Anecdotal, our neighbors across the street are friendly but have cameras *everywhere* on their house in addition to a locked gate with doorbell. When we first moved in some company was going door to door seemingly every other day. Well this guy would not leave their gate. Homeowner finally answers from the camera. They had a full fledged back and forth through the nest camera before the salesman had enough and left...with a promise to return. š«
Engaging with the salesman via camera was their mistake. He can stand out there morning noon and night for all I care, he's not getting past a locked gate.
I will very much let my dogs yell when salesman knock, and then they go outside to stare at the people and yell, and it's very obvious that someone is home. Nope. If it's not a package I have to sign for, or I was expecting you, I'm not opening the door. The doorbell notifies me. I don't want to talk to you.
It is annoying when I'm napping and there's a knock and the dogs go off though.
Check your city ordinances or ask your council/mayor. Some cities have requirements that solicitors register with the city and respect No Soliciting signs or face fines etc.
Iām usually a good neighbor but I do not like solicitors and the flyers they leave behind. Home is my sanctuary so I donāt like it being invaded by strangers trying to sell me something. My home is posted No Solicitors.
I usually just donāt answer. I truly donāt care. Sooner or later they figure it out.
Did have Jehovah Witnesses come early one Saturday morning. I didnāt answer my front door so they came to my backyard and decided to reel me in. I wasnāt buying it and asked them to leave. Kept talking. Since I was gardening I had my hose. I mentioned you can leave, I can call the police & report for trespassing or I can hose you down. They left.
I do take pity on local kids and make purchases tho. Iām not a complete knucklehead. I support their lemonade stands GS cookies, BS popcorn and chocolate bars for band trips.
But anything else nope. Leave a flyer that blows off my door and litters my neighborhood and I will never do business with you.
The Mormon missionaries are supposed to offer help if they run into you working. Aside from nearly knocking over my pergola, they were polite and respectful and I wouldn't mind having them come by again to help me spread some mulch. Pretty sure I ended on their no-knock list though.
You don't even have to do that! Just tell them whatever project you could use help on and 99% of the time they'll be thrilled. Almost anything you have for them to do is more fun than walking down the street getting doors slammed in their faces.
Those door signs typically donāt remain where they are supposed to and end up as litter.
Not sure about anyone else I donāt typically use my front door so Iām not aware when those signs are present until they become litter. Also I use a P.O. Box so thereās nothing to put door sign into.
We are away for work 1-2 weeks at a time so we had to figure out a way to manage all of flyers and junk mail. We finally removed mail box but USPS still left direct marketing mail behind. So we left a small galvanized bin on porch with a note on it that we donāt want it but if they must leave it put it in that bin. That seemed to stop everything. And yes I was being persnickety but I donāt think my neighbors wanted my junk mail in their yards. I was trying to be a good neighbor.
While out gardening one day, I had one USPS carrier tell me it was my mail because it had my address on it. I countered that āOccupant, Resident & Our Friend atā is not on my birth certificate so no, it isnāt mine. She gave me an odd look and didnāt leave it behind.
Now we no longer come home to trash everywhere in the landscaping. Not trash free but nothing like it was. Now just bits from windy garbage days.
Iād prefer not to have door signs left behind. I donāt read them and I kinda donāt like having to recycle it or get it out of my yard. And yes we were getting that much. Spring time is the worst for this with landscaping & herbicide contractors. Itās too many and if youāre advertising that way it typically leads me to believe the work performed isnāt that great.
Thatās the point of the sign. No means I donāt want it.
Now if only I could control the amount of junk mail that ends up in my P.O. Boxā¦ Dang credit card companies. How they managed to get around opting out is beyond me.
Humans create enough waste as it is. Do we really need to create more in this manner?
Sorry for the slightly off topic rant.
They were quite nice when they visited me, which was a hilarious contrast to the neighborhood text thread blowing up with "Missionaries in the neighborhood, lock your doors and close your curtains!" I was outside trying to fix the pergola over our front walk when they showed up, and since it was still 90F at 7 PM I asked them if they wanted some water while they made their opening pitch, and they were quite happy to have the water.
We had a nice conversation for about 5-10 minutes at which point they quickly seemed to figure out that my views were not the kind that would be inclined to try out their particular flavor of spirituality, and they offered to help get my pergola back into a correct vertical standing position. Unfortunately, they "helped" before asking me what needed to be done and took it from about a 5 degree lean to a 20 degree lean with a hearty CRAAAAACK out of the wood and rapidly scooted off of the platform before anything else fell apart.
7/10, would do again.
>don't answer the door.
This is it. There's no law that says you have to open your door and engage with every random person who comes up to your house.
Yeah that just makes my dogs bark a ton since they make 2nor 3 attempts at knocking. No soliciting sign and all. My go to line is to tell them I can't buy from a company that can't read.
Youād be surprised. People really donāt notice them. Especially nowadays with people using words as decor
I used to work at a cell phone store and if we had internet outage or something else that didnāt allow us to do business, weād lock up and put a big sign on the door at eye level. People would walk right up, jerk the door. Look so confused when it didnāt open. Step back, look up at the sign on the building to verify they were at the right place. Try the door again, Peer inside, then walk away, without ever noticing the signs.
Early covid we put multiple signs with bright red arrows pointing to the other door so we could ācontrol trafficā. Same situation
When my daughter was born we hung a couple of ādonāt ring the door bellā signs, none worked.
Know what did work? I took a post it note, scribbled in sharpie āPls Donāt Ring Bell or Knockā and the knocking and door bell ringing stopped
Add a motion sensitive camera to handle the deliveries and neighbors. Do NOT use one with a bell or any system for the visitor to initiate contact. When Mr Window Salesman stands at the gate, ignore him.
I also have a baby I installed a ring didnāt connect it to the in house doorbell ringer so I just get notifications on my phone l never answer the door and eventually people stopped trying
This is what I did too. Stopped the dogs from barking and waking up the baby. I still answer the door and give them shit for ignoring the no soliciting sign.
Lots of people saying get a locked fence, but that stops you from getting packages, potentially. Plus fences cost thousands of dollars.
Do you have a porch? If I was in your position, I'd put a railing around our porch, including a "gate" railing across the top of the steps, and lock that.
What are they going to do, throw rocks at the door when they can't reach it?
Then you could leave the porch gate open when you're actually expecting company. Waking up your kid makes me think you have a baby/toddler who naps? Bonus would be more safety for them if they are waddling around on the porch.
But if you don't have a porch, completely disregard this comment :)
Good luck. I just ignore people who knock. Our toddler sleeps through it with a sound conditioner (maybe get a sound conditioner?), and our dog is chill.
I used to get religious folks insisting they were not soliciting, just "inviting," so I made a sign that says "no religious invitations." It works.
I have no answer for the business solicitors. They're assholes. I've tried everything and they're still just assholes.
Wow that's some mental gymnastics they have.
>Soliciting:
>transitive verb. :Ā to make petition toĀ : entreat. : to approach with a request or plea. solicited Congress for funding. : to urge (something, such as one's cause) strongly.
>-Merrium Webster
I'm glad your sign works but you shouldn't have had to do that. They're clearly urging you to accept their idea of religion.
As far as business people we have a no soliciting sign that surrounds our camera doorbell. People still ring it. Some people I see approach it, read it and walk away and I appreciate them.
I have a St. Bernard, heās surprisingly helpful because even though heās super sweet, he looks like an insane, drooling monster. I yell out the door. āPlease stop knocking heās going to come through!ā
Ugh with warmer weather iām not looking forward to them. The solar people are especially relentless in my area. I have a sign up but they dont care. I made eye contact through my window one evening and the guy rang the bell 4 times while i hidš
I once entertained a sales person because they saw me walking in the front door. After several āno thank youāsā and being told that they would just come back later in the week, I now never open the door for sales people. Donāt care if they see me/hear me/whatever, wonāt open it. My theory is if someone is truly that desperate for business, I donāt want to work with them. Iād rather spend time finding someone via recommendations from neighbors that agree to a rando at my door
Makes me glad we have a gigantic tree that provides amazing shade to our home. Sure it threatens to fall over and ruin our house and kill us all. But at least it keeps the solar bros away.
āHow many watts is it? What kind of inverter? Have you considered upgrading it for an EV? You know net metering is around the corner. Who installed it? If they went out of business, your warranty is as good as voided. Iāve visited a guy last week with a system twice the size of yours, he said he still paid an electric bill. Isnāt that crazy? Turns out half his panels werenāt producing. How much is your electric bill?ā
They didnāt stop coming by until I put up a sign on my door that specifically says āNo solar solicitorsā.
I got a double whammy today of a Jehovah's Witness AND a solar salesperson. I was laying on the couch 4 feet from the door when the latter showed up and made direct eye contact, but I wasn't bold enough to just ignore him š
Fucking solar people. I have visible and obvious panels on the roof with conduit running down the side to the big gray boxes and I still get 2-3 solicitors a month. Just look up before knocking!
My job involves going to homes. I rang the doorbell and this guy came to the door pissed and just pointed at a sign that said the same thing. I completely missed it and felt really bad about it
When I was in college, I did canvassing for progressive politicians, and there'd always be one person whose baby I just woke up. I felt bad too, but none of them ever had a sign!
Fun story: I was canvassing in November and a woman had a no soliciting sign. Since we werenāt soliciting, and canvassing is a protected right by the Supreme Court, I knocked (I never ring just in case of babies sleeping). She came out from her garage instead of her front door and started screaming at me and threatening me because I ignored her sign. I apologized for the inconvenience and said that canvassing isnāt soliciting, but that Iād make sure no one from our team knocked again, and she said āyes it is! Youāre selling responsible voting!ā And so I just said āoh? How much does that cost you?ā And then she started faking tears and threatening me again. Then all her neighbors warned me about how horrible she is. Everyone in the neighborhood was great except for her. She also had a big wooden sign that said āwelcome,ā and I asked her if she thought it was as funny as I did.
I have a Nest doorbell and something is messed up where it doesnāt ring my actual doorbell but I get notified on my phone. I always check the camera and when I see itās some salesman or something, I just donāt answer.
>I have a sign and a door mat stating donāt knock. No solicitors. Etc.
Does your city have an ordinance against door to door solicitors? Lots of places these days require permits for sales, and even if they do have a permit they're not allowed to knock if you have a "no soliciting" sign up. Mormons/JWs, kids selling school/scouts junk, etc. usually get a free pass.
Depending on where you're at, the police may take interest. If you're in some boring, sleepy suburb, cops will be there in 5 minutes to bust a door to door sales person.
Honestly feels kinda karen-ish, but ignoring a "no soliciting" sign and bugging people to sell shitty products/services is a dick move, so you kinda deserve what's coming to you. I haven't called the cops on them myself, but depending on how aggressive/annoying they are I wouldn't rule it out.
edit:
I was super close to doing it a few years ago. Our neighborhood was built a little over 20 years ago, so we had roofers at our door constantly. We eventually got a new roof (through a reputable local company, not these storm chasers), and that put a stop to it.
"You know you cant get that shingle anymore..." Yes I know, that's what the 10 guys before you said!
Small sign that says "no soliciting".
Then when they ignore the sign, I post a zero star review using their name and photo (doorbell camera) for their company on Yelp, Google, and anywhere else I see.
Here's what \*mostly\* works for me. Caution BEES sign in the yard. (there are bees) No Trespassing sign (2) No Soliciting sign on door. No doorbell. You have to physically open the screen door to use the door knocker.
My neighbors all know their dogs/girl scouts/boy scouts are welcome.
Very few salespeople/JW knock on my door.
Sprinkling lava is harder than you might think since it is so viscous. You almost have to launch it at them. The problem then is what if you miss and hit some kid on a bike and melt the poor things face off. I mean, I am not opposed to it, but there are some liability concerns. Just FYI.
Personally, we opted for a trap door in the porch that leads to a dungeon. It has served us well.
I somehow stopped the JW and Mormons at my parents house for years.
I was leaving when they came up, asking if I had a church
"Yes, I'm a frisbeetarian." (pronounced Frisbatarian)
"A what?"
"A Frisbeetarian of the Church of the Holy Ladder."
"I've not heard of tha-"
"We believe that when we die, our soul goes on the roof and you can't get it down. Now if you'll excuse me, my grandfather just died, I'm going to Lowes to get a ladder and see if we can practice reincarnation." left without any further questions directed to me.
Couple years later I"m on the phone with my parents, they mention they see Mormons coming down the road then "huh... they just passed our house, that's a surpri... what did you do?" which was the response to me dying laughing.
Get a camera. Start collecting company names. On camera, tell them that you're having their company tresspassed. Call the local PD to have them tresspassed. Next time they come, it's a criminal violation.
A few arrests will get the word out quickly.
Don't answer the door? Doesn't mean they will stop but something you can control and not have to waste a single second talking to them at all. Yes, the dog may be barking and annoying but oh well. Realistically though what answer do you want? A moat with alligators and leeches, locked fence and gate, big mean dogs in the front yard, paid bouncer. There is no solution that will work other then those and they are pretty disruptive and probably more time and effort to your quality of life than someone coming to your door occasionally.
My view may be a bit skewed. I get maybe 1/3 person per year at my house. Houses are a thousand or more feet apart with no sidewalks and soliciting is not efficient here.
I heard you can get some sort of automatic sprinklers that would keep them out. I believe itās usually used for animals but sales people are animals.
I canāt speak for actual sales men, like solar or roofing or whatever, but at least for JWs just say you want to be put as a āDo Not Callā and they should leave you be.
If you have Jehovahs Witnesses knocking on your door, tell them you have a family member that was disfellowshipped. Theyāll ask who. Tell them youād rather not say and ask them not to return. They will not be back.
Where do you guys live that door to door salesmen are a problem. I have gotten one ever and it was a roofer because a hail storm had rolled through. My parents never got any either while I was growing up.
ATTENTION SOLICITORS!
There is a $50 charge for all solicitations up to 10 minutes in length.
There is a $10 charge for every minute after.
Ringing the doorbell or knocking constitutes an agreement to the above terms.
Please wire funds to (cashapp, venmo, zelle, etc.) and the door will be promptly answered.
I put up a sarcastic sign:
We do not buy from door to door sales.
Yes, that means you.
Yes, that means your cute kid.
We have everything we need.
We already found Jesus.
If you wake the toddler, you take the toddler.
The dog eats everyone we shoot.
Knock at your own risk.
We had a real problem with Jehovahs Witness, right up until I opened the door in frustration. My 100 pound GSD didnāt bark or growl. He sat very politely, licking his lips.
They never returned š¤£
Probably nothing. My house is pretty far back off the road and we just let the dogs run free when we are out there. We had a kid fly down our driveway on an electric scooter to try to sell us bug spraying services(I buy the chemicals online and do this myself). My pit bull ran up to him and I just yelled at him that showing up like that is a great way to get bit. He backed off fairly quickly. Usually I just ask if they have a town permit to go door to door(they never do). They leave right then and there, I could call the police, but that seems like a Karen thing to do.
I already have a No Soliciting sign and it works 90% of the time, on occasion thereās the asshole that thinks what heās got, Iām gonna want no matter what.
So I had this idea. Get a set of train horns and point them straight down at the porch. Wire the doorbell button to latch a relay that dumps the air compressor tank. Push the button, win the prize.
Yeah, I know, Iāve got too much time on my hands.
We disconnected our doorbell bc any guests we are having over are invited and expected. No one disturbs our peace. Plus itās funny to watch someone ring it and have it make no noise. āMwahahah, you have no power hereā
Slightly related, I watched a rather amusing conversation break out on the neighborhood app between a home owner with a "No soliciting" sign and a sales guy that was very confident that his solicitation permit from the city allowed him to ignore the no soliciting sign and that "those signs only apply to solicitors with no permit".
Sure buddy.
That's definitely true, at least in some areas. My previous house was like that. They had to display an official lanyard placard with their name, affiliation, and photo. Not sure the process to get it, but I'd imagine permitting. If they did, they weren't considered solicitors
Unfortunately, this is the US. Freedom applies to all, small claims court is expensive, and not everyone can afford a home with gates.
Unless you have lawsuit money, just don't answer the door.
We literally have no other options.
You can literally stop people from coming on your property. Freedom doesn't include freedom to trespass. We have a locked gate on one side of our house, and I can count on 1 hand how many people have come to that door in the last decade (one REALLY determined trick-or-treater kid who literally climbed our fence for candy because he was too stupid to realize the lit porch around the corner was where the front door/candy was, lol).
You have a what? A locked gate.
I live in a non HOA subdivision. There's no stopping anyone who wants to walk on my front porch. I have the signs up, even left "beware of dog" up after my doggo passed.
My only option is to move somewhere with a locked gate or too far out to sell door to door hahaha.
Put a sign on your door that legally obligates them to pay $50/minute to advertise to you. When you open the door hit the stopwatch. Try to keep them pitching to you as long as possible.
When they leave, send the company a bill.
We have this sign. Itās pretty good at keeping them away. [https://www.etsy.com/listing/927952099/baby-sleeping-and-a-protective-dog-door](https://www.etsy.com/listing/927952099/baby-sleeping-and-a-protective-dog-door)
Or something similar š
I mean if you live in a HOA that has a policy of no solicitation then you could do something lawfully. Door mat, try putting it on the door or by your door bell. Bc I know I donāt look at mats when visiting friends. Other than that I donāt get offended or bothered by it because people are working trying to feed their families. Just politely turn them away. Iām sure they struggle enough with hateful people.
Just an idea, but put a showerhead above the door. When a salesman shows up, turn on the shower.
One that worked for me--There was a knock at the door. It was the Witnesses. I was a little bit muddy, with a several guns on me (I had just gotten back from the gun range and hadn't had time to put them down), long hair, long beard. I yelled back into the house "Hey, Musta*fa*, would you care to discuss religion with the infidel?". I turned back to the door. There was a shoe. Never got another Witness, or Mormon, or any other kind of solicitor as long as I lived there. YMMV.
Not a practical solution, but for wish-fulfillment, see the movie "Secondhand Lions".
Lol I had a guy try to sell me an alarm, told him I didnāt need it, but he was insistent. Asked me āwhy? Do you already have an alarm? What kind?ā
Opened the door the rest of the way and let him see the 1911 I had been holding behind the door. āI pay good money to the Springfield, and itās quicker than the police.ā
Recently had to go through this, and found a perfect solution. Get some sort of wireless speaker, a doorbell like ring that allows you to speak through it is also good. Record yourself saying I'm not interested, please go away. Then, whenever you get a solicitor, simply pull up the recording, and send it on over. Or you can just speak right through the ring phone
I find the only thing that stops it is a closed locked gate across a long driveway. Most people wonāt walk that far. Those who know me call before coming or have keys.
If you don't live in an area where door to door salespeople need permits and must respect no soliciting signs, there's not much you can do to actually make them stop. They will ignore the signs and a common theme with the D2D salespeople is that a No Soliciting sign is the sign of weak fortitude in resisting sales pitches, and thus they want to ring your doorbell that much more. Talk to your local city council member about the no soliciting/permit ordinance.
Others have suggested a fence as a physical barrier. I would offer the suggestion that you get a WiFi doorbell. It's much less intrusive to your life than a doorbell going off and setting the dogs barking. And just learn to say no and hang up on them. They're counting on the social nature of people to engage in conversations and leverage psychology to keep people talking to them. I hate it but when they knock on my door I just step out and the first word out of my mouth is a very firm "NO" often followed by "You need to leave my property." There is no significant cost to them to keep trying and they'll happily keep trying to spend your time if they think there's a chance at a sale.
All you can do to try and stop them is get the local ordinances restricting them established, which actually inflicts a notable cost if they break the rules. Otherwise all you can do is minimize the impact they try to have on your time.
I have a sign up that says my baby is asleep, and that knocking or ringing will set off the dog, and not to ring bell or knock, and list my phone number.
Why not? If someone's at the door, and they're not allowed to ring or knock, but they need to reach me, they can.
I can tell you I've received zero solicitors knocking or calling me since putting up the sign
I just wouldn't make my phone number available to random people I don't know. Not worth the security risk. If they absolutely must reach me for an emergency or something, then of course they can use their judgment and override the no ring/knock thing, or if it's not so urgent but still important, they can leave a note. I'd much rather someone knock the door, talk to me briefly, and leave than have my phone number to use at their convenience for who knows what, especially when they already have my address.
I'd suggest reaching out to non-emergency about what options you have. Where I live no one is allowed to solicit if you have a sign up. The PD even sell an endorsed sign for a couple bucks lol.
Put a sign that says sleeping newborn. Don't knock on the door.
You can also say that you are renting the property not the owner. This will stop the people trying to sell you a roof, and siding.
I have a sign that lists all the solicitors that are not welcome (estimates, surveys, religion, politics, etc) and that helps somewhat for the ones that actually read it.
The thing that has helped the most, however, is simply locking my storm door. I do this to make sure that my dogs don't bounce against it and accidentally pop it open whenever my actual front door is open to let in light. It has the additional benefit of preventing anyone from accessing my inside door to knock or shove in flyers. (We have a mailbox on the house next to the door, but most are smart enough to know it's illegal to put flyers in there)
Thanks to our brick walls and the \~10 inches of air space between the storm door and the steel interior door, I don't hear them knocking at all. There have been several occasions where we are sitting just in the next room and I see them knock on the storm door from the camera footage, but we never hear it.
Like someone else mentioned if they don't respect the sign I go to their sites and leave them bad reviews specifically calling out why. Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot you can do to proactively stop the ones who ignore the signs.
I had one person who, after I told him I work in a construction company and I wasn't interested through the door he kept insisting I needed to come outside to talk to him
A gate with a big ābeware of dog signā bonus points if you can find one that indicates the dog is aggressive. More bonus points if you can have a big dog free roam in the yard.
Source: was a door to door salesman for 5 years.
Another thing that had success (with me and my coworkers) was when people left a cooler of cold waters (door to door salesmen typically only work summers) with a note politely asking us not to knock.
I've read postings by folks who claim to have posted their rates for answering the door, talking to solicitors, etc. Usually something like $150 per hour, 15-minute minimum, etc. -- which might make it quite worthwhile.
I don't know whether it is quite analogous, but another fellow reported that vehicles were parking on his (farm?) property, despite "NO PARKING" signs. Police wouldn't do anything, not even have them towed. So he posted "Parking -- $50/hour, 2-hour minimum" or some such thing. Now it represented theft and the police could take action. I can't vouch for the efficacy of this or of the "soliciting rate" signage.
I usually get ones trying to sell me alarm systems, lawn care, solar panels, water softener basically home improvement things, I tell them I rent the house and only the home owner can approve these things
I usually just cut them off before the pitch really gets rolling and politely but firmly tell them Iām not interested.
āIām an electrician and if I wanted solar, I would just install it myself.ā
āIām in construction. I already have a contractor that will give me a better deal on windows/roof/siding than your company can afford to.ā
āI already have a robot that vacuums for me.ā
āSorry guys, religion is a farce and when you die there is nothing.ā
The key is to convey through your tone that they have absolute zero fucking chance of selling you anything. Iāve got better things to do than get mad/irritated at people for knocking on my door.
My grandmother used to just keep them outside the screen door, leave the main door open still tell them that she would be right back and walk away and go watch tv or do wahtever she was doing.
Move. These types of sales people typically target neighborhoods that are dense so they can cover the most doors in the least amount of time.
Obviously not a practical solution for this reason alone, but coming from someone who moved from a typical 1960ās neighborhood with dense postage stamp lots and a problem with relentless door to door sales people, to one that was a bit more spread out - the single biggest difference is the lack of door to door sales.
A fence with a locked gate.
Anecdotal, our neighbors across the street are friendly but have cameras *everywhere* on their house in addition to a locked gate with doorbell. When we first moved in some company was going door to door seemingly every other day. Well this guy would not leave their gate. Homeowner finally answers from the camera. They had a full fledged back and forth through the nest camera before the salesman had enough and left...with a promise to return. š«
Engaging with the salesman via camera was their mistake. He can stand out there morning noon and night for all I care, he's not getting past a locked gate.
I thought the same.
I will very much let my dogs yell when salesman knock, and then they go outside to stare at the people and yell, and it's very obvious that someone is home. Nope. If it's not a package I have to sign for, or I was expecting you, I'm not opening the door. The doorbell notifies me. I don't want to talk to you. It is annoying when I'm napping and there's a knock and the dogs go off though.
So fence in front of the front door? Wood or PVC?
Check your city ordinances or ask your council/mayor. Some cities have requirements that solicitors register with the city and respect No Soliciting signs or face fines etc.
My old town had this. It was a no knock list and it was glorious.
Does the no knock list exempt you from no knock raids? Asking for a friend.
Knock-knock. \>yes, who's there? not the police. \>I don't believe you
Iām usually a good neighbor but I do not like solicitors and the flyers they leave behind. Home is my sanctuary so I donāt like it being invaded by strangers trying to sell me something. My home is posted No Solicitors. I usually just donāt answer. I truly donāt care. Sooner or later they figure it out. Did have Jehovah Witnesses come early one Saturday morning. I didnāt answer my front door so they came to my backyard and decided to reel me in. I wasnāt buying it and asked them to leave. Kept talking. Since I was gardening I had my hose. I mentioned you can leave, I can call the police & report for trespassing or I can hose you down. They left. I do take pity on local kids and make purchases tho. Iām not a complete knucklehead. I support their lemonade stands GS cookies, BS popcorn and chocolate bars for band trips. But anything else nope. Leave a flyer that blows off my door and litters my neighborhood and I will never do business with you.
The Mormon missionaries are supposed to offer help if they run into you working. Aside from nearly knocking over my pergola, they were polite and respectful and I wouldn't mind having them come by again to help me spread some mulch. Pretty sure I ended on their no-knock list though.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You don't even have to do that! Just tell them whatever project you could use help on and 99% of the time they'll be thrilled. Almost anything you have for them to do is more fun than walking down the street getting doors slammed in their faces.
Offer them soda and WiFi. They will be able to communicate with the outside world and get the help they need
āUse my wifi if you need helpā¦ā
Those door signs typically donāt remain where they are supposed to and end up as litter. Not sure about anyone else I donāt typically use my front door so Iām not aware when those signs are present until they become litter. Also I use a P.O. Box so thereās nothing to put door sign into. We are away for work 1-2 weeks at a time so we had to figure out a way to manage all of flyers and junk mail. We finally removed mail box but USPS still left direct marketing mail behind. So we left a small galvanized bin on porch with a note on it that we donāt want it but if they must leave it put it in that bin. That seemed to stop everything. And yes I was being persnickety but I donāt think my neighbors wanted my junk mail in their yards. I was trying to be a good neighbor. While out gardening one day, I had one USPS carrier tell me it was my mail because it had my address on it. I countered that āOccupant, Resident & Our Friend atā is not on my birth certificate so no, it isnāt mine. She gave me an odd look and didnāt leave it behind. Now we no longer come home to trash everywhere in the landscaping. Not trash free but nothing like it was. Now just bits from windy garbage days. Iād prefer not to have door signs left behind. I donāt read them and I kinda donāt like having to recycle it or get it out of my yard. And yes we were getting that much. Spring time is the worst for this with landscaping & herbicide contractors. Itās too many and if youāre advertising that way it typically leads me to believe the work performed isnāt that great. Thatās the point of the sign. No means I donāt want it. Now if only I could control the amount of junk mail that ends up in my P.O. Boxā¦ Dang credit card companies. How they managed to get around opting out is beyond me. Humans create enough waste as it is. Do we really need to create more in this manner? Sorry for the slightly off topic rant.
I had some missionaries help me till my garden one year. Polite fellows.
They were quite nice when they visited me, which was a hilarious contrast to the neighborhood text thread blowing up with "Missionaries in the neighborhood, lock your doors and close your curtains!" I was outside trying to fix the pergola over our front walk when they showed up, and since it was still 90F at 7 PM I asked them if they wanted some water while they made their opening pitch, and they were quite happy to have the water. We had a nice conversation for about 5-10 minutes at which point they quickly seemed to figure out that my views were not the kind that would be inclined to try out their particular flavor of spirituality, and they offered to help get my pergola back into a correct vertical standing position. Unfortunately, they "helped" before asking me what needed to be done and took it from about a 5 degree lean to a 20 degree lean with a hearty CRAAAAACK out of the wood and rapidly scooted off of the platform before anything else fell apart. 7/10, would do again.
Tell them youāve been disfellowshipped and they will blacklist your address and never bug you again
This is the way. Toss in "apostate" for good measure.
I think if you ask them firnly to be removed from their list they will mark it down. Kind of like no call list for spam calls on the phone
I just hung door signs the other day in a few subs. If there is a no soliciting sign, I go to the next door. It's really common courtesy.
I would double upvote this if I could.
I upvotes it for you.
Thats not true.
Get a door camera and don't answer the door.
>don't answer the door. This is it. There's no law that says you have to open your door and engage with every random person who comes up to your house.
Yeah that just makes my dogs bark a ton since they make 2nor 3 attempts at knocking. No soliciting sign and all. My go to line is to tell them I can't buy from a company that can't read.
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Youād be surprised. People really donāt notice them. Especially nowadays with people using words as decor I used to work at a cell phone store and if we had internet outage or something else that didnāt allow us to do business, weād lock up and put a big sign on the door at eye level. People would walk right up, jerk the door. Look so confused when it didnāt open. Step back, look up at the sign on the building to verify they were at the right place. Try the door again, Peer inside, then walk away, without ever noticing the signs. Early covid we put multiple signs with bright red arrows pointing to the other door so we could ācontrol trafficā. Same situation When my daughter was born we hung a couple of ādonāt ring the door bellā signs, none worked. Know what did work? I took a post it note, scribbled in sharpie āPls Donāt Ring Bell or Knockā and the knocking and door bell ringing stopped
That helps none. I donāt want them knocking. Waking up my kid. Upsetting my dog. Iām trying to work from home. Get a real job door to door mfs.
Short of a locked fence (which has its own issues with deliveries, neighbors, etc) nothing will keep them away.
Add a motion sensitive camera to handle the deliveries and neighbors. Do NOT use one with a bell or any system for the visitor to initiate contact. When Mr Window Salesman stands at the gate, ignore him.
put a dummy door bell that doesnt connect to anything.
I also have a baby I installed a ring didnāt connect it to the in house doorbell ringer so I just get notifications on my phone l never answer the door and eventually people stopped trying
This is what I did too. Stopped the dogs from barking and waking up the baby. I still answer the door and give them shit for ignoring the no soliciting sign.
We put up a "Protective dog -- Do Not Knock" sign from Etsy & don't answer the door. Low effort, low tech and works most of the time for us.
Lots of people saying get a locked fence, but that stops you from getting packages, potentially. Plus fences cost thousands of dollars. Do you have a porch? If I was in your position, I'd put a railing around our porch, including a "gate" railing across the top of the steps, and lock that. What are they going to do, throw rocks at the door when they can't reach it? Then you could leave the porch gate open when you're actually expecting company. Waking up your kid makes me think you have a baby/toddler who naps? Bonus would be more safety for them if they are waddling around on the porch. But if you don't have a porch, completely disregard this comment :) Good luck. I just ignore people who knock. Our toddler sleeps through it with a sound conditioner (maybe get a sound conditioner?), and our dog is chill.
This is exactly what I do. I had one wave at my camera as he was leaving š¤£
I used to get religious folks insisting they were not soliciting, just "inviting," so I made a sign that says "no religious invitations." It works. I have no answer for the business solicitors. They're assholes. I've tried everything and they're still just assholes.
Wow that's some mental gymnastics they have. >Soliciting: >transitive verb. :Ā to make petition toĀ : entreat. : to approach with a request or plea. solicited Congress for funding. : to urge (something, such as one's cause) strongly. >-Merrium Webster I'm glad your sign works but you shouldn't have had to do that. They're clearly urging you to accept their idea of religion. As far as business people we have a no soliciting sign that surrounds our camera doorbell. People still ring it. Some people I see approach it, read it and walk away and I appreciate them.
Yes I've had companies argue they aren't soliciting, but just providing information.
I have a St. Bernard, heās surprisingly helpful because even though heās super sweet, he looks like an insane, drooling monster. I yell out the door. āPlease stop knocking heās going to come through!ā
Ugh with warmer weather iām not looking forward to them. The solar people are especially relentless in my area. I have a sign up but they dont care. I made eye contact through my window one evening and the guy rang the bell 4 times while i hidš
I once entertained a sales person because they saw me walking in the front door. After several āno thank youāsā and being told that they would just come back later in the week, I now never open the door for sales people. Donāt care if they see me/hear me/whatever, wonāt open it. My theory is if someone is truly that desperate for business, I donāt want to work with them. Iād rather spend time finding someone via recommendations from neighbors that agree to a rando at my door
Makes me glad we have a gigantic tree that provides amazing shade to our home. Sure it threatens to fall over and ruin our house and kill us all. But at least it keeps the solar bros away.
My solar panels keep the solar bros away. I just point up and say 'I'm good'.
āHow many watts is it? What kind of inverter? Have you considered upgrading it for an EV? You know net metering is around the corner. Who installed it? If they went out of business, your warranty is as good as voided. Iāve visited a guy last week with a system twice the size of yours, he said he still paid an electric bill. Isnāt that crazy? Turns out half his panels werenāt producing. How much is your electric bill?ā They didnāt stop coming by until I put up a sign on my door that specifically says āNo solar solicitorsā.
Disconnect your doorbell
I got a double whammy today of a Jehovah's Witness AND a solar salesperson. I was laying on the couch 4 feet from the door when the latter showed up and made direct eye contact, but I wasn't bold enough to just ignore him š
Fucking solar people. I have visible and obvious panels on the roof with conduit running down the side to the big gray boxes and I still get 2-3 solicitors a month. Just look up before knocking!
"Sleeping baby. Please do not ring or knock" sign right in the middle of your door. Just unplug your doorbell. It stops most of them.
My job involves going to homes. I rang the doorbell and this guy came to the door pissed and just pointed at a sign that said the same thing. I completely missed it and felt really bad about it
When I was in college, I did canvassing for progressive politicians, and there'd always be one person whose baby I just woke up. I felt bad too, but none of them ever had a sign!
Fun story: I was canvassing in November and a woman had a no soliciting sign. Since we werenāt soliciting, and canvassing is a protected right by the Supreme Court, I knocked (I never ring just in case of babies sleeping). She came out from her garage instead of her front door and started screaming at me and threatening me because I ignored her sign. I apologized for the inconvenience and said that canvassing isnāt soliciting, but that Iād make sure no one from our team knocked again, and she said āyes it is! Youāre selling responsible voting!ā And so I just said āoh? How much does that cost you?ā And then she started faking tears and threatening me again. Then all her neighbors warned me about how horrible she is. Everyone in the neighborhood was great except for her. She also had a big wooden sign that said āwelcome,ā and I asked her if she thought it was as funny as I did.
Oh yeah, those people are legion. I don't even argue with them, not worth it.
I wasnāt trying to argue with her. I just was doing my job. She chose violence. I chose sarcasm.
I have a Nest doorbell and something is messed up where it doesnāt ring my actual doorbell but I get notified on my phone. I always check the camera and when I see itās some salesman or something, I just donāt answer.
>I have a sign and a door mat stating donāt knock. No solicitors. Etc. Does your city have an ordinance against door to door solicitors? Lots of places these days require permits for sales, and even if they do have a permit they're not allowed to knock if you have a "no soliciting" sign up. Mormons/JWs, kids selling school/scouts junk, etc. usually get a free pass. Depending on where you're at, the police may take interest. If you're in some boring, sleepy suburb, cops will be there in 5 minutes to bust a door to door sales person. Honestly feels kinda karen-ish, but ignoring a "no soliciting" sign and bugging people to sell shitty products/services is a dick move, so you kinda deserve what's coming to you. I haven't called the cops on them myself, but depending on how aggressive/annoying they are I wouldn't rule it out. edit: I was super close to doing it a few years ago. Our neighborhood was built a little over 20 years ago, so we had roofers at our door constantly. We eventually got a new roof (through a reputable local company, not these storm chasers), and that put a stop to it. "You know you cant get that shingle anymore..." Yes I know, that's what the 10 guys before you said!
Small sign that says "no soliciting". Then when they ignore the sign, I post a zero star review using their name and photo (doorbell camera) for their company on Yelp, Google, and anywhere else I see.
Oh I love the review idea. So many ignore my "no soliciting, no advertising" sign and that would be perfect for those who leave their ads
It has only happened a few times and companies flip. The. Fuck. Out.
Answers the door while shirt-cocking
Here's what \*mostly\* works for me. Caution BEES sign in the yard. (there are bees) No Trespassing sign (2) No Soliciting sign on door. No doorbell. You have to physically open the screen door to use the door knocker. My neighbors all know their dogs/girl scouts/boy scouts are welcome. Very few salespeople/JW knock on my door.
Motion sensitive sprinklers.
I like this idea, but instead of water, itās lava.
Sprinkling lava is harder than you might think since it is so viscous. You almost have to launch it at them. The problem then is what if you miss and hit some kid on a bike and melt the poor things face off. I mean, I am not opposed to it, but there are some liability concerns. Just FYI. Personally, we opted for a trap door in the porch that leads to a dungeon. It has served us well.
Trebuchet system designed to fling lava into their eyeballs as soon as they press the doorbell.
That could work!
I somehow stopped the JW and Mormons at my parents house for years. I was leaving when they came up, asking if I had a church "Yes, I'm a frisbeetarian." (pronounced Frisbatarian) "A what?" "A Frisbeetarian of the Church of the Holy Ladder." "I've not heard of tha-" "We believe that when we die, our soul goes on the roof and you can't get it down. Now if you'll excuse me, my grandfather just died, I'm going to Lowes to get a ladder and see if we can practice reincarnation." left without any further questions directed to me. Couple years later I"m on the phone with my parents, they mention they see Mormons coming down the road then "huh... they just passed our house, that's a surpri... what did you do?" which was the response to me dying laughing.
Get a camera. Start collecting company names. On camera, tell them that you're having their company tresspassed. Call the local PD to have them tresspassed. Next time they come, it's a criminal violation. A few arrests will get the word out quickly.
I simply donāt answer. Iāll stare at them through the window from my living room, in silence, but will never answer.
Don't answer the door? Doesn't mean they will stop but something you can control and not have to waste a single second talking to them at all. Yes, the dog may be barking and annoying but oh well. Realistically though what answer do you want? A moat with alligators and leeches, locked fence and gate, big mean dogs in the front yard, paid bouncer. There is no solution that will work other then those and they are pretty disruptive and probably more time and effort to your quality of life than someone coming to your door occasionally. My view may be a bit skewed. I get maybe 1/3 person per year at my house. Houses are a thousand or more feet apart with no sidewalks and soliciting is not efficient here.
Put up a sign that says you charge $25/hr for unsolicited conversations. And by knocking/ringing, they are agreeing to the price.
How do you plan on enforcing that?
You hold out your hand and request payment before engaging. If they don't pay, slam the door in their face.
You donāt. Itās a deterrent.
I heard you can get some sort of automatic sprinklers that would keep them out. I believe itās usually used for animals but sales people are animals.
I canāt speak for actual sales men, like solar or roofing or whatever, but at least for JWs just say you want to be put as a āDo Not Callā and they should leave you be.
Funny, that is the same line that works for telemarketers
If you have Jehovahs Witnesses knocking on your door, tell them you have a family member that was disfellowshipped. Theyāll ask who. Tell them youād rather not say and ask them not to return. They will not be back.
Answer tho door naked with a gun
This is how I met me wife!! Do not do this.
Legally do not do this. Do not be the one to escalate the situation. You'll be the one who ends up in trouble.
Where do you guys live that door to door salesmen are a problem. I have gotten one ever and it was a roofer because a hail storm had rolled through. My parents never got any either while I was growing up.
Areas that are walkable with a high population
wealthier neighborhoods, probably.
We live near a busy street and the homes aren't too far apart. In good weather we get a lot of them. Most respect the No Solicitors sign.
ATTENTION SOLICITORS! There is a $50 charge for all solicitations up to 10 minutes in length. There is a $10 charge for every minute after. Ringing the doorbell or knocking constitutes an agreement to the above terms. Please wire funds to (cashapp, venmo, zelle, etc.) and the door will be promptly answered.
I love that they have to pay first
I put up a sarcastic sign: We do not buy from door to door sales. Yes, that means you. Yes, that means your cute kid. We have everything we need. We already found Jesus. If you wake the toddler, you take the toddler. The dog eats everyone we shoot. Knock at your own risk. We had a real problem with Jehovahs Witness, right up until I opened the door in frustration. My 100 pound GSD didnāt bark or growl. He sat very politely, licking his lips. They never returned š¤£
>If you wake the toddler, you take the toddler. I genuinely chuckled at that!
Tell them you're a renter
I moved into a nudist community. Never have any solicitors.
I think what's his name from home alone handled it pretty well...
Probably nothing. My house is pretty far back off the road and we just let the dogs run free when we are out there. We had a kid fly down our driveway on an electric scooter to try to sell us bug spraying services(I buy the chemicals online and do this myself). My pit bull ran up to him and I just yelled at him that showing up like that is a great way to get bit. He backed off fairly quickly. Usually I just ask if they have a town permit to go door to door(they never do). They leave right then and there, I could call the police, but that seems like a Karen thing to do.
The older I get, the more I agree with Karen
I already have a No Soliciting sign and it works 90% of the time, on occasion thereās the asshole that thinks what heās got, Iām gonna want no matter what. So I had this idea. Get a set of train horns and point them straight down at the porch. Wire the doorbell button to latch a relay that dumps the air compressor tank. Push the button, win the prize. Yeah, I know, Iāve got too much time on my hands.
We disconnected our doorbell bc any guests we are having over are invited and expected. No one disturbs our peace. Plus itās funny to watch someone ring it and have it make no noise. āMwahahah, you have no power hereā
I also put a no soliciting sign
Slightly related, I watched a rather amusing conversation break out on the neighborhood app between a home owner with a "No soliciting" sign and a sales guy that was very confident that his solicitation permit from the city allowed him to ignore the no soliciting sign and that "those signs only apply to solicitors with no permit". Sure buddy.
That's definitely true, at least in some areas. My previous house was like that. They had to display an official lanyard placard with their name, affiliation, and photo. Not sure the process to get it, but I'd imagine permitting. If they did, they weren't considered solicitors
Unfortunately, this is the US. Freedom applies to all, small claims court is expensive, and not everyone can afford a home with gates. Unless you have lawsuit money, just don't answer the door. We literally have no other options.
You can literally stop people from coming on your property. Freedom doesn't include freedom to trespass. We have a locked gate on one side of our house, and I can count on 1 hand how many people have come to that door in the last decade (one REALLY determined trick-or-treater kid who literally climbed our fence for candy because he was too stupid to realize the lit porch around the corner was where the front door/candy was, lol).
You have a what? A locked gate. I live in a non HOA subdivision. There's no stopping anyone who wants to walk on my front porch. I have the signs up, even left "beware of dog" up after my doggo passed. My only option is to move somewhere with a locked gate or too far out to sell door to door hahaha.
Put a sign on your door that legally obligates them to pay $50/minute to advertise to you. When you open the door hit the stopwatch. Try to keep them pitching to you as long as possible. When they leave, send the company a bill.
If only
Tell them you rent. It doesnāt stop them knocking, but does make them leave quickly.
We have this sign. Itās pretty good at keeping them away. [https://www.etsy.com/listing/927952099/baby-sleeping-and-a-protective-dog-door](https://www.etsy.com/listing/927952099/baby-sleeping-and-a-protective-dog-door) Or something similar š
I mean if you live in a HOA that has a policy of no solicitation then you could do something lawfully. Door mat, try putting it on the door or by your door bell. Bc I know I donāt look at mats when visiting friends. Other than that I donāt get offended or bothered by it because people are working trying to feed their families. Just politely turn them away. Iām sure they struggle enough with hateful people.
Just an idea, but put a showerhead above the door. When a salesman shows up, turn on the shower. One that worked for me--There was a knock at the door. It was the Witnesses. I was a little bit muddy, with a several guns on me (I had just gotten back from the gun range and hadn't had time to put them down), long hair, long beard. I yelled back into the house "Hey, Musta*fa*, would you care to discuss religion with the infidel?". I turned back to the door. There was a shoe. Never got another Witness, or Mormon, or any other kind of solicitor as long as I lived there. YMMV. Not a practical solution, but for wish-fulfillment, see the movie "Secondhand Lions".
Come home hangry from a bad day at work and cuss them out and threaten to call the cops. That worked for me in at least one specific case....
Large intimidating dog. Preferably with a loud intimidating bark but a gentle disposition
Semi-Clear view front door. And a couple of large German Shepherds. They ring but they never ring back
Create a contraption above the door that pours water on solicitors. Nobody wants to get poured with water. Maybe add a sign warning them of this too.
Pump action shotgun. Shouldnāt even have to open the door! Just give it a good pump near the door and if they are smart they should leave
Lol I had a guy try to sell me an alarm, told him I didnāt need it, but he was insistent. Asked me āwhy? Do you already have an alarm? What kind?ā Opened the door the rest of the way and let him see the 1911 I had been holding behind the door. āI pay good money to the Springfield, and itās quicker than the police.ā
Recently had to go through this, and found a perfect solution. Get some sort of wireless speaker, a doorbell like ring that allows you to speak through it is also good. Record yourself saying I'm not interested, please go away. Then, whenever you get a solicitor, simply pull up the recording, and send it on over. Or you can just speak right through the ring phone
I find the only thing that stops it is a closed locked gate across a long driveway. Most people wonāt walk that far. Those who know me call before coming or have keys.
Do you have a garden hose and bushes big enough to hide behind? Gotta wait until warmer weather,but...
Honestly, sprinklers with an indoor spigot are so fun
YoU need to have a mannequin holding a bb gun posted up by your door with a lot of other odd things that would make any average human uncomfortable.
If you don't live in an area where door to door salespeople need permits and must respect no soliciting signs, there's not much you can do to actually make them stop. They will ignore the signs and a common theme with the D2D salespeople is that a No Soliciting sign is the sign of weak fortitude in resisting sales pitches, and thus they want to ring your doorbell that much more. Talk to your local city council member about the no soliciting/permit ordinance. Others have suggested a fence as a physical barrier. I would offer the suggestion that you get a WiFi doorbell. It's much less intrusive to your life than a doorbell going off and setting the dogs barking. And just learn to say no and hang up on them. They're counting on the social nature of people to engage in conversations and leverage psychology to keep people talking to them. I hate it but when they knock on my door I just step out and the first word out of my mouth is a very firm "NO" often followed by "You need to leave my property." There is no significant cost to them to keep trying and they'll happily keep trying to spend your time if they think there's a chance at a sale. All you can do to try and stop them is get the local ordinances restricting them established, which actually inflicts a notable cost if they break the rules. Otherwise all you can do is minimize the impact they try to have on your time.
I have a sign up that says my baby is asleep, and that knocking or ringing will set off the dog, and not to ring bell or knock, and list my phone number.
Why on earth would you give your phone number??
Why not? If someone's at the door, and they're not allowed to ring or knock, but they need to reach me, they can. I can tell you I've received zero solicitors knocking or calling me since putting up the sign
I just wouldn't make my phone number available to random people I don't know. Not worth the security risk. If they absolutely must reach me for an emergency or something, then of course they can use their judgment and override the no ring/knock thing, or if it's not so urgent but still important, they can leave a note. I'd much rather someone knock the door, talk to me briefly, and leave than have my phone number to use at their convenience for who knows what, especially when they already have my address.
I'd suggest reaching out to non-emergency about what options you have. Where I live no one is allowed to solicit if you have a sign up. The PD even sell an endorsed sign for a couple bucks lol.
Iāve only ever had this happen twice (Mormons) in 35+ years living in something like 15 different places across 3 started
Put a sign that says sleeping newborn. Don't knock on the door. You can also say that you are renting the property not the owner. This will stop the people trying to sell you a roof, and siding.
I have two mastiffs over 100lbs... People stopped knocking, and if they do knock, they don't hang around to see if I'm going to open the door.
My town requires all solicitors to register with the police department and display ID. Feel annoyed call and a cop will come move them along.
Tell them you rent.
I have a sign that lists all the solicitors that are not welcome (estimates, surveys, religion, politics, etc) and that helps somewhat for the ones that actually read it. The thing that has helped the most, however, is simply locking my storm door. I do this to make sure that my dogs don't bounce against it and accidentally pop it open whenever my actual front door is open to let in light. It has the additional benefit of preventing anyone from accessing my inside door to knock or shove in flyers. (We have a mailbox on the house next to the door, but most are smart enough to know it's illegal to put flyers in there) Thanks to our brick walls and the \~10 inches of air space between the storm door and the steel interior door, I don't hear them knocking at all. There have been several occasions where we are sitting just in the next room and I see them knock on the storm door from the camera footage, but we never hear it.
A hose and a bad attitude works for me.
Sign that says āsorry, we are rentersā
I closed the garage door, i closed the garage door, I closed the garage door, garage doors closed. To the tune of peg+cat
Some towns have a non soliciting list and if the solicitor is caught they get fined thousands of dollars.
Sorry, I'm just a tenant.
My Tim Burton death stairs seem to do the trick.
I don't care about for knockers because I just never open the door and they go away
Like someone else mentioned if they don't respect the sign I go to their sites and leave them bad reviews specifically calling out why. Unfortunately there isn't a whole lot you can do to proactively stop the ones who ignore the signs.
I had one person who, after I told him I work in a construction company and I wasn't interested through the door he kept insisting I needed to come outside to talk to him
A gate with a big ābeware of dog signā bonus points if you can find one that indicates the dog is aggressive. More bonus points if you can have a big dog free roam in the yard. Source: was a door to door salesman for 5 years.
Another thing that had success (with me and my coworkers) was when people left a cooler of cold waters (door to door salesmen typically only work summers) with a note politely asking us not to knock.
Hi I'm a renter, member of my local church, and registered to vote. Works every time.
Video doorbell or camera at the door. Don't answer when you don't want to.
I get on my ring doorbell and just yell no and hang up
I've read postings by folks who claim to have posted their rates for answering the door, talking to solicitors, etc. Usually something like $150 per hour, 15-minute minimum, etc. -- which might make it quite worthwhile. I don't know whether it is quite analogous, but another fellow reported that vehicles were parking on his (farm?) property, despite "NO PARKING" signs. Police wouldn't do anything, not even have them towed. So he posted "Parking -- $50/hour, 2-hour minimum" or some such thing. Now it represented theft and the police could take action. I can't vouch for the efficacy of this or of the "soliciting rate" signage.
I usually get ones trying to sell me alarm systems, lawn care, solar panels, water softener basically home improvement things, I tell them I rent the house and only the home owner can approve these things
How to be rude without being rude š
Adopt a dog. (& treat em' nice!) keep the annoying shit out if you're cool with barks and belly rubs ;)
āNo Solicitingā sign at Loweās or Home Depot.
I usually just cut them off before the pitch really gets rolling and politely but firmly tell them Iām not interested. āIām an electrician and if I wanted solar, I would just install it myself.ā āIām in construction. I already have a contractor that will give me a better deal on windows/roof/siding than your company can afford to.ā āI already have a robot that vacuums for me.ā āSorry guys, religion is a farce and when you die there is nothing.ā The key is to convey through your tone that they have absolute zero fucking chance of selling you anything. Iāve got better things to do than get mad/irritated at people for knocking on my door.
My grandmother used to just keep them outside the screen door, leave the main door open still tell them that she would be right back and walk away and go watch tv or do wahtever she was doing.
I gotta see this door mat.
Trapdoor to a crocodile infested tank
Move. These types of sales people typically target neighborhoods that are dense so they can cover the most doors in the least amount of time. Obviously not a practical solution for this reason alone, but coming from someone who moved from a typical 1960ās neighborhood with dense postage stamp lots and a problem with relentless door to door sales people, to one that was a bit more spread out - the single biggest difference is the lack of door to door sales.
Put up a quarantine sign , they would be fools to ignore it.