Almost every homeowner would have encountered door-to-door salespeople or solicitors at their homes, and sometimes in their businesses This blog post is about how to get rid of them. Below is a photo of my ugly homemade NO SOLICITING, NO FLYERS sign.
How to get rid of annoying soliciting door-to-door salespeople
- Who are Door-to-Door Solicitors?
- What Do Solicitors Sell?
- Your Roof Looks Old
- Religious Soliciting
- Political Canvassing
- Charity and Donations
- Security Alarm
- Criminals Pretending to Be Salespeople
- What Are Signs of Scammers?
- When Do Door-to-Door Solicitors Come More Often?
- In the Time of Natural Disasters
- Are There Restrictions on the Type of Products or Services That Can Be Sold?
- Is Door-to-Door Soliciting Legal?
- How to Prevent Door-to-Door Solicitors
- Does Putting Up a "No Soliciting" Sign Help?
- Anyone Exempt From a No Soliciting Sign?
- This Salesman Ignored My No Soliciting Sign and Rang the Doorbell
- Can HOAs Ban Solicitors and Salespeople?
- I Paid For Something From a Soliciting Salesman. Can I Get a Refund?
- Conclusion
Who are Door-to-Door Solicitors?
Solicitors are door-to-door salesmen or saleswomen who try to sell goods and services to home residents. They usually bother you with roof or window estimates, garden or yard maintenance, HVAC maintenance and so on.
And of course, there are also religious, political canvassers certain shady people who do door-to-door soliciting.
School and college kids who are fundraising may or may not count as door-to-door soliciting. But, you want to be extra careful, especially if they are strangers and you have never seen them before.
What Do Solicitors Sell?
Door-to-door salespeople usually try to sell goods and/or services.
In the past, we (and I when I was single) faced a variety of solicitors.
- Window and Door estimates
- Garden / Yard maintenance
- HVAC maintenance
- Security alarm
- Charity and donation
- Religious people
- Charlatans who just want an excuse for you to open the door
- Fake solicitors who want to peek inside your house
- Politicial canvassers
- Plumbing services
- Totally unrelated services marketed to homeowners
Your Roof Looks Old
When we bought the house we are currently living in, the roof was new and we had it inspected prior to the closing and moving in. Soon after we moved in, we had a bunch of door-to-door salesmen tell us, "We noticed that your roofing was old." or "Your roof needs to be repaired", followed by, "Can we take a quick look at your foot?" and then "We have estimates blah blah". It got annoying having to tell them that we just bought the house, the roof was new and we are not interested. They still would not give up that easily.
Religious Soliciting
I had just moved to the US, to Kansas state. In the first month, I had my first unsolicited visitor - a "church elder". He introduced himself as a "former PhD student", current pastor and originally from Indonesia. Since I was new to the country, and being a good Indian, I welcomed him inside and we sat on the carpeted floor. At first, I didn't know what he wanted, but got my answer a few hours later.
He started his talk with post-death scenarios, discusison of hell and heaven, and so on. It turned into a theological debate with Bible verses from me and him to support our arguments. A few hours later, when he was on the losing end, he said he had to leave. I figured that I wasted my whole afternoon and I could have spent the time working on school work.
The next day, he was back with a senior member of his "church", so they could do a group debate with me. I told him I was busy and didn't let them inside. Something just didn't feel right about the whole thing.
Their end goal was not to proselytize. They already knew I was a Christian. Their goal was to increase their church membership using their methods, which includes gaslighting and passive aggression. Ask people who have been visited by religious solicitors. Many of them are not even from mainstream or established churches.
My Takeaway: Do NOT engage in any talk with religious folk. Just say you're not interested, or nothing at all, and shut the door.
Political Canvassing
Every election period, political volunteers conveniently ignore the "No Soliciting" sign and think it's their right to push their political opinions on every homeowner they approach.
Not good at all! Volunteers of every political party do this in my part of northern Virginia regardless of the "No Soliciting" sign.
Politics can whip out emotions in people. Unless you want to spend time discussing your political opinions, do not engage in political discussion. If the volunteer has an different political belief as you and you get into a debate, watch out for future potential vandalism on your property. Yes, that happens and has happened before across all political parties.
My Takeaway: Do not debate political stuff unless you have time to spare. Political opinion can make some people go crazy, so be careful.
Charity and Donations
Strangers knocking on your door asking for charity in the form of money or goods is not rare. But how genuine is the charity? Is it 503(C) registered? In many cases, these are fictitious. I know people that have generously donated to fake organizations, and the money ended up in scammers' pockets.
You might also be approached by people showing photos of sick kids and asking for a donation. We were solicited by Indian and Filipinos holding photos of sick kids, and when we questioned them, they ran away, literally. đ.
If you want to donate money or goods, prepare a manually curated and whitelisted set of genuine charities. There are way too many scammers out there now.
My Takeaway: Do not donate to any charity unless you know them personally or they have a 503(c). Also, get a receipt.
Security Alarm
More than a decade ago (2011 or 2012), when ADT and Brinks were the two leading alarm companies, we were approached by smaller companies that promised state-of-the-art smart monitoring. This was before Ring Doorbell, Blink, Nest and Wyze made their debut.
Everything sounded fishy and when I asked for details, the salesmen slunk away! They had just copied off the "smart monitoring" material from some whitepapers.
Another salesman talked about similar monitoring, using motion sensors and notification by phone call, and wanted an advanced subscription complete with credit card details, etc. The sense of urgency and scare tactic like "OMG! What if someone breaks in tonight? You need the protection!" was really offputting.
My Takeaway: Do not let security alarm salespeople pressure you using crime statistics, or scare you with sense of urgency. They usually follow up with a golden offer. Do your own research on the Internet, and look for reviews before pulling out your wallet.
Criminals Pretending to Be Salespeople
This is a dangerous type. There are criminals who pretend to peddle their wares, and when you are talking to them, they scope out the surrounding, observe and layout of your living room, and sometimes take photos of the house and yard.
If you are not comfortable talking, just ask them to leave. If they do not, call the local police or 911. When they leave, immediately lock the door.
There are criminals like this who also act as "mobile pharmacists", aka dealers, and you do not want to have to do anything with them.
What Are Signs of Scammers?
High pressure tactics, asking for cash, not giving a written contract, too good to be true offers, refusal to show their ID or business license. All these are signs of outright scammers and not the regular [or aggressive] salespeople.
Ask them to leave immediately and close the door! You can also report this to law enforcement on their non-emergency numbers.
When Do Door-to-Door Solicitors Come More Often?
Door-to-door salespeople are out on their rounds mostly during the start of Spring and phase out by end of Summer.
The window estimates/door estimates folks will be out in full force in Spring. This is the time they point out or scare you into making expensive repairs to your house.
Towards the end of Summer, they'll be making extra rounds to convince you to subscribe to their annual maintenance plans before winter kicks in.
In the Time of Natural Disasters
If there is a storm in the near future or a storm has just ended, you will see an army of door-to-door salespeople. A few may be genuine, but there are those that feed off fear of homeowners.
Are There Restrictions on the Type of Products or Services That Can Be Sold?
Yes, and this depends on state and local laws. But a general list is as follows:
- Insurance policies
- Motor vehicle insurance
- Home repairs that require a building permit
- Investment opportunities
- Lottery tickets
- Alcoholic beverages
- Gasoline, diesel and other fuels
- Sale of food
Is Door-to-Door Soliciting Legal?
Yes, soliciting is generally legal in residential neighborhoods in all states in the US. The Supreme Court ruled that salespeople have a constitutional right to peddle their goods and services. Local communities and even the states cannot have laws preventing this.
You can ask if the person is licensed. If they do not have a license, ask them to leave immediately.
If you live in Virginia, you can contact
How to Prevent Door-to-Door Solicitors
You legally cannot. But what you can do is post "No Soliciting" signs in your residence and business. Post the sign in the window like how I posted mine. Mine is so big that you can see it from the road without glasses on. I saw a salesman taking a photo of my handmade sign.
You can also stick "No Soliciting" signs in the ground and in parking lots. You can buy them from Amazon, Home Depot or Lowes.
You can improve on your setup by adding a security camera near it. I also have a yard sign that says "24 x 7 recording", so salesmen are more hesitant.
If they approach you inspite of your very visible "No Soliciting" sign, point the sign to them and ask them to leave. Or you can just say, "Not interested".
Engaging in any amount of talk with them will enable and encourage them to start their pitch. It is up to you to decide where to draw the line with the conversation.
No Soliciting signs from Amazon, Lowes and Home Depot
If you have a dog at home, post "Beware of Dog" sign. Door-to-door salespeople are not very fond of dogs.
Does Putting Up a "No Soliciting" Sign Help?
Yes, to some extent. If someone still bothers you and refuses to leave, you can call the police and they will file tresspassing charges on them.
If you look at my "No Soliciting" sign, I have a Wyze v3 camera glaring at them in the face. It records 24x7 and has motion-powered notifications as well.
Some door-to-door salespeople avoid houses with Ring Doorbells and cameras like mine. Putting the "No Soliciting" sign with a nearby camera helps.
Anyone Exempt From a No Soliciting Sign?
This depends on the area, but when asked to leave - verbally or written request - and they do not leave, the can be arrested for trasspssing. They will end up being penalized.
This Salesman Ignored My No Soliciting Sign and Rang the Doorbell
This happened a few days ago. A smiling salesman saw the NO SOLICITING sign, chose to ignore it and rang the doorbell. He said he had an estimate for God-knows-what and proceeded to pull out a notebook and a pen to take my details. I should have pointed to the sign and closed the door.
On that day, I wanted to see if being polite would help. So, I politely told him, "Have a good day" and closed the door.
Can HOAs Ban Solicitors and Salespeople?
Legally, home owner's associations cannot prevent solicitors from visiting individual houses. What HOAs can do is prevent them from entering gated communities or private roads. Putting "No Solicitation" signs at the start of the entrace does help. For confirmation, you should consult your local law enforcement agencies.
I Paid For Something From a Soliciting Salesman. Can I Get a Refund?
Depending on the area you live in, if you want a refund, you can claim a portion of the amount as refund. This is because local governments require solicitors to post a solicitation bond before selling goods to the public.
If you live in Virginia, you can cancel a home solicitation sale for $25 or greater. You have up to 30 days to cancel if the item is not as described. This comes under the Virginia Home Solicitation Sales Act. Read the Virginia Home Solicitation Sales Act.
Conclusion
If you have not yet put a "No Solicitation" sign on your property, it is good to put one now, not just for peace of mind, but for the safety of you and your family.
Aggressive salespeople will always still ring the doorbell. Make sure you have a visible camera pointing to the area outside your front door, just in case. We have had far fewer salespeople after putting this sign and Wyze camera.
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If you have any questions, please contact me at arulbOsutkNiqlzziyties@gNqmaizl.bkcom. You can also post questions in our Facebook group. Thank you.