To consider reporting these cold callers?

[ChaoticGouda]

Was on the phone to DF a few hours ago when the door went. Opened it without looking through the peephole (silly, I know, was in a bit of a tizzy because my dogs were barking up a symphony ) and saw two young men in suits, one with a face mask and the other with one of those plastic face shields you see in the supermarkets.

Was a bit hard to make out over my terrier's insistent yapping, but they admitted they weren't with our gas company and were here because of "reports of overcharging" in the neighbourhood, and that they wanted to see if I could spare a few moments to go over what type of meter I had and to check my bill.

I'm an overcautious person most of the time and doubt the legitimacy of anyone who isn't delivering post, but they were very polite and friendly and took it surprisingly well when I pulled the classic "You've caught me at a bad time, I'm just about to pop out to the shops" line. I know it's probably unlikely, but there's always the slim chance that they haven't done anything wrong and I would be getting them into bother over nothing.

But there are also some elderly residents in the area, as well as single mothers, so now I'm worrying that doing nothing could cause trouble for them. So:

YABU - Don't make a report
YANBU - Make a report

Had them 3-4 times now. I live in the SE.
I think they are harmless, wouldn’t have reported them.

However you need to train your dogs. They do sound a nuisance for your neighbours.

They come round all the time? Annoying but just say no thank you and close the door!

I have a note on my door advising if they knock on my door without an appointment they will charged for my time £25. It does deter some of them

Well of course it's a sales tactic and not very scrupulous. I wouldn't bother to report it, but one or other of my neighbours probably would, the police round my way check them out every time. My normal response is to smile and say no thanks, while firmly closing the door.

Opened it without looking through the peephole (silly, I know, was in a bit of a tizzy because my dogs were barking up a symphony blush)

Why is it silly to open your door without looking through the peep hole? Do most people even have one?

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding but report them for what? If they came once, were polite, showed ID etc, what's the problem? Obviously it would be completely different if it's every 2 minutes or they were aggressive etc.

Report them to who - the Police ? You might as well report them to your Mum for all the good that will do. They won’t be interested.

Report them to Trading Standards.

Report them for trying to get you to change your gas/electric company??

Do you also report double glazing sales people for trying to get you to buy their windows?

@Butterer

If you know which company they were from, report them to whoever employs them or trading standards. They shouldn't be using misleading sales techniques.

How do you know it was a misleading sales technique?

Assuming the OP's door wasn't the first they've knocked on in the area, they probably have found people being overcharged?

Were they expecting to be let into your home? This is against lockdown rules surely, if you are in England. Did they expect you to take a pic of your meter and bring out a bill and sit in the garden to go over it? Did they even have a badge or say which company they were canvassing for???

Sounds very dodgy and I too wouldnt have engaged with them.  Rather than making an excuse about going out, I'd say how ridiculous it was they are going door to door during a pandemic.  Were they socially distancing between themselves???

Yeah but to be fair, the OP admitted she couldn't even hear them properly.

I think she'd look foolish if she reported them but couldn't say exactly why.

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