any1 else sick of knocks on their door being people pushing stuff on you?

after a week of staying up late i love to sleep in on a saturday morning. but this is stopped by sods coming round and pushing more rubbish on me that i have not asked or enquired about

betterware - unsolicited material, you can do with it as you wish, i look at it as junk mail and throw it away as soon as i see it. then you get attitude from the people who come to get it back. im pretty sure they get money for each one they collect back or something like that. but i dont ask for it, i dont subscribe from it, buy from it or have ever shown an interest in it. im sure some people out there will say `why dont you just put it outside as soon as it arrives' but really i dont see why i should as it just encorages them!. petty? oh yes. but im in a petty mood :)

safestyle - i wanted windows doing. but due to them nagging me all the time at the door they were the only people i DIDN'T think of doing my double glazing.

npower - i am with npower but as recently i had a very pushy little git at my door asking why i didnt combine my gas and electricity bills and tryin to force his way into my house while i was in the middle of my dinner! just so i could sign up for something else. his final throw of the dice was the classic `dont you want to save money' to which i reply `no i dont' :) i am now leaving npower stating there pushy door to door techniques as the reason i am going elsewhere

rant over... normally i wouldnt post this early (early for me on a sat) but seens thou ive been out of bed for 3 hrs i thought what the hell!!

:) wahoooooo im the new victor meldrew!

Your not on your own there mate i hate it! I also hate phone calls too about switching your mortgage and things like that!!
I once got a knock at my door and it was someone from n-power, first of all he looked me up and down, looked disgusted and then asked to speak to the owner of the house, to which i replied 'YOU ARE'! Then he asked which company i had my gas and electric with so i told him then he started laughing and said 'Oh! We could save you a hell of a lot more money!' I told him i wasnt interested and he also used the classic line of 'dont you want to save money then?' I just told him he was wasting his time and mine and to go away! Much to his disgust i then shut the door in his face lol!!!

If any of these Betterware books come through my door they end up in the bin plain and simple. When the person then comes to collect it I tell them to not bother with my house in future as it will always end up in the bin.

I get fed up with sales people too. I work shifts and can be in bed anytime of the day or night, so picture the scene...

I wake up and quickly get HALF dressed...
Go downstairs with my hair sticking out in all directions...
I answer the door with just one eye open...
I politely say no, not interested.

If that doesn't work (and remember at this point i barely look human) i usually find that **** off **** you **** ****** ******* and dont come back or ***** ****** *****, usualy does the trick.

As for the betterware booklets, they go straight in the wheelie bin and when they come round to collect i point to the bin and tell them its in there... if they can find it there welcome to it.

Oh and also safestyle windows... there is a sold sign outside my house so of course i want to spend thousands of pounds on new windows for my buyers.... i'm nice like that (see above).

One of Jasper Carrott's sketches involved letting door to door salesmen in, telling them to make themselves at home and then sneaking out the back and phoning the cops to tell them you were being burgled...:)

I like having a high door step because I can open the door and look down on 90% of callers.

I try to be polite but firm, and have also had the 'Don't you want to save money' ploy. I dislike the double glazing people intensely, am half and half about Bettaware as I knew someone years ago who was a rep for them, and wouldn't p**s on an n-power saleman if he was on fire.

There....spleen vented...:)

Joe

ahhh nice to hear all those comments :)

yeap i had someone phone today about `blah blah bt line blah blah save money on your calls blah blah'

funny thing is i dont use my landline (cept for internet) so i just say. well can you save me money on my £1.60 on calls for the last 4 months? haha. soon shuts them up.

i was considering adding some 'choice pages' into the betterware catalogue myself. then letting them have it back.

once this bloke shouted at me from bottom of my garden `is it really too much bother to take a few minutes to put it outside your door' to which i reply `yes it is, im busy *slam door*'

after years of being friendly, polite and nice to these people ive had it. and now i dont care if they think im a complete *******

bring them on! im going to think up as many ways to annoy them as they annoy me. i was considering keeping a salesperson on the phone for ages talking about all their products and offers. keep them going for 30minutes..then say `i was just wasting your time'

maybe next call :)

Agree with all of the above, but just bear in mind that the betterware sellers do have to pay for the books - I wouldnt hurt just to keep it by the door or whatever and just chuck it on the doorstep on the day they say hey will be back.


Mat :thumbsup:

Originally posted by mat1978
Agree with all of the above, but just bear in mind that the betterware sellers do have to pay for the books - I wouldnt hurt just to keep it by the door or whatever and just chuck it on the doorstep on the day they say hey will be back.


Mat :thumbsup:


well i dont know about where u live mat but round my area it can be days after their "collect time" when they come round, i aint havin my garden littered with other peoples junk for days on end and even if they did collect on time i have enough trouble remembering when to put the bins down nevermind there booklets. They can *******.

yeah looking from there side its a bugger but its junk mail. and seens though its different person every week you cant keep saying `dont bring it round here'

its makes me feel the git for saying it and occasionally having arguements. when ive done nothing but live in my house
they should leaflet areas asking you to return the form sayin if you wish to have the catalouge delivered. seems simple..maybe betterware people cant be arsed to pay for the sheets of paper.

Originally posted by skala
he also used the classic line of 'dont you want to save money then?' I just told him he was wasting his time and mine and to go away! Much to his disgust i then shut the door in his face lol!!!

One nasty little wretch asked me that one once, so I replied, straight faced and sombre, that I would gladly pay more for my gas if it prevented him getting commission from a single sale.

He looked kind of shocked, then angry, and excused himself. Not had any npower types round since then, and a good job too. I was with them in my old house, and had nothing but the run-around with 'em.

I keep having this sweet dream where this Piece of Npower type scum come to our house and he's on fire. I then get to put the flames out with a cricket bat.

I hate them almost as much as I hate cold callers on the phone at night.

My favorite trick with those toe rags is to welcome them on the phone like a long lost friend and tell them how intreseted I am then ask them to hold the line a moment while I get some thing. Then I put the phone under a cushion and walk away. Part of the fun is seeding how long they hold for before they hang up.

My best ever time was seven minutes. Beat that!!

With me, it's more phone calls asking for either a person called Davis, who doesn't live at this address, or they ask for the name of the person who holds the phone account, and seeing as it is signed up for in my mothers name, kind of hard for them to speak to them seeing as they don't live here, plus, the person that phoned today asked if we was on a BT land line, errrrr, nope, Telewest thank you very much, one of these days I am going to say "Nope, I am not the account holder, but if you wouldn't mind holding I shall go and get them" and leave the phone off the hook for the next 30 mins, that should **** them off no end, lol.

Nuisance Marketing Phone Calls
One way to cut down on these calls is to go ex directory. Also the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) can stop your telephone number being available to marketing organisations.

Call 0845 0700707 or go to www.tpsonline.org.uk and register your telephone number(s).
Direct marketing calls should stop after 28 days.

Junk Snail Mail
If each house in Sheffield receives just one item of junk mail a week that¡¦s 12.5 million unwanted letters across the city each year

Register with the Mail Preference Service to opt out of unsolicited mail:
Mail Preference Service
Freepost 22
W1E 7EZ
Tel: 020 7291 3310
www.mpsonline.org.uk

Door to Door Opt Out Scheme
Want to stop to non-addressed, hand delivered mail e.g. magazines and flyers delivered direct by your postal worker?
Write to:
Door to Door Help Line
Royal Mail
Beaumont House
Sandy Lane West
Oxford OX4 6ZZ


Stop Door to Door Traders
Sorry no high tech solutions for this one! Touch of Blue Peter about this:

Make a no traders, no hawkers sign and stick it on your door, say something like :
"We DO NOT TRADE at the door.
If you are selling, surveying or cold calling, please
do not knock on the door or ring the bell.

Thank you. "

If someone rings my phone uninvited. I tell them to remove this number from their sales list, else I'll take them to the small claim court.

I have never had a person ring back yet. :)

If they turn up at the door, I ask the name of the company (to make sure I NEVER use that company) and then say
I am not interested in their services and tell them not to come here again and shut the door on them.

They do not return. :)

It is sad that the best way of getting rid of these people is to be rude but after years of putting up with hassle and listening to very poor sales pitches which my cats could write better, I have run out of patience.

I disrespect companies which use such annoying methods of gaining custom and I will pay more money to reward a company which doesn't do this sort of thing.

I don't think you should be so harsh. It's just like traffic wardens when they give u tickets, u hate them for it but it's their job & someone has to do it

Originally posted by sparklesista
I don't think you should be so harsh. It's just like traffic wardens when they give u tickets, u hate them for it but it's their job & someone has to do it
I like Traffic wardens as they are doing a good job, ensuring that the roads have a sense of order. I even stopped a nasty man from being threating to a traffic warden in town a couple of weeks ago.

But my partner & I work hard so we can enjoy our home and phone, not so we can deal with sale idiots.

If you are nice to these people they keep ringing if you are direct and hang up/shut the door they don't.

I class myself as a nice person who does give back things to society, I give money to charity, help out people whenever I can.

All I want is not to have sales calls/visits that should not be a difficult thing in this day & age.

We went ex-directory on the telephone to stop the sales calls and surveys. Now if one gets through they get -

"where did you get this number from - this number is ex-directory, Goodbye"

and I put the phone down, they never ring back so it works every time.

We rarely get double glazing sales man knock at the door because we have 2 dogs one of which likes to stick her head out of the catflap and bark at anyone having the audacity to approach our door.

Betterware books I don't mind those too much but we rarely get them so not too much of a problem there - probably because we never buy anything.

I also get Avon books that the rep never collects - now that does irratate me because I do buy things from them and means I have to order over the internet or by phone and pay for delivery.

Also we have one of those "we do not trade at this door" stickers, you can get those from the post office I think.

Sparkle, finally, a symathetic post.

Unfortunately, I had to resort to three years of cold calling sales work for Scottish Power after I left retail management. The vast majority of people that we spoke to on the doors either politely rejected the approach, or listened to what we had to say. They were intelligent enough to realise that we were just doing our jobs, didn't label us as "npower type scum" nor "nasty little wretches", and knew that if they ever tired of salesmen calling, an unobtrusive notice on the gate would do the trick; a salesman stupid enough to knock on a door with a notice at it's entrance would deserve any abuse that came his way.

We were trained to use the "Don't you want to save money?" line. It wasn't a ploy. In the vast majority of cases, if you were still with British Gas for your gas supply, or were with your local electricity company for your electricity supply, you were paying through the nose. A quick glance at the Ofgem website or actually comparing your tarriff with ANY other supplier would have confirmed it. So we WERE there to save you money, whether you believed it or not. Mostly it was the cocky abusive imbeciles that we met that were the flat-earthers.

We had to deal with a small ugly collection of nasty, malicious arse-holes with hugely bad attitudes. If we came across one of these voidheads on fire, I'm quite sure that we would all have very happily urinated vast rivers onto them to dowse the flames. I can assure you, most of the salesmen I worked with for those three years were decent people. Normal people like yourselves who just happened to work in sales.

Sorry, guys. I respect most of the contributions you've submitted in other threads, but the reams of offensive crud that's been spewed out on this topic shows you in a very bad light.

I'm expecting a gang backlash here as there are so many of you sharing the same opinion, so let's have it. I'm quite sure you'll see an ex-salesman as some sort of under-class easy target. But leave out the cheap jibes, one-liners and offensive remarks. It'll be interesting to see how many sentences you'll be left with to actually submit.

Ant,

As a person you sound very nice but if you took a job where the aim is to hassle homeowners in their limited spare time what reaction did you expect.

Good companies don't need door to door salesman as their products or services speak for themselves.

We currently want a couple of new double glazed windows. I'll be asking for quotes from several companies minus those who have knocked on my door to bother me.

As no one likes this method of 'sales' I wonder why companies bother employing people to do this type of sales.

Too be honest I totally agree with you.

I am also a giving person and I'm too shy to tell me to p*** off!

I have never given the sales guy a hard time even though I'm wishing he would hurry up with what he had to say & then leave me alone. I've also had them knock on the door when I've just got out the bath but like I said before someone has to do it. Alot of people don't like the jobs they do and not everyone has a choice.

It's always easy to mouth off at the opposing but it wouldn't harm to take 5 mins looking from the other side of the fence.

I didn't take a job "who's aim was to hassle homeowners..." Given a choice, like the vast majority of my fellow salesmen, I would not have taken the job in the first place. I left my previous job abruptly, and was forced into it to obtain immediate income. The aim of the job was to offer lower price tarriffs to potential customers.

As I say, most of us were a sound bunch of people, just doing a job. I hate salesmen coming to my door, too. But that's life, until the law is changed. All we expected was a reasonable amount of civility at the door. And if that was too much to ask, a notice at the front gate warning us off. Politeness costs nothing.

Also, virtually ALL utility companies use cold calling salesmen. They fully realise how unpopular it is, but there's a simple reason why they all persist: it pays. Cold calling is the most cost-efficient way of gaining new customers. But I do agree that it sucks. But when it came down to it, it was that, or shelf-stacking at four and a half quid per hour. The kid's food came first.

And Sparkle, I plied Betterware books around Hackenthorpe for a few months. You were probably my Avon lady.

Originally posted by sparklesista
I have recently moved to Hackenthorpe & have decided to sell Avon because of being bored during the day & having nothing to do but I was astonished to the filthy looks you get when you turn up to collect the book. Afterall it quite clearly states for you to leave the book outside so you aren't disrupted but people tend to like to forget that.
The dirty looks are given by people who have had a long day at the office and are sat down to have their tea when someone rings their door demanding the return of something which was posted though their door without permission and they want it back now.

I would suggest Avon & Betterware agents leaves their books on the door step, easy to pick up when you want them back. If the houseowner wants to order they would pick up the book and would be happy for you to ring the doorbell to retrieve the order.

When I said "I totally agree with you" I mean with Ants side of the story! Sorry for any confusion

Originally posted by PIF_Tails
The dirty looks are given by people who have had a long day at the office and are sat down to have their tea when someone rings their door demanding the return of something which was posted though their door without permission and they want it back now.

I would suggest Avon & Betterware agents leaves their books on the door step, easy to pick up when you want them back. If the houseowner wants to order they would pick up the book and would be happy for you to ring the doorbell to retrieve the order.

Yes but it clearly states for the brochure to be left outside for collection regardless of whether they have ordered from it or not.
You can't just leave it on the door step due to bad weather & people pick things up anyway they wouldn't just leave it ther if they didn't want it.

I think you are being unfair. There are many people who get mad because no-one has bothered to come to their door. It works both ways but we always seem to get the rear end of it!

sorry but thats just wrong.

ok people hate traffic wardens...but they are doing a job... and if you park in wrong place or dont pay and you are caught then you have to accept it. there can be not much arguement there.

but these people are putting people out for no reason.. how would you feel if you worked nights....or if its an elderly person who has to struggle to the door...and the pushy salespeople dont seem to care.

its your HOME. its not a office, you have the right to be in your home and not to be bothered by UNSOLICITED things.

Originally posted by sparklesista
Yes but it clearly states for the brochure to be left outside for collection regardless of whether they have ordered from it or not.
You can't just leave it on the door step due to bad weather & people pick things up anyway they wouldn't just leave it ther if they didn't want it.

LOL. Try and see this from my point of view.

I have clearly stated to these people that I don't want these books posted though my door. Why should I get a rude women shouting at me on a sunday afternoon as she wanted HER book back. :D

If you like the book so much, stop posting it though my door. :loopy:

If I was going to run a Avon book, I would note who wanted it and who didn't, as that way you can give that book to someone in the next street who might like it. It makes sense only give these things to those who want it, not to those who don't.

the book could say `do a little dance and sing a song about a banana' doesnt mean were going to do it!

UNSOLICITED!!

any1 who takes a job like that knows what to expect, if you dont you are naive.

Mtheo, you are still falling into the same trap of thinking salemen are somehow different to you. I've worked nights before and been woken by window salesmen. I placed a notice on the door turning away unsolicited callers. It did the trick, and the few dodgy salesmen that claimed not to have seen the notice I had the good manners and willpower to firmly, politely decline the offer, and close the door. Not slam it in their face.

"These people", as you Daily Mail style label us, do not "put people out for no reson". Is it so very difficult for you to understand the concept of us doing a job? Trying to put food on the table?

And you unfortunately do not have the right not to be bothered by unsolicited callers. Unless you state the fact at the entrance to your property, in which case you may consider it as trespass.

Originally posted by PIF_Tails
If I was going to run a Avon book, I would note who wanted it and who didn't, as that way you can give that book to someone in the next street who might like it. It makes sense only give these things to those who want it, not to those who don't.

They usually do that but they also have a limited area and are only allowed to post books through on certain streets this has the result of reducing your area - I used to do Avon years ago and it is a very tough job. The agent has to buy those books personally and they are not cheap, plus if you don't get at least £25 in orders you don't get commission either so you are paying for the pleasure of placing an order - not very fair really and having to fund the missing books doesn't help.

any1 who takes a job like that knows what to expect, if you dont you are naive.

Yes, we are all fully aware of what to expect when we take these positions. We are certainly not naive.

That doesn't excuse ill mannered prats their behaviour.

Originally posted by Ant
That doesn't excuse ill mannered prats their behaviour.
I agree, tell them to stop banging on my door on a Sunday demanding their books back.

Pif, that's just the kind of cheap shot one-liner I was refering to earlier.

I've been telling you throughout the thread how well I and most of my friends behaved on the doors. We were never ill mannered prats. You know perfectly well the point I was making - that politeness costs nothing. Why did you twist it for a cheap point?

You are actually labelling both Sparkle and Wendy as ill-mannered prats by doing that. I was refering to the genuine prats who seem incable of maintaining the most basic standards of civility to another person trying to earn an honest crust. The term prat used in that context is an understatement.

Ant,

So you think the lady who banged on my door, making me get out of bed whilst sick, who swore at me as she had been around earlier in the week for her book was NOT an ill mannered prat.

Please consider the fact that I have told her twice not to put her books though my door because :-

:1. I don't look at them ever
:2. My cats try to eat the plastic bags

....before you answer my question.

Ok, point taken, so long as we're all not tarred with the same brush. Though probably not an ill-mannered prat, just badly organised.

Ant,

I was just upset with that lady as I don't feel using bad language is ever acceptable, however disorganised she was.

Got a knock on the door the other morning meself. Two rather elderly looking fellas tried selling me something called "Jesus"

Sounded like a good deal really. Wasn't going to cost me anything...reckoned it could solve all of the worlds problems. I even got this free book with pictures in.

Binned the book as soon as the door shut and went back to bed.

Bloody pushy door to door types....

They never learn.

I do think the government should ban cold calling. I think it was suggested a couple of years ago, but I haven't heard anything about it for a while. It is a real pain in the rear end for all parties. And once you are in the field, it's very difficult to get out of. For two years, the only companies that would look at me were other cold-calling sales agencies. I ended up quitting altogether - losing out on job-seekers allowance in the process - and having to retrain using a loan from a friend. Bit of a bummer. You'd be amazed how many people in the field that are desperate to get out to do a proper job, never really having wanted the job in the first place. Many of us weren't in a position to pick and choose.

For me, it's not so much the fact that someone actually knocks on the door to explain the fact that changing over to npower, powergen or one of the other various companies that we have had knocking on the door that bother me............

It's the fact that you get one of them, you say, sure, I'll go over to you, I'd love to save some money, AND your on a token meter, not a regular meter, so they say, oh, we can help with that too, so you sign up, they say they will send you a replacement card, you wait, you wait, you wait, and nothing, and all the while, because of some glitch, this new company start charging you for gas/electricity which your unable to purchase because they haven't got round to sending out the relevant cards, then you end up with a massive bill from the new company and in debt.

Soooo, you decide to go back to the original company, okay, you won't save money, but you won't get any further hassle, hahahaha, yeah, sure you won't, because they STILL keep on trying to change us over.

Originally posted by hj dary
My favorite trick with those toe rags is to welcome them on the phone like a long lost friend and tell them how intreseted I am then ask them to hold the line a moment while I get some thing. Then I put the phone under a cushion and walk away. Part of the fun is seeding how long they hold for before they hang up.

:) This is also my fav way of dealing with unwanted calls.
The door is another thing altogether i just never answer it unless i`m expecting something or someone. It can be rather funny sometimes especially as whoever is banging on it can see were in and starts waving or something to get your attention, i either ignore them or wave back and carry on with what i`m doing.Only once has this backfired as my sister forgot to ring before calling and ended up back at home, i remember thinking at the time of hearing the knock shall i have a peek to see who it is but i couldn`t be bothered.
Everyone in our house works different shifts so there is always someone in but also always someone in bed asleep so if the caller is persistent and makes an awful lot of noise some times an upstairs window is opened and a fxxx oxx is screamed (we took the doorbell out years ago) Also it`s good to know where some of these people come from, one was recognised as living a few streets away and when i was on an early shift i knocked the hell outta their door at 0330 in the morning until all the lights came on then went on my merry way to work. May seem extreme to some but it`s a good way to stop the persistent ones:hihi:

As far as betterware are concerned or any other company who put there silly magazine thru the door i just post it straight back thru outside if im there when it arrives so they have to pick it back up and realise i dont want it or i throw it in the bin and tell them i assumed it was rubbish cos it didnt have my name on :D .

I hate the TELE2 sales people who badger you into taking up there service and im too nice to say no to someones face so always end up with the product then phone and cancel it so i dont have to say it to there face.

Also when the Jehovahs witness come round and start preaching to me about Armageddon I always comment on what a fantastic film it was :clap:

A work colleague of mine was widowed *four* years ago, but, despite her pleas for the telephone callers and letter writers and what-have you to stop pestering her, as her hubby had passed way, the telephone cold callers etc STILL perisist in phoning, and asking for him.

So I suggested to her, the other week, that when she gets those letters and calls which claim that her (late) husband had placed an order XYZ with the company,that she responds to them thus:-

"Okay so my husband ordered this book, personally, did he?"

"If you can provde me with proof that this is what he has done, then I will gladly pay good money for the order!"

or the alternative that was suggested...

"Oh, you would like to speak to mr XXXX would you? Do you think it would be appropriate for me to suggest the best way that you could do that? *evil laugh*"

the cold-callers annoy me, and, the irony of it is; *my* very first job after I left school was cold calling, door to door for a double glazing firm, who were a real "laurel and hardy" outfit.
it's demoralising, pays rubbish money, and, in the case of the company I worked for, downright dangerous.

I was a 16 year old lass, who would be dumped, in the middle of an estate, somewhere (not in sheffield; we were taken all over the place) with 2 or 3 of my colleagues, and we were expected to split up, and trek all round this estate, doing our Schpiel to the poor, bemused householders.

The thing was, as kids, fresh out of school, we could have been subjected to anything. We could have been knocking on the Yorkshire Rippers' door, or some rapist's.... we could have been abducted and/or murdered.. Anything could have happened to us, on our own, in a strange area. We had no mobile phones, back then, to summon help, or keep in touch with our colleagues.

I mean... look at what happened to that young woman, Susie Lamplugh; she vanished, "forever", on a site visit as an estate agent, she was ten years older, at that time, than I was, and far more experienced.

I, like my colleagues, was wandering, alone, round some strange area, not a familiar area, like she was. it's a horrific thought that we were so young, and exposed to so much danger. if any of us had been attacked or abducted, how would anyone know where we were? what route we had taken?

it is a really frightening thought.

it's easy to say "yes but you were alright, when you were doing the cold calling; nothing untoward happened, and you got out in one piece!" but it is easy to be complacent. We were exposed to unacceptable risks. It was too dangerous.

Cold calling should be banned.

(Sorry, rant over!)

PT

Originally posted by Ant
The aim of the job was to offer lower price tarriffs to potential customers.



Now Now Ant tell the truth.

The aim of the job is not to help the customers its to get your sales targets up for the bounus at the end of the week.

Dont get me wrong, I feel sorry in a way for the sales person and none of this is aimed at you directly, but the tatics that the sales person uses and the companies they represent are the thing that upset us the most.

Now Now Ant tell the truth. The aim of the job is not to help the customers its to get your sales targets up for the bounus at the end of the week.

Wow. I've never been accused of being a liar on the forum before.

The aim of the job was to offer lower price tarrifs to potential customers. Full stop. The bonus at the end of the month if a salesman hit targets was exactly that. A bonus. Yes, some salesmen rely on the bonus and resort to dodgy sales tactics to achieve it, but they were genuinely few and far between.

You're wrong, and I'm not a liar.

It's the fact that you get one of them, you say, sure, I'll go over to you, I'd love to save some money, AND your on a token meter, not a regular meter, so they say, oh, we can help with that too,

Hmm. It's very, very unlikely that any company would save you a significant amount of money on a token meter. You always get hassle when changing a meter over. It just isn't worth it. The salesman was probably lying, at the very least exaggerating, and needs a kicking.

well ant.. i accept its a job and people need money. but the simple fact is that it is YOUR HOME. it is a place you relax after work, a place where you should feel AT HOME and safe and not have to put up with people annoying you on a regular basis.

i dont care what it is that they are selling, offering or preaching about at my door.

you shouldnt HAVE to put up a little notice to tell them to not knock or ring. wots next? putting a `dont throw cans in my garden' so kids dont do this? how about a sign for the royal mail and a sign for the free newspapers etc etc... i wont be able to get in my door for signs!

p.s. I agree, tell them to stop banging on my door on a Sunday demanding their books back. <--- that was a joke.. and i found it quite amusing. lighten up ant.

No, of course you shouldn't have to put a notice up. I have said already that cold calling should be banned. The point I'm making is that some people have no choice but to take on a cold calling sales job. The job center these days throw jobs at you and take away JSA should you refuse the interview. I've also said that it's irritated me in the past when I've had cold callers, especially when I've been on shifts. But these are normal people we're talking about here. It's a question of respect and politeness. You live in a world, whether you like it or not, when you WILL be called on frequently by salesmen. If you don't like it, stick a notice up. It costs next to nothing and it's hardly going to devalue your house.

And I did appreciate that it was a joke. A crap one with the aim of point scoring. If it were funny, I'd have laughed.

Originally posted by Ant
But these are normal people we're talking about here.

What, like the spammers who fill up peoples mailboxes are "normal people"?


Best thing I have found to do with all unsolicited callers (personally & over the phone) is to simply laugh @ them!

There are databases set up of people who do not want marketing phone calls or junk mail. Marketing companies which abide by a code of practice will take you off their lists if you are on the database and you can report them if they continue to make contact.

To stop marketing calls by phone (from legit companies) register with the Telephone Preference Service:

http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/

020 7291 3320

To stop junk mail register with the Mail Preference Service:

http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/

020 7291 3310

What, like the spammers who fill up peoples mailboxes are "normal people"?

I don't know any of them. Do you?