To not open the door to strangers?

[MrsTumbletap]

My DH thinks I'm weird, but I don't open the door to people I don't know.

I'm not bothered that my lights are on and there is clearly someone home, I don't feel obliged to open the door. If it was the police or similar I would of course, but not some random man or woman. Do you open the door?

AIBU?

We replaced our front door with one with a spy hole and without a window for precisely this reason. We live in the middle of nowhere up a big fucking hill so we don't exactly get a lot of drop ins, but still...

I find people not answering the door very, very strange.

That really annoys me when people answer the phone to tell you they can't speak at the moment. Pointless.

Usually on these threads it's pointed out that it could be someone telling you they have just dented your car/killed your cat or your roof tiles have blown off. But there's always a bajillion reasons given as to why that would definitely not be the case, ever.

it could be someone telling you they have just dented your car/killed your cat or your roof tiles have blown off

I don't have a roof so it won't be that...

Longines or cat or car?

Well, obviously not if I'm in the bath or in bed or working to a deadline in an hour or comforting a heartbroken friend or doing something finicky and important -- but that's more because I'm doing something incompatible with door-opening. Not because I think the person on the outside is going to murder me, or in fact do anything more frightening than offer the redo my drive or introduce me to Jesus.

I opened my door to a random man last week and it turned out to be one of our neighbours inviting us round for dinner because he'd like to make friends. We're going round this evening!

We live in a central London in an area with a lot of chancers and we don't answer the door, if we do not expect anyone. We don't have that much spare time, so we don't want to be disturbed.

I find people not answering the door very, very strange

Why? As an adult I get to decide who I want to talk to. People selling me ‘hello fresh’ isn’t it.

I've just answered the door to a complete stranger. I was having a bath so I was wrapped in a towel.

A man selling poppies. He apologised and said he'd come back on Sunday.

I have in the past answered the door in the daytime to these people:
Solar panel salesmen
Charity sales people
Men asking to clear away any scrap
People saying the roof tiles are old, do you want new ones?
Jehovah's Witness

I then have to make excuses to close the door, once a charity worker stepping up into my hallway, she was so pushy. So now the door remains closed and I leer at you thought the blinds in the lounge. Mwah ha ha evil laugh..,..

We have gates at the end of the drive so no one unexpected comes to the door

Just get a sign, mine says No Cold Callers/Canvassers/Salesmen. Works a treat. I guess you could add 'No Strangers' if you wanted?

I once had a malicious phone call made about me to social services and one thing they put in the report was that I don’t answer the door if people knock 😂😐 so some people obviously think it’s alarming enough to report. The weird thing is I do answer the door yeh if I’m in the shower or something I wouldn’t

I look through the spy hole and don't open it if they look like a chugger, salesy or jehovahry.

I have bad anxiety and hate opening the door to the postie even when I know he's coming, so I'm really on edge when it's unexpected.

I learned my lesson last year though. Someone was ringing the intercom to my flat at around 1am. I couldn't see who it was so I ignored it even though they were persistent. I found out the next day it was an elderly couple, they'd found my dad outside their home. He'd been night fishing, felt ill and tried to make his way back home and had a heart attack outside their house. They got him an ambulance and managed to get my address from him so they could notify me he'd been taken to hospital :( I felt so bad that they'd gone out of their way to do that and I ignored them. (We took them wine, chocolates and flowers when my dad got out of hospital to say thank you, and sorry).

Now, I'll open the window and shout out to whoever it is, or if they're already in the flat building I'll open the door with the chain on, just until I'm sure it's someone legit. I don't ever want to risk missing anything important like that again.

I have a sign telling sales people not to knock.
I answer my door whenever anyone knocks, because salesmen now don't.
I would never ignore a knock. It could be (and has been in the past) something really important. And when it isn't, is a perfectly pleasant interaction with someone.

Sparklingbrook, I have a sign, am still plagued by tree fellers, chuggers, rendering people, driveway cleaners. Once a year a very nice Jehova Witness man calls, I open the door to him because he is very polite. He sees I am not dressed, apologises for disturbing me, we say goodbye and he leaves.

People are burgled a fair bit round here, all but one house has an alarm, that one is my neighbour who was burgled this year on the one night for months I was out and missed it.

Nearby people have been rushed by robbers who push past them and ransack the houses. Police are warning people for a reason.

In winter I am more cautious as it is more difficult to see if someone is hiding out of sight of the spyhole. I am not opening the door to some random. I knew someone that was murdered in their own home so yes, I am careful.

I think it’s odd but I don’t care if you do or not.

Your sign is clearly faulty @DontCallMeShitley. Is it very visible? I haven't had an unwanted knock for years.
You should open the door and say 'Oh is my sign not working?' while pointing at it.

@Sparklingbrook, I think the problem is the people who think they have the right to enter property regardless.

Sign is in the centre of the door, can't miss it. I once opened the door and pointed to it, then looked at the people on the step. It was the Police doing safety checks on the houses...

Since then I just open it a crack (with the lock on) and say no. One woman tried so hard to sell me rendering I shouted at her so loud she ran off. I am alone a fair bit and I want to be left in peace.

Clearing out the belongings of someone that has been murdered due to opening their door makes you think more carefully about answering.

I once ignored my door hoping they would go away. They were hammering and hammering for ages then started banging on the window. Turns out it was my neighbour telling me DH and DC had been in a car crash down the road.

I will ignore it tonight as they are away. I get very few knocks now I have a no cold callers sign anyway. I got it as I feltl guilty after snapping at the Jehovah’s Witness who knocked as I was dishing up a meal. Poor woman

Lol I don’t answer the door to strangers. I do as I did as a child and peep through the curtains upstairs. We recently moved to the city and don’t know anyone so I know it’s not just a friend popping round a cuppa

I let my dogs, that are teddy bears, but pretend to be vicious guard dogs bark at door then I go up to glass and say I can't open it. Every single caller is grateful that I don't answer.

I go up and call down from an upstairs window - if it’s a caller I am not expecting and I feel vulnerable. Also easy to get rid of people that way as it looks like you are busy and they are disturbing you.

I also use the word “we” in any conversation with strangers to imply there are other people in the household (rather than “I” - as in I am here alone)