Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Some People Just Can't Take No for an Answer...

This morning, as we were eating our breakfast, there came a knock on the door. I got up to answer the door, and was face to face with a young woman. Now, I had been forewarned that she was going to visit by my neighbors, who were very suspicious of her, as she asked a lot of questions about the families in the neighborhood.

I stepped out on the porch to talk with her, closing the door behind me. One of the kids tried to come out, but I kept the door shut. She did a lot of talking about other families in the neighborhood that she had already talked to. Still, she had not mentioned her purpose at my door. I asked again how I could help her, and she finally told me she was selling educational books. I politely told her I was not interested, but the darn girl would not take no for an answer!

Well, after telling her 3 times, nicely, that I was not interested, she still was persisting. As she reached down to take something out of her bag, I said one final "No, thanks!", opened my door, went inside, and locked the door. As I was locking the door, she was still talking!!!

I understand that you need to be persistent in door-to-door sales, but seriously? This was just too much! I felt a little guilty for locking the door in her face, but what else was I supposed to do?

2 comments:

Jennie C. said...

What you tell her is, "Excuse just a moment, will you? I think I need to go get my Glock." Substitute the handgun of your choice. Davey prefers a Beretta. :-)

Sandie said...

Another option is to excuse yourself while you go "check on the kids" or some other excuse. Lock the door and call your local police. If she is a legitimate salesperson, she should have a permit on file with the police department giving her permission to sell in your neighborhood during a particular time period. If she has no such permit, the police will come by and take care of her for you. I'm not certain that it works that way where you are, but I know in many states door-to-door sales are simply not allowed without permission from the local police. It's a great way for you to be sure that the person at your door is actually who they say they are.

Though I kind of like Jennie's idea better. It's much simpler.