Door-to-Door Sales

[Lunacie]

Steak, grapefruit, magazines, whatever. Have any of you ever bought anything from these modern-day peddlars? I find them rather annoying, especially when they have trouble taking "Sorry, no thanks" for an answer.

[AstraSkye]

Where I live, the largest annoyance is probably the on-street recruiters... They are hired by charity organizations, and walk the streets to "attack" passers-by. The reason why I use the word "attack", is because most people do feel attack. I know I do...

Charity organizations are wonderful, but I don't see why recruiters are needed. People KNOW the organizations exist...

As you walk the street, they come up and stand in your way, and say "do you have a minute?", with a more or less aggressive, guilt-giving tone of voice. This happened to me a couple of weeks ago (I soon learned how to avoid them), and I just shook my head as I saw he was approaching me. A few steps later, I hear him cuss at me - words certainly not suitable for this forum!

Dude...

[Sora]

I bought tickets to a concert. But, then again, I knew the person who was selling 'em and loved their band.

I wanna be a door-to-door salesman(woman?) selling doors, when I grow up...

[Derry]

I actually had someone here at our partments a few weeks ago selling stereo equiptment and electronics :smash: I'm almost positive it was stolen. The property owner here had police come out. Honestly though, the worst to me are the mormons. I live really really close to Salt Lake so they are always ringing the door bell and wanting to convert me and save my soul. One person I know said that a good way to get rid of them was to answer your door naked :ahhhh: I wonder if he found this out personally????

[Sora]

Hey, guess what, our aviatars are similar ;)

[Old Witch]

That's weird..... Someone came around here this afternoon selling steaks door to door.........Told him no............just don't trust my meat off of the back of a battered pick up............:eek:

[Lunacie]

Yeah, that's why I asked. Had a guy here this afternoon selling steaks. Who knows how fresh they were, or how well they had been kept cold? Or whether they were stolen?

At least I haven't had anyone threatening trying to sell something. They usually knock on the door and then wait down at the foot of the porch steps. Hmmm, maybe that's because they don't want to scare anyone into calling the police?

[Flar's Freyja]

I have no problem with them as long as they can take no for an answer. I never turn them down if they're kids raising money for school or church. I recently got a great deal on a whole bag of shampoos, body sprays, lotions and candles from some college students.

One poor kid was so desperate for sales that he told me it was okay to go ahead and sign up for some magazines and cancel the next day! So I did :rolleyes:

[Siarlas]

I haven't had too much trouble with D2D salespeople... yet... I get the occasional person dropping of a BetterWares catalogue. You know.. like.. umm.. Avon thingy... people do it from home. My main problem is that there is a Jehovah's Witness place down the end of my street... though they seem to know when I'm in the shower and keep banging away on the door. When their little fists are sore from banging, they shove one of their flyers under my door. Make for good recycling they do :)
If by chance they actually catch me at a time I'm not in the shower, I might get out my 'Letter to a Bible Thumper' and point some things out to them....

Oh... and someone mentioned opening the door naked? A friend of mine was interupted mid ritual one day... now he does them skyclad.... and he thought... why not? Opened the door and invited them in, but they suddenly came up with excuses to leave :lol:

[Valnorran]

I know a fellow who's seriously overweight and bald. Knowing it was some Jehova's Witnesses knocking on his doot, he answered it naked. He no longer has trouble with them.

I live in a rural area and rarely get them. The last ones were some Mormons. They were polite and I was polite in my refusal. They thanked me and left. If they get pushy I might let them get an "accidental" peek at my medieval weapons collection.

[Radocs]

We never get any door to door sales people. It wouldn't matter anyway since I don't answer the door.

[Xeen]

I've lived in this house pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, with very few neighbors, for a few months now. We've had one visit one Saterday morning by a couple older guys from one of those Bible thumping groups.

I was in my nightgown, nothing naughty though. Just one of those long and warm ones. It was, after all, before Noon *snickers*

I had my rats out for some play time. I think they might have seen them, not sure. But the neighborhood cat that adoted us the moment we started moving in (I named him Ramen). Well, he tried getting in the house but I yelled at him "No coming in when the rats are out!"

They were actually very nice men, of course. I liked how jolly nice the one guy was, but I just wanted to ask "So uhhh... are you always like that?". I wouldn't be able to stand being like that. I'd jump off a bridge.

Anyhow... My boyfriend stepped behind me and introduced himself. They were handing out their little books. One of them was about how evil the Internet can be. I told them I'm an avid fan of the Internet, and my boyfriend told them he's been working in the Internet frield (ISP stuff) for many years. Which is all true.

I dunno, they kinda left after that. Asked if they could come back next weekend. They never did ^-^

I've been trying to think of a good sign to put up on the door for salespeople and Bible thumpers, but I haven't thought of anything good yet.

Any ideas??

[Lunacie]

I think the schools and groups like Boy/Girl Scouts could find a better way to raise money than sending these little children to knock on the doors of perfect strangers. (Of course, if they are children that I know I try to buy something.) And there was a big hoohah in the news a couple years ago about so called "college students" raising money for school by selling magazines. It turned out that they were working for some evil company that worked them from sunrise to after sunset, paying them very little and feeding them even less.

Basically my feeling is that if I want something badly enough it will be worth the effort of going to a store to buy it. I can't afford to be an impulse buyer, and I never keep enough cash in the house to buy things from door-to-door salespersons. And I'm sure not going to give them a check or credit card numbers that they can use to steal my financial identity.

As far as signs on the door, many years ago my grandmother had a sign above her doorbell that read "I shoot every 10th salesman, the 9th one just left." I seem to remember it worked for her.

[WitchJezebel]

*mental note - get sign made up like Lunacie's grandma* :lol:

When I lived in CA I lived several blocks away from a Kingdom Hall, so Jehovah Wit. came to the door about twice a month. After about 3 or 4 visits and my saying no thanks, they came to the door at 8 am on a Saturday. I answered the door in a bathrobe, a cup of coffee, a cigarette in my lip and my 85 lb dog barking in the background. It wasn't pretty, and I told them that unless they had a signed affidavit from god saying that they have a right to bother me at 8 am, they should go. Never saw them again. :evilway:

Now, here in NY, I've been in my house for a year and they came only one time - I guess the large alligator head above the door and the pentacle ON the door gave them the message. :D

I don't get salesmen at all, but I do occasionally get the kids selling candy... and I'm a sucker for a Reese's. :mmm:

[WandererInGray]

*Grins* I'm getting a lot of mileage out of the "I'm sorry, but I've been laid off and money is really tight." answer right now. :D It's amazing how understanding people are. (as opposed to the "no I don't want to spend my hard earned money on your crap" answer)

That or I just don't answer the door. If it's really important they'll come back or leave it there. *shrugs*

[Phoenix Blue]

I don't even get salesmen. I get freaking beggars.

Yesterday, some guy gave me a sob story about his mother having a brain tumor, and he needed $14 so he could get to Emory Hospital in Atlanta. I told him, "I'm broke." Mostly because it saved me the trouble of telling him that I thought he was full of crap.

This sort of stuff kinda scares me, because I've already had my house broken into once, and a box of checks stolen from my mailbox before that.

[~ Monk ~]

Originally posted by Radocs

We never get any door to door sales people. It wouldn't matter anyway since I don't answer the door.

I'm with you. I get door to door sellers on a fairly frequent basis and just don't bother answering.

A walkman does wonders for ignoring most street sellers. The ones that aggravate me are the ones who try to catch you while you're in your car at a stop light. I've had people banging on my car windows even after I've given the "no thanks" wave of my hand. Some even throw insults around. Nice!

Once a little old lady was knocking on my car window when I was waiting at a light. She wanted me to give her a ride to a park and told me to go to hell when I declined. I was on my way to work and just didn't have time.

It was really kind of funny. :D

[Storm]

Huh, the other day a window replacement salesman came to the door and when I answered he asked if my mother was home and was genuinely surprised when I said I was the mother. Well all I could do was grin stupidly at him after that and when I mumbled something about redoing my basement and no interest in the window while grinning like a fool, he left, no problem. But when I shut the door I caught myself still grinning and thought I must have looked like an idiot. Just grinning like a big cheeseburger goofball. Or something. Yah, sheesh.

[Old Witch]

My Daddy had a sign in his window onto the carport.....Salesmen will be shot...Survivors will be shot again.........

Seemed to work.........

[Lunacie]

OW, I love that sign, might have to make one like that for this door. :p Actually the door-to-door peddlars aren't as bad as the phone solicitors used to be. I say used to be because since I switched to a cel phone I don't get telemarket calls anymore. It's beautiful. :cool:

This city isn't big enough for the street peddlars. I understand they can be quite pushy and persistent. I'd prolly run one over and get locked up. Don't mess with me when I'm driving! :p

[Knight]

My girlfriend used to work selling "designer fragrances" door-to-door, for a company called International Designs. They also used to have kiosks in the malls. I get them at work every so often, and people from "wholesale liquidators" selling calculators, watches, and other unwanted gewgaws, or selling framed artwork.

From my girlfriend's experience, they get naive people to hawk their goods, give them a small percentage of every item they sell, and promise bonuses if they do really well. Once you reach a certain level, they give you your own distributorship so you can get other people into the business (sort of like Amway). Of course, if you don't perform, you make nothing. They begin each day with a motivational meeting, getting everyone pumped up to sell. A lot of the mindset is, "if you believe hard enough, it will happen". Failure is never admitted to be the result of too many people trying to sell a relatively unwanted product in too small an area. Instead it is blamed on the seller's lack of faith.

The people who sit at the top of this pyramid make out like bandits. The peons who work for them struggle, starve, fail, and usually blame themselves. This was my girlfriend's reaction. I had to tell her to wake up to the fact that she was being used. Once she had a good temper tantrum she was fine. If you can find it, read "The Cult of Free Enterprise". It's about one man's experiences with a similar group (Amway in the 1980's).

So remember, most of these folks are being used. Try to treat them well. It's good for your karma.

[Lunacie]

I'd say you've got a good point there, Knight, but it touches another sore spot of mine. I would like to punch out, scream at, and sue the socks off those people who spray perfume in my direction without asking. I am horribly allergic to most perfumes and try to stay away, but when the mall is crowded it can be very difficult. I suppose they haven't been taught basic ettiquette by their employers (or their parental figures), but it still bites hugely.

[Amethyst Rose]

Originally posted by Knight

From my girlfriend's experience, they get naive people to hawk their goods, give them a small percentage of every item they sell, and promise bonuses if they do really well. Once you reach a certain level, they give you your own distributorship so you can get other people into the business (sort of like Amway). Of course, if you don't perform, you make nothing.

The people who sit at the top of this pyramid make out like bandits. The peons who work for them struggle, starve, fail, and usually blame themselves.

I answered an ad in the classifieds for a company (can't remember what it was called), that did exactly this. I answered the ad because they said they were looking for administrative people as well...that's what I wanted, just to answer phones. But then they said that everyone who works in the company has to go through the training course, so they could answer questions for clients, ect. The thing was that the training course was 6 weeks of walking the streets, and going into shops and selling this stuff. Well, because I'm so empathic, and I knew nearly everyone we approached hated the fact that we did, (I NEVER sold anything, I just let the others do it), I lasted 3 days, and made zilch. My shortest job ever, and I absolutely hated it. :) I can tell you though, the head honcho was rolling in money....

[Gently Gazing Eyes]

True story from several months ago. I was really big into the gothic subculture and all that, and even had the adorning eyesliner and lipstick and white pacefaint. Complete with black denim and leather everything, an ankh, an pentacle and a cross (I was very confused at 14) each on a seperate necklace.

Some bible-carrying people knocked on the door. I opened the door, and they began their little speech. "Do you have Jesus in your heart? Would you like to be saved? Do you realize that if you do not confess your sins you will go to Hell and burn in eternal fire?" I interrupted him mid-sentence and shouted "LUCIFER WILL EAT YOU!!"

Immature? Very.
Are people like me the reason christians think goths are satanic? Possibly.
But on the good side, they left promptly and didn't come back for quite some time. :D



:boing:

[Storm]

Originally posted by PaganInkubus

True story from several months ago. I was really big into the gothic subculture and all that, and even had the adorning eyesliner and lipstick and white pacefaint. Complete with black denim and leather everything, an ankh, an pentacle and a cross (I was very confused at 14) each on a seperate necklace.

Some bible-carrying people knocked on the door. I opened the door, and they began their little speech. "Do you have Jesus in your heart? Would you like to be saved? Do you realize that if you do not confess your sins you will go to Hell and burn in eternal fire?" I interrupted him mid-sentence and shouted "LUCIFER WILL EAT YOU!!"

Immature? Very.
Are people like me the reason christians think goths are satanic? Possibly.
But on the good side, they left promptly and didn't come back for quite some time. :D



:boing:


Bad bad bad!!!! But hysterical funny!

[AstraSkye]

Originally posted by PaganInkubus

I interrupted him mid-sentence and shouted "LUCIFER WILL EAT YOU!!"

I did something similar today.

While on our way home from picking up a package full of books on Paganism (hehe!), the boyfriend and I passed by a Jehova's Witness.

She was just about to hand us the WatchTower, when my BF shook his head at her. A few steps later, I mumbled something (which I could might as well have screamed - people often tell me I speak loud, when I really think I'm keeping a low tone of voice) along the lines of "hail Satan, the prince of darkness". I'm not sure she heard me, though.

I admit my immaturity.

They have picked the wrong area. An area full of well convinced Muslims and Athestis. And Pagans.

[Lunacie]

:rotfl:

Does Lucifer really eat Jesus-freaks? Boiled or fried? With ketchup or steak sauce? Pasta or a green salad on the side?

Frankly, I find them a little hard to swallow, myself. :D

[Gently Gazing Eyes]

I would think they would be best served cold, with mustard. Perhaps a plate would be necessary, but utensils would certainly be optional. :)




:boing:

[Lunacie]

(very fakey Brit accent)

Pardon me, but do you have some Grey Poupon?

:lol:

[materra]

When in college I studied theatre for awhile. I would pop home between the two shows on the weekend to walk the dog. For some reason most the D2D's hit the road fast when I answered the door in costume of whatever play I was currently working. The month we did Dracula pretty much eliminated our place for any pesky D2D religious folks for a really long time. :rotfl: