It's that time of the year again door to door magazine sales

[olena]

We have them occasionally and we play with them. There's a no soliciting sign at our neighborhood's entrance. Chris will ask them for their permit, whcih sends them packing.

One time we asked if the guy noticed the 'NO soliciting' sign and he said it was a long day and he came all the way from Alabama, etc. I said that my mother went to school in Alabama and was able to read and understand a 'NO soliciting' sign.

Other times we'll warn them about an older, grumpy neighbor that gets so mad at illegal solicitors that he's pulled a gun on them on occasion and oders them off his property. They ask where this guy lives, and we tell them,"You'll find out."

 

[MamaLema]

I don't answer the door...and I don't even pretend like I'm not home. The kids are playing, making noise so I'm sure they hear it - but eventually they'll go away

 

[kerrynic78]

I had an encounter with one kid who refused to leave. I told him I was not interested and he yelled at me that he was sick of everyone telling him that they were not interested. He was so nasty, I closed the door on him and will never answer the door again for anyone i don't know.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

kerrynic78,

Same thing happened with me. I told him, no thanks and then he stuck his foot in the door and told me that if I knew what was good for me I would buy the magazines. So I stomped on his foot and slamed the door. Boy did he swear up a storm as he took off crying in pain.

 

[HeatherFeather]

I agree about not answering the door. I am home alone with a 5 year old little girl while my husband is deployed to the desert. I also don't pretend not to be home. I look out the peephole and if I don't know them, the door stays shut and my two BIG dogs continue barking until they go away.

 

[lbgraves]

I don't answer the door...and I don't even pretend like I'm not home. The kids are playing, making noise so I'm sure they hear it - but eventually they'll go away

I do the same thing. When we are outside and see someone coming around the corner I tell the kids to go into the garage & into the house. We close the garage door, then lock the front door. They can knock all they want.

 

[snowbutton]

I have even had people tell me my neighbor just sent them over to my house to talk to me. Well thats a bunch of baloney . I know they wouldn't do that to me. I even said "no she didn't" well he took off then

 

[Brianne]

I had a couple gals come by to sell carpet cleaning products a year or two ago. As soon as I heard what it was, I started laughing, opened my door wider & pointed at my floor. From my front door, you can see partially into the master bedroom as well....which is all tile floor.

Oddly enough, even though we've had other salespeople come by since then, we've never seen another selling carpet cleaning products.

 

[Poohgirl]

kerrynic78,

Same thing happened with me. I told him, no thanks and then he stuck his foot in the door and told me that if I knew what was good for me I would buy the magazines. So I stomped on his foot and slamed the door. Boy did he swear up a storm as he took off crying in pain.

umm hello?! if you know whats good for you, you will get the he!! off my property! What the heck is wrong with these people?

 

[Rajah]

We just don't answer the door if we don't know who it is. We've been lucky and the few times we've answered the door, the people have been polite. And no one's stayed there for more than 2 or 3 minutes. But we just don't take chances. I try to convince my mom of the same thing, but she keeps answering the door.

 

[liamsaunt]

When door to door salespeople come by, I simply don't come to the door. I don't care if they know I am home, I just refuse to answer. I always buy the overpriced wrapping paper/candles/flower bulbs/magazines from my nephew's school, and that's enough for me.

 

[Poohnatic]

We had one yesterday. His story was that he was going to win a trip to Daytona.

I said "aren't you a little old for that one?" (he was my age, easily)
he said no...Daytona's just over 2 hours from here, I had to question that one.

Some days, it's all I can do to ask for weird magazines and see them try to find them in their listing. "Pottery throwing for babies", anyone?
Suzanne

 

[Jimbo]

Several years back, in 1999 I think, a van carrying a crew of kids soliciting magazine sucbscriptions overturned in our area. 7 were killed and 5 were seriously hurt. The police were trying to pull over the van as it was going 80+ mph. The "crew chief," who was 20 at the time, was driving without a license, so he tried to switch seats with one of the passengers. While doing 80 mph!

The local papers did tons of stories about the company behind this and their sleazy practices. They hire a lot of runaways, and other vulnerable kids. The kids that were involved in this incident were all between 15 and 22 years old. Some of the survivors said that they stayed in crummy motel rooms, sleeping 5 to a room. The top sellers got the beds, and the rest slept on the floor. They were never allowed to use the phone. The kids that weren't selling enough were simply abandoned in the middle of nowhere.

The feds fined them $15,000 (!) for child labor violations. The crew chief guy got a few years in prison. Our state charged the company (Iowa based) with 15 felonies. So the company dissolved, and re-formed as a new company. AFAIK they are still in business today/

 

[Rajah]

That is *horrible* Jimbo!