To think you don't just keep ringing the doorbell if no one answers?

[Sparrowlegs248]

I'm at home, was putting my two small children to bed. Ive been really under the weather all week, so we all had a bath, got in pjs and were going to bed. My doorbell rang. I ignored it (2 yr old not quite asleep and would have got up and fully woken up if I'd gone downstairs). It's cold, dark, and I was in my nightshirt. The doorbell continued to be ring repeatedly. It's really quite loud. I went downstairs and unplugged it in the end.

Surely if the house is in almost total darkness and there's no response, you stop? Everyone along the road (rural, about 7 houses) knows I have young children and it was 7.30pm, bedtime.

Aibu to think give up after a couple of goes??

“ But it’s THEIR doorbell. THEY don’t owe YOU anything.”

But- what is a doorbell for?

But it’s THEIR doorbell. THEY don’t owe YOU anything.

That is an utterly ridiculous attitude
I bet they will be the first to complain that they haven't received their delivery.

I'm firmly in the camp that, unless it is impossible or unsafe to answer the door, why wouldn't you?

I'd have looked out of the window, if they were someone I didn't know I'd have just said I was busy.

It's not only on Mumsnet though. My reluctance comes from a lifetime of avoiding Bailiffs, Salesmen, travellers selling stuff, charity workers and dickhead mates of the ex looking for him.....plus sometimes I don't want to see anyone and this was the case long before I started using Mumsnet!

No wonder delivery drivers have been known to drop kick stuff over the back fence or stick it in the wheelie bin if the people that ordered the stuff CBA to answer their own doorbell.

I don't get this not answering the door lark. It's a fucking door, just open it for god sake.

My house is quite isolated, nearest neighbours definitely wouldn't hear a scream and it's a rural area. So when it's late and dark I tend to check through a window first.

Surprisingly I've not yet found a horde of criminals outside, complete with baseball bats and a van for the loot. Apart from neighbours, the last late night caller was someone looking for a lost cat.

Did once hear extremely loud and incessant banging at about 3am on the back door when dp was away, which admittedly did scare me and woke up dc. Especially as when I woke I couldn't hear the dog barking as you'd expect. A quick look revealed our rather angry small pony pawing away, having escaped and naturally headed off to the treat supply, only to find the door rather rudely closed and nobody around.

I hate answering the door at any point of the day / night and usually avoid it if it's not our postie. We don't get many any visitors anyway so I'm not missing anything important.

But it’s THEIR doorbell. THEY don’t owe YOU anything.

😂

Our doorbell sometimes jams in the on position, so maybe this happened?

"I don't get this not answering the door lark. It's a fucking door, just open it for god sake"

Or just relax and ignore it.

I wouldn’t answer I’m the evening. Not after recent events...

Someone banged on our door over and over about 9pm at night when DS, me and DH were all in bed already (me and DH not asleep just watching tv). He got up to answer as they weren’t giving up and it was a neighbour from a street away who had been attacked by her boyfriend. Police came and were at my house half the night, the boyfriend ran away but they searched the house and found deadly weapons. It was scary as hell. The next day the police came to my house and tried to arrest my DH because they got the wrong end of the stick. Her boyfriend was eventually found and arrested, she withdrew her statement and won’t press charges. The police want us to give a statement and the boyfriend has threatened us if we do (we’ve told the police obvs). When we see her in the street she shouts abuse at us now. I wish we’d never opened the door.

@Noooodles How awful... 😔 😔 😔 😔

Ahhh the MN I don’t answer the door thread.

Who hears a doorbell ring and doesn’t adjust what they are doing for the 30 seconds it takes to answer.

I don’t get it. Even when bathing a child, wrap them in a towel and look out of the window.

I have no concerns about answering the door in PJs, I work from home. Normal WFH attire 🤷‍♀️

@meganxz a person in need of help wouldn't have her number?

Yes, I think the not answering door threads are like the loo brush/shoes on or off in the house/saving tables in cafes MN stuff.

The come along regularly, lots of bizarre stuff said, no conclusion reached and everyone being ultra defensive of their completely right opinion on the matter.

The Hermes delivery man kept ringing our doorbell. It takes me a while to come in out of the back garden and through to the front door, and by the time I got there he was banging on the door. I opened the door, and the dog flew out and bit him on the leg!

Or just relax and ignore it.

I would find it difficult to relax if someone was ringing my doorbell.

For those who won't answer the door under any circumstances why not put a notice on the door stating this then you won't get bothered again. Or just remove the door and brick it up.

there is a doorbell, think it's called Ring, it has an illuminated blue ring around it, so probably that's its name. it connects to smart phone and you can see/speak to whoever rings the bell, even when not in.
so you can tell them to go away, without taking the risk of opening the door, or revealing that the house may be unoccupied.
I think it's a good idea, know people who have it. but not cheap.
I don't understand why people don't understand why people don't answer their door.
there is no obligation to do so, except for a warrant.
why make oneself vulnerable. even a chain can be easily snipped by those going equipped.

the door can easily be pushed in when not on a chain.
esp when alone with children, women feel vulnerable.

why's that hard to understand;
esp with the added responsibility to look after those children, eg one cannot just scamper over the roof/ drop out of a window to escape, leaving the children exposed to poss danger.
I really feel this is v important.
so many elderly people get scammed or worse partly because of conditioning to be over-polite. hence talking too long, letting people in, being worn down by salesmen...
I know this myself, looking back on my own life, scrapes I got into because it literally never occurred to me to say, go away ,buzz off.
the default setting was to be polite, defer to others, listen, not dismiss anyone before they wanted to go.
this may sound stupid to you younger folk, but we grew up differently.

so I am all for women, young and old, children, elderly, asserting themselves. and of course one can be dismissive/ ignore a situation/ person without being impolite. it's not impolite to keep one's own counsel/ withdraw/ decline to engage.

Or just remove the door and brick it up.

Genius. That will teach them!

"I would find it difficult to relax if someone was ringing my doorbell."

Well if they were ringing persistently, yes. But they will usually go away.

You have summed up what's so annoying about randoms ringing e bell!

Mum has a new family across the road who don't have a doorbell. My closest friend in this block of flats took the batteries out of hers.

It doesn’t necessarily just take 30 seconds though - it depends who it is. If my neighbour knocks on and I answer they always want to “pop in” for a cup of tea. Which is lovely, but sometimes I just don’t want to be sociable. Or it might be someone raising an issue that takes longer than 30 seconds to sort oit

And also I’m not leaving my daughter unattended in the bath even if it would only be 30 seconds, nor am I going to haul her downstairs dripping wet.

A few years ago we were out for a walk and saw that the shed in someone's garden was on fire. We rang and rang the bell, knocked loudly, shouted through the letterbox - nothing. And we know they were in because we could see movement.
We went home and rang the fire brigade instead.

The way I see it, if you're a raving lunatic, you'd just kick the bloody door in. If you're a burglar, you aren't knocking with the expectation of being let in. If you're a psychopath, you'll break in when nobody is home and hide. You aren't going to be hopefully ringing doorbells on residential streets in the early evening hoping someone is home to be attacked.

If it is anything criminal, it's far more likely to be someone checking the house is empty before breaking in later. Or more likely a potential scammer.

Although imo it's probably just someone that isn't familiar with the mn theory that thou shalst never open the door without a written invitation six months in advance.

I rang and rang my neighbours' doorbell because I'd seen someone in their back garden in the dark. They ignored me so, while I was on the doorstep I rang the police. Their lawnmower was long gone by the time they finally answered the door to a nice policeman.