to say no when the unemployed bloke comes round selling stuff door-to-door?

[MardyBra]

He always comes at the most inconvenient moment, and to be quite frank, I don't WANT to buy any of his stuff.

He's always up-beat (to the point of being over-ingratiating) but if I say a polite "no thank you", he shoots me a look of pure evil because I don't want to buy any dusters, like I'm a totally stuck-up bitch. And then I'm left feeling a bit shitty, because he has got off his butt and is trying to earn a living after all, but I just don't like door-to-door salespeople.

I am intrigued to get some feedback on this.

How can he be unemployed and working as a Salesman. He has to be one or the other Lol.

How can you be unreasonable for not buying something you don't want?

errmm is he unemployed then if he is selling stuff???? Maybe you feel bad because you have no respect?

OK, whyme, terminology was wrong. He usually says that he is doing this because he can't get any other employment.

YANBU, as personally, I think door-to-door salespeople should be boiled in oil and fed to pigeons.

(I have a real bad thing about unsolicited sales/calls/texts etc, almost to the point of phobia)

Be careful with this: we had a scam going on a few years ago when I lived in Nottingham where somebody would come to the front door selling dusters and another person robbed the house by the back door whilst the owner was distracted at the front.

Good point - I will dispatch DS to the back garden every time I get a cold caller!

I ALWAYS say 'I'm very sorry, I don't buy ANYTHING at the door' .

It works

cyb I use that line too.

The fish bloke pisses me off too, but at least he doesn't shoot me the look of evil when I decline.

I've had some people be very rude when I have refused politely. We get about 2 a week. Sometimes I buy stuff and it is the worst useless quality at around 2 x the John Lewis price.
I have even pretended to be my own nanny/babysitter to avoid them.

It's sod's law that cold callers alway arrive when I'm in an absolutely foul mood at the most inconvenient times.

I use cyb's standard response too - but have been known to subsequently wrestle with conscience and chase them down road brandishing a couple of quid if they're collecting for charity.

It seems that these days bona fide charity collectors are not authorised to ask for or accept cash (sigh of relief); instead they solicit signatures for regular direct debit donations as if.

We have the same around here. I think the guys are usually on probation, just out of prison, trying to stay off drugs etc.

The stuff they sell is massively overpriced IMO. I feel bad saying no and a little bit scared they might burgle my house because I haven't bought anything

It is a pita. They come about three times a week.

So are there any positive stories of someone having had their life turned around because of doing the door-to-door duster selling?

I know it's not directly comparable with The Big Issue sellers, but is it something that can make a huge impact on someone? The difference with The Big Issue is that they don't hassle you at your front door and are always very polite (whether you are buying or not).

piggyleroux - i feel the same as you. i get the impression that they are down on their luck but are at least out there trying to earn a trust but the stuff is so expensive in their basket, and it is shite as never lasts for long. now what i do is slip the chap a couple of quid rather than buy a duster for £7. what gets my gander up are the door to door charity collectors. i had some twat knock the other evening, he wanted me to commit to giving a monthly amount for homeless people (yeah, gonna give him my bank details), anyway i said that i didn't want to commit so it turned nasty and had a go at me for not giving to homeless people to which i lost it as i do, reguarly, there is a homeless girl/junkie where i give and i regularly buy her food and know her on name terms and we chat, that is helping, twat

YANBU to not want to buy tat you don't need from some guy on your doorstep. I'd probably tell DD (3) to "release the hounds!" if he kept coming back, but then again, I'm evil like that.

As for door to door charity collections I do tell them to bugger off, no matter what charity it is. Chuggers on the high street being mouthy and demanding your bank details is bad enough, but to bother you in your own home is a bloody pisstake really. I used to be quite friendly while saying no but now I'm abrupt and tell them where to go.

YANBU. I would just say no, politely, like you have been doing (this is what I do too). You could put a sign on your door saying "No cold callers please. We do not buy goods/services at the door" Our local council will send you one of their stickers (says more or less what I've put above). Not sure if they are very effective though!

Argh we used to get this where I used to live in Yorkshire.

It was some scheme for boys who had been youthful offenders and who had got out. One arrived in the middle of my mum's birthday party and I said twice that I didn't want to buy anything but he just kept showing me stuff. So eventually I bought some teatowels or something to get rid of him, but then he said, 'If you buy two packs I get breakfast tomorrow.'

I mean, FFS . Made me feel like the beadle out of Oliver Twist. I bought the other pack but resolved to just say no from then on.

Also, Big Issue sellers are NOT always polite. There is one who hangs around outside the Radisson in Leeds, where I used to have to walk past on my way home from work. He always said, 'Big Issue, sweetheart, come on.'

Now, I really object to being called fucking 'sweetheart' by random men. I don't want to be grovelled at but I do expect some basic fucking respect if someone wants me to buy something off him. So I said no, then it was always, 'Why don't you buy me a cup of coffee?' - er, no - and then 'Oh THANKS, yeah, cheers for that sweetheart' really sarcastically.

I always used to buy BI even though it's rubbish but no more after that.