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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To hate the salesman that will NOT get off my doorstep...

19 replies

Alambil · 20/12/2007 19:10

... no matter how many times I say, "I'm not interested, thanks" !?!!

Just had a farkin salesman stuck to my doorstep after repeating "I'm not interested, thanks" about 10 times.

He didn't get the hint until I started to shut the door on him!

Stupid bloke - I rekon there should be a rule that means they can't stay if you declare you aren't interested in their product or whatever instead of keep rattling off their prepared speech and ignoring whatever you say!

OP posts:

lizandlulu · 20/12/2007 19:16

i just say no sorry then close the door. sometimes it is just the only way to get rid of them.
i do listen to what they are selling, but if im not interested then thats what i do.

oxocube · 20/12/2007 19:19

I always want to say "I am never going to buy this crap so piss off" but always end up wasting 20 minutes of my life saying "I'm really not interested thank you"

Note to self to be more assertive

Original poster

Alambil · 20/12/2007 19:21

LOL oxo you sound just like me!

He wasn't even selling anything - just from British Gas wanting me to change supplier because "you are entitled to a VAST discount" - I don't think I can get much cheaper than £25 a month for both gas and lecky!

OP posts:

systemsaddict · 20/12/2007 19:21

It's fine to just say no thanks, firmly, then shut the door. Some are trained that they can't leave until they have absolutely explored every alternative, which, given British politeness, can leave you stuck with them for ages if you're not 100% assertive. Look at it this way, you're not being rude by shutting the door in their face, you're doing them a favour. Every minute they spend with you is time wasted when they could be earning their commission with someone else. If you still find it hard, practise hanging up on telephone sales calls!

Original poster

Alambil · 20/12/2007 19:23

That's a good tip! I did well tonight to START shutting the door on him - I just needed to actually shut it lol lol

OP posts:

slng · 20/12/2007 19:28

I told:

a dogs' home person that I hate dogs (and shut the door and had a good laugh with ds)

an electricity person that I'm not interested in however cheap his electricity is because I have too much money and don't care and besides I'm a kept woman and don't pay the bill and the person who pays the bill didn't come home till 11pm because he has to work hard to keep us in the style to which we are accustomed

a phone salesman that we don't have a mobile phone and don't want one. Trust me - they get really confused about that!

It's a good opportunity to practise lying! (And yes, we are sad and need real proper visitors!)

Original poster

Alambil · 20/12/2007 19:51

lol slng that sounds like fun!

OP posts:

Pixel · 20/12/2007 20:50

My sister told a double-glazing phone salesman that she didn't have any windows!

I had the British Gas bloke on the doorstep the other evening and he was very persistent. In the end I asked him if he really expected me to make a decision on the doorstep when I was trying to look after two children and cook dinner. He had no answer to that.

GrimmaTheNome · 20/12/2007 21:09

I get rid of people by telling them my husband makes all the financial decisions and he's out. [even when there are plainly two cars on the drive]

Or simply that I never buy on the doorstep.
Having a dog trying to investigate their ankles helps too.

slng · 20/12/2007 21:25

Howling children at the door can also put off salesmen, strangely enough.

We once kept a copy of the Watchtower by the door, thinking it might come in handy if a salesman should knock, but never tried it. The literature has gone missing, but can someone try this and let us know if it works? (No offence to any Jehovah Witnesses. All our Jehovah Witnesses visitors have been invariably friendly and polite...)

I sound like I spend too much time thinking about this, but I don't, really ... I just had cold calls from some accident lawyer company three days in a row now and feel a bit anti-salesmen...

CarGirl · 20/12/2007 21:28

we have a sticker on our door saying we don't buy from doorsales etc they still ring (usually when I'm trying to make a meal or put the dds to bed on my own). I always inform the JW that they are trying to sell something to me (they are their religion)

arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

coldtits · 20/12/2007 21:32

I just say no thank you. and if they keep talking, I say "Bye!" and shut the door.

they are not abiding by the British rules of conversation, why should I?

ksld · 20/12/2007 21:33

we had a Energy company saleswoman come round who refused to leave and was desperate to tell me how much money I could save with her company, and after much pfaffing and entering things into her laptop she told me I could save.......

£2.50 each year...

she left pretty quickly then.

smartiejake · 20/12/2007 22:25

We had one double glazing sales man who called one day telling me he had chosen to call as he thought our windows looked very scruffy (obviously went to a very posh charm school!)

This from a man with a very cheap black pinstriped suit with brown shoes, shirt buttons straining and tails not tucked in and a comb over that was obviouly based on Homer Simpson's hair do.
I asked him if he had looked in the mirror lately and slammed the door.

Sidge · 20/12/2007 22:29

We moved into a newbuild on a brand new estate back in the nineties.

One day a bloke came round trying to flog double glazing. I pointed out to him that I wasn't interested, and that he probably wouldn't have much luck flogging his windows on our estate - he was so dim he asked why.

JingleyJen · 20/12/2007 22:32

MiL kept on getting calls from an international number trying to sell her life insurance - really horrid scare tactics.

In the end Dh answered the phone one time and said he was there for his mothers funeral.. Not nice but they haven't called since.

wessexgirl · 20/12/2007 22:32

You need to practise your Unreceptive Face.

Just answer the door looking nakedly hostile (though not actually naked, of course). This has always worked for me (though I've also had to practise quick-face-switching when it's an innocent delivery).

MaureenMLovesmincepies · 20/12/2007 22:34

We had a burglar alarm sales man knock on our door not so long ago. Sadly, my dh is a burglar alarm engineer, so I knew far more about the top notch system he was trying to flog me than he did! Usually, I'd shut the door on them, but the opportunity was too good to pass off! Once he conceded that he couldn't sell me anything, he turned to leave and fell over my front wall! Very satisfying!

Original poster

Alambil · 21/12/2007 17:35

PMSL maureen I think he'd have heard my laughing from the other end of the street!

OP posts:

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