Unwanted solicitors

[pomtzu]

How do you deal with them - both by phone, and in person at your door?

When the "do not call" act first went into effect, I registered my phone # with them, and it has worked fairly well - until recently. Now I'm getting a bunch of calls again, and most are recorded messages, so I can't even tell them where to get off. Last week I re-registered my land line again, and also my cell #, so I'll see if that helps. Supposedly you only had to register one time, so I don't know what happened, but I thought it couldn't hurt to register again.

Now for the folks that come knocking at your door - selling religion, magazine subscriptions, educational material to help your kids in school, asphalt for your driveway at a bargain price - just to mention a few. The asphalt is a big scam around here, and people have lost lots of $$$ by falling for it. I'm considering a No Soliciting sign for the end of the driveway or the front door, and was wondering if anyone here had any luck going that route.

I'm so sick of being in the middle of something, and have to stop to answer the phone or door for this nonsense. Exasperating!

[lizbud]

Well, the do not call list registration seems to be working for me fairly
well. They do make exceptions for charities, church groups & political party
calls though. The few sales calls that do get through, I just say "no thanks"
and hang up.

The one that I can't seem to get my name off their list is the CVS "ready
fill reminder" calls. I've called & called to have my number taken off their
list & I still get them.

[Karen]

We pay a small amount to have caller-id, so I do not answer the phone unless I recognize the number. Thankfully, we don't get in-person solicitors, in our old house, we'd only get religious ones, and I would say, "I have a church I like, thanks," and that usually put them off.

We had a "magazine sales" person once, and I said "I used to work for one, so I don't want any coming to my house, all I see are the mistakes," and I told them NOT to go to the couple next door, as if they ever went inside they would have seen stacks of years worth of magazines, and the last thing Kay needed was more coming in the door! I watched, and the guy didn't even approach her house.

[chocolatepuppy]

I did the 'do not call' thing years ago, but still get some calls. I have caller ID and don't answer if I don't know who it is. As for the door, I work dayturn so don't get many. If I do, I just kindly brush them off.

[Grace]

Ellie, do you have Caller ID?

We got a new cordless phone awhile back - a Panasonic. It has Call Block. You can program in up to 30 phone numbers, along with all those Out-of-area, Unavailable, Private Call calls. It works!! What they hear is a busy signal and a hang up. We hear one ring and then nothing. Our caller ID will show what/who was trying to call.

For all those that get through with a real person, I explain that we never donate to organizations over the phone and I ask them to remove our number from their database. And then I program their number into the Block list.

Door-to-Door, I don't answer them.

[Freedom]

At the door, I may get a neighborhood kid once or twice a year. So that isn't really an issue. Not sure how to address it, haven't thought of it.

The phone, I only get automated ones plus one company that calls to ask, "do you have a smoke detector in your house?" Once I answered yes and they were selling house alarms. I gave them a different name and said I was on the way out so they'd have to ring back. Now anytime I get a phone call for "Martha" I just hang up, lol. After 3 of those that stopped.

I do make a point of telling all of them to take me OFF the list. It's the automated ones you get stuck with. And it was horrid last election time, seems all the candidates had funds for that, even local school committee folk!

[pomtzu]

No Caller ID here. What can I say - I'm cheap and I keep my phone bill to a bare minimum. Seriously tho - I wouldn't even have a land line except that I have to have it for my Rescue Alert. I've thought about cancelling the alert system so I could get rid of the phone, but every time I say something to that affect, my son gives me what-for! With my luck, as soon as I did, I'd need it. Luckily when I fell and broke my hip there were people around - might not be so lucky if (God forbid!), something like that happened again. I suppose I could just leave the answering machine on all the time. If no one leaves a message, then it most likely was an unwanted call anyway. Family knows to call me on my cell if there is no answer on the land phone.

As far as the door pests, I'm going to try putting up a sign and see if they get the message. I think I'll put it on the door and not at the end of the drive. That way they will have the inconvenience of driving up, parking, and then walking up to the house before they see it. I've had some of the religion pushers actually come into the back yard if they see me outside with the pups. I hate to be rude, but some just don't want to take "no" for an answer!

[Medusa]

Do what Seinfeld did, Ellie. Tell the caller "I can't talk right now but give me your home phone number and I'll call you back. Oh, you don't want me to call you at home? Well, now you know how I feel!"

[Taz_Zoee]

Do what Seinfeld did, Ellie. Tell the caller "I can't talk right now but give me your home phone number and I'll call you back. Oh, you don't want me to call you at home? Well, now you know how I feel!"

That's a great one!!!

I do not get calls, except from our local newspaper and survey things.
We do get people at the door, and if I see them coming (I live in a court, so I can sometimes catch them going to the neighbors houses) I'll shut the door and just not answer it. However, the dogs barking their heads off gives me away. But if I do answer it I'll leave the storm door closed and talk through the screen. I just stick to my guns and say no thanks, and that I don't own the house and my boyfriend isn't home. Or that I have family in the field of whatever they are trying to sell. We don't get an annoying amount of door knockers though, luckily.
The sign should work though. They aren't "supposed" to approach houses with a sign. At least that's what I've heard.

[pomtzu]

Do what Seinfeld did, Ellie. Tell the caller "I can't talk right now but give me your home phone number and I'll call you back. Oh, you don't want me to call you at home? Well, now you know how I feel!"

That's a good one, Mary. Love it - maybe I'll try it if I don't go the answering machine route.