Do you always answer the door? - YouLookFab Forum

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Do you always answer the door?

kellygirl

Veteran

Door to door sales people and people soliciting me to attend their churches drive me batty. Do you always answer the door? What if the person sees you--do you ever duck and hide? Pest control, Kirby vacuums, window cleaners, students from foreign countries selling unmounted art work, kids selling subscriptions--sheesh. It's getting to the point where I cringe when I hear the doorbell. Am I being rude? I only ask because I just ducked from some guy in a suit with a pamphlet in his hand. I figure I'd save him the trouble of going through his spiel. DD's are not allowed to answer the door without an adult present--I don't care if the sales person sees them or not. Not sure if that applies to adults though.

I don't mind the occasional neighbor kid selling stuff for school but I rarely/never buy from strangers. Am I a bah humbug or do I just have bad manners?

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44 replies

Latest reply was from AviaMariah

ironkurtin

Veteran

I do not. I am under no obligation to answer my door.

kellygirl

Veteran

Thanks, Dana. I feel better now.

pil

Veteran

My attitude is the same as IK's. i have acutally gone to the door to see who is there and opted not to open.

El Cee

Veteran

No... you are not a "bah humbug". Agree with IK -- It is YOUR door, and YOU own it and can answer it when (and if) you darn well please. We get those kind of "drop by" solicitors, salespeople, etc. all the time. My DH has threatened to go answer in his undies to drive them away. I just choose to ignore most of the time. For a while we had a small sign on our door saying "No Solicitation Please". It helped a bit.

rae

(website)

Veteran

It's my door, and I don't see why I should have to open my home to anyone but the police. Home invasion threats aside, that is why people knock... it's like asking, "May we talk/interrupt your day?" Or else people would just bust in and start their pitch.

Diana

Veteran

Nope. In fact my default is to not answer my doorbell unless I'm actually expecting someone. I have the advantage of living in a large apt. building on the top floor so they have no way of knowing whether or not I'm home (and the intercom system in our building is so ancient and stupid, you can't talk and listen at the same time, so I often don't even bother to find out who it is).

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I admit I don't live in highly trafficked places (in Tahoe we're the last set of residences for a good 30 miles that direction). I do look if there is a peephole when we are in FL and/or ask, "who is it?". I have no trouble saying no thank you through a closed door.

Anonymous

No, if I am not expecting anyone, I often will not answer the door. I especially hate the ones who ring the doorbell and knock, when our outside light is off and the front of the house is dark.

kellygirl

Veteran

Thanks, Ladies. I was feeling an ever so slight bit guilty but I got so annoyed the other day when the Kirby vacuum person practically begged me to allow a demo--I get credit, I'm a student, blah blah. Today DD thought it was rude that I didn't answer the door when the guy most probably saw me--I'm not as stealthy as the cat, I guess. She got me wondering though--so I thought I would ask.
@pil: lol! I have windows on the sides of my door. That's kind of a big peep hole. There's no hiding unless I peek from upstairs but I still have to go by the door to get up there.
@El Cee: I like DH's deterrent. I'm pretty sure that would keep me away!
@Rae: Yes, home invasion has crossed my mind--that's why answering the door is verboten for DD's.
@Diana: I've had friends at my door call me on the phone to get me to answer. I guess I have them trained well! Most times, I don't even answer the phone unless it's a number I recognize.
@Mo: I think you have a good solution. Perhaps it's better to just say "no thank you" through a closed door than to hide. I think I'll try that tomorrow. No shortage of opportunities around here.

kellygirl

Veteran

@Ceit: I know. That's totally annoying. Thanks for chiming in!

pil

Veteran

Kelly, we have sidelights too - the knocker has seen me look at them and walk away. I just kind of wave and shake my head 'no'.

kellygirl

Veteran

Oh boy, look out. I'm not hiding anymore! Thanks, pil! I'm going to do as you do from now on!

deb

Veteran

No, I just let the dogs bark and bark.

Adelfa

Veteran

I used to but I don't anymore. Sometimes the knocker can see me in the kitchen on their way to the front door. I just go to another room and let my large dog bark at them.

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

Nope, I let them knock all the want. My door, my choice.

MsMaven

Veteran

After our burglary we had a new doorbell installed. It has a camera and a microphone. The camera takes a photo when someone rings the bell--so I can answer without opening the door. (Not when people only knock unless I push a button.) This has cut way down on the number of solicitors who come our way.

Lately we have been getting endless solar salespeople. I feel no obligation to answer the door for anyone unless I want to. Unless someone calls ahead, these visitors usually waste my time and interrupt my work.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I feel obligated to open the door because it might be our landlord or a neighbor with some urgent issue. We don't have a peephole, and the sidelight is frosted. Most of the time it's salespeople or proselytizers, unfortunately. We've got a "no soliciting" sign but its pretty much ignored. I've gotten good at saying 'no thank you' quickly and closing the door, much like I used to do with telephone salespeople. I'm not rude but neither am I interested in getting into a conversation with them.

Deborah

Veteran

Depends on the time of day:). If someone rings the bell at night and we are not expecting anyone, if I'm home alone I will ignore it, other times I might speak to the person thru the door to ascertain if I know them. I never feel compelled to open the door:)

Aquamarine

Veteran

There have been break-ins in surrounding towns. The modus operandi is that the burglar knocks on the front door and if no one answers, his accomplice goes to the back of the house and breaks in. Several times homeowners and even children home alone were in the position of confronting a would-be crook. No one has gotten hurt, but area police have advised people to at least make known someone was home but too busy to answer the door.

Anonymous

No, I don't always answer my door. We once had a "visit" from someone claiming to be conducting a survey for President Obama. After telling her that we don't participate in surveys and don't accept solicitations, I asked her not to come back. Well, she came back. When she did, I reminded her not to come back. She came back a few days later. At that time, I told her if she didn't get off my property, I was going to call the police. Meanwhile, I warned all my DDs not to answer the door. Guess what? She came back again! And when she did, my DD called the police. And I live in a relatively safe area.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Nope. I am not proud to admit it, but I've actually hidden in my office or bedroom rather than answer the door when it's someone I don't know or was not expecting (our house has a lot of windows, so it's easy to see in). I let the dogs bark. We live in a neighborhood that is not frequently targeted for soliciting, and our house is down a long driveway, so that seems to deter most salespeople, but we still get callers that I'd just as soon avoid.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

I learned living in larger cities, never to answer the door unless I know who it is and invited the visit. I don't care if the person sees me or not - I will just shake my head no at the window and walk away. I don't mind being "rude" if that's what some people think, my life is too valuable to risk to some stranger. Actually in the last city we lived in, I printed a small note and taped it so they could see it on the front door that said "No Soliciting, Do Not Knock, We Will Not Answer." It had gotten that bad where I didn't want people knocking every day either. Good thing we didn't have a doorbell.

Personally, I think in today's age of e-mail and social media, there is little need for a teen to go door to door selling anything, and in fact, it's also potentially dangerous to them.

Emily

Veteran

They don't ring that often so I pretty much always answer. About half the time, if it is a solicitor, they ask if my parents are home. At first I was offended. Then I wised up and started very politely answering "No, my parents are not here".

Laurinda

Veteran

Nope. I screen my phone calls too.

Kim

Veteran

They can see me and I simply walk away. I have a big sign saying 'NO SOLICITING OF ANY KIND UNLESS YOU ARE UNDER 12 YEARS OLD" (don't wanna scare away the Girl Scouts, kids with candy etc.) but they knock and try to sell me (religion, water heaters, paving, etc.) I'm done answering the door for people who won't respect my wishes on my own property.

If you can't read do you really think I want to buy your (religion, water heater, paving, etc.)?? LOL

I do make sure they see me though. They can think I'm rude but it's my house, my rules.

RoseandJoan

Veteran

In the UK there is a sign which you can put up on your door http://www.moneysavingexpert.c.....-more-junk
I think it makes a point.

My four year old is very good at fielding errant telephone calls, she says 'hello, who's calling..I don't know you...goodbye'.

rachylou

Veteran

No fricking way. Get off my porch! Hehe.

But I do like to answer the door to the proselytizers who ask, "Do you wonder why we die?" Because I like to see the look on their faces when I tell them "No."

That's hecka funny. Not in the script. Hehe.

Beth Ann

Veteran

On Halloween I do, because I think it's rude to not buy candy and hide! The rest of the time, I think safety and my privacy is first. I dislike children being sent out to raise money and sell, btw, and have never let my kids ring doorbells. As a Pastor's wife I was hit up by everyone --- all the time.

I believe in evangelism, and think that giving people an opportunity to talk about big questions is valuable, but I think people need to feel invited to choose to do so, when they're interested and ready to talk, buy, whatever. In all of DH's years of ministry, we never went door to door. It's not particularly safe for the person on the doorstep, either, and there are many ways to connect and invite. On Halloween, some church members set out a table in the church yard with candy, along with coffee and cider for adults. It's a way of letting them know who we are, and to give them something in the process.

Feel free to not answer.

Glory

Veteran

I sure do not. I work from home and am on the phone LOTS. So my dog loves company and loves that darn doorbell, any sort of knocking. Her response...barking! It was a huge problem for me on the job.
Eventually I resorted to putting up a sign. I tried to cover all the bases in my note: requests, solicitations for money, selling items etc. It has helped a ton.

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