ring, on Thursday, was from a guy selling exterminator services. Pretty quickly he launched into his spiel, dropping names of neighbors, and asking leading questions. I sent him away politely and with a minimum of effort.
The third ring came Friday evening at 7:40, and was another salesman. He just started talking. I interrupted, asking him, what have you got? It was another bug guy from the same company as the day before. Then he was right back at it, asking me questions that I had no intention of answering, even talking over me as I tried to explain that we already had a service contract with another provider. So I spoke louder, and that’s when he said I wasn’t very nice. There were a few more words, then he asked if I had a bottle of water. I said no, and shut the door.
If my brain were a bit more efficient, I would have better articulated my annoyance with him. I’d have told him that it was too late in the day to knock on my door, that I was standing there in the same clothes I planned on wearing to bed, that he didn’t introduce himself or tell me who he represented, and he sure as heck didn’t first ask for my permission to ask me questions that weren’t any of his business to begin with. On top of all that, he was interrupting an episode of How to Get to Heaven from Belfast on Netflix. I wonder if he sold a pesticide to deal with door to door salesmen.
Our 55+ subdivision is quickly filling with new homes and residents, so I suppose we are fertile ground for door to door marketing. As people age, many become more susceptible to shady sales techniques. Also, it’s not safe to open our doors to strangers. This week, we will install a “no soliciting’ yard sign, and begin shopping for a video doorbell.
And does anyone know how to attack train a balinese kitty cat? Sick ‘em, Sophie!
The bug guy was at my door yesterday. He had been here about 2 months ago and I reminded him I was not interested then and not interested now. as the young retiree in the neighborhood, it is rather depressing.
I have an attack Dachshund. She will have your shoes untied in about 20 seconds.
This is funny, thank you. I let one play out recently with window replacement. The project manager came out after I was “qualified” by the nice door-to-door salesman and his boss-and both were very polite. I wanted to get the scoop on how they replace windows. The project manager came out and we spent 15 or so minutes talking about windows and the next 60 minutes talking cars! I did not buy any windows and he also said I didn’t need new windows!
We just had a pest control guy come to the door this week, too. I explained that we just moved in last month and have already hired the guy that the previous owner had used. He was here on June 1 and he charges $100 every other month. The guy kept talking, trying to convince me to use his services, which were substantially more expensive, but “you get more.”
I do have a Ring doorbell, but as I told my husband, after living in a top floor condo with an intercom entrance for seven years, I’d practically forgotten about door-to-door solicitors. I’ll know better next time.
Sophie! We’ve gotta find a way to get pics in these posts! If she’s like mine, she’ll not enjoy the new doorbell.
Dan your post reminds me of the movie Road House where Patrick Swayze would try to defuse confrontations with politeness and professionalism, but he then would change his response when the situation demanded it.
Saying no once to an adult who is standing uninvited on your property should be sufficient for the sales pitch to end and is most of the time. I have not put out a no soliciting sign because I think it likely could keep some young people away I might very well want to help.
William, I wish I could diffuse a confrontation like Swayze’s character did in Road House🤜
I doubt anyone would want to make or watch a movie of me asking someone to go away.
At our coastal vacation home, we’d occasionally get a young entrepreneur knocking on the door, selling hand-painted stones from the beach or a bracelet made from shells and driftwood. I’m always happy to hand over a few bills in recognition of their entrepreneurial spirit.
Chrissy’s dad used to haggle with street vendors when on vacation, then pay the original asking price. He loved the negotiation, and appreciated how hard they worked to support their families.
Living out in the country seems to have solved that problem. We moved into our (at the time) newly built home the week of Thanksgiving, 2018. I had my FIRST solicitor knock on our door this week.
After seeing if I knew who he was (apparently an “influencer” well known on Facebook), he started his spiel. I politely cut him short and explained my “children” were in their mid-forties and had selfishly denied me any grandchildren, so I didn’t need the books he was selling.
I then offered him a bottle of water and wished him well.
We get cable, exterminator, lawn maintenance salesman frequently. That comes with having a neighborhood in the process of being built out. Having a camera is definitely the way to go. Unless it’s someone I know or they’re delivering something, I just don’t answer. If I’m outside when they approach, I cut them off pretty quickly. They have no business going door to door if they don’t have a thick skin.
I mostly have the kids selling candy bars and my neighbor selling raffle tickets for the fire department once a year. But, come to think of it, I do need a better door. I enjoyed all the comments so far as well as Dan’s anecdote.
I do buy Girl Scout Cookies, only to end up giving them to the grand kids.
Interesting. We never have people ring our doorbell. I wonder if it has anything to do with the three Shepherds and (large) Corgi who guard our home…or the sign near the doorbell that warns people of the protective dogs that live inside….
Kristine, I’d love to see the hucksters reaction when your chorus of K9s react to that first knock on the door.
Dan, your story brought back memories of my share of door-to-door salespeople, and there seems to be a direct relationship between how aggressive the sales pitch is and how quickly I want the conversation to end.
I felt some sympathy for the high school students trying to earn a few dollars, but the salespeople who won’t take “no” for an answer are another matter entirely. Calling a homeowner “not very nice” after interrupting dinner and talking over them is an interesting sales strategy.
As for Sophie the Balinese cat, I suspect she’d be more likely to negotiate a treat than provide security services. A video doorbell, however, sounds like an excellent investment.
Andrew, those high school kids were well dressed in polo shirts and khaki pants, well groomed, and very polite. I hope they get some jobs.
And you’re right about Sophie; so long as the salesmen don’t try to pet her belly, she will be of no help whatsoever.
I too live in a new development of about 340 homes, a fertile field indeed for salespeople, especially of rooftop solar arrays. One of my first purchases was a welcome mat for my lower front step that reads No, We Don’t Want Solar. It cracks up visitors and I haven’t had a knock from a solar salesman in years.
A neighbor of mine copied the idea, a bit tastelessly, to ward off pest control sellers. His mat read I ALREADY HAVE PEST CONTROL with an image of a rifle underneath. He said it worked better than his No Soliciting sign.
Our method is subtler. My sister-in-law goes to the door. She speaks only Chinese. She’ll smile winningly at the sales guy until he realizes the message isn’t getting through. Sometimes it takes a minute.
My funniest one, however, was a guy selling leaf guards for gutters. Because this is a brand-new neighborhood, there isn’t a tree for 400 yards in any direction tall enough to drop leaves in gutters. I looked around exaggeratedly, grinned at the guy and shook my head. No words were necessary.
Mike, I’m amazed at the amount of mail marketing we receive in this brand new development. New roofs. Flooring. Bathroom and kitchen renovations. Blacktop sealing (all our driveways are concrete). Gutters. And more. You would think that with AI, these mailing lists could be better deployed.
When I still lived in a house I mostly stopped answering the door. Although there was the time it was an Edward Jones salesman and I enjoyed telling him what I thought of his company. This irritant stopped when I moved to an apartment complex with interior access and now that I am in a CCRC.
An Edward Jones guy going door to door? Wow, I don’t even know what to say. My first thought was that he probably didn’t last in the business very long. On the other hand, maybe his tenacity turned him into a super producer😕
I seem to remember reading, and I could certainly be wrong, that going door to door was part of their “training”.
If you have a, “Don’t answer the phone to unknown callers.” rule, apply it to unknown door knockers as well. Has worked for me for decades now.
You know, I do use that rule on my phone. I guess I’ll have to apply it to the door, at least until I install a new doorbell.
Interesting thing about the phone. Oftentimes when out with friends, their phone will ring, and they will complain about the junk calls. I explain the unknown caller trick, but they never turn it on😵💫
Our 55+ community also has a sign, in addition our local community non-emergency police officer will be on the scene when we call. We don’t have a soliciting problem but a doggy pups problem.
Good luck. I came to the conclusion that people doesn’t read sign or couldn’t read.
The dogs on my street are awesome, they even make their humans pick up after them!
Dan, I’d be impressed if a salesperson scaled our five-foot-high wrought iron gates to present themselves at the door. If they immediately understood the phrase ‘no thanks,’ I might even consider opening them so they didn’t have to climb back over on the way out.
Mark, now I have a visual of a huckster impaled on your gate like a scene from an old horror show.
Maybe it would deter others from trying their luck!
Our sign says “no soliciting…don’t make this weird”. LOL! Chris
Oh, Chris, I love that!