Too many unsolicited people ringing bell :(

[hind]

I live in SE22 and I'm starting to find it very annoyin the number of people with unsolicited offers or services who ring bell at the odd time. I've got a baby and running to open door to find a person who would like to chat or know a bit more about my household when I'm busy quite annoying :( do you feel the same? What do you do about and how to politely decline services?

[Pickle]

I'm not polite to them :)

Try putting up a "no unsolicited callers" notice? Or, unless you're expecting someone, don't open the door. It is a nuisance, I agree.

[etta166]

You can get signs for your door, e.g. No Cold Callers. I also tend to be slow to answer, usually because I'm busy, and then I am direct to the point of abrupt if I am not interested in talking to them. However, it is not the caller's fault that they have this unpleasant job, it's a way to earn money and they may well not have other options. If you want to complain, call then company/charity that employs them.

[Mustard]

There isn't a law that says you have to open your door to someone who rings your bell. Get a chain, or a spyhole, and just ask who they are, say you aren't interested, thanks very much, you have to go and goodbye.

You can just speak to them through the door, no need to open it. Or, just say you don't have any money and could they lend you some.

[Mrs TP]

If it's chuggers, I politely tell them I don't do charity over the doorstep and wish them luck. The odd one will be quite persistent and talk about not handing cash over but they still want your bank details so I tell them I'm not going to give them my bank details. Others - I barely give a chance to speak and if they do I do not respond to their over-familiar pleasantries and quickly say I'm not interested. Again, some are more persistent and say 'you don't know what it is' so I would say 'I don't know you and that's enough for me not to be interested' and then close the door. This always makes me feel quite rude but it's all over and done quickly.

I've found as well that if you don't answer they just keep coming back until you do. They tend to work in small teams in an area and persist until they get an answer.

All annoying especially during busy family dinner times.

[yeknomyeknom]

I agree, it's ridiculous around here. I don't mind telling them I'm not interested. I do mind the knocking in the first place as it wakes my child.

[slh2009]

If I answered the door I would just say that it wasn't a good time as I was feeding/bathing/putting to bed and shut the door before they had time to ask when would be a good time!

[Primula]

I am polite to them... I can't think that many people would do this job from choice bearing in mind the negative responses and rudeness you are likely to encounter. my view is its just as easy to say a polite and firm 'no thanks' rather than make someone miserable who's already doing a miserable job.

Pickle Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm not polite to them :)

>

> Try putting up a "no unsolicited callers" notice?

> Or, unless you're expecting someone, don't open

> the door. It is a nuisance, I agree.

[Lula]

I usually say, 'Thanks, but no thanks' but occasionally I get very frustrated with answering the door to cold callers ? sometimes I am expecting a parcel so I want to answer the door and we don't have a spy-hole unfortunately. The other day someone turned up mid-afternoon while I was looking after some friends kids as well as my own asking about some veg box/recipe scheme. I politely declined, he could see I was busy and asked if he could come back later. I said, 'No thanks. I'm not interested.' Then in the middle of serving the kids tea ? he rang the doorbell again. Unbelievable. I wasn't polite then.

[Kes]

I do try to be polite to them but recently I had one guy (same person!) who came to my door twice on the same day. The first time I had just got the toddler down for a nap, the second time I was trying to cook the kids dinner and I'm afriad I was a little less polite!

I had a man selling cleaning cloths etc. a couple of nights ago though who was quite rude, I told him politly that we didn't buy or give money at the door but he kept on with his speil, so I repeated myself and he crossly told me that I should "have a sticker on my door then".

Do these stickers actually stop people? And shouldn't it be my choice if I want one anyway? He seemed to think that by not having one I was compelled to buy/give to everyone who turns up.

Oh and then there was the girl from some strange church asking for money for "really good things y'know like not research or anythin"

I'm a scienctist, in medical research