door to door sales - whats your take?

[pimpbot]

I've had a lot of kids recently knocking on my door to sell me crap. I really do mean crap too. Mostly magazines at some outrageous price. Most recently some guy selling a cleaning product.

I don't mind someone trying to make a dollar in this day and age, but I REALLY HATE the pushy tatics they use. And when I say NO, I mean it, and please, STOP TALKING AND GOTO THE NEXT HOUSE.

One actually got mad I didnt buy their product. "Cmon man, I havent sold one of these all day!". hahaha.

The only thing that worries me is one of these guys trying to "get even" later on by breaking in or vandalizing my car outside. The most recent guy even commented "Hey, thats a nice car you got in the driveway". I tried to play it off and say its a maintenence headache and doesnt really run anymore.

Anyways, I was just seeing what you all thought or if you had any experiences with these people? Have you ever gotten them to leave within the first 5 minutes? I cant. I mean, not without just shutting the door in their face!

[Xithras]

1. Shut the door in their face.

It's OK to be rude to telemarketers and door-to-door salesmen. Unlike most businesspeople, they inject THEIR marketing into YOUR day, rudely interrupting whatever you're doing. The last time I had one come to my door and refuse to take my first no, I looked at him and said, "I told you I wasn't interested, and I'm closing my door now. Goodbye." And then I shut it.

There's no reason to be rude and slam it in their face, but by the same token there's no reason to stand there for 10 minutes arguing with some stranger who refuses to take no for an answer.

[rock]

3. I second that emotion

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

2. I don't answer the door at all unless I'm expecting someone

I like to keep some of the blinds open, and if I see someone coming I'll go into another room and wait them out. Stupid maybe, but it works for me.

[pimpbot]

4. I like this method

Except I don't have any good spy window locations. I was thinking of installing a mini camera pointed at my door. You can get them real cheap from some websites nowadays. It might be even funny to put a speaker out there and be able to yell "GO AWAY" if its someone you dont recognize! :)

[Wapsie B]

5. Maybe it's easy for me

to have this distant, disinterested look on my face. But I just tell them thanks but no thanks. I haven't had any as persistent as you describe though.

[pitohui]

6. illegal in my neighborhood

just call the police the next time they're out and let the cops explain to kids and parents the stupidity of sending kids door to door

i do not open the door or engage them in conversation

there is no upside

use your peephole or window glass, if a salesperson of any age is at the door, go to phone to report it, don't open the door

theats of extortion should also be reported to police but if you didn't open yr door in the first place they'd be threatening someone else & you wouldn't even be on their radar

i am a woman, before i open my door to a stranger, you had better have a badge and a warrant

[TlalocW]

7. I sold door-to-door stuff a lot during my life

Starting when I was a kid with Olympic Cards so I could get prizes (ads were on the back of comics), magazine subscriptions to raise money for prom (I sold the most, but I did it again for the prizes as I didn't care about prom), and then vaccuum cleaners in college, but that was by appointment only. It's a tough gig.

That said, I hate dealing with door-to-door salespeople of any kind - from girl scout cookie sellers to subscription sellers to religious prostelyzers (sp?). I have a notice on my door (with a graphic of a man and woman holding a bible with a circle around them and a line through them) that I'm not interested in talking to any of them, and I will be quite upset if they bother me. I also only have a cell phone so telemarketers can't call me.

As for getting rid of them, I had only one special situation which probably wouldn't work for you as timing and location played a big part of it. I had gotten home from work and parked in the garage, and as I got out of my car, some guy was walking up my drive. I called out to him, "Whatever it is, I'm not interested." He tried to object so I said, "Bye-bye now." He called me a couple of names, at which point I took down the large axe I had hanging on my garage wall that I just happened to be nearby.

He left a little quicker. :)

TlalocW

[petronius]

8. A lot of them aren't local kids, from what I understand

There are companies that take groups of kids around the country to do these sales, often in pretty abusive conditions. The stories of 'earning points for a trip to Europe' are generally BS.