I despise door-to-door salesmen!

kaiser715

kaiser715

Doing hard time
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Location
7, Pocket, NC
My wife and I just came in from a meeting.

Guy is on my porch, van parked out front. I pull in the drive, see he has a bottle of something in his hand. Typical of the salesmen/scammers around here, they get a dollar bottle of the cleaner at the dollar store, and offer that as a "freebie".

I've tried being nice and say "no, thanks" but that really doesn't work anymore.

He starts with 'hello, sir, I am...."

"LEAVE"
"I am...."
"LEAVE"
"But..." He moves closer to me, reaching for a handshake. My hand goes up in a clear 'stop' signal.
"Get off my property, you are now trespassing". Dude is still trying his script. "Do not come closer. Get in your car and leave. NOW."

He finally gets the hint, and gets in the van. Girl/driver gets out.
"Sir, is there a problem?"
"Yes, you are trespassing. I asked him to leave, and y'all are still here. Leave now."
"But...."
"GO"
"We are just..."
"Do you have a permit to solicit from the city?"
"I have a business license"
"No, I asked if you have a permit to solicit. Totally different. City requires a permit."
She says no.
"LEAVE. I am calling the cops in 3...2...." I pull out my phone and unlock it.
She finally gets the hint too, and drives off....they go up about 4 houses, and start over.


Grrrrrr. Maybe getting old does have it's advantages.



awww.howardbrothers.com_wp_content_uploads_2013_10_off_lawn_300x240.jpg
 
The dudes riding around in the mini-truck with the freezer in the back selling meat ....... :kaioken::sniper:


Matt
 
Had one stop by my moms house one day and con her into buying a $1600 vacuum cleaner. I get told of this, started shopping around and found the exact same model from the manufacturer for $550. Complete bamboozlement. The salesman must have been a serious smooth talker. :shaking:
 
.......................and the bitch in the van leaves when you shake his hand so he is stuck there trying to push his wares on you.
 
It's too bad that things have gotten this way. I'm not sure I can put a finger on where things went so bad. Its hard to sell door to door. Hell, it's hard to sell things period anymore. I inherited the responsibility of selling sponsorship ads for the program for our local county swim meet this year. I'm not being paid for this, but I want the event to be a success, so I'm in it 100%. Since I'm a stay-at-home dad, I'm bringing my son with me to approach local businesses with a couple of reasons in mind. First, I am on a limited time-frame and I need to produce the program at the end of the month with all ads typeset and sent to the printers, so I have to take him with me. Second, he's a well behaved kid and I'm trying to teach him what it's like to work for things and get past your anxiety.

Most places have been receptive to at least hear me out, but not all.

I've sold stuff door-to-door. It sucks. It sucked even when people weren't as skeptical of everyone approaching their door. I also used to sell windows by appointment. I've had guns pulled on me going to an appointment that the husband didn't know that the wife made.

Yes, I hate the schmuks who come around with a freezer full of meet claiming to be "the last of a big order that got cancelled" or whatever, but they are at least trying to make a living, not suckling the government teat of welfare.
 
I know a worthless POS who's now 50 and still lives w his momma cause he's a prescript. drug addict and unemployable and broke after a career working for home meat sales cos. and skimming their product/profits/being fired/ moving on to another co etc.; He's too lazy, unskilled/trustable to get or hold a real job. When he was younger he met more than a few lonely wives while selling door to door and destroyed a few marriages too along w 2 of his own. He used to brag about his conquests to anyone who would listen apparently proud of himself. The real skumbag factor was he had a habit of talking about the bible, and the lord frequently as if he was righteous. Oh and his momma is just as bad as him, real world grifters. He also bragged about not filing taxes for 20+ yrs, but they are on to him now..... thank God :rockon:
 
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I really enjoy the alarm system salesmen. Last asshole was walking around the neighborhood with a clip board. No vehicle in sight. He sees me and starts walking in the other direction. I ask him what he's doing and he says he works for a new security company out of Charlotte and hes coming up with a "security strategy" for the neighborhood. I ask him for a business card and to see his solicitation permit, which he refuses to show me. I told him that I'll be reporting him to the Sheriffs Dept. Not a minute later a car comes hauling as up the street and picks him up. The next afternoon he was back. I called the Sheriff's Dept and a deputy came out immediately and dressed the guy down for over 15 minutes. Then the Deputy pointed up the street and told him not to be seen in this county again.
 
I remember when I was a kid a carpet cleaning salesman came by. He offered to "do the living room carpet" as part of his sales pitch. During his pitch my Dad happened to come home from work. When he walks in the house he notices the fellow didn't move any of the furniture so there is a clean area in the middle of the room. He wouldn't let the fellow leave until he finished the job and no he did not make a purchase.
 
flatbedtoy said:
I really enjoy the alarm system salesmen. Last asshole was walking around the neighborhood with a clip board. No vehicle in sight. He sees me and starts walking in the other direction. I ask him what he's doing and he says he works for a new security company out of Charlotte and hes coming up with a "security strategy" for the neighborhood. I ask him for a business card and to see his solicitation permit, which he refuses to show me. I told him that I'll be reporting him to the Sheriffs Dept. Not a minute later a car comes hauling as up the street and picks him up. The next afternoon he was back. I called the Sheriff's Dept and a deputy came out immediately and dressed the guy down for over 15 minutes. Then the Deputy pointed up the street and told him not to be seen in this county again.
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More than likely he was looking for homes w nobody home to do a quick burglery/getaway w the lookout/driver. I have heard these crooks will also sometimes have official looking badges, forms etc. to fool peeps into letting them into the house to " get an estimate " for the security needed. They are really looking for likely targets small valuables like jewelry etc. to return and rob quickly another day when nobody is home. Older single widows are their favorite targets.
 
mommucked said:
More than likely he was looking for homes w nobody home to do a quick burglery/getaway w the lookout/driver. I have heard these crooks will also sometimes have official looking badges, forms etc. to fool peeps into letting them into the house to " get an estimate " for the security needed. They are really looking for likely targets small valuables like jewelry etc. to return and rob quickly another day when nobody is home. Older single widows are their favorite targets.
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Or they are, you know, legitimate alarm system salesmen.
I worked in the industry for a few years (never in sales in product development and operations management) and they go door to door because it works.
BTW...cool story on the no solicitation. If the company was smart they employ security consultants who will meet with you and assess your needs, they will not solicit you for business. They require no permit so long as they leave when asked to.

Now the door to door cleaning product guys, those in my experience are all scams. The alarm guys are required to undergo an FBI background check and be registered with the NCBFA and the NCPPS (burglar and fire alarm association, private protective services)

All I can say is door to door sales is a very tough job. No one gets into it because its a dream. Its usually a young kid starting out or a last resort before welfare. So everyone give themselves a collective pat on the back for making another man's life hard. I know I love intentionally breaking computers because I hate IT people, talking about how bad fabricators ripoff people, and generally thinking I am better than every other profession as well.

And no before anyone asks, I am not a door to door salesman and never have been. I am a sales engineer and work B2B but cant remember the last time I true cold called anyone.
 
I'm a firm believer that it should be a law that everyone must work for a year in either food service (waiting tables, etc), customer service (behind the counter clerk at a store of some sort), or cold-call sales. Walking a mile (or a hundred) in the shoes of those we tread upon every day will make you appreciate those that are actually working and not just walking into a cushy job after graduation. Will this solve all the world's ills? No - not by a long shot. Will some people still never get it? Absolutely. Would it be fun to see people with political aspirations actually have to sling burgers, get yelled at by irate customers and mop up vomit and spilled Pabst Blue Ribbon on aisle 6? YOU BETCHA.

We are quickly becoming the society that can't be bothered. Watch the news or read the stories online and daily, there is case after case of people losing it over stupid stuff. Someone grabs the last piece of chicken at a picnic and someone gets a fork in the eye (true story - check it out!), parking lot road rage, racking a shotgun because someone took a picture of your car in a parking lot.... the list goes on. I hope that if I'm ever stranded somewhere in an emergency with no cell phone that the person's house I walk to in an attempt to use their phone to call for help waits to hear my story before shooting at me to get me off their lawn.
 
I had a guy come to my house not long after we first moved in. My wife opened the door and started talking to him. I was outside in the back yard grilling. I opened up our back door to see my wife talking to this man who was standing outside of our front door. I had my hands full but asked what was going on. "He stated who he was and that was an alarm salesman from Honeywell. I told him that we were not interested and I went to go turn around to go back outside to set the stuff down and when I turned back around, he was INSIDE MY FUCKIN house, he had walked right past my wife and was halfway between the front door and back door. I had my pistol on me and I reached around to my side and put my left hand out in front of me and told him he needed to leave. He quickly knew what I had my right hand on (never brandished the firearm) and backed down and offered to shake my hand, I didn't and told him that he needed to leave. I made sure that I got his name and what he was wearing, I called the Alarm company he said he was working for, but apparently they were closed...I then called the next morning and described the guy to them and I got a call back from the supervisor in my area and said they had no one by the name or description that worked in my area....
Now when someone I don't know rings my door bell, I talk to them through the door/window and tell them I am not interested in anything that they are selling.
 
ManglerYJ said:
I'm a firm believer that it should be a law that everyone must work for a year in either food service (waiting tables, etc), customer service (behind the counter clerk at a store of some sort), or cold-call sales. Walking a mile (or a hundred) in the shoes of those we tread upon every day will make you appreciate those that are actually working and not just walking into a cushy job after graduation. Will this solve all the world's ills? No - not by a long shot. Will some people still never get it? Absolutely. Would it be fun to see people with political aspirations actually have to sling burgers, get yelled at by irate customers and mop up vomit and spilled Pabst Blue Ribbon on aisle 6? YOU BETCHA.

We are quickly becoming the society that can't be bothered. Watch the news or read the stories online and daily, there is case after case of people losing it over stupid stuff. Someone grabs the last piece of chicken at a picnic and someone gets a fork in the eye (true story - check it out!), parking lot road rage, racking a shotgun because someone took a picture of your car in a parking lot.... the list goes on. I hope that if I'm ever stranded somewhere in an emergency with no cell phone that the person's house I walk to in an attempt to use their phone to call for help waits to hear my story before shooting at me to get me off their lawn.
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I did two out of those three jobs a long time ago and don't think a fork in the eye is quite justified over chicken. Pizza on the other hand is a different story.
Then again I did once stick a fork in a co-workers hand who had a bad habit of reaching into other people's plates to sample their food without asking. I haven't had to do it since.
Sadly I wouldn't let you in the house to use the phone without knowing you but I would offer to call someone for you and then judge from there. Whether real or imagined, you just hear too much stuff to take a chance.
 
in all honesty, i had always tried to be polite to door to door guys. They are trying to do a job. And as someone said earlier in the thread, they aint on welfare.

Most of the guys that come off as scam artist, are trained by their sales managers to be that way. Like the "hey my boss said to get rid of these steaks..." The salesman are taught that shit!
 
ol'Jeeps said:
in all honesty, i had always tried to be polite to door to door guys. They are trying to do a job. And as someone said earlier in the thread, they aint on welfare.

Most of the guys that come off as scam artist, are trained by their sales managers to be that way. Like the "hey my boss said to get rid of these steaks..." The salesman are taught that shit!
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I totally agree but with the way the world is now. That guy who is talking to you up at your front door could be distracting you while his buddy steal all your chit. or casing out your house and getting info for when you might not be there. I don't trust anyone anymore when it comes to my personal belongings and my house.
I always try to give people the benefit of a doubt but is hard a lot of the times.
 
man....i would have totally fawked with those guys.

I would have picked the front door with grocery store card while listening to his story, then gone in the house gathering up junk and start to load it in his van.

once he asked whats going on i'd tell him im robbing the place and we gotta get outta here before the owners get home.
 
I learned a long time ago that I do NOT want to make my living selling someone else's product. I worked a while under a manager who was grooming me to be the next sales manager. The company I worked for had an excellent reputation for a quality product, but they were having trouble getting their products sold because they made a corporate decision to also sell via big box distribution. It's hard to sell someone on the notion of a quality product at a premium price when they can get the same thing at Lowes for less (just with no product expertise).

So they hire a guy that comes from a background of selling remodeling products from Sears. He puts their entire system to work, from recruiting to sales training. We go from focusing on the quality of our product to focusing on placing the seed of doubt about the competitors' products. Coupling fear, uncertainty and doubt with a mediocre product was the pitch he was after. You could have substituted our product in place of anyone's product with his pitch.

The capper was one day as we were driving around he mentioned about when I'm a sales manager the first thing to do after a new salesman closes his first deal (or you close it for him to make him feel good) is to take him car shopping. In his eyes, a salesman that is content with his wheels, his house, his clothes and his watch was worthless.

Not long after I landed a different job with no more aspirations of sales management.
 
I don't like strangers on my porch. And I will not buy whatever your selling.
The last security system salesman told me his monthly price was less than allowing a rape.....

If you need help I will probably help you, if not GTFO my property.

(Girlscouts this does not apply to you, I want me COOKIES!)
 
Had someone knock at 230 am asking for help cause they ran outta gas. Told him nope not going to open door and if he needed help I would call the sheriff. He started backing off the porch quickly and took off. Had my .40 at ready.

Dave
 
Usually the sight of a 1911 strapped to my side is enough to let D2D salesmen know that Im not interested when I answer the door.
 
Bogleparsons said:
I don't like strangers on my porch. And I will not buy whatever your selling.
The last security system salesman told me his monthly price was less than allowing a rape.....

If you need help I will probably help you, if not GTFO my property.

(Girlscouts this does not apply to you, I want me COOKIES!)
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I don't think Girl Scouts even sell door to door anymore. Last two that approached me to buy cookies both referenced their e-commerce sites (no joke!) and I think they were able to accept plastic. I think they are able to drop ship as well. Nothing like teaching the next generation about the fundamentals of salesmanship.
 
ManglerYJ said:
I don't think Girl Scouts even sell door to door anymore. Last two that approached me to buy cookies both referenced their e-commerce sites (no joke!) and I think they were able to accept plastic. I think they are able to drop ship as well. Nothing like teaching the next generation about the fundamentals of salesmanship.
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It depends on the troop. My girls did but we only went to neighbors we liked or who asked when they would be selling them.
 
I followed my son door to door selling Cub Scout popcorn...he cleaned house, probably sold to over 90% of the houses we hit. People paid cash for a promise to deliver in 2 months, I was shocked. This was not the neighborhood we lived in, but close to his elementary school. He had a good spiel recited, telling where he is from, about his pack, and what/why he's selling.
 
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