Gransnet forums

Chat

Door to door sales

(43 Posts)
Grandmabatty Tue 25-Mar-25 12:44:39

I had an encounter this morning with a young man, boy would be more accurate! I answered the door and he began a prepared script, however he didn't actually tell me what he was selling until I stopped him and asked. He then began again. Twice I said, "No thank you. I'm not interested," and he kept on going! Finally I had to put my hand up in the stop gesture and say firmly, "I've already said twice I'm not interested," before he left. He told me it was his first job(it certainly seemed like that!) and was very sweet but so unsuited to the job of cold calling. I felt quite sorry for him, but not enough to get my walls done.
The opposite was a burly bloke who tried to get me to sign up to fresh fruit and veg delivery. He was not happy when I refused. He replied aggressively and argued with me. It took a while before he would go and I was quite worried he might return.
It seems this is the start of cold calling season. Has anyone else experienced either method?

polly123 Thu 27-Mar-25 12:31:06

I see them on my Ring doorbell to check who is calling and then ignore them. I also have their image just in case.

pably15 Wed 26-Mar-25 23:35:11

I have a no cold callers notice on a window next to the door, but not so long ago my O,H answered the door and came in and told me someone wanted to see me..something about the internet he said..a young guy stood there with his speach, all ready to go, did I have full fibre, I said I didn't know,,,have you got a phone...yes, asked me to go and get it and check if I had F F...I said no..then he said to go and get it and he would check, that's when I ended the conversation....He was from E.E

henetha Wed 26-Mar-25 23:17:01

There are some advantages to living out in the countryside, we don't get cold callers. But I have the No Cold Callers on my door, just in case.

Fidelity2 Wed 26-Mar-25 22:56:16

If you put a sign on your door saying NO COLD CALLERS and someone calls trying to sell you things, you can report it to the police as it is a crime.

Esmay Wed 26-Mar-25 22:49:57

Oops -answered this twice - d'oh !

kittylester Wed 26-Mar-25 22:44:51

I realise that Nottingham Knockers are not what they purport to be. I am not naive.

flappergirl Wed 26-Mar-25 22:07:18

I don't answer the door to people I don't know. I am extremely unlikely to have a complete stranger knock with important news or who wants to give me money! If it's that important they can write or put a note through the door anyway. There is nothing on earth I want to buy, I certainly don't want any home improvements and I already contribute to quite a lot of charities. There's no point in standing on a cold doorstep wasting their time and mine, or discovering that it's someone unsavoury or suspicious. On that note kittylester I think you'll find that "Nottingham Knockers" are not who they claim to be. In our city the term has rather bad connotations.

Iam64 Wed 26-Mar-25 19:23:22

I had a man collecting for our local children’s hospice knock my door today. He was middle aged, friendly, wore the logo sweat shirt. I hesitated briefly then stopped his patter - I said I never donate or buy at the door. I do donate to charity but not in this way. He graciously said he respected my choice and went.
I was left feeling uneasy. I’ve googled and charities are allowed to raise funds in this way. I don’t appreciate it. I plan to call the charity and make sure he was genuine

Quizzer Wed 26-Mar-25 17:04:58

I grab the collar of my dog and tell her “NO, DOWN, LEAVE”loudly.

She would either lick them or roll over to have her tummy tickled, but they don’t know that. Salesmen usually retreat quite quickly (lol).

jocork Wed 26-Mar-25 17:00:15

It sounds like the new style of cold caller by phone. They start their script and you have to shout to interupt or simply put the phone down. I had one who was calling about once a week. I said I wasn't interested and put the phone down on him a couple of times. I recognised his voice and his name after a few times. In the end I shouted down the phone to stop and listen to me and explained that if he called again I would consider it harassment! Thankfully he hasn't called since. (He was called Sam and was from 'End of life care' I think was the company.) They seem to be trained to just rattle through the script. At least on the phone you can shout without fear of their aggression.

Oreo Wed 26-Mar-25 16:48:04

kittylester

You all seem to be very suspicious and anxious. We always answer the door and say no if we are not interested.

We have had one ex-offender who has been coming twice a year for at least 10 years and we always buy from him - usually cleaning products.

Round here he is what is called a Nottingham Knocker.

Maybe you live in a better area than I do.Round here it pays to be suspicious.😬

Esmay Wed 26-Mar-25 16:41:28

After some unpleasant experiences I no longer answer the door .
If friends want to visit then they text or call first .

cookiemonster66 Wed 26-Mar-25 16:00:33

You do not have to open the door!!! it is not compulsory!!! your door, your house, your time, ignore them!!! they often look at me through the window while they are ringing or knocking, and I just carry on ignoring them, they eventually walk away

cc Wed 26-Mar-25 15:50:13

I live on an estate, I think that there are 600 households. There are signs at the entrances saying that this is a "no cold calling area" and people normally call security if it happens.
It really is an intrusion, I particularly dislike the pushy boys selling third rate tea towels though the charity collectors also seem to find it hard to take no for an answer. This really irritates me as so many of these "charity" collectors actually take a cut from any payments that they manage to take. Where we lived previously we used to see a van dropping them off.

Grandmabatty Wed 26-Mar-25 15:17:01

Sorry Oreo. I pressed the wrong button. Fat finger syndrome 😊

Cateq Wed 26-Mar-25 14:44:02

Our most recent cold caller was a teenaged boy, who explained he was our local car detail expert and would we be interested in setting up a weekly valet of our cars. My DH thanked him for his time, but explained no-one touches our cars that hadn’t been working as a valet for at least 10 years and has public liability insurance. I had to laugh as he cleans our cars including our AC’s as he doesn’t trust anyone to clean the cars as well as he does. Our garden shed is full of car cleaning products.

kittylester Wed 26-Mar-25 14:27:08

You all seem to be very suspicious and anxious. We always answer the door and say no if we are not interested.

We have had one ex-offender who has been coming twice a year for at least 10 years and we always buy from him - usually cleaning products.

Round here he is what is called a Nottingham Knocker.

Etoile2701 Wed 26-Mar-25 13:56:34

welbeck

I Wouldn't open the door.
It's safer not to.

I never open the door unless I know the person who is calling.

Oreo Wed 26-Mar-25 13:48:51

foxie48

No problem for anyone with a postcode to follow so no issues with deliveries. However political canvassers are sometimes bemused when they realise they've already spoken to me.

You could say it was your identical twin.😏

Oreo Wed 26-Mar-25 13:47:40

Grandmabatty

Oreo I was kidding. 🙄

So was I 🙄

foxie48 Wed 26-Mar-25 08:26:49

No problem for anyone with a postcode to follow so no issues with deliveries. However political canvassers are sometimes bemused when they realise they've already spoken to me.

Grandmabatty Tue 25-Mar-25 20:35:41

That must be a challenge for the postman, foxie!

foxie48 Tue 25-Mar-25 20:13:09

We have two completely separate entrances from two different lanes which come to different parts of the house, it's further confusing as each entrance has a different postcode. We rarely get cold callers but when we do we usually get them twice.

Grandmabatty Tue 25-Mar-25 19:47:13

Justwidowed 😂

Justwidowed Tue 25-Mar-25 19:19:00

Saw this sign by a door as I was watching TV.