i had a guy come to my house a couple years ago - he initially tells me he is running for "public office" and wants to talk to me - i knew pretty quickly that he was full of it as he looked borderline-homeless and appeared to be drunk and it wasnt even election season. but i play along - he rambles for a bit and he then starts trying to sell me magazines so i stop him and let him know that he misrepresented himself and that i didnt want to buy any magazines. so he gets really pissed and starts going off on me accusing me of being a racist and saying how the whole neighborhood was racist. my dogs were barking when he knocked on my door (which is what they are supposed to do) so he accused my dogs of being racist too. i had opened my door, stepped out on my porch to talk to the guy and even shook the guys hand when he offered it, but he said i was acting scared of him b/c he was black - at that point i got pissed and went off on him and let him know that race-baiting crap doesnt work on me and that i had actually been quite friendly to him, despite the fact that he misrepresented himself. so he leaves, yelling at me the whole time - i watch him go to my neighbors and go off on them too. should have called the cops, but i didnt.
Last year, i had a couple of "students" come to my door to try to sell me subscriptions. They all had almost the same story: they needed points for a scholarship that they would get if they sold enough subs. One guy said he was an ex-gang member trying to go to UH. Another girl told me her parents had passed when she was little (she even cried!) and she needed the scholarship. Of course, i told them No Thanks! I never believe any of that crap since there is better things they could be doing other than that!
The only time I ever answer my front door is for halloween. I know if I have somebody coming over if I'm not expecting anybody I just never answer....
I actually bought a subscription from one of these guys once. It was a good price and the magazines actually showed up at my house.
We just had a guy come to our house a week or so ago...right close to dinner (hate that crap). He was going off how he grew up in a poor area and was given a second chance and how he's trying to earn some a living selling magazine subscriptions. And how he just needs a couple more subscriptions to meet his quota for the day. He was really nice, but still was trying trying to sell something. Not the first time it's happened, and every time I say no. Honestly it doesn't matter to me how sad your sob story is and if it's legit. I don't like being pressured into buying things or making donations to charities. I do it on my own terms.
I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not. It wasn't magazines- it was the Houston Post and Chronicle. I did it when I was in college. I got fired from a job at K-Mart (turns out it was to make room on payroll for the manager's son) and walked across the street to a mcdonalds and looked at the want ads. I was hired with a phone call. The reason why these guys are so hardcore is that it pays really well, or at least it did when I did it in the early 90s. I was making $40k my first year, which is around $60k now adjusted for inflation. I was taught that, and I knocked on every door regardless of signs or condition of the house (except the current subscribers- we had a list which helped save time). I sold a higher percentage of 'no solicitor' signs than 'regular' doors. Sure, there were a-holes who did what you do, but part of sales is shaking off bad experiences. Actually, the worst doors to knock where the Amway folks. They were worse than the religious zealots who would give you a pamphlet.
I bought a subscription of PC Gamer magazine from one of these sellers. In my case it was a woman apparently raising money for abused mothers. It sounded like a good cause and I could afford a subscription no problem, so I did. Did I ever get any magazines? Nope. Will I ever do it again? Probably not.
It is not being an a-hole by shutting your door. The A-hole is the one knocking on the door, and not observing the clean signage and right to privacy. DD
Oh, please. You're a businessman. You're telling me that you took the first 'no' for an answer every time? Never approached the unapproachable? I think you're just playing the devil's advocate here for the sake of argument. Save that for the next forum down.
I don't believe in pestering people to get a sale do not want. I believe in a win win scenario, and if someone has clearly said no, or had a sign up saying that, I respect their views. People that fail to read the signs, or like yourself, blatently ignore them, they deserve every bit of angst and door slammage they get. DD
You still didn't answer my -not- rhetorical questions. How is it pestering when you don't even know what someone is answering your door for? Are you omniscient? No. A smart man? Absolutely. But omniscient, no way. To take it to cyberspace, people here on this very forum don't like you or your posts and you still post them; hey... it's your right, right? But you certainly aren't digressing and 'respecting their views' by not posting what you post. You will say that it's your right, but it's the same thing as knocking on a door that's labeled 'don't knock'. After years of seeing your personality and how you think and operate; after reading your posts and preaching on things that you so adamantly believe in despite negative response, I don't believe for a second that if you knew you had a good product or service that you believed enough in, you wouldn't knock on someone's door to talk to them about it. If you say differently, you're flat-out lying to prove your point. I would even wager my life that if every truth of the universe were laid bare, we would see that ol' DaDakota has been in the exact same scenario that he is rallying against right now. Pushing past what he is currently decrying as a point of 'respect' to get something done that he believes in.
forget the safe...answer the door with that noobtube that mamba has in the cod commercial and let those fools know what's up.
This is basically the same story but the one man was 35 and the kid was around 19. He said he needed points to get a full time position and what not. The other two times one was asking for votes and the other I still have no idea what he wanted. I hope its nothing serious and that they will go away once they realize that they wont make sales in our neighborhood
The old guy is training the young guy. The 'points' thing is an old-school lie. If you did deep enough, you'll find chinks in the bulsh.
One youth came to my door saying the same (needed points for a scholarship) except he was selling subs to the Chronicle. Even if he wasn't legit, I will never buy the Chronicle again. I told him to come back after 8PM because I needed to go get cash from the ATM. He said he accepted credit cards and implied I didn't trust him. I smiled and told him to come back after 8. He actually came back, and he sent his friend/boss to my door while he waited in the car. I told him I found the same deal online for half the price. Hopefully I made them quit that job.
i forgot to add that the next day i went out to my car, which i parked on the street, and there was a large dent in the front fender, as if it had been kicked. and my neighbor had the exact same dent in the exact same spot on their car, which was also parked in the street.
