To not answer the door to this man?

[ArghMyEars]

Earlier there was a knock at the door and I made the mistake of answering. It was a guy with flyers saying they were doing work a few doors down and had we thought about getting a certain job done on our house. We have thought about it so I was genuinely interested in how much it may cost. He asked would I like a price, and I naively thought he’d give me a quote there and then so when I agreed he said he’d be back at 5pm to measure and provide a price. I don’t want this, but was stupidly too polite and just said ok to get rid of him- I had half an ear on my toddlers bedroom because they were napping. I don’t want him to come back, I know he’ll be pressurey with following up and 5pm is right on top of my toddlers dinner time.
AIBU to just shut all curtains and not answer when he returns? 🙈

....just answer and tell him you changed your mind

I hate being door stepped for this reason as I feel obligated
I have a sign up on my door saying no cold callers but have had people pretending they can't see it..
So annoying 😑

Or just answer the door and say you changed your mind? Or call the number on the flyer and cancel?

why can you not be polite?

Yes nobody reads my no cold callers sign either!

Phone the number on the flyer and tell them you've changed your mind and cancel the measuring-up (which would be a sales pitch anyway).

No that's rude and wasting his time. Call and say you have changed your mind or get the quote (as you say you are thinking of having whatever it is done) but make it clear it's for a quote only and you won't be making a decision today.

Ring the number and tell them that you have changed your mind/reschedule.

Just leave a note on your door for him and say you've changed your mind or you had to go out and changed your mind anyway, that would be less stressful than having to answer the door and deal with him x

You answer the door quickly so doesn't interrupt dinner time tell him to crack on sorry you can't chat due to feeding the baby.

He doesn't want you hovering around anyway

Actually he'll probably forget and come a completely different day or time

However I'm very keen on tradesman looking for work so wouldn't be turning them away I've got a load of things need doing but can never find people

Don't let him come all the way back
Ring him.

He'll keep coming back. Just tell him you've thought about and you're not going to do it, if you could have someone there with you it might be a good idea. He may well complain about you wasting his time, or while he's here he might as well...Don't let him in.

We do get some pretty unpleasant characters trying to sell us things at the door like a new driveway, or your roof needs work, or that tree needs cutting, and they are always doing work down the road with a vague wave in one direction or another, usually they aren't, and they won't take no for an answer. Good tradesmen don't need to knock doors.

Call him back. If you find it difficult saying no, just say something like you mentioned it to your husband and you've decided to put the work off until next year. You've got his number, so you'll call back then for a quote if you need one.

This is far less awkward than having to hide when he comes, or him coming back tomorrow. Also, saves the guy from travelling all the way back just to be ghosted on the doorstep.

No need to draw the curtains just don't answer the door when people knock.

When people you don't know knock on your door it's because they want your money. No one ever knocks on your door to give you money.

As others have said, just call and say you’ve changed your mind. I did it once so can sympathise. Exact same thing happened- we’re fitting windows a few doors up, would you like yours doing? Sure. Ok I’ll take your number and someone will call you to arrange a fitting. When they called I said I wasn’t really interested in someone coming inside to measure, just wanted a general ballpark price based on windows they can visibly see without entering my home. The guy was mega huffy but whatevs.

Never get work or even quotes from people knocking on the door. Good tradespeople get business from word of mouth and do not need to advertise.

My default answer is 'Not interested - We rent'

Phone him back and say the landlord has refused to pay for it.

Personally I just wouldn’t answer - you didn’t ask him to knock your door and pressure you into saying yes (and that is what they are planning to do, however nicey nicey it is done!). I think he’ll get the message if you don’t answer.

I did the same as you once OP and they didn’t even turn up the second time so that’s always a possibility,
I don’t usually answer the door to cold callers and I won’t again.

Don't make him come back to your house. If he is someone genuine trying to earn a living/ just starting out it's not fair to waste his time like that.

Ring him and tell him you're no longer interested in getting a quote.

It would be rather rude of you if you just ignored the knock at the door at 5pm. You agreed to him coming back, he didn't force you.

Just give them a call and explain thank you but no thank you

Yep tell him you've changed your mind.

Decent tradespeople don't usually feel the need to cold call.

Ring him and say don’t come back or tell him when he comes. No drama needed

By being too soft to say a firm but polite no you have wasted this mans time. He is probably SE so his time is money
Its much better to just say no to things like this, less stress for you and actually politer in the long run

Just tell him your big huge 7 foot husband has already sorted it with another company

You did accept him to quote so don't be angry or alarmed if he comes back to try and do just that.

But by all means just crack the door, and say you've changed your mind. Or you've found someone else. Then just politely say thanks anyway and shut the door.

You're very wise to never trust builders that are at such a loose end they go knocking doors claiming they're working in the area. If that were true they'd be too busy to hand out flyers while asking to quote for works they have no idea if you need or not.

Decent builders are always booked weeks in advance.

You could be straight forward and just say “after thinking about it, I don’t want the upheaval at this time” or something along those lines.

Just don't answer the door