Page 4 | For being terrified after visit from Nottingham Knockers?

rainydaysandrainbows · 19/12/2024 02:58

@thesecondmrsdewinter20 I don't get why if they're going around so many houses would they pick yours over any of the others? Is your house particularly vulnerable? If so, that's a wider risk not from these callers but in general and if not, I don't get what your concern is.

BeccaS34 · 19/12/2024 02:47

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 18/12/2024 23:31

Was wfh today and expecting a parcel so when I heard a knock on the door I answered. A young man told me he was an ex con selling things door to door as part of a rehabilitation project and asked to show me what he was selling. Politely but firmly told him I wasn’t interested. Later told DP what had happened and we read about Nottingham Knockers. Planning to call 101 in the morning and the house is all locked up but quite worried as we don’t have a security system, it’s our first home and we moved in only three months ago. I’m going to see if I can get a ring doorbell sorted over the next couple of days but we are going away on Monday for Christmas and I’m terrified the house will be broken into. Does anyone have any advice / reassurance? We are young, in our 30s, and I was quite obviously wary in speaking to him, so I’m not sure we’d really be a target (apparently they target the elderly / vulnerable / anyone willing to hand over cash on the doorstep) but quite frightened.

Put a sign up that says ‘smile you’re on camera.’ It might be a deterrent to thieves even if you don’t actually have one.

RogueFemale · 19/12/2024 02:34

I share @thesecondmrsdewinter20 discomfort with the nottingham knockers. You know they're lying about being on a scheme for young offenders selling door to door. Therefore you feel they don't mean well, and you just want them to fuck off. And they do, when you politely say no thanks.

claretblue79 · 19/12/2024 01:58

Not sure why people have to be so unpleasant to the OP. It was something that unnerved her and no one has the right to minimise her feelings. Also, just because one person has anxiety problems it doesn’t mean that someone else who is anxious will react in the same way. Just all seems so spiteful to me. Anyway, I hope that some of the more understanding posts have reassured you a bit ,OP

QuestionableMouse · 19/12/2024 01:24

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 00:05

111 is the NHS advice line. 101, which I referred to, is the number for non urgent police inquiries, which the police themselves suggest people use to report this sort of activity.

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Because they're scamming people by changing a fortune for cheap and rubbish supplies.

Not because they're going back with a roll of bin bags and nicking everything.

It's honestly infuriating how ridiculously anxious and scared people are of none events. And I say that as someone who has GAD!

BobbyBiscuits · 19/12/2024 01:21

It is a scam undoubtedly but not much more so than those ones that work commission only door knocking on behalf of unknown charities.
Please don't panic. Obviously tell the neighbours they've been around and be vigilant for a bit, but you're not in any more danger realistically than you were before they knocked. Yes they could be potential burglars, but so could anyone else walking past without knocking your door.

Original poster

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 01:19

QueenCamilla · 19/12/2024 00:23

I was sexually assaulted by a gas man, so I wouldn't rush to be lulled into a false sense of security there...

Getting a door camera and not answering to random male visitors is the most sensible course of action.

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I am so sorry 💐 x

OP posts:

Kinneddar · 19/12/2024 01:17

Why are you phoning the police tomorrow. That's basically a total waste of time. Why not phone them at the time

This is one of the most frustrating type of 101 call. Things that happened hours or days before where there's absolutely nothing that can get done

Please phone in about things at the time

Delphiniumandlupins · 19/12/2024 01:11

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 00:17

Thank you, the problem is we don’t have cameras or any sort of security system, and I would have appeared to be a lone female. Beating myself up for not having sorted a security system yet; we bought the house only 3 months ago. Feeling stupid now.

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You are still a less easy target than an elderly person. I'm not a burglar but assume they look for places easy to break into with something worth taking.

KillerTomato7 · 19/12/2024 01:03

Nottingham Knockers? That sounds like the most dangerous gang since the Bognor Regis Boppers were terrorizing the south coast.

Original poster

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 01:01

Blueberrybandana · 19/12/2024 00:49

OP, leave a 7 year old behind when you go away and I’m sure it will all work out just fine :)

(Saw Home Alone for the first time the other day)

This made me laugh!

OP posts:

Original poster

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 01:00

Ella31 · 19/12/2024 00:57

Op, get a ring door bell and when you get back from Christmas, get your security system up and running. I actually don't think you are being silly. The keyboard warriors are just out in their droves tonight. Regardless of whether there's reason to worry or not, it's horrible to be anxious like that in your own home. So I hope you can relax and not worry too much. I'd also come off the thread, you aren't getting great responses so I wouldn't bother.

Thanks so much. Merry Christmas x

OP posts:

SquirrelySponges · 19/12/2024 00:59

Sometimes they are genuinely people that are just trying to get back on the right path and make some cash. Yes, some people may be scammers but anyone could be! Unless they are threatening or aggressive or step into your home they have done nothing wrong. I really wouldn't worry. Police would log it at best, not much else they can do the following day when these people have long left the area x

Ella31 · 19/12/2024 00:57

Op, get a ring door bell and when you get back from Christmas, get your security system up and running. I actually don't think you are being silly. The keyboard warriors are just out in their droves tonight. Regardless of whether there's reason to worry or not, it's horrible to be anxious like that in your own home. So I hope you can relax and not worry too much. I'd also come off the thread, you aren't getting great responses so I wouldn't bother.

SWLondonLurker · 19/12/2024 00:54

DreamTheMoors · 19/12/2024 00:47

Your username is perfect.

Chef’s kiss.

You lurk, just like a guy in a raincoat with nothing on beneath it.

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🤣🤣🤣

SWLondonLurker · 19/12/2024 00:52

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 00:46

As with many of the comments, this is just nasty. I think most people would have been unsettled / anxious after this experience. I was probably hyperbolic in using the word ‘terrified’, but I’ve been shocked by the unkindness shown in many of these replies.

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You haven’t had an ‘experience’. Absolutely nothing even remotely out of the ordinary has happened to you. Literally nothing.

Similarly, none of the responses on here have been ‘nasty’. People have made fun of you a bit because you’re being silly. You are ‘shocked’ by this?

Goodness, OP. Go to bed. 🤣

Blueberrybandana · 19/12/2024 00:49

OP, leave a 7 year old behind when you go away and I’m sure it will all work out just fine :)

(Saw Home Alone for the first time the other day)

DreamTheMoors · 19/12/2024 00:47

SWLondonLurker · 19/12/2024 00:37

MN is a truly wondrous insight into the anxiety ridden minds of the curtain twitchers.

I really wish you’d enabled voting on this. 🤣

Your username is perfect.

Chef’s kiss.

You lurk, just like a guy in a raincoat with nothing on beneath it.

Original poster

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 00:47

DreamTheMoors · 19/12/2024 00:36

@thesecondmrsdewinter20

I’m in California, so a long ways from you, but I have a “security screen door” on my front and back doors.
It’s a metal security door that has ‘screen door’ features, like you can leave your main door open in the spring and summer for the breeze — but it’s heavy and has a deadbolt that securely locks.
I’m probably not describing it properly but I can talk to strangers through it while feeling properly safe and secure.
I didn’t know they existed until we moved here and the previous owners had installed them on both doors.
You can find them at any hardware or building supply store. They range in price from £150 to £1500, I think.
I know the uneasy feeling of talking to strangers who make you feel uncomfortable. I never open the security doors unless I know who I’m talking to.

Thank you, that’s really helpful.

OP posts:

viques · 19/12/2024 00:47

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 00:09

He told me he was trying to get back on his feet and that this was part of a rehabilitation scheme. He was very earnest and charming - obviously intending to make me feel sorry for him. According to police advice, they note down houses where people hand over cash as sites for potential burglaries. And thank you for understanding, it did.

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Phew, thank goodness you said you weren’t interested and didn’t hand over any cask. Narrow squeak!

Original poster

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 00:46

SWLondonLurker · 19/12/2024 00:37

MN is a truly wondrous insight into the anxiety ridden minds of the curtain twitchers.

I really wish you’d enabled voting on this. 🤣

As with many of the comments, this is just nasty. I think most people would have been unsettled / anxious after this experience. I was probably hyperbolic in using the word ‘terrified’, but I’ve been shocked by the unkindness shown in many of these replies.

OP posts:

Crackbacking · 19/12/2024 00:43

BibbityBobbityToo · 19/12/2024 00:34

Get a couple of timer sockets/Alexa thingies and put you lights on a timer for when you're away. If they are (unlikely) planning to break in, they aren't likely to target you if they think you are at home.

Yea I was going to suggest this. I live alone and was travelling for all of October so I used Alexa to play music at certain times.

DowntonCrabbie · 19/12/2024 00:42

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 00:09

He told me he was trying to get back on his feet and that this was part of a rehabilitation scheme. He was very earnest and charming - obviously intending to make me feel sorry for him. According to police advice, they note down houses where people hand over cash as sites for potential burglaries. And thank you for understanding, it did.

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So, according to the police you're not a target anyway as you didn't buy anything?

So much drama for nothing

WinterMorn · 19/12/2024 00:40

thesecondmrsdewinter20 · 19/12/2024 00:11

You obviously haven’t been reading my posts or the link I shared which explain that it’s a way for criminals to plan future burglaries. This is actually one of my first ever threads on this site, I’ll go back to lurking after this! People are so judgmental.

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I have read all of the posts on this thread OP, and I stand by my point that the paranoia on MN is out of kilter with the average person on the street. It’s not judgemental in the slightest to say this.

SWLondonLurker · 19/12/2024 00:37

MN is a truly wondrous insight into the anxiety ridden minds of the curtain twitchers.

I really wish you’d enabled voting on this. 🤣