View Full Version : Run in with aggressive sales people

05-31-2008, 06:26 PM
Ok so I need to vent because this really wound me up so I'm hoping that telling you guys about it will mean that I can let it go.

So, yesterday this guy turned up knocking on the door. We ignored it and he just left a leaflet for some kind of home improvements that we don't want. Today he turned up again and we ignored it again thinking he'd go away. My brother was in his room at the front of the house with his window open so this guy decides to shout up through the open window. My brother told him twice that we weren't interested and even went to check with my parents that they definitely weren't interested before shutting the window thinking that would be an end of it. As I came downstairs wondering what was going on my Mom was pretty wound up and decided to go and have a word with this guy who was still standing on the drive waving and shouting abuse. Before she'd even unlocked the door my dad was on his way to join her and told the guy in no uncertain terms exactly where to go. This only made the situation worse. I could hear them both shouting and see this guy making aggressive gestures towards my Dad. At this point I'm pretty worried because I have no idea what this guy is capable of, so I grabbed a pen and wrote down the number of his head office from the side of his van thinking maybe that might help, or at least give Dad someone else to shout at who wasn't close enough to lash out. So the guy then gets even more angry when he sees what I'm doing, apparently I shouldn't be writing numbers down without his permission. Finally the guy gets back in the van and shakes hands with my Dad but there was a moment when I was worried this guy might actually punch him or something.

We had a good look at the leaflet and Googled the company. We aren't even sure it is a real company. Its annoying because he's going to get away with it. The fact that he thought it was perfectly acceptable to shout through our windows when we didn't answer the door and that my brother had to shut his window so this guy would stop trying to bully him into buying something really had me annoyed. Then to hang around cursing and even calling my brother a liar when my mom confronted him about it...by the end of it I was shaking with rage. If he comes again I will simply call the police.

So that is the whole story anyway and now perhaps I can calm down about it. People like that just get me so annoyed!

05-31-2008, 06:57 PM
you were right to write the # down. next time I'd also write the license plate #. and just call the police. Confrontations can sometimes end up bad.

Try to relax, deep breaths.. and knit.. let it go.

Big Bear hugs

05-31-2008, 07:08 PM
I would call the police. I can't help but think that person had bad intentions.

So sorry...scary indeed!! :hug:

05-31-2008, 07:47 PM
If you can't find the company by googling and can't get an answer by phone, DEFINITELY call the police! Let them know this person was verbally abusive and you now wonder if the company even exists. This guy could be casing the area, and even if not, as aggressive as he was with your folks I would hate to see how he would act around an elderly soul who lives alone and is too frail to MAKE him leave.

Call--the poice would rather be alerted to a possible problem than in be in the dark.

05-31-2008, 08:23 PM
I would agree with the previous posts - call the police. Maybe you can alert them to a situation that may save someone else from going through the bad experience you did. I am sorry you and your family went through that.

We get quite a few door to door people here - some of whom are polite and pleasant and some are real pieces of work. We've had tree people come and tell us the trees are dying in our back yard so we need them to cut them down that day (if they know that, they are trespassing and I told them that is not legal - that got rid of them) and we've had nice people like a poor lady who was selling vacuums door to door (I have plenty of those) but it was like 95 degrees that day so I gave her a cold bottle of water and told her to rest on our front porch for a spell. Frankly, I wish people wouldn't come to our door and we've posted a No Solicitation sign that does mostly no good or so it seems. I do respect the fact that some people choose to do this for money and so I try to be nice, but your experience was way out of line. Don't ever be afraid to call someone on such rude behavior by involving the police.


Becky Morgan
05-31-2008, 08:38 PM
I agree with the others--call the cops NOW. You don't know who he';s going to bully or abuse, what he's high on or what he's really planning!

05-31-2008, 09:41 PM
I'm glad you wrote down the number. Call the police and file a report.

05-31-2008, 11:30 PM
I agree with the others, call the police. There have been numerous news stories over the years of scam artists who go door to door signing people up for home repairs and improvements. They take a down payment of as much as they can get and then disappear.

06-01-2008, 12:25 AM
Not only should you call the police, you should contact your local news media (print/television/radio) and alert them to this scam. Many television stations here in the United States have some sort of consumer alert/consumer advocacy reporter, and that kind of exposure can stop this scammer dead in his tracks.

06-01-2008, 07:00 AM
Thanks for the advice guys. I'll talk to my parents about it.

Sewing Angel
06-01-2008, 09:57 AM
I think everyone has given great advice. In some cities here, door to door salesmen are required to register with the city. There was a horrible case last year involving magazine salesmen and they made the law even tougher. This guy needs to be reported.

06-02-2008, 01:12 PM
There are so many stories on the news about phony repair people ripping folks off. I would call the cops because if he's legit they will know and if he's not they can maybe prevent someone from a huge pain in the backside.

06-02-2008, 10:31 PM
I had a Kirby demonstration today. They definitely believe in the "hard sell".

I'm sorry your family had to deal with that.

06-03-2008, 09:16 AM
call the police anyway. It sounds like he's trying to scam seniors. we had a company for a while that was sending around people (no business card, no photo on their ID) that was trying to "save 33% on your electric bill" and taking copies of people's bills... so I refused, said i had to talk to my husband... went in the house and called our power company and had a nice little chat, called all of dh's relatives in our area and warned them (it was as scam... that discount is only for 3 months and then they take you for a ride with rates TWICE what our power company charges) and called the police department. I've also gotten people claiming to be raising money for the police department, etc that have shown up at my door or called on the phone, again a call to the police department and they issue bulletins to the radio stations and news stations about the scams going on.