Door to Door Salespeople?

fureverywhere

fureverywhere

beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
Location
Northern NJ, USA
Not as common as they once were but still annoying nonetheless. Sometimes it's for charity, these cheery young teens petitioning to save the wild kangaroo rats and don't you want to make a green donation? Other times like today they want to hawk home repair services. Wish I could say with a straight face " Oy that we just had the front redone, can't you see the difference...as a loose chimney part falls where they are standing. The Jehovah people have heard our dogs. They just wing pamphlets under the door. How about you? Answer the door or no?
 

The only ones I open the door for is the neighbor kids. One boy sells popcorn an flowers in the spring. Sis sells Girl Scout cookies and even though I can't have them, I give to the grandkids. Forget the Jehovahs and any others, not interested.
 
Nope, I don't answer the door. I can peek out a side window and see who's at the front door. I plan on putting a sign on the door that says:

I'm broke.
I don't want any magazines.
I'm not voting for your candidate.
The whales are going to have to take care of themselves.
I've already found Jesus.
So...if you aren't selling Thin Mints, please go away.
 

All I have to do is answer the door once with Callie in my arms. For some reason you never see the same people again. BWAHAHAHAHA;)
 
jujube said:
Nope, I don't answer the door. I can peek out a side window and see who's at the front door. I plan on putting a sign on the door that says:

I'm broke.
I don't want any magazines.
I'm not voting for your candidate.
The whales are going to have to take care of themselves.
I've already found Jesus.
So...if you aren't selling Thin Mints, please go away.
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I love it! Maybe it could use a pic of an old grouch on it ha-ha!
 
I answer the door and then try to give them the bum's rush. A couple of weeks ago a man with an open bible rang my bell, he dragged along a young girl with him so I was extra nice. He wanted to read me a passage, and I told him no thank you, I'm not interested. Then he started to argue 'are you not interested in the bible?'. Once again I repeated no thank you, I'm not interested. When he tried to tell me more, I said no thank you, have a good day and closed the door.

Yesterday was some guy selling some 'smart house' system. I told him I wasn't interested. He said all my neighbors on the block had one and asked if they hadn't told me about it yet. He said it would give me security and automatically lock my doors. I told him thank you, I'm not interested and closed the door.

One guy tried to sell me windows, and our windows are double pane vinyl and not that old, in very good shape. When I told him I didn't need windows, that mine were new, he started to ask me when I bought them and from who. I said that's none of your business, I told you I'm not interested, and closed the door.

Funny was awhile back when a lot of people including myself had to replace their roofs due to severe hail damage. My roof was fresh and new. This guy started looking up and telling me that my roof didn't look good, he saw some hail damage and he'd go up on the ladder and give me a free estimate. You know I was thrilled to tell him they just replaced it and he didn't know what he was talking about.

I really don't like door to door sales people, but I answer just in case it's a neighbor. Honestly, if I want any service done to my home I won't be using some character that goes door to door, probably with a fly by night company and may not even have a store or office.
 
Living out here in the boondocks, these salesmen are not a problem. The Jehovah's Witnesses used to come by every couple of months, but I think I stopped them. The last time they were here, I was working in my shop, and just about to stop for the day. So, we started talking...and talking...and talking. I kept them going for well over an hour, and hit upon every thing from evolution to interstellar travel. They were starting to fidget, and I think one of them had to go to the bathroom. They finally said they had to go, left their pamphlet, and drove off in a bit of a hurry....they haven't been back.
 
I NEVER open my door to anyone I don't know. I have decorative (and protective) wrought iron around my porch, and a separate locked wrought iron door that leads to the porch. If I seriously want to know what they want (like a guy in an electric company uniform), I can open my house door and stay inside to wrought iron "cage" to see what they want. Most times, Bonnie (my big mush of a pit bull with a bit of a scary appearance, especially if she puts on her "scary face," goes out on the porch with me. I NEVER let anyone I don't know into the house. EVER!
 
Yes Butterfly, bless our babies for keeping us safe. If there were truth in advertising the worst thing Callie would do to an unknown female human is drown her in drool and then offer up his belly for a good scratch...but strangers don't have to know that.
 
Butterfly said:
I NEVER open my door to anyone I don't know. I have decorative (and protective) wrought iron around my porch, and a separate locked wrought iron door that leads to the porch. If I seriously want to know what they want (like a guy in an electric company uniform), I can open my house door and stay inside to wrought iron "cage" to see what they want. Most times, Bonnie (my big mush of a pit bull with a bit of a scary appearance, especially if she puts on her "scary face," goes out on the porch with me. I NEVER let anyone I don't know into the house. EVER!
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I usually just open the wooden door Butterfly and talk to them through the top screen on the security door. In some cases I'll crack the door to take a pamphlet or if it's a kid selling cookies I'll open both doors. My dog is just a pup and not too scary looking, but he'll give a low growl and short bark if someone's at the door. My cat is usually on guard duty. :p

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We have a jokey sign under the serious " Beware of Dog" sign...
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There have been people looking at Ninja stretched out in the grass, wondering if he could really be dangerous.

I've got the perfect customized sign..." Welcome all, we are Liberal Jews, Pre-Diabetic, We have no money to spend and our dogs can make it to the fence in 2.8 seconds. Leave three boxes of scout cookies and no one gets hurt. Shalom:eek:nthego:
 
No solicitation is allowed by my condo association. However, someone selling God did show up at my door and was told that I am all filled up here...
 
Many moons ago, I was sold a set of encyclopedias I really couldn't afford but the salesman noticing, my wife was pregnant, convinced me the the unborn child would grow up to be a hobo without them. It didn't take me long to realize what happened but rather than get mad I had a long talk with myself (i still do that, but now it has a different meaning). I analysed what he said and how I felt to determine what had happened.

While those books were expensive, the lesson I learned was very valuable for me from that day forward so well worth it. I have always been cordial with door-to-door people - even inviting them in for a cold drink on a hot day. I listen to political hucksters and give them the benefit of my thinking. I chat with religious "sellers" - I admire their sincerity.

The lessons learned from those encyclopedias showed me that most door-to-door people are not scammers, just people trying to make a living - often college kids. And it taught me how to recognize the scammers and deal with them. And, more important, it taught me to look at the product offered and decide, using my own thinking, if I want it or not and the strength to convey my decision in a friendly way.
 
The sign on my door reads "My shrink says I'm probably no longer a danger to others....so ask yourself....are you a risk taker?"

But seriously, I seldom answer the door to strangers, but have been known to talk from an upstairs window. Nothing that they're peddling will be of interest to me.
 
I was home alone, laid out on the front room couch full of pain killers recovering from surgery I had a few days before. I hadn't shaved, got dressed (had a bathrobe on) taken a bath or even combed my hair for a while. Then there's that knock on the door, just getting up and hobbling over to the door was a ordeal. I don't remember what they were selling but I do remember them quickly apologizing for bothering me and leaving.

As I was laying back down on the couch I was thinking.. Wow that worked really well, maybe I should keep a bathrobe in the front door closet. :rolleyes:
 
Hazy Davey said:
I was home alone, laid out on the front room couch full of pain killers recovering from surgery I had a few days before. I hadn't shaved, got dressed (had a bathrobe on) taken a bath or even combed my hair for a while. Then there's that knock on the door, just getting up and hobbling over to the door was a ordeal. I don't remember what they were selling but I do remember them quickly apologizing for bothering me and leaving.

As I was laying back down on the couch I was thinking.. Wow that worked really well, maybe I should keep a bathrobe in the front door closet. :rolleyes:
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I can totally relate to this. I was on the couch one day with a miserable cold. What possessed me to answer the door I do not know, but the 7th Day Adventists were there to talk to me about heaven and my eternal salvation. I should have sneezed on them and said no thanks. Pushy bastards wanted to leave some literature and come back when I was feeling better. I started to get drawn into a philosophical discussion of heaven and hell and wasn't I worried about being damned for all eternity. I turned and closed the door on them.
 
One of my kitchen windows overlooks the front entryway, so I never have to open the front door....

......unless I want to. Otherwise, I simply walk away from the window and leave them standing there.
 
I have answered the door to solicitors twice in the last 7 years. One was a meat truck guy. I told him to shove off and take a look around at all the farms selling beef around here, starting with the one across the road. All the cattle are meat on the hoof, not dairy cows. On another forum, we had been talking about Adventures with Meat Truck Guys, so I couldn't let this one get away and miss being able to post on that topic.

Then a Jehovah's Witness showed up with her preschool daughter. I thought she might be having trouble out here in the middle of nowhere. I was hanging onto my dog who, cute as he is, was barking and lunging and growling. The woman wanted to come in anyway! My dog wouldn't have done anything to them once I let them in the house, but there would have been no point. She's come back a few times over the years, but I no longer answer the door to strangers.

I have had a couple people show up who did need help. I talked to them through the closed door and made the needed phone calls for them. I also allowed them to wait on my front porch for their relatives to arrive (it was around midnight both times, and they were not physically hurt and had dead cell phones).

People are never afraid of my dog because he is cute, I guess. He's 55 lbs of pure muscle, very protective and territorial, and very strong. I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him. Luckily, he is super friendly with anyone I let in the house or introduce him to. I think he is more protective and territorial than most wheaten terriers because we rarely see strangers, and there are no other houses in sight of our land, so he thinks he is the master of all the (other people's) farmland he can see.
 
The sign on my door reads "My shrink says I'm probably no longer a danger to others....so ask yourself....are you a risk taker?"

Good one!!! Another favorite " Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints".
 
I was asleep in the front porch swing one day when a Greenpeace guy comes up on the porch and knocks on the door. He hadn't seen me in the swing and his knock woke me up. I saw him standing there; I screamed and he screamed. It was a pretty good shock for both of us.

A representative of a well-known "soliciting" religion came to the door one day. I usually didn't answer the door but felt somewhat friendly that day.

She asked the question, "When a person has the choice between doing the right thing and the wrong thing, why do you think he does the wrong thing?"

I answered, "Probably because the wrong thing is easier to do than the right thing."

"No," she snapped, "That's not the answer."

Well, I thought it was a pretty darned good answer as answers go, so I thanked her and closed the door. Church Lady don' wanna hear my answer, Church Lady gets the door.
 

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