What can I do to stop Door-to-Door salespeople ?

longwalks1

Arthur

the Ring Doorbell detects motion too, so even if someone walks on you’re path towards the door it will alert you to movement, so you can see who’s there before deciding to answer.  If you don’t recognise them, you can choose to speak via the doorbell or obviously ignore it (but still see who it is and what they are doing)

they do a a battery powered one that doesn’t need hard wiring in if you don’t have have existing bell wire in place 

Jackmydad

Davesnave said:

If you move to somewhere out in the sticks, like us, you'll not see one cold caller in a twelvemonth. Even the Jehovah's Witnesses don't find us here.

The Jehovah's Witnesses find us occasionally.
I tell them to not call, and they don't for a bit, then they do again.
They get "No thanks" and the door shut.
We don't get door to door salesmen.
I got so that I'd just tell them to go away in Anglo-Saxon vernacular, and shut the door when we lived somewhere we got salesmen.
One thing they can be absolutely sure of with me, is that I won't buy anything off anyone actively trying to sell something.

I can't help feeling that the OP is making this thing his problem. It's annoying, but it's been going on forever, the big increase was in the late 70s / early 80s with double glazing. It's not going away.

I always had the phone number on the cat's collars, so any cat emergency would be phoned through.
The rest I'm afraid would have to find a way to contact me if it was important enough.
If I lived in a place prone to door to door salesmen, I'd have a way of having a look, and just not answer the door.
If there are neighbours or friends who call, or who you help, or help you, get 'em to use the phone first.

dispossessed

britishboy said:

dispossessed said:

elsien said:

if you do inadvertently answer, take their details and report them to whichever body has sent them out. It won't stop the others but it may mean that that particular organisation takes more care in future. 

A significant number of them are of the roof repairs, trees pruned and "little bit of tarmac left over..." variety ...if you catch my drift...

Arthur

They’re the last people anyone wants knocking and peering indoors.

TIP: if a transit tipper with a roof light on it and an old fridge on the back knocks, just ignore the front door. 

You are quite correct aboout the Transit Tipper - this is good advice. They may becoming aware that people are getting wise as the last few times it has been a young boy on foot. The obligatory Transit is some considerable distance behind. The one who called yesterday looked only about 15. I thought he was going to ask for his football back of something similar.

Nevertheless - spot on about the Transit Tipper.

Arthur

dispossessed

britishboy said:

Arthur

the Ring Doorbell detects motion too, so even if someone walks on you’re path towards the door it will alert you to movement, so you can see who’s there before deciding to answer.  If you don’t recognise them, you can choose to speak via the doorbell or obviously ignore it (but still see who it is and what they are doing)

they do a a battery powered one that doesn’t need hard wiring in if you don’t have have existing bell wire in place 

It is highly likely that I will buy one of these and I am grateful to those who have suggested it as I had no idea such a device existed. However, it does not prevent these people from actually calling and thus interrupting my activity / train of thought. Alternatively if I am out my disabled wife has to struggle to the door.

Ultimately I am keen to discover something that prevents them from calling in the first place.

This may not be quite so idealistic as it appears to be. Many years ago (52 IIRC) a publican told me how he effectively deterred an entire section of the community from patronizing his establishment by a very simple (and perfectly legal) action. Perhaps someone has discovered something to deter cold callers with similar efficacy.

Arthur

Jackmydad

Beware of the dog sign ?

dispossessed

Jackmydad said:

Davesnave said:

If you move to somewhere out in the sticks, like us, you'll not see one cold caller in a twelvemonth. Even the Jehovah's Witnesses don't find us here.

The Jehovah's Witnesses find us occasionally.
I tell them to not call, and they don't for a bit, then they do again.
They get "No thanks" and the door shut.
We don't get door to door salesmen.
I got so that I'd just tell them to go away in Anglo-Saxon vernacular, and shut the door when we lived somewhere we got salesmen.
One thing they can be absolutely sure of with me, is that I won't buy anything off anyone actively trying to sell something.

I can't help feeling that the OP is making this thing his problem. It's annoying, but it's been going on forever, the big increase was in the late 70s / early 80s with double glazing. It's not going away.

I always had the phone number on the cat's collars, so any cat emergency would be phoned through.
The rest I'm afraid would have to find a way to contact me if it was important enough.
If I lived in a place prone to door to door salesmen, I'd have a way of having a look, and just not answer the door.
If there are neighbours or friends who call, or who you help, or help you, get 'em to use the phone first.

"I can't help feeling that the OP is making this thing his problem. It's annoying, but it's been going on forever, the big increase was in the late 70s / early 80s with double glazing. It's not going away." :-

Judging by many of the comments many people find this activity as annoying as I do and presumably would be equally keen to discover a solution.  I agree with you about the role double glazing played.

"It's not going away" :-

I do not believe that anyone should have to accept it so on this point we differ. Some fifteen years ago we decided to get rid of our television. Although not obliged to do so out of courtesy I wrote to TV Licensing and advised them that we would not be renewing our licence as we no longer required one. A few weeks later letters of an increasingly threatening tone began to arrive. People told me that I should just accept it. I didn't and took action. The letters came to a screeching halt.

Many years ago a university lecturer gave me a very sage piece of advice - "Accept nothing, challenge everything and explore every avenue no matter how abstract". I am greatly indebted to him and continue to emply this principle with good effect.

"If I lived in a place prone to door to door salesmen, I'd have a way of having a look, and just not answer the door." :-

We do have CCTV but please advise me how to recognize a door-to-door salesman just by appearance ? Do they have a brand mark on the forehead or something ? :-)  Some of the charity collectors are wearing Hi-Viz tabards with the name of the charity emblazoned across it but as mentioned in a previous post - what about those wearing a paramedic's or British Gas uniform ?

To elaborate on our particular circumstances - I have a nodding acquaintance with a couple of neighbours and recognize a few others by sight but for the most part do not know any of them from Adam.

The majority of property in our neighbourhood is now rented and people come and go all of the time. Nevertheless we are happy to assist neighbours when we can. To give an example - recently a neighbour whom I did not know, had never previously seen and therefore did not recognize wanted to borrow our ladder as he had locked himself out - I was happy to oblige (I did verify he was the lawful resident).

Jehovah's Witnesses are not much of a problem. Generally they respect our signs. On one occasion when the street door was open they did call. We discussed theological matters for a few minutes and parted on good terms. I like to think that I also provided them with some food for thought.

Apropos the cats - one of our cats walks with a profound limp. Consequently she rarely wanders too far from home. Perhaps as a result of the recent lockdown with people taking family walks etc we have had several people who have witnessed her limping examined her collar tags and knock on the door to advise us. They were concerned for her welfare in case she had been injured or had a foreign body in her foot. Regrettably we have also had one of our cats killed on the road outside. It would make little sense to telephone in either case.

I hope this clarifies our situation for you.

Arthur

elsien

Jackmydad said:

Beware of the dog sign ?

I have a "this property is guarded by English bull terrier security" sign. Mainly because it made me laugh as Gitdog is useless.

Doesn't work. They knock the door then retreat to a safe distance till they can see where the dog is. 

Jackmydad

elsien said:

Jackmydad said:

Beware of the dog sign ?

I have a "this property is guarded by English bull terrier security" sign. Mainly because it made me laugh as Gitdog is useless.

Doesn't work. They knock the door then retreat to a safe distance till they can see where the dog is. 

It used to work here for the occasional visitor, but then they had to go through a gate, and walk about 50 yards, usually with our GSD following. He was as soft as a brush, but he used to "laugh" at them.

Arthur,  I don't know how to recognise a salesman by looks alone, but if I don't know somebody, I wouldn't answer the door. People wanting to borrow anything can go away as well, unless I happen to be outside. In which case they can still go away.  Unless they are of a small group of actual friends that is. That's different.
They know better than to ask!  (Not really, but I'm not much of a borrower or a lender)

"Question everything" is fine.
In theory.
In practice it ain't as easy.
You can question all you want, but when there's no real answer, as in this case, then you're banging your head against a brick wall.
Your answer to the TVL people was fairly simple, as you were dealing with one entity who more or less has to listen.
Your salesmen are multiple entities who won't listen, or take notice of signs, or anything else.
So the only answer I can see is not to engage with them.
The uniformed people you might have to check it's nothing. But that's a minor annoyance.

Cats. Phone number only on the collar. It's what we used to do and worked fine.

One thing is sure. There's no "magic bullet" to stop cold callers.

-taff

I did indeed read your first post. I was suggesting a modification which might actually stop the chuggers from knocking.

dispossessed

-taff said:

I did indeed read your first post. I was suggesting a modification which might actually stop the chuggers from knocking.

As I have said - to whom do I report the vast majority of cold callers who are effectively self employed ? eg The Tree Surgeon, the Roofer or chap with a little bit of leftover tarmac ? We did contact the companies (Virgin and The Red Cross) regarding two cold callers but their response was disappointing to say the least.

One of the current signs reads : DO NOT KNOCK, NO UNIVITED or UNEXPECTED CALLERS, This is Private Property, We Will NOT: Buy anything at the door, Switch Utility Company, Listen to Religious or Political Views, Participate in Surveys, We DO NOT WISH TO SELL OUR HOUSE, DO NOT DISTURB !

I think that is fairly unambigious and covers most eventualities. Unfortunately many people are unable to read (which is why we have two more symbolic signs) or are unable to read English.

So whilst I do sincerely thank you for your comments and for your suggestion, which was a good one, I doubt that a slight change in wording would prove to be suddenly efficacious for our situation.

Arthur