Dealing with Solicitation

[MadMike]

We've had threads here several times involving telemarketing, door-to-door solicitation and the like. Every so often, we have to remind everyone that some of our members do this type of work, and that we shouldn't be unnecessarily rude to them just for doing their jobs.

That being said, if someone chooses to ignore a "No soliciting" sign, then all bets are off. They deserve whatever verbal abuse they get.

I haven't felt the need to put one up at my house so far, because in the 11 years that I've lived here, I could probably count on one hand the number of times someone's come to my door trying to sell me something. However, if I did have a sign up and someone tried to force a sales pitch on me anyway, I think I'd just silently point at the sign, and close the door.

[AdminAssistant]

My apartment is set up so that you can't get to my door without having a key for the security door. It's a pain for deliveries (I usually have to pick up packages at the UPS store, pizza delivery guys have to call me, etc.) But it's a blessing because I don't have to deal with this. Back home, we have a dog who is a big, dopey, lovable mutt who would never actually harm someone intentionally. However, he likes to make a big noise when someone's at the door. That, combined with the "Beware of Dog" signs necessitated by our old blue heeler, keeps most folks away.

[Seshat]

We've had threads here several times involving telemarketing, door-to-door solicitation and the like. Every so often, we have to remind everyone that some of our members do this type of work, and that we shouldn't be unnecessarily rude to them just for doing their jobs.

Agreed.

"Not interested. Please leave now."

If they try to continue, you're entitled to shut the door in their faces - from the moment they refuse to leave after being asked to, they're trespassers. (At least by Aussie law.)

The first isn't rude. The second only matches their level of rudeness.

If they try to continue after you've shut the door in their faces, you're entitled to call the police on them. I'd give them one warning and one only.

Yes, this is abrupt and decisive - and yes, the companies that hire these people insist that they try to continue. But I don't think of it as unwarranted rudeness. My first statement is courteous, the rest is dealing with trespass.

And a company which requires its staff to break the law to do their jobs shouldn't be surprised if the general public calls the police on their staff.

[LillFilly]

I'll try being firm with them and pointing to the sign. Thanks for all the advice. If being firm doesn't work, I'll push myself to pull-out all the stops! Cause you're right, it's my house, my door, my property, my sign!

[Jester]

...in the 11 years that I've lived here, I could probably count on one hand the number of times someone's come to my door trying to sell me something.

In 5.5 years at my current address, I am not sure if I've ever even HAD a solicitor. Not counting delivery guys, apartment maintenance, and UPS/FedEx, I know we've had one cop at my door (looking for someone who didn't live here who had called in distress), one census taker, and....shit, I think that's it. We don't have any security gates keeping people out....I just don't think anyone comes to our door. Or if they do, it's when we're at work, asleep, or out. Since I work weekdays, and Mr. Anti-Social sleeps during the day, this does not seem that unlikely.

[Barracuda]

I have always liked having a No Trespassing sign. Although I like one with a little flair, such as: "Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again."

[RecoveringKinkoid]

My cousins had one that said, "No horses, people, cars, motorcycles, no NOTHING. Survivors will be shot!"

It was a big sign hanging on one of the bigger roads going down into the property. When I say "big" I mean it was an isolated one lane dirt road through some woods and fields.

[blas]

I've always wanted a welcome mat that says "Go Away"

Someone rang the doorbell at my parents' house while I was napping/washing towels yesterday morning. I didn't answer, too comfy with the kitten asleep on my feet (FINALLY not trying to sleep on my head anymore).

Found out it was the Jehovah's Witnesses. They left some toilet pap--errr--literature in the doorjam, it must have blown away when I left for the day.

Dad is pretty pissed because he found out why they keep coming. A while back, my brother was doing chores in the front yard and they bothered him, so he gave them a dollar, most likely to have a kind way of saying "Go away". Well, naive as he is.....give them a dollar, they'll be back for more, and want to talk also.

[Kogarashi]

Dad is pretty pissed because he found out why they keep coming. A while back, my brother was doing chores in the front yard and they bothered him, so he gave them a dollar, most likely to have a kind way of saying "Go away". Well, naive as he is.....give them a dollar, they'll be back for more, and want to talk also.

They kept coming to my parents' house on a regular basis for a while because my dad would keep accepting their literature. He used it to point out to my sisters and I how our two religions differed, as a matter of curiosity. I believe they finally stopped when they realized that they weren't getting a convert out of all that paper.

Here, the JWs stop by once every two years or so, and I just give them a polite "no thanks" and they respond equally politely and move on to the next doorbell. Can't really think of any other solicitors we've had stop by without being invited (specifically our own church's missionaries), so I haven't really had to deal with the pushy types. I'm just glad our local JWs are polite and not pushy.

[blas]

They make the kids and teens do it here. You never see adults going door to door.

[MadMike]

I've always wanted a welcome mat that says "Go Away"

My mom and my stepdad used to have one. Maybe they still do, I'm not sure. I have no idea where they got it.

They don't like to be around a bunch of other people, so they had their house built way out in the woods, at the end of their own private drive, which is a long dirt road. It's so deep in the woods, you wouldn't even think there would be a house back there. So they were quite surprised when a couple of old ladies from one of the religious organizations showed up at their door. They asked them how they found the place, and the one lady cheerfully replied, "We followed the 'No Trespassing' signs."

Old ladies or not, I would have gone off on them big time just for that display of blatant and willful stupidity. My mom couldn't bring herself to do that, so she just politely told them she wasn't interested and sent them on their way.

They weren't so nice to the pushy salesman who showed up at their house one day, who got nasty when they asked him to leave, and even tried to push his way into the house. That would have been a huge mistake, considering my stepdad's room full of guns. And by that, I mean he has a room just for his guns, and that room is full of them. That, and they have a huge piece of land, with plenty of room to hide any bodies, if they were that type of people. And since it's a rural area, no one would have given any thought if they had heard gunshots.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

If anyone ever shoved their way into any of the houses in the woods where I grew up, that person would have disappeared. Of that I have no doubt. It would have been like that business in the movie Snatch. Including the bit about the pigs.

And anyone trying to shove their way into my house is gonna find out that the apple does not fall far from the tree. At the very least they would lose whatever body part they used to shove into my door.

[morgana]

I'm with you, Kink. And I'm seriously thinking about getting one of those signs that say, "This home protected by Smith and Wesson."

[protege]

That, and they have a huge piece of land, with plenty of room to hide any bodies, if they were that type of people. And since it's a rural area, no one would have given any thought if they had heard gunshots.

Sounds like the house my grandparents once had. Their farmhouse was out in the country. Nearest residence was over 1/4 mile away. Grandpa would always be nice to salesmen...but if they refused to leave, he'd have fun with them. That is, he'd remind them that he had 80 acres to hide bodies, and that nobody would bat an eye over a gunshot or two

[blas]

For now, this apartment is protected by a lot of pointy high heels, and an arm so forceful, it will take a team of medical professionals to extract it out of your ass if you refuse to quit pitching your shit and leave.