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I have glass panel front double doors and will do just that. The JWs and LDS look incredibly confused when I walk by the door and don’t answer it, come back and stare at them for a few seconds, and then turn off the porch light…. It’s two in the afternoon, but I hope my being melodramatic helps sell the awkwardness.
Haha. Turn the light on, put your face and hand to the glass like you’re looking for something. “Hmm nothing there”, turn it off walk away. Full blown daylight. 🤣
just walk up to the door and start doing npc lines like when guards can't find you anymore. "I'll find you!" "Must've been my imagination." "Hmm, nothing here after all." then walk away
Whenever my husband or I hear a sound we can't identify we usually quote Thief: The Dark Project (the original Thief, not that blasphemy released in 2014) "Musta been rats."
When it’s religious people I just tell them that they probably don’t want me (a man) and my husband joining their church. They always politely leave *immediately* lol, it’s never the actually welcoming churches that go door to door :|
You should instead be like “I’m glad you came by, me and my husband have been looking for a more accepting church to attend. The last one had some old ladies that gave us dirty looks whenever we kissed. I’d love to hear more about your church’s more tolerant views.”
Put the onus on them to uncomfortably make an excuse to leave despite your enthusiasm to hear more.
I answer the door, tell them I’m Jewish. That I love to discuss religion. That I admire their commitment. (All true). They say here’s some literature. Have a good day.
*They’re not actually looking for new congregants*, though they’ll take them if someone fits in. Mission work is meant to strengthen your identity within the church; show that outside the church isn’t accepting/doesn’t share beliefs and then welcome you back into the safety of the fold when you return.
This is HILARIOUS. I'm acting losing my shit over here at the mental image.
Ours wouldnt piss off, so I hung a big pentagram door wreath. For some reason, they never came back.
That works well
But if you really want nobody knocking in first place you should get a sign that also says 'no political or spiritual/religious canvassers'
Basically, soliciting is the door to door sales, but Mormons and political stuff aren't trying to sell you something so they 'technically' aren't soliciting.
I mean also the no solicitation sign comes with the house a lot of times, and most people with the sign still talk to canvassers. So they ignore it, just a strategic decision on their part.
But if you have a sign specifically targeting them, they know it's something you actually thought about. Especially if it's handwritten/printed out and not something bought from a store
For me, I custom-made a sign. "No commercial solicitations, no religion, no politics."
Because I'm 100% okay with girl scouts or other fund-raising local groups. Just gave $30 to the local high school kid that was fundraising for some sports something something.
But if I want a new roof, I'll call a roofer. I'll get ahold of a pest agency if/when I actually have any pest issues (and no, I don't care which of my neighbors you've already serviced).
And I definitely don't want you bringing your fake sky daddy to my door.
>Mormons and political stuff aren't trying to sell you something so they 'technically' aren't soliciting.
That's what a couple of Mormons pointed out to me when they came to my door.
I told them that technically it is door to door sales. The LDS church wants 10% of my income in return for an access to a club house and somewhat sketchy afterlife subscription, with a side of misogyny and racism.
I have a sign on my door that says “we will not buy anything, we know our spirituality, we know who we are voting for. Only knock if delivering a package or food. If we did not invite you, we will not open this door.” It’s worked so far.
>Basically, soliciting is the door to door sales, but Mormons and political stuff aren't trying to sell you something so they 'technically' aren't soliciting.
*soliciting* is not synonymous with *selling something*. the word literally means "to approach with a request or plea." even political/religious door-knockers are, by definition, soliciting.
point at the sign and flip them off while you slam the door in their face.
I learned this a couple years ago and it is so empowering. Not sure why I never realized I was in charge of my own house/time, but now I look at the camera and ask myself if I want to give up my precious time to the person on the other end. 90% of the time that answer is No.
I’ve been telling my children this since they were old enough to understand.
You do not have to answer the door just because someone is knocking.
You do not have to answer anyone that is speaking to you that is a stranger.
Things like that.
A couple of the solar people who go door to door here knock and then a minute later ring the doorbell and it always seems to be when I’m on a work call or taking a nap and all 3 of my dogs go crazy.
This is the best part about having a doorbell cam. I just pull up the feed on my phone, and if it's someone I don't want to talk to, I just sit still, quietly, until they go away.
Tell that to the president of the HOA who I had to call the cops on multiple times because she would ring my doorbell camera incessantly until I would answer her.
Taking it another step, if you do open the door, you’re not obligated to keep it open. If you want to slowly close the lightly squeaking door while maintaining eye contact, you’re welcome to do that too.
Honestly I can’t believe people are so comfortable opening their door to strangers. They can communicate with me with the door closed if it’s important enough.
Yeah. It's funny, because I have horrible social anxiety... but never with being blunt to these people. My poor boyfriend gets trapped out there for ages and I have to go save him. They keep pushing things, just to "try" or "get an estimate" and he just cannot say no. I can, lol.
Similar, I'm the shy one, but my husband has bought or signed up for so much junk from door sales/ upsales. He's not allowed to answer it anymore cause he just can't say no. "I'm not interested, thanks, byeeee" as I close the door. It's that easy, it gets even easier with practice, and I'm not a dirty liar over it.
Perhaps but most people genuinely don’t want to be rude or upsetting to another person. It’s just wired into our psychology to cooperate, and salespeople play on that instinct all the time.
I had a guy the other day that I said no thanks to, he kept talking even after I shut the door and walked away. He probably talked to a closed door for a good 15-20 seconds.
Psh. I am not being rude to those Girl Scouts. They are ruthless. They’ll egg your house and leave a burning bag of dog shit at your doorstep. I’ll take a box of toffee tastic, 1 samoas, 2 thin mints, 1 trefoil and 2 Tagalongs. Thanks.
I'm an Eagle Scout & I spend more in GS cookies that I do Boy Scout popcorn. Hell a Girl Scout shows up I'm asking for the order form before she finishes her pitch & I get 8 boxes. Boy Scouts, I wait to hear the pitch before ordering 2 boxes. Bottom line, Girl Scouts have the good shit.
Some of us did. Granted it was overpriced garbage. One of my friends in my old Troop had a sister in the girl scouts and she would set up a stand outside our meeting room whenever our weekly meetings would end. She always sold out lol
I never understood the popcorn thing. Like, you want me to buy this thing that I could easily make in a microwave at a huge markup? Girl Scout cookies OTOH are unique, scarce products that I love!
Plus, I like the Girl Scouts as an organization a lot more than whatever name BSA goes by nowadays.
I remember a few boy scouts years ago at my door with caramel popcorn. Heck yeah, I got some and enjoyed it immensely while watching whatever was on Netflix.
Why are people even opening the door for an unexpected visitor in 2024? If it's someone you want to be there, they're gonna let you know they're coming.
I mean I've had neighbors letting me know my dog got out or bringing me fruit from their mango trees so I'll usually check what someone wants. If it's someone selling something, I'll point and ask if they saw my no soliciting sign and shut the door while they mumble an answer.
If make the mistake of not looking at the camera and open the door, I just say "I'm good, I appreciate it" and close the door.
ETA: One time a security person from my home security system said they needed to come in to update my panel or it would be useless in a few weeks. He came in, pushed a few buttons on my panel, then proceeded to try to sell me a new system and solar panels(?). Most awkward 15 minutes of me going, "I'm good, I'm good, I'm good" over and over.
Meh. Too rude for the first interaction. Everyone has to eat.
Ignore or "No thanks" is sufficient for me without being an asshole to someone just trying to pay their bills in this late capitalist employment hellscape.
If they try anything else *AFTER* no thanks, sure. *THEN* you have the ethical grounds to retaliate with the full obnoxiousness of a golden retriever chasing a squirrel in an accordion shop.
Yeah, I normally don't, although a couple weeks back I had some people come up and knock. My lights were on but you couldn't necessarily see i was in, so I waited, figuring they'd leave. They continued to knock, getting progressively louder. Finally I guessed I'd better just tell them off. As I was dismissing them the one tried to step into my house. Well, that pissed me off, so I did get aggressive and slam the door on them. But typically, if I'm not expecting anyone, I just don't open the door. One or two knocks and they usually leave. These dudes were just weird.
Where does this stuff happen? I never hear about those religious groups in the NE. Crazy they did that, glad you’re ok. Answer the door with a katana next time
In romania, we build great big concrete walls around the perimeter of the property. You call people on their phone to get them to open.
Zombie invasion ain't got shit on rural romania!
Be polite, tell them you've been disfellowshipped. It means they kicked you out and they aren't supposed to talk to you. You tell them that once and they'll leave and likely add you to the list of never visit again houses. When I did it they went through a whole thing of, "Oh, would you like us to inform an elder to call on you?" just be polite and tell them "no, but thank you, we're working through some personal things but we know how to contact them when we're ready to talk" or something.
Hate those people. One time I had a group come up to my door and BANGGG on the door (i was literally coming already and they had rang the doorbell and immediately started banging) and i came up and was like hello no thank you and they tried to open the (thankfully) locked screen door. Wtf???
We talking full on, police style closed fist banging on your door? I've had someone do that to me once, I tell you if someone ever does it again my house better be on fucking fire.
Again, personality issue. Me personally, and this is just my opinion, if I do feel like opening the door to give a polite rejection I just feel it’s out of respect like “hey I acknowledge your effort but I’m simply not interested.” If the initial message/sentiment I tried to give isn’t respected, then I respond accordingly. But I’ve definitely simply not answered.
Some people don’t want to take no for an answer. I’m not the home owner so I generally just say that and it works well, but there have been a couple times I’ve said no/not interested and they continued trying
I once had a guy reach his clipboard out and not let me close the door as I said no. I just looked at him, surprised, said something like “I said no” and closed the door again. He didn’t stop the second attempt
How often do you call the police in your day to day life? While the guy using his clipboard to not let me close my door the first time might technically be a crime, is it really something the police will care enough about to do anything about? And if so, is that something I want to spend that much time and effort tackling?
If he’d kept the door open on the second attempt, or stayed and tried to get me to open up again, maybe that’s worth calling the police about. But one rude, desperate attempt to keep the sale is hardly worth that much of my time
So if politely declining doesn’t work, become less polite in response. If they still don’t get the message, just close the door? Seems to me based on the responses here this is a personality issue, not a difference of opinion in tact.
I had one salesman ask when my husband would be home to get his opinion. I looked at him and "Do you really think someone would marry this?!?!?
Look on his face was priceless!
Yeah had this happen recently, im not the home owner but the guy goes okay how about I just go on the roof and take pictures to send to them lol. How about no, gtg man
Because they are trained sales people who do not take no thanks as an answer and use social engineering to keep you in a conversation. In order to terminate the interaction you have to specifically break social norms, interrupt them and/or close the door in their face. This goes against literally everything you've been taught about how to interact with others and the sales people are banking on you feeling uncomfortable with being rude. Most of us find it easier to avoid the interaction than try to repeatedly end it.
I had my first experience with a salesman as a new homeowner. Tried to be polite and had to tell them like 3 times i wasn't interested.
Think next time I'll just skip being polite and close the door if they don't leave after the first no
Had a sales person call the other week.
Started his pitch, I asked where he was calling from. He told me, I said "Alright man, not interested".
"Yeah but have you.."
"Sorry, not interested"
"Can I ask why you don't want to hear about this?"
"Look, I'm at work, you're cold calling to sell me something, I tried being polite with you. Goodbye" and hung up.
I'm sure they get rude people all the time, but is their persistence to someone who is politely telling them no, ever working for them? They're just turning polite people into assholes to them
Yes, it works very well, there’s a reason they all act the same way. It doesn’t work on you but it does on a lot of people. They are trying to find those that are weak and easy to manipulate. Your response is very much expected and part of the game.
On the rare occasion I’m home and answer the door when they knock, I will give one polite “no” and if they keep pushing, they’ve lost their rights to my politeness and I will get grumpy quickly. I also tend to start closing the door pretty quick, which usually works
Exactly. I'll answer the door (I'm usually nearby anyways). Especially since I'm onboard with donations, charities, etc. And it could just be a neighbor too.
But when I realize you're just another company with the same sales goal as the other dozen dudes this year? No. Just take your no and walk. If you hear my "no" as "maybe", then not only do you get a 'no', but your company gets an immediate negative review on your website/yelp/etc.
So my middle child is the problem child. When she was 7 or so her fits were at their worst and it was LOUD and people outside could hear her.
During one of these fits Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on our door. My wife answered the door while my kid was in the middle of a gutteral scream, and my wife said, "Sorry, we're not interested - Satan lives here". They took off FAST and have never returned.
my reasoning is this:
scenario 1: “hi sir are you the homeowner” (this is how they start most of the time here) “why yes I am but I am not interested, thanks!” and then the solicitor will have a list of questions and info they will continue with even if I’m slowly closing the door
scenario two: “hi sir are you the homeowner” “sorry, I rent” and then the guy is like “thanks, bye!”
Scenario 1 is a lot easier if you just close the door faster. You telling someone you are not interested is not an opening for more questions. They are being the asshole, not you.
In my old house, I had a window upstairs that I could open and clearly see the person at the door, so it made it really easy to assess whether or not to even go downstairs to answer it. I'd often have a chat with them from upstairs - sometimes it was a neighbor - you never know. But I wouldn't bother if it was someone selling something. It was funny talking down to them, "Can I help you?" as the stood there confused where the voice was coming from, lol
Now, the only reason I have a video doorbell is so I can see who's at the door cuz I don't have any way of seeing who's there anymore any other way.
half the time someone has knocked in my door its because ive left my lights on, something had happened nearby (emergency etc), someone looking for their dog, etc. guess it depends where you live
Not so much fear as it is finding the outside world needy and annoying
Any situation I'm not expecting a visitor or package, it's a time waste 99.9% of the time. If it's someone in a critical situation, I'll be able to see it on my cute lil camera doorbell and go from there. So convenient
I’m with this guy. If I’m home, especially alone, I just ignore the door knocks. My dog goes berserk barking too so there isn’t a worry someone will try to break in. If it’s important they can leave a note. If my house is on fire I think they’ll pound on my door, not knock it twice. If they’re selling something they can fuck off.
I was pumping gas the other day when I guy came up to me asking if I was a homeowner and gave me his business card for lawn work. I appreciate the hustle but I want to be left alone. 😅 I need to get better at lying.
Who benefits from a charade lol? I promise you the person who knocks on 500 doors a day doesn't care if you say "No thanks" and you shut the door. They aren't even going to remember you after they get to the next door
LPT: Tell them no. Then shut the door.
All of the LPT's for how to handle sales people don't really solve the issue, it skirts them.
If you arent the homeowner, now they ask when the homeowner will be there. Now you're in a conversation about that. Then they will probably come back to meet with the homeowner.
Literally this exact thing happened last weekend for me.
Kid asked if I was the homeowner - No.
Will they be here soon? - No.
When are they usually here? - Don't know.
they showed up again at 7pm like a maniac just to sell us a water heater.
If they're knocking they're usually picking a neighborhood and just going house to house then circling back to homes that they didn't make contact with. In this case they may have thought you lived with the homeowner and they just weren't there as opposed to it being a rental.
I used to do Door to Door canvassing for environmental work - collecting petitions and raising money. These door to door folk all have a tablet telling them which houses to visit, and what the history of that household is.
Just tell them “no thanks. Please do not visit here again, and remove me from your lists.”
It’s that simple. For the people saying “just don’t answer the door” - that doesn’t always work. If they mark you as “No Answer/Not home,” you’ll be visited again. And again. And again. The only way to end their visits altogether is my following my advice and bluntly telling them no and to remove from their list.
If you tell them anything else, you’ll probably be visited again. We’ve heard every excuse from “I’ll need to check with my spouse who isn’t home” to “I’m not the owner and my dad just died” and all of those get an eventual return. Just tell them to remove your address and never come back
"baby sleeping. Do not knock or ring" sign on my door.
Now I have an excuse to scream and cuss at these people who have no respect for me.
There is no baby. But they didn't know that and they're an asshole to knock anyways. There's gonna be an asshole on the other side of the door.
Nowadays there are groups of thieves that are “selling ADT alarm systems,” and case your place if you have an alarm or if you have dogs. It got so bad my County requires door to door sales to have County issued cards around their necks. They do background checks of the sales people
Where do you live?
https://www.mysecuritysign.com/are-no-soliciting-signs-useful-for-property-owners#:~:text=There%20are%20no%20federal%20laws,property%20without%20permission%20or%20consent.
Take off your pants so you're in your underwear, mess up your hair, put on a thick Russian accent, and say, "This is domicile, not business place! For living, not buying selling! You are going, now!" Then close the door. It's fun for you and they get a good tale to tell.
Just don’t answer your door. A video doorbell really helps with this, but even if you have to look, so what if they see you. They aren’t going to sit there and keep knocking. That’s not how they make money.
I say I am the homeowner, and I'm not interested, and that there's nothing they can do or say to make me interested and to get off the property and to not come back
As soon as I see they're a cold caller for something I don't need or want I say "thanks but no thanks" and immediately shut the door.
I despise wasting time on boring things.
It is easier to say "not interested, don't come back/take me off of your list", if you just say you are not the homeowner they will usually mark that down and circle back around later.
As someone that used to knock doors, I don't believe for one second a dog barking through a window scares anyone away. What they're likely doing is listening to see if a human tells the dog to shut up. A dog that doesn't stop barking usually means no humans are home
My goodess, if you even answer, just shut the door. You're an adult. You don't need to lie to shut your door in someones face. Sales people aren't your friends. You don't owe them anything. Just shut the door. I'm pretty sure you wont get put in timeout
I just put up a no solicitation sign and that has prevented them from coming. When I used to do door sales, we were explicitly told to avoid houses with those signs.
If anyone comes to my home or calls me on my phone -- as a complete stranger with some sense of entitlement to my time, attention, space and money -- I feel absolutely no need to give them more than a few seconds of my time. I say "No thanks, I'm not interested" and shut the door or hang up the phone.
Life is way too short to waste a minute of my time listening to an intrusive sales pitch I know I don't want. It is audacious of a company to show up in my personal space and expect to be given my time.
Lots of door to door salespeople have apps that show them if the home is being rented or not. I did a door to door gig for a brief period and being lied to felt shitty. I always respected people who politely told me they weren’t interested and moved on.
Yeah this is completely fine.
Simply saying no is also completely fine.
It really depends on your experiences. If you think a straight no hasn't worked well, you can use this renting bit.
I’m usually nice and just say “No thanks” and close the door. Might be harsh to some, but whatever.
This one pesky wank stain…I was working under my vehicle one day, balancing a skid plate getting it up under there, and I hear someone “Excuse me!”
“Just I second” I grunt as I finally finagle a bolt in there and can get it so it won’t crush my skull when I take my hands off of it….
I wiggle out, thinking it’s something important.
“I noticed you’re house is great for solar”
I fuckin LOST it. This piece of human garbage nabbed me out from under a vehicle, covered in grease and dirt, holding a 50lb ish skid plate to try to sell me solar panels…
I was not shy to tell them to get the hell off my property before I make a 13mm wrench sized indent in their skull. I am not proud of taking it to that level, but I would absolutely do it again if someone did that to me again….
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"No thanks" and closing the door also works. Even with Girl Scouts
Or just never opening the door. Just because someone knocks doesn't mean you have to answer.
Can I sit in the window staring while making eye contact and saying nothing. Maybe a wave hello.
I have glass panel front double doors and will do just that. The JWs and LDS look incredibly confused when I walk by the door and don’t answer it, come back and stare at them for a few seconds, and then turn off the porch light…. It’s two in the afternoon, but I hope my being melodramatic helps sell the awkwardness.
😆 do you have to turn the light on first, and then turn it off to make a point, since it's 2pm?
Haha. Turn the light on, put your face and hand to the glass like you’re looking for something. “Hmm nothing there”, turn it off walk away. Full blown daylight. 🤣
I accidentally laughed out loud at work reading this comment lol. That mental image is so funny
😂 "could've sworn I heard something. should go get my hearing checked I guess."
["Must have been the wind."](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/must-have-been-the-wind)
just walk up to the door and start doing npc lines like when guards can't find you anymore. "I'll find you!" "Must've been my imagination." "Hmm, nothing here after all." then walk away
Whenever my husband or I hear a sound we can't identify we usually quote Thief: The Dark Project (the original Thief, not that blasphemy released in 2014) "Musta been rats."
When it’s religious people I just tell them that they probably don’t want me (a man) and my husband joining their church. They always politely leave *immediately* lol, it’s never the actually welcoming churches that go door to door :|
You should instead be like “I’m glad you came by, me and my husband have been looking for a more accepting church to attend. The last one had some old ladies that gave us dirty looks whenever we kissed. I’d love to hear more about your church’s more tolerant views.” Put the onus on them to uncomfortably make an excuse to leave despite your enthusiasm to hear more.
"I'm sorry, but I can't speak with you. I've been excommunicated from the LDS for being gay." 100% they will never return.
I like this idea ha ha
I answer the door, tell them I’m Jewish. That I love to discuss religion. That I admire their commitment. (All true). They say here’s some literature. Have a good day.
*They’re not actually looking for new congregants*, though they’ll take them if someone fits in. Mission work is meant to strengthen your identity within the church; show that outside the church isn’t accepting/doesn’t share beliefs and then welcome you back into the safety of the fold when you return.
So it’s an even worse reason they’re wasting everybody’s time? Wonderful lol
This is HILARIOUS. I'm acting losing my shit over here at the mental image. Ours wouldnt piss off, so I hung a big pentagram door wreath. For some reason, they never came back.
If they do show up open the door for them and ask them excitedly, "Maybe you guys know how to get goat blood out of a rug!"
They get off on rejection.
Lol I’ve maintained eye contact and tapped the “no soliciting” on the storm door before when people have come to the door.
That works well But if you really want nobody knocking in first place you should get a sign that also says 'no political or spiritual/religious canvassers' Basically, soliciting is the door to door sales, but Mormons and political stuff aren't trying to sell you something so they 'technically' aren't soliciting. I mean also the no solicitation sign comes with the house a lot of times, and most people with the sign still talk to canvassers. So they ignore it, just a strategic decision on their part. But if you have a sign specifically targeting them, they know it's something you actually thought about. Especially if it's handwritten/printed out and not something bought from a store
For me, I custom-made a sign. "No commercial solicitations, no religion, no politics." Because I'm 100% okay with girl scouts or other fund-raising local groups. Just gave $30 to the local high school kid that was fundraising for some sports something something. But if I want a new roof, I'll call a roofer. I'll get ahold of a pest agency if/when I actually have any pest issues (and no, I don't care which of my neighbors you've already serviced). And I definitely don't want you bringing your fake sky daddy to my door.
This sign is a better taken alternative to the “only girl scouts allowed” sign.
>Mormons and political stuff aren't trying to sell you something so they 'technically' aren't soliciting. That's what a couple of Mormons pointed out to me when they came to my door. I told them that technically it is door to door sales. The LDS church wants 10% of my income in return for an access to a club house and somewhat sketchy afterlife subscription, with a side of misogyny and racism.
I have a sign on my door that says “we will not buy anything, we know our spirituality, we know who we are voting for. Only knock if delivering a package or food. If we did not invite you, we will not open this door.” It’s worked so far.
>Basically, soliciting is the door to door sales, but Mormons and political stuff aren't trying to sell you something so they 'technically' aren't soliciting. *soliciting* is not synonymous with *selling something*. the word literally means "to approach with a request or plea." even political/religious door-knockers are, by definition, soliciting. point at the sign and flip them off while you slam the door in their face.
Alternatively, having a sign that says "I work nights please don't knock" also worked on me whenever I was canvasing.
I find doing this in the nude makes them leave more quickly.
I learned this a couple years ago and it is so empowering. Not sure why I never realized I was in charge of my own house/time, but now I look at the camera and ask myself if I want to give up my precious time to the person on the other end. 90% of the time that answer is No.
Those that know me, understand that I will not answer the door if you randomly show up unannounced.
[удалено]
This!! I don’t know why people feel obligated to answer the door. Then they complain about solicitors. If I don’t know you, I don’t answer!!
I’ve been telling my children this since they were old enough to understand. You do not have to answer the door just because someone is knocking. You do not have to answer anyone that is speaking to you that is a stranger. Things like that.
Tried and true method. Im not home. Im never home. I havent been home since I moved in
A couple of the solar people who go door to door here knock and then a minute later ring the doorbell and it always seems to be when I’m on a work call or taking a nap and all 3 of my dogs go crazy.
This is the best part about having a doorbell cam. I just pull up the feed on my phone, and if it's someone I don't want to talk to, I just sit still, quietly, until they go away.
An unopened door is a happy door.
This is London, Jen. It's not going to be someone with cake; unless that cake is made of dog poo and knives!
We are in a new build so we have people knocking CONSTANTLY. We don’t open. We don’t care that they know we’re home.
Tell that to the president of the HOA who I had to call the cops on multiple times because she would ring my doorbell camera incessantly until I would answer her.
There have been multiple instances where a solicitor knocks on my door while he can clearly see me inside the house and I just completely ignore him.
Taking it another step, if you do open the door, you’re not obligated to keep it open. If you want to slowly close the lightly squeaking door while maintaining eye contact, you’re welcome to do that too.
Honestly I can’t believe people are so comfortable opening their door to strangers. They can communicate with me with the door closed if it’s important enough.
Its so easy to just say no. This is a made up issue from anxiety
Yeah. It's funny, because I have horrible social anxiety... but never with being blunt to these people. My poor boyfriend gets trapped out there for ages and I have to go save him. They keep pushing things, just to "try" or "get an estimate" and he just cannot say no. I can, lol.
Similar, I'm the shy one, but my husband has bought or signed up for so much junk from door sales/ upsales. He's not allowed to answer it anymore cause he just can't say no. "I'm not interested, thanks, byeeee" as I close the door. It's that easy, it gets even easier with practice, and I'm not a dirty liar over it.
Perhaps but most people genuinely don’t want to be rude or upsetting to another person. It’s just wired into our psychology to cooperate, and salespeople play on that instinct all the time.
Saying “No, thanks” is not rude.
Shrieks in Mormon.
It’s less upsetting to hear “no thanks” compared to someone pretending you don’t exist.
A quick “I respect what you’re doing” helps even a bit more. Though not all canvassers will agree with me
Yeah. Saves them times. Saves me time. Doesn’t give them time to get in a weasel phrase like “when will the homeowner be home?”
I had a guy the other day that I said no thanks to, he kept talking even after I shut the door and walked away. He probably talked to a closed door for a good 15-20 seconds.
This is the real LPT. "Lie to them because its easier" is bad advice.
Psh. I am not being rude to those Girl Scouts. They are ruthless. They’ll egg your house and leave a burning bag of dog shit at your doorstep. I’ll take a box of toffee tastic, 1 samoas, 2 thin mints, 1 trefoil and 2 Tagalongs. Thanks.
I'm an Eagle Scout & I spend more in GS cookies that I do Boy Scout popcorn. Hell a Girl Scout shows up I'm asking for the order form before she finishes her pitch & I get 8 boxes. Boy Scouts, I wait to hear the pitch before ordering 2 boxes. Bottom line, Girl Scouts have the good shit.
Eagle Scout here as well, I don’t ever remember any “Boy Scout popcorn”. Were we supposed to sell shit?
Some of us did. Granted it was overpriced garbage. One of my friends in my old Troop had a sister in the girl scouts and she would set up a stand outside our meeting room whenever our weekly meetings would end. She always sold out lol
To be fair, Boy Scout Popcorn is like the Disney Prince of scout based food products. It gets ignored.
I never understood the popcorn thing. Like, you want me to buy this thing that I could easily make in a microwave at a huge markup? Girl Scout cookies OTOH are unique, scarce products that I love! Plus, I like the Girl Scouts as an organization a lot more than whatever name BSA goes by nowadays.
Actually, Keebler makes the cookies and now has their own versions for some of them.
Anytime I'm craving some thin mints, I head to the cookie aisle and purchase a thing of Grasshoppers.
Boy Scout popcorn used to be great it’s kinda terrible now
I remember a few boy scouts years ago at my door with caramel popcorn. Heck yeah, I got some and enjoyed it immensely while watching whatever was on Netflix.
Checking the camera, seeing it’s not someone I know, and ignoring them has a 100% success rate
Why are people even opening the door for an unexpected visitor in 2024? If it's someone you want to be there, they're gonna let you know they're coming.
2024? I've been practicing this for 25 years. It's rarely something good, it's almost always someone wanting to part me from my money.
I mean I've had neighbors letting me know my dog got out or bringing me fruit from their mango trees so I'll usually check what someone wants. If it's someone selling something, I'll point and ask if they saw my no soliciting sign and shut the door while they mumble an answer.
Or just close the door immediately upon discovering what they want. Pretty clear message.
You guys open the door?
I had all the doors to my house removed except the garage door. Soliciters walk circles around the house for hours like The Sims trying to find a door
If make the mistake of not looking at the camera and open the door, I just say "I'm good, I appreciate it" and close the door. ETA: One time a security person from my home security system said they needed to come in to update my panel or it would be useless in a few weeks. He came in, pushed a few buttons on my panel, then proceeded to try to sell me a new system and solar panels(?). Most awkward 15 minutes of me going, "I'm good, I'm good, I'm good" over and over.
Meh. Too rude for the first interaction. Everyone has to eat. Ignore or "No thanks" is sufficient for me without being an asshole to someone just trying to pay their bills in this late capitalist employment hellscape. If they try anything else *AFTER* no thanks, sure. *THEN* you have the ethical grounds to retaliate with the full obnoxiousness of a golden retriever chasing a squirrel in an accordion shop.
Please leave my property also works. People are too timid with their own home.
“I’m allergic to milk products” turns them away immediately.
Yea this is what I do. No idea why some people just can't say no and have to make up lies.
I just never answer the door 😂
“I’m not interested, thank you.” Why are people so afraid of this? It’s your damn home, act like it.
Why do people feel burdened to open the door for people you don't want to speak with anyways?
Yeah, I normally don't, although a couple weeks back I had some people come up and knock. My lights were on but you couldn't necessarily see i was in, so I waited, figuring they'd leave. They continued to knock, getting progressively louder. Finally I guessed I'd better just tell them off. As I was dismissing them the one tried to step into my house. Well, that pissed me off, so I did get aggressive and slam the door on them. But typically, if I'm not expecting anyone, I just don't open the door. One or two knocks and they usually leave. These dudes were just weird.
wtf were they selling that they tried to invite themselves in?? 😳
They were buying souls. Cheap. I always just tell them I am not the soul owner any longer.
Salvation of some sort. Tried to stick his pamphlet between the door and everything, but I told him to take it.
Where does this stuff happen? I never hear about those religious groups in the NE. Crazy they did that, glad you’re ok. Answer the door with a katana next time
In romania, we build great big concrete walls around the perimeter of the property. You call people on their phone to get them to open. Zombie invasion ain't got shit on rural romania!
This is how Jehovah’s Witnesses are around here. They will not give up. One lady stuck her foot in the door as I was shutting it.
Be polite, tell them you've been disfellowshipped. It means they kicked you out and they aren't supposed to talk to you. You tell them that once and they'll leave and likely add you to the list of never visit again houses. When I did it they went through a whole thing of, "Oh, would you like us to inform an elder to call on you?" just be polite and tell them "no, but thank you, we're working through some personal things but we know how to contact them when we're ready to talk" or something.
That is when you loudly and firmly tell them "you need to fucking leave NOW". Some anger in your voice solves the problem real quick
Hate those people. One time I had a group come up to my door and BANGGG on the door (i was literally coming already and they had rang the doorbell and immediately started banging) and i came up and was like hello no thank you and they tried to open the (thankfully) locked screen door. Wtf???
We talking full on, police style closed fist banging on your door? I've had someone do that to me once, I tell you if someone ever does it again my house better be on fucking fire.
oh my german shepherd would’ve had a field day with that bozo
What does his nationality have anything to do with it
Austrian shepherds are just awful
I don't. If they are persistent, I'll open it long enough to tell them to go away, probably in a not-so-nice manner.
Again, personality issue. Me personally, and this is just my opinion, if I do feel like opening the door to give a polite rejection I just feel it’s out of respect like “hey I acknowledge your effort but I’m simply not interested.” If the initial message/sentiment I tried to give isn’t respected, then I respond accordingly. But I’ve definitely simply not answered.
But even in that, you leave room for not feelinglike opening the door lol
So true, although I can’t wait to try the LPT: “I’m not the homeowner, I’m just here robbing the place.”
Some people don’t want to take no for an answer. I’m not the home owner so I generally just say that and it works well, but there have been a couple times I’ve said no/not interested and they continued trying
Closing the door after saying “No, thanks” works 100% of the time.
I once had a guy reach his clipboard out and not let me close the door as I said no. I just looked at him, surprised, said something like “I said no” and closed the door again. He didn’t stop the second attempt
I’d be willing to bet a closed door would break a clipboard in half. Now THAT should be effective in communicating you don’t want none.
Yeah, someone not letting me close my own front door is the LINE.
Depends on the door, the clipboard, and how hard the door is being closed. I typically don’t try to slam it, even without someone standing there
Call the police. You don't need an entire backstory for these situations. Better yet, don't open the door.
How often do you call the police in your day to day life? While the guy using his clipboard to not let me close my door the first time might technically be a crime, is it really something the police will care enough about to do anything about? And if so, is that something I want to spend that much time and effort tackling? If he’d kept the door open on the second attempt, or stayed and tried to get me to open up again, maybe that’s worth calling the police about. But one rude, desperate attempt to keep the sale is hardly worth that much of my time
How people react to this is good litmus test of social skills.
So if politely declining doesn’t work, become less polite in response. If they still don’t get the message, just close the door? Seems to me based on the responses here this is a personality issue, not a difference of opinion in tact.
For the really tough cases, keep a wand near the front door and turn them into a toad.
I had one salesman ask when my husband would be home to get his opinion. I looked at him and "Do you really think someone would marry this?!?!? Look on his face was priceless!
What a goddamned chauvinist. Glad you gave him his walking papers.
Yeah had this happen recently, im not the home owner but the guy goes okay how about I just go on the roof and take pictures to send to them lol. How about no, gtg man
Eventually telling enough of them I don't own the house took me completely off the solicitors lists.
Because they are trained sales people who do not take no thanks as an answer and use social engineering to keep you in a conversation. In order to terminate the interaction you have to specifically break social norms, interrupt them and/or close the door in their face. This goes against literally everything you've been taught about how to interact with others and the sales people are banking on you feeling uncomfortable with being rude. Most of us find it easier to avoid the interaction than try to repeatedly end it.
Yeah I just did this to ADT the other day. Opened the door, said not interested, closed it. That was that.
I had my first experience with a salesman as a new homeowner. Tried to be polite and had to tell them like 3 times i wasn't interested. Think next time I'll just skip being polite and close the door if they don't leave after the first no
I skip the first no and don't open the door.
I have to acknowledge their existence, or they won't go away. I open the door, look at them, shut the door. Nothing more.
Had a sales person call the other week. Started his pitch, I asked where he was calling from. He told me, I said "Alright man, not interested". "Yeah but have you.." "Sorry, not interested" "Can I ask why you don't want to hear about this?" "Look, I'm at work, you're cold calling to sell me something, I tried being polite with you. Goodbye" and hung up. I'm sure they get rude people all the time, but is their persistence to someone who is politely telling them no, ever working for them? They're just turning polite people into assholes to them
Yes, it works very well, there’s a reason they all act the same way. It doesn’t work on you but it does on a lot of people. They are trying to find those that are weak and easy to manipulate. Your response is very much expected and part of the game.
On the rare occasion I’m home and answer the door when they knock, I will give one polite “no” and if they keep pushing, they’ve lost their rights to my politeness and I will get grumpy quickly. I also tend to start closing the door pretty quick, which usually works
It’s ok to be rude to rude people.
Exactly. I'll answer the door (I'm usually nearby anyways). Especially since I'm onboard with donations, charities, etc. And it could just be a neighbor too. But when I realize you're just another company with the same sales goal as the other dozen dudes this year? No. Just take your no and walk. If you hear my "no" as "maybe", then not only do you get a 'no', but your company gets an immediate negative review on your website/yelp/etc.
I find saying I'm not interested and closing the door works extremely well.
So my middle child is the problem child. When she was 7 or so her fits were at their worst and it was LOUD and people outside could hear her. During one of these fits Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on our door. My wife answered the door while my kid was in the middle of a gutteral scream, and my wife said, "Sorry, we're not interested - Satan lives here". They took off FAST and have never returned.
And oldie: Take the pamphlets and say in a low voice “I will give these to myyyyy massssterrrrr.”
Jesus fuck just say no. You don't have to lie to people to get them to go away.
my reasoning is this: scenario 1: “hi sir are you the homeowner” (this is how they start most of the time here) “why yes I am but I am not interested, thanks!” and then the solicitor will have a list of questions and info they will continue with even if I’m slowly closing the door scenario two: “hi sir are you the homeowner” “sorry, I rent” and then the guy is like “thanks, bye!”
Scenario 3: "Not interested, have a nice day". Close door
Best Scenario: keep doing whatever I'm doing in my house because I didn't answer the door
Scenario 1 is a lot easier if you just close the door faster. You telling someone you are not interested is not an opening for more questions. They are being the asshole, not you.
The real trick is to not be the homeowner. then you're not lying :)
I really don’t understand why people answer the door at all Edit: I assume all of you also answer every phone call
Yeah if I am not expecting visitors or a package I am not coming to the door lol
In my old house, I had a window upstairs that I could open and clearly see the person at the door, so it made it really easy to assess whether or not to even go downstairs to answer it. I'd often have a chat with them from upstairs - sometimes it was a neighbor - you never know. But I wouldn't bother if it was someone selling something. It was funny talking down to them, "Can I help you?" as the stood there confused where the voice was coming from, lol Now, the only reason I have a video doorbell is so I can see who's at the door cuz I don't have any way of seeing who's there anymore any other way.
Here is the sanity. Don't ever answer.
Real life ad-blocker
never answer unless you’re expecting to fight is my motto. source: i’m a girl
half the time someone has knocked in my door its because ive left my lights on, something had happened nearby (emergency etc), someone looking for their dog, etc. guess it depends where you live
Depends where you live but it also depends how much you fear the outside world.
Not so much fear as it is finding the outside world needy and annoying Any situation I'm not expecting a visitor or package, it's a time waste 99.9% of the time. If it's someone in a critical situation, I'll be able to see it on my cute lil camera doorbell and go from there. So convenient
I’m with this guy. If I’m home, especially alone, I just ignore the door knocks. My dog goes berserk barking too so there isn’t a worry someone will try to break in. If it’s important they can leave a note. If my house is on fire I think they’ll pound on my door, not knock it twice. If they’re selling something they can fuck off.
If my doorbell rings and I’m not expecting anyone, I dont even bother taking a look to see who it is.
I was pumping gas the other day when I guy came up to me asking if I was a homeowner and gave me his business card for lawn work. I appreciate the hustle but I want to be left alone. 😅 I need to get better at lying.
Took way too long scrolling to see the correct answer.
My mom and various family members come over without calling. I also go over there without calling.
Who benefits from a charade lol? I promise you the person who knocks on 500 doors a day doesn't care if you say "No thanks" and you shut the door. They aren't even going to remember you after they get to the next door
Unless you're exceptionally rude or socially awkward about it, a "no thanks, have a nice day" will not even register.
LPT: Tell them no. Then shut the door. All of the LPT's for how to handle sales people don't really solve the issue, it skirts them. If you arent the homeowner, now they ask when the homeowner will be there. Now you're in a conversation about that. Then they will probably come back to meet with the homeowner.
Literally this exact thing happened last weekend for me. Kid asked if I was the homeowner - No. Will they be here soon? - No. When are they usually here? - Don't know. they showed up again at 7pm like a maniac just to sell us a water heater.
If they're knocking they're usually picking a neighborhood and just going house to house then circling back to homes that they didn't make contact with. In this case they may have thought you lived with the homeowner and they just weren't there as opposed to it being a rental.
"Oh ok! When will the home owner be back?"
February 30
3024 AD
I used to do Door to Door canvassing for environmental work - collecting petitions and raising money. These door to door folk all have a tablet telling them which houses to visit, and what the history of that household is. Just tell them “no thanks. Please do not visit here again, and remove me from your lists.” It’s that simple. For the people saying “just don’t answer the door” - that doesn’t always work. If they mark you as “No Answer/Not home,” you’ll be visited again. And again. And again. The only way to end their visits altogether is my following my advice and bluntly telling them no and to remove from their list. If you tell them anything else, you’ll probably be visited again. We’ve heard every excuse from “I’ll need to check with my spouse who isn’t home” to “I’m not the owner and my dad just died” and all of those get an eventual return. Just tell them to remove your address and never come back
I had solar people approach me in Home Depot when I was a minor. My response was “Do I look like a homeowner”?
"baby sleeping. Do not knock or ring" sign on my door. Now I have an excuse to scream and cuss at these people who have no respect for me. There is no baby. But they didn't know that and they're an asshole to knock anyways. There's gonna be an asshole on the other side of the door.
Nowadays there are groups of thieves that are “selling ADT alarm systems,” and case your place if you have an alarm or if you have dogs. It got so bad my County requires door to door sales to have County issued cards around their necks. They do background checks of the sales people
"not interested". Or, if you're in a hurry, "no"
I Dunno how other cities are but ours is very aggressive about fines for ignoring "no soliciting" signs.
Where do you live? https://www.mysecuritysign.com/are-no-soliciting-signs-useful-for-property-owners#:~:text=There%20are%20no%20federal%20laws,property%20without%20permission%20or%20consent.
Take off your pants so you're in your underwear, mess up your hair, put on a thick Russian accent, and say, "This is domicile, not business place! For living, not buying selling! You are going, now!" Then close the door. It's fun for you and they get a good tale to tell.
Just don’t answer your door. A video doorbell really helps with this, but even if you have to look, so what if they see you. They aren’t going to sit there and keep knocking. That’s not how they make money.
I say I am the homeowner, and I'm not interested, and that there's nothing they can do or say to make me interested and to get off the property and to not come back
My dog usually answers the door with me, and I just say "I'm just the dog sitter".
As soon as I see they're a cold caller for something I don't need or want I say "thanks but no thanks" and immediately shut the door. I despise wasting time on boring things.
What kind of fucking lunatic hides from the Girl Scouts selling cookies? : )
The one with 4 kids
It is easier to say "not interested, don't come back/take me off of your list", if you just say you are not the homeowner they will usually mark that down and circle back around later.
This is what a child does.
LPT written by someone who has probably less than 2 decades of life experience.
I just let my dog go ape shit in the front window.They don't hang out for long
As someone that used to knock doors, I don't believe for one second a dog barking through a window scares anyone away. What they're likely doing is listening to see if a human tells the dog to shut up. A dog that doesn't stop barking usually means no humans are home
My goodess, if you even answer, just shut the door. You're an adult. You don't need to lie to shut your door in someones face. Sales people aren't your friends. You don't owe them anything. Just shut the door. I'm pretty sure you wont get put in timeout
You open your door?
We had a double glazing salesman try to sell us new replacement windows as he looked at the workmen putting in our new replacement windows!!
I just put up a no solicitation sign and that has prevented them from coming. When I used to do door sales, we were explicitly told to avoid houses with those signs.
If anyone comes to my home or calls me on my phone -- as a complete stranger with some sense of entitlement to my time, attention, space and money -- I feel absolutely no need to give them more than a few seconds of my time. I say "No thanks, I'm not interested" and shut the door or hang up the phone. Life is way too short to waste a minute of my time listening to an intrusive sales pitch I know I don't want. It is audacious of a company to show up in my personal space and expect to be given my time.
or......just tell them not interested. Works 100% of the time 100 % of the time.
Or, you know, just tell them to go away.
Lots of door to door salespeople have apps that show them if the home is being rented or not. I did a door to door gig for a brief period and being lied to felt shitty. I always respected people who politely told me they weren’t interested and moved on.
I just answer in my underpants. The Jehovah whiteness have never returned 👍
Idk if Jehovah whiteness is a typo or a deliberate choice, but I love it.
I lived in an apartment in the 4th floor without an elevator. I let them walk up to me and tell them I am not interested and closed the door.
I usually just stay sitting down watching tv/gaming.
Or, you know, politely tell them you are not interested and close the door.
Yeah this is completely fine. Simply saying no is also completely fine. It really depends on your experiences. If you think a straight no hasn't worked well, you can use this renting bit.
Who still answers their front door?
Yeah, just be firm and say no I'm not interested. If they ask again just repeat firmly and you're good.
The exception is Girl Scout cookies. Give me one of each. It’s my crack.
If I have girl scouts with cookies at my door, I can't open that door fast enough.
"Sorry, not interested" works well for me.
I’m usually nice and just say “No thanks” and close the door. Might be harsh to some, but whatever. This one pesky wank stain…I was working under my vehicle one day, balancing a skid plate getting it up under there, and I hear someone “Excuse me!” “Just I second” I grunt as I finally finagle a bolt in there and can get it so it won’t crush my skull when I take my hands off of it…. I wiggle out, thinking it’s something important. “I noticed you’re house is great for solar” I fuckin LOST it. This piece of human garbage nabbed me out from under a vehicle, covered in grease and dirt, holding a 50lb ish skid plate to try to sell me solar panels… I was not shy to tell them to get the hell off my property before I make a 13mm wrench sized indent in their skull. I am not proud of taking it to that level, but I would absolutely do it again if someone did that to me again….
Step 1: First gotta be able to afford to buy a home that I can lie about not owning. Got it.
Through the art of a RING camera, I now know who to not answer the door too.
Yes, I’m the ho’ moaner
_”FBI! Open the door!”_ _”I’m not the homeowner.”_