Should doorstep sellers be banned?

giltbrook

chinup wrote: »

interesting in a somwhat dark/depressing way reading these posts. against my better judgement i will reply as someone who has door-canvassed and still has the odd half-hour at it. 1st] it is NOT ''against the law to be on your property [ god can't you tell the daily mail readers- shouty and ill-informed] , only when asked to leave and a person doesn't does it become ''trespass''. ?

You are totally wrong, and misleading, but this is to be expected from the typical doorstep seller. Let me quote from the trespasslaw co uk website

What is Trespass?

Trespass in short is when an individual, or their property, enter the property of another without their consent or pre-existing agreement such as a right of way easement.
To put it in more practical terms a trespass is walking, using, or making a disposition of your land without your permission. The trespasser is the individual who is performing the trespass or the owner of the item in trespass.
It is therefore the case that not only can an individual trespass by walking on your land, a vehicle may be in trespass if it sits upon your land; this is more commonly the issue with a trespass.

mikki-b

Had a chugger knock on my day TWICE yesterday. Same one. Made me think about an early posters comment about being asked 'don't you care about animals/children/etc'.
Different answer for you.
'yes, that's why I donate to charities directly, so my money isnt wasted paying your wages instead'

Saucepot

Why ban cold callers? My dogs enjoy chasing them off my land.

terrypn54

I work for myself knocking doors asking if they have a pet and would they like a free sample of pet food. I used to work as a nurse but had an illness thet left me with very reduced hearing. I lost my job and couldn't get another because of my hearing loss. I was given the opportunity to go on disability benefits but refused as I believe in working for a living.
Should I have just gone on benefits? I would have been better off but still prefer to try to pay my way. Knocking doors I have found 99.9% of people are really kind and helpful, the other .01% seem to dominate these pages.

Gareth_Lazelle

chinup wrote: »

b- because the stickers are stroppy+ aggressive in nature and a pro hard bitten canvasser has WAAAY bigger verbal + phsycology skill set then the vast majority of the public

I'm not entirely sure what you are saying here, but it seems to be that: because the vast majority of members of the public don't have the "verbal and psychological" skills to outwit a salesman, they don't even have the right to stop him from trying (which seems like self defense in that situation)?

chinup wrote: »

as for ''if i want to get the best deal etc i will look it up/do my own research etc'' = no you won't, you will ''get round to it when eastenders is finished/not so tired/ had better day at work etc etc '' ie you won't

So what if we don't? Why does that entitle the salesman to have the right to ignore the "no salesman" signs?

Given the outright lies some salesmen resort to when making their pitches, why is that a good substitute for even poor research anyway (at least then it is my responsibility and my fault when I find out I am not getting the best deal)?

(Or to put it another way, if the result is random anyway it may as well be my choice of random outcome, and not yours...)

chinup_3

Giltbrook- I am compelled to reply. You are simply wrong on the ''information'' given by yourself below.


What is Trespass?

Trespass in short is when an individual, or their property, enter the property of another without their consent or pre-existing agreement such as a right of way easement.
To put it in more practical terms a trespass is walking, using, or making a disposition of your land without your permission. The trespasser is the individual who is performing the trespass or the owner of the item in trespass.
It is therefore the case that not only can an individual trespass by walking on your land, a vehicle may be in trespass if it sits upon your land; this is more commonly the issue with a trespass.


strikes me that has been quoted from an AMERICAN site as their trepass laws are much stricter. Uk law stands as;
'' You are NOT trespassing until you are asked to leave and then refuse to do so.you can take private photos on private land until told to stop [!!], if continued then you are trespassing. The police CANNOT ask you to leave private land unless- you were asked to leave + didn't, or used threatening and abusive language.''

canvassers, sorry ''typical canvassers'', are invariably told the law to counter any twaddle told by anyone who ironically is being abusive to them. NO I am not quoting 'guff' I was told yonks ago. scource was site '' why we protest- blog spot'' [ can't do link]. but you can find the actual definition yourself easily on google, if you so wanted.

Think about it- if law was as you said the confusion due to deliveries etc would be VERY hazy etc. say got bit by dog etc '' well i never invited him on, he was trespassing'' etc.
Right, sure.

chinup_3

oh- gareth lazelle. Take your second point.It is up to people to sort themselves out, and allow themselves to be right off. Fair point.
Actually the reason canvassers knock doors with ''go away scumbag'' type stickers is all of them have done sales in house saying that ! often belong to previous owner or been there so long owner/ occupier forgot.

There is a ''typical'' canvasser like there is a ''typical'' person. The problem is that the overwhelming '' knock'' has been utilities, which so often have employed agencies to do the work for them who in turn have used, depending on agency, illiterates/ thugs and in n-power's case [ the worst company for a long time] south african students ! the latter having no fear of getting warnings etc for miss-selling as they were here for summertimes only. The 'house wifes favourite' British gas employed some corkers, and attractive blonde ladies, who got up to 'mischief' re the truth [ we've bought powergen'' etc] but the public really did 'sign up to the brand' [ back to public making their own sensible decisions] untl BG'S customer service melted down.

Take away utilities and charities and canvassing has a place, ESPECIALLY for the sole trader. small business/ start -up. The ' karate school' canvasser' [ really] who canvassed + inspired my friend last year was successful- the subsequent training + fitness [was a skinny nerdy type] has reaaly boosted his confidence and helped his new business no end he says, especially doing talks.An ex-girlfriend got £20 + per time she got her nephew a painting + decorating job- kept her going with 2 kids and established him in business. read this paragraphs first line again and then think next time you see a stranger at the door- could be me, needing to pay the mortgage to avoid repossesion and knees are shaking. Takes guts to talk to a stranger cold- you have to really need to in this country.


OR you could just try it for one day yourselves of course.

giltbrook

chinup wrote: »

Giltbrook- I am compelled to reply. You are simply wrong on the ''information'' given by yourself below.


What is Trespass?

Trespass in short is when an individual, or their property, enter the property of another without their consent or pre-existing agreement such as a right of way easement.
To put it in more practical terms a trespass is walking, using, or making a disposition of your land without your permission. The trespasser is the individual who is performing the trespass or the owner of the item in trespass.
It is therefore the case that not only can an individual trespass by walking on your land, a vehicle may be in trespass if it sits upon your land; this is more commonly the issue with a trespass.


strikes me that has been quoted from an AMERICAN site as their trepass laws are much stricter. Uk law stands as;
'' You are NOT trespassing until you are asked to leave and then refuse to do so.you can take private photos on private land until told to stop [!!], if continued then you are trespassing. The police CANNOT ask you to leave private land unless- you were asked to leave + didn't, or used threatening and abusive language.''

canvassers, sorry ''typical canvassers'', are invariably told the law to counter any twaddle told by anyone who ironically is being abusive to them. NO I am not quoting 'guff' I was told yonks ago. scource was site '' why we protest- blog spot'' [ can't do link]. but you can find the actual definition yourself easily on google, if you so wanted.

Think about it- if law was as you said the confusion due to deliveries etc would be VERY hazy etc. say got bit by dog etc '' well i never invited him on, he was trespassing'' etc.
Right, sure.

Again, like a typical doorstep seller, you are blinkered, biased, and misleading with your opinion, and again, you are wrong. The text I quoted had the source from which it was taken clearly included, this was - www trespasslaw co uk -. (I could not put a direct link as links are not allowed here), but when you quoted the text I had posted, and then stated <Quote>strikes me that has been quoted from an AMERICAN site </Quote>, you carefully omitted the relevant source that I had previously included, probably because if you had included it, it would show that it was from a UK site, not an American site as you tried to imply, and as it was from a UK site, your following text was then irrelevant, so it looks like more misleading and incorrect information being given by a doorstep salesman, which is only to be expected, and why they should be banned.

jaycbr9181

I have to admit having read some of the posts and seen how many of you would like a ban on door step sellers I am shocked firstly but I also think what a shame! A lot of the people that say they dont like sales people or arent interested in saving money are quite often the ones that I hear talking to friends and moaning about what they pay to............

I am a door to door seller for an energy company and pride myself on giving excellent advice and quite often going very above and beyond my duties by acting as a personal contact for a customer during their transfer, re-visiting the customer to help set up online accounts or generally calling by when in the area to check that everything is running smoothly.

I am far from unique as I know several people working for my company and a couple from other companies that work exactly as I do!

Although I appreciate that we do disturb people whilst they are at home, if they are genuinley busy most sales people will leave them alone, maybe ask when they would be free to talk! Is your tv programme really more important than saving money? Most honest people will say no to that question!

There are a lot of people out there who would generally be considered reactive customers that dont compare online and in some cases know so little about the industry, products etc that they wouldnt know how to compare effectively and they are getting pushed into displaying these door stickers by peer pressure from neighbours through comments like "they are all the same" or "all sales people are con artsists". Some of these people could be saving money, rather than ban door to door energy sellers why not educate people on how to spot a genuine deal!? the industry this year in particular has undergone some very big changes meaning that it is becoming much harder for the unscrupulous sale person to get away with their previous anitics! My Company in particular are introducing more and more every day, for example we are now bringing in live telephone audits at point of sale to ensure all sales are genuine, all customers understand exactly what it is they are agreeing to and that all quotations have been carried out correctly! Dont get me wrong if you are one of those people that does compare online to see that you are getting the best deal then great, you are a proative customer and do not need to waste your time with someone like me, those of you that answer this post with " I dont care how much it costs" either very priveliged and earning a substantial amount of money or liars as no-one earning average or low amounts of money would make that comment and mean it! (suprising how many times I have heard that lie though)

Another thing that people are missing here is that if we do ban door to door sales we will essentially put thousands and thousands of hard working sales people out of a job in an already difficult time, so maybe the 71% of you that have voted to ban us should be thinking to themselves right now, maybe they are not all the same and maybe I should consider educating myself so I can spot a genuine person rather than dismiss them all, there are very obvious signs to spot a con artist from a genuine sales person if we listen.

If you are very elderly or what would be classed as an obvious vulnerable person no genuine sales person will attempt to sell to you, they are more likely to leave a contact number and ask you to pass it on to a son or daughter so they may discuss any possible savings with them.

Hope this at least makes some of you think a little differently!

jaycbr9181

giltbrook wrote: »

You are totally wrong, and misleading, but this is to be expected from the typical doorstep seller

What a very narrow minded and quite insulting comment to make!

May I ask what it is you currently do for a living?