Can good neighbours stop rogue traders?

I politely tell doorstep sellers that I’m not interested. If they persist, I tell them I have never bought anything as a result of a doorstep visit or an unsolicited phone call.

Thankfully don’t get them in my street, in fact cant remember the last time I did, which is good and I would certainly not buy anything at my door and politely tell them to go away.

I have a spyhole door-viewer in an old fashioned wood door with no glass.
I can see them – they can’t see me.

I am extremely skilled at spotting cold-callers.

They are agitated and hyper-active.
They don’t wait very long – 20 seconds is the average.

It’s fun watching them.

I’m thinking of installing a camera and posting them on a new website that will make me a dot.com billionaire.
I will of course spend some of my fortune on a rest home for fallen cold-callers.

I don’t like door to door sellers and never buy from them. However, I deliberately don’t have a ‘no cold callers’ sign up. I live on a corner and have a very good view from my porch of the houses on the surrounding streets. I also have a lot of elderly and vulnerable neighbours. Therefore, as much as I hate being bothered by cold callers I actually want them to ring my doorbell as I want the cold callers to call on me first before they call on my neighbours. I can then politely ask them to go away, and not to bother my neighbours. I can then stand in my porch, watch where they go next, and if they then head towards the homes of any of my vulnerable neighbours I then go out and politely remind them not to disturb my neighbours. In this way I manage to intercept most of the cold callers before they bother the most vulnerable of my neighbours. ‘Legitimate’ cold callers will usually respond to polite requests. Sometimes it takes a bit of persuasion to convince some that their calls are not and will not be welcome.

I always have a silent cheer to myself when I manage to intercept the worst ones such as the ‘we buy any gold’ types before they rip off my neighbours.

I simply tell them that I don’t buy anything at the door.

I tell door step salesmen “I have no money”. They cant get away fast enough

We very rarely get door-step salesmen, but we occasionally get people wanting to power-wash and/or re-lay our driveway. The usual patter is, “We’re working in the area and we happen to have some tarmac left over, so it wouldn’t cost you very much, etc.’ I thank them for the offer and go on to tell them that I think the driveway is an absolute eye-sore and I’d love them to do it but ‘HE’ wouldn’t let me because ‘HE’ likes it the way it is. Blaming ‘HIM’ for ‘all the ills of the world’ seems to work – so far, anyway!!

yeh just tell them not anything over doorstep if we want something from their company we will contact them.

I judge each on its own merit. I have bought from people and also shut the door in other people’s faces (how could I? ) Some are very polite and some brash, but I believe that they’re all human beings!

I see a person coming up the drive usually – the door bell rings – I open the door – he or she starts to speak – I put up my hand – I say “I rent the property” – and they go away. One person in particular a short while ago was pushy about having double glazing done and I said that a good optician is just up the road perhaps he should pay them a visit because we are double glazed.

I explain that I am up to the eyeballs with the goods they are selling. Then I recount my adventures with the goods which I have had seemingly forever. Then I lecture them on the virtues of (double glazing, insulation etc). My time selling encyclopaedias from door to door is dragged in.
After a while the seller is glad to make his excuses and be off as yet unscathed, or at least not yet bored to death.

Door knockers are usually interested in your property enhancements, saying you are only the tenant gets rid of 95% of them.

I had a visit from someone who pulled up outside my drive, came to to the door and asked me if I would like my drive covered with fresh gravel which he conveniently had in a double wheeled trailer. I could see what the gravel was – it was whats called Pea Gravel (very small) and I said that is not suitable for drives as it gets in the treads of tyres and ends up spread along the road. “Many people use it” he said. He continued with the price quote (£250) so I said the Landlord would not agree and with that he departed. Alot to be said for being a Tenant.

I speak to them politely and usually send them away. If it’s to do with building, say there’s a loose slate, I say “would you show me?” and then say, “thank you, I have a man who does work for me, I’ll get him to fix it.” I have on occasion bought goods from people selling them for charity. It was also a doorstep seller who persuaded me to join the Surrey Wildlife Trust, which was a good thing! Everyone is an individual and some doorstep sellers are absolutely fine.