STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

FashionPrincess · Hermes

Door to door sales people...

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

We went to Things Remembered and got a brushed metal plate engraved with the words, "NO SOLICITING." The plate is about 2.5inches wide. My husband affixed it just above the doorbell on the door casing. It has really helped decrease the number of people at our door.

If someone does ring the doorbell, and I don't know them, I am starting to let them know that someone is in the house but that we're not answering.

I hate that I have to let the soliciter know that there is someone here so that--if the person wants to rob my home or whatever--he or she will move on.

My neighbor doesn't answer the door. One day she was sitting in view of the front door, and this guy rang her doorbell. Once he saw her and figured out that she wasn't going to come to the door, he started walking away---but not before giving her the finger!

Elle · Hermes

I hate door-to-door salespeople! We taught our dog hand signals, so whenever someone I don't know knocks on the door I give her the 'speak' hand signal over and over ... she sounds really mean when she barks, so they usually depart rather quickly

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Kelly · Hermes

pollyjean, I'm surprised you guys had such a problem with it that you would need to get a sign like that. How many people did you have coming over?

I don't answer the door anymore, unless I know someone is coming over. I've been uncomfortable with some of the men who came to the door one too many times. Granted, I've now moved to a much better place with way less creepsters, but my wariness from the days in my barely-safe apartments in college have scared me into it. I figure, if it's a salesperson I don't want to talk to them. If they're campaigning, they'll leave a flyer. If it's a package, they'll leave it on the porch. I really don't need to answer the door. No one I know comes over without calling first anyway.

Luv2Shop · Kate Spade

Well, luckily in our neighborhood I have never had a solicitor, but they may not come to our house because:

Our house is sideways to the street (if that makes sense) so our fence with the gate to get to our front door also lets you on to the patio that connects to the back yard. We put a sign on our gate that says beware of dog (because we have a great dane and he is outside a lot). Duke used to paw at the gate because he could get it to unlatch (now we keep a lock on it) so when he did he would hit the sign breaking little pieces off of it each time. Now the sign just reads BEWARE with a big hole in the rest so it looks like he ate it. lol I think that keeps people from coming in our gate to get to the front door. biggrin

I think signs help like the No Soliciting or Beware of Dog.

FashionPrincess · Hermes

Haha Luvs2shop, maybe you should sell signs that your dog has chipped away at :) That'd scare me away!

And the thing that also gets me is that we don't live in a sub divison, so you have to pull up in our driveway, get out of your car, ring doorbell, go back to car and drive to next house, doesn't seem that productive.

Maybe I will get a sign, but I bet if people go to all the trouble of driving up, they'd ring anyway. Maybe I should just spray paint it in black across my garage door, that'd look approachable, right? :)

Sandy · Kate Spade

Lol FP, your post cracked me up.

A few weeks ago, a girl knocked on my side door... it was a Friday night, around 8:30. That's not really a time that solicitors come around. I answered the door and she gave me some speech about a complimentary carpet cleaning from a local company (a well-known company, mind you). She didn't eevn have a brochure. I said no thanks and she left, and I didn't think anything of it, until I read something online a few days later. Apparently, there's a scam going around: they come to your house offering you a service (like carpet cleaning). If you say okay, they come in for whatever reason (like to measure your carpets I guess) and set up an appointment. This is when they scope out your house to see what kinds of stuff they can get. Then they check back to see when you're not home so they can come by and take your stuff. Luckily, she went to the side door where the family room is... no good stuff is in there. To top it off, my dog is probably the friendliest in the whole world, so if someone broke in my house, she'd probably show them where everything was... if they pet her and gave her a treat

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I was really creeped out when I read that article. I wish I could find it again to link.

That was totally not the point of this post, and I realize that I went way off topic.

cahabo · Kate Spade

The only soliciting we ever get anymore are kids selling candy and other stuff for their schools. Of course I welcome them. A few years ago there was a meat seller and I told him we were vegetarians although it wasn't true!

HeatherLynn · Gucci

I can't believe someone came to your front door!! If I were selling something there is no way I would go to your 'neighborhood'. It definitely doesn't make sense. There are too many subdivisions around here to go to one where the houses are so far apart!

Aurora · Marc Jacobs

Growing up we never had the door to door stuff other than us kids going around hawking school fundraising stuff and then a couple of religious groups. The first time I went to Mike's sister's house in San Antonio I noticed a No Solicitation sign on her door and he said they get solicitors all the time there so they had to put up a sign. Must be an area of the country type thing. I thought it was really odd.

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

Kelly wrote:

pollyjean, I'm surprised you guys had such a problem with it that you would need to get a sign like that. How many people did you have coming over?

I think we got on some kind of "new residents" list when we moved in during the summer 2006. I really don't know. We had at least 5 that I know of during the summer.

I need to come up with a good way to let them know that someone is home without answering the door. I guess, just turn on a bunch of lights around the foyer but never answer the door.

The key is, if people would stop buying crap from door-to-door soliciters, we wouldn't have this prob.

NCshopper · Hermes

I definitely don't ever answer the door unless I'm expecting someone or they're kids selling Girl Scout Cookies.

I was at home by myself a few weekends ago during the day and had the front blinds open. I happened to walk by the front windows and saw a truck with some ladders in the back pull in front of my house and two men got out. One of them saw me as I was passing by the window. The doorbell rang and when I asked through the door "Who is it?" no one answered. I stood by the door for a few minutes and the guy rang the doorbell again, and when I said "Who is it?" he didn't answer me again. I went to the other side of the house to see if they had driven off and they had. That's when I called my husband to see if he knew of anyone with ladders that would be coming by the house and he didn't. Super weird.

I was freaked out because 1) only my car was in the driveway and it was obvious I was the only person home and 2) it seemed like they picked my house intentionally because they drove up, rang my doorbell and then drove off--they were obviously not soliciting door-to-door or they would have gone to other houses as well. There was no way in HELL I was opening the door to them.

Kelly · Hermes

holy hell that would creep me out!

A few weeks ago I was home alone on a weekday morning. I woke up because of the doorbell at like 6AM. It was still pitch dark out. I walked out of my room onto the steps, and my dog was sitting staring at the door. I didn't go answer it because there is NO ONE in my life who needs to see me at 6AM (everyone I know knows that I'm not up that early, either!). I thought maybe - MAYBE - it was a Jehova's Witness or something, because sometimes they get early starts. When I opened the door while leaving for work a few hours later, there wasn't a box, a note, a pamphlet, or anything. I have no idea who it was and it especially weirded me out because it was one of the few days that BF wasn't spending the night.

boobaby · Kate Spade

Sometimes I'm glad I live in an apt. I've had the rare Jehovah's Witness ring my buzzer, but luckily I never have to tell them to scram face to face.

Suasoria · Chanel

We get tons of solicitors - at least one or two a week, and that's just when we're home. It bugs me too. I have a "speakeasy" in the door - like a peephole but with a little door that I can open, so I can usually tell them no thanks without opening the front door.

If it's not salespeople, it's people collecting for something, like the funeral of a teenager killed in a hit-and-run, or a class trip to DC, or a Christian homeless shelter, or they're selling candy or magazines to stay out of gangs. To make matters worse, I was the president of the neighborhood association and I know all the neighbors, so the kids always say "hi, I'm Chelsea, you know my mom, Sharon, we live on Elm Street" or whatever.

Honestly, to spare myself the sob story, sometimes I interrupt and say "if I give you five dollars, will you go away??" It's so worth it, as is the look on their face. (Only two dollars if it's a little kid, though.)

The worst are the alarm company salespeople, because they want to scare you. They mention there's a lot of break-ins in the neighborhood (there aren't). No thanks, I already have an alarm, which they can see from the sign on the lawn. Then they tell me that "some of my neighbors" have complained about our alarm company. Who, I ask. Just some of them around here. Which neighbors? And so on.

I envy people who live behind gates sometimes.

nightshade · Nine West

We live up a long lane out in the country so we get very few. Every fall we get men asking if they can hunt on our land (deer) -- NOT. We used to get Jehovah's Witnesses by the dozen, tho. I would just shut the door in their faces. But one time DH was home and he stood in the front yard, warmly dressed in his parka (it was way below zero and howling wind), and discussed the afterlife with a JW who was wearing a suit and a light topcoat, no hat, for what seemed like hours. Haven't had a JW since, I guess the word got out. Hehehe.

FashionPrincess · Hermes

See, now why oh why won't a girl scout come to my door, I'd tell her to back that truck up and promptly drop off any and all cookies :)

And thanks for all the other stories, most made me laugh and some made me concerned for your safety, scary stuff! Be safe and keep those dead bolts locked!

luckyclover · Dooney & Bourke

Sandy wrote:

Lol FP, your post cracked me up.

A few weeks ago, a girl knocked on my side door... it was a Friday night, around 8:30. That's not really a time that solicitors come around. I answered the door and she gave me some speech about a complimentary carpet cleaning from a local company (a well-known company, mind you). She didn't eevn have a brochure. I said no thanks and she left, and I didn't think anything of it, until I read something online a few days later. Apparently, there's a scam going around: they come to your house offering you a service (like carpet cleaning). If you say okay, they come in for whatever reason (like to measure your carpets I guess) and set up an appointment. This is when they scope out your house to see what kinds of stuff they can get. Then they check back to see when you're not home so they can come by and take your stuff. Luckily, she went to the side door where the family room is... no good stuff is in there. To top it off, my dog is probably the friendliest in the whole world, so if someone broke in my house, she'd probably show them where everything was... if they pet her and gave her a treat .

I was really creeped out when I read that article. I wish I could find it again to link.

That was totally not the point of this post, and I realize that I went way off topic.

wow! I had a solicitor like that a few years ago at our old house but never knew it was a scam. She came by way late like that and I had to all but shut the door in her face after telling her no over and over. We lived off a busy street right by a police station and even had problems with people parking in our yard on "court day". All kinds of strange people would stop by selling whatever so I never answered the door unless someone called first. At the new address, we just have local kids selling school stuff so not a big deal but I still keep the door locked all the time (even with the alarm system). But at least the door opens the opposite direction so they can't barge right in like they would at the old house. Also I've heard that instead of having a "beware of dog" sign it's better to have a "guard dog on duty". So you're not admitting to a vicious dog or something. LOL the only reason I don't have a "no soliciting" sign is for the girl scout cookies but they never stop by anyway hmm Maybe they should make another sign "solicitors of girl scout cookies only" LOL

FP- I wonder if putting up one of those "shh baby sleeping" pillows on the front door knob would work? or is that safe? I've thought about using that before.

FashionPrincess · Hermes

luckyclover wrote:

FP- I wonder if putting up one of those "shh baby sleeping" pillows on the front door knob would work? or is that safe? I've thought about using that before.

Well, I've taped notes to the door before that say "Please don't ring the doorbell, baby sleeping" but it's only when I know a delivery driver or buy guy or someone is coming, cause I know all of them enough (it's sad how well I know all our delivery drivers, way too much online shopping, haha), I wouldn't just leave a sign out that says that all the time.

And I too keep my doors locked, even with the alarm system.

ladysi78250 · Dooney & Bourke

After reading this post I starting thinking about George Lopez, in one of his shows he talks about how some of us Mexicans respond when solictors knock on our door. Its really funny, but true.

When we were little and someone would knock on our door, my mom would turn off the lights, and whisper for us to not say anything or make a sound. LOL!