Bad Manners and Brimstone

Early in the week, I saw a neighborhood Facebook post "warning" everyone that the Verizon sales people were going door-to-door. Some posters were complaining that solicitors are not welcome in our neighborhood. Some were claiming that they had the proper paperwork, so it was fine. (I honestly don't know.) Some were claiming that they were sweet. Some were claiming that they were pushy. I didn't think I had much of a opinion on the issue, but appreciated the heads up that they were coming.

Wednesday, 2pm-ish: Ding Dong, Ding Dong. I'm still in my PJs working from home. I grab a jacket on my way to the door because I was not dressed properly to welcome guests. I peer out the peep hole and my guess is that they are the Verizon sales people. I'm not interested. I'm working. I'm not dress properly. So why bother listening to a sales pitch in the middle of a pandemic? I return to work and figured all was good.

Thursday, 2pm-ish: Ding Dong, Ding Dong. It felt like deja vu. But this HAD to be a neighbor wanting to know if I could move my car or to delivery my mail, right? Nope, same two people. Same exact situation. It's not worth my time. They must have been following up from the day before. I would have preferred if they would have left some information, but fine. I can let people do their job.

Friday, 2pm-ish: Ding Dong, Ding Dong. Ok, I know I'm going to see the same two people. I am deciding that those claiming that they are pushy might be accurate, so I simply go back to work.

Friday, 2:30pm-ish: Ding Dong, Ding Dong. I'm no longer feeling generous. These two should have gotten the hint right?

Friday, 5:00pm-ish: Ding Dong, Ding Dong. I am done with work, but still in my work PJ's. And these two uninvited individuals are again standing at my door in the middle of pandemic. I'm feeling harassed.

I hope that they are done for the evening. I hope that they are done for the next few days. But how many times is too many times for solicitors to ring? Because of the nature of the world, I can't be the only one who doesn't want to be disrupted during the day. If this wasn't 2020, I would not have been home at any of these times, so maybe this happens all the time. Are their business practices appropriate or am I being a fussy potential customer?

UPDATE: Friday, 6:00pm-ish: Ding Dong, Ding Dong.

If you don't want to confront these people in person (and neither would I), you could put a "no soliciting" poster on your door.

If you don't want to confront these people in person (and neither would I), you could put a "no soliciting" poster on your door.

I have one the says "No Soliciting. No Exceptions." Sure it doesn't stop some people, but it's rare.

OP, do you have a sign up?

*I was actually speaking to someone who did door-to-door sales and she told me that her job was to ignore no soliciatation signs. Now, she was not the pushy, rule breaking type. She would take a no politely. However, she told me that she doesn't hesitate to ignore the signs.

By ignoring signs, she *is* the pushy rule breaking type.

I politely point out the sign. Once.

I have anxiety. The doorbell makes me panic for a second even when I'm expecting someone. I have no problem shutting the door in a stranger's face without a word. I have done it a few times in the past.

Quote from: DaDancingPsych on September 04, 2020, 08:30:38 pm

*I was actually speaking to someone who did door-to-door sales and she told me that her job was to ignore no soliciatation signs. Now, she was not the pushy, rule breaking type. She would take a no politely. However, she told me that she doesn't hesitate to ignore the signs.

By ignoring signs, she *is* the pushy rule breaking type.

I can understand by only knowing this one thing about her why you would conclude that she was pushy. I don't think she liked ignoring the signs, but she knew it was part of the job. But the way she did the selling was very different from some. There were sales people who would make any promise to get the sale (even if they knew they could follow through). And she was always careful to sell the right product to the right person. Either way, I don't think defending my friend's character is necessary for this thread. My point was that just by hanging a sign does not guarantee that the sales calls would end. And my sense (and I could be completely wrong) is that these two Verizon sales people would not change their behavior due to a sign.

I used to have a sign by my door that said "this is a no solicitation neighborhood".  Someone came to my door.  I answered and pointed to the sign and said "did you read the sign".  And he said he didn't know what it meant.  I believed him.   Our neighborhood has such signage at all the entrances, but every once in awhile someone is going around ringing doorbells anyway.  If they say they have a city permit we just inform them that our neighborhood signs are approved by the city and overrides their permit.

Thanks everyone! It doesn't sound like anyone thus far feels that the sales people's behavior is excessive. I would hope that there is some point that we would find it tacky. None-the-less, their tactics have made me less interested in their services. 

FTR, I think these salespeople's behavior is excessive.  Multiple attempts in one day?  Are they camped out in the neighborhood somewhere?

I'm with oogyda in thinking that they have no way of knowing that you have been deliberately ignoring their ringing - you might have been away, or even be deaf. And it may well be that they are under corporate instructions to speak to every householder in the neighbourhood, or else. My advice would be to answer the door and say 'I know you're from Verizon, I know what you're selling, and the answer is no.' Then, if I'm right, they can tick the box with a sigh of relief, go away and never come back.