Door To Door Solicitor Today

[speedsix]

...new scam afloat...last night I'm in the kitchen and see a guy headed up my driveway with a clipboard and an ID hanging from his belt...I go to the door and wait till he raps...he's cleancut and white...nice shirt and shorts...no tattooes...has a permit from the city which he's happy to show me...after he said "This is not about sales"

...his shirt says Honeywell security systems...begins to tell me that Honeywell's looking to do some advertising in my neighborhood...he wants to put a couple of Honeywell signs in my yard...I ask him what Honeywell is and he tells me the company's history...I finally interrupt him and tell him that now they're into security systems..."Well, yes, they are"...I ask him why anyone would want to put their signs in our front yard...and he says "Because I'm going to give you over $2000 worth of security equipment at no cost..." I'll save the mods the trouble and not post my reply...I told him there's gotta be a hook...where's the money change hands..."No, you don't pay a dime"...I said that if he lied to me again he was gone...

...he said that all I had to do was to sign an agreement to pay the police and fire dept. monitoring fees...to shorten the story...you set it up...pay for monitoring for XXX months...and it's yours...of course, if you terminate the monitoring, you'll owe for the equipment...he can only offer it to four homes in a neighborhood...etc., etc.

...I told this sharp, articulate 26-year old college degree in Business-type gentleman that nasty-handed working folks would respond better to an honest, straight-out approach rather than the scam story...gave him a bottled water and granola bar and liberal portion of Off... and sent him on to find his four lucky homeowners...

...if they'd just tell it straight...they'd earn some respect, get more business...and save all of us a lot more time...this guy was better than the spiel they sent him out with...he was as good as the Cutco guy...except for the story...they're not all thugs...but that don't mean they're honest...

[WildBill]

...new scam afloat...last night I'm in the kitchen and see a guy headed up my driveway with a clipboard and an ID hanging from his belt...I go to the door and wait till he raps...he's cleancut and white...nice shirt and shorts...no tattooes...has a permit from the city which he's happy to show me...after he said "This is not about sales"

I never buy anything that's free.

[speedsix]

...me, too, either!!!

[hi-power]

My wife does not answer the door when she's home alone. She called me at work yesterday morning saying there was someone ringing the doorbell over and over and over. The guy doing it had a hard hat on his head. There was no other identification she could see and no vehicle parked out front. He moved away from the front door and walked to the side of the house where the electrical box and phone boxes are located. The power went out and the security alarm squealed as it changed over to battery backup. We still had a land line connection but I told her to grab her cell phone, stand near where we keep our shotgun and call the police. She did and the police showed up within a couple of minutes. By that time the power was back on and the guy was next door talking to our neighbor George who works at home. After the police checked him out they came and told my wife he was legitimate; that he was a contractor for Oncor and had just installed a new electric meter. He had parked his truck at the far end of the block out of sight from our house.

A simple heads-up from Oncor saying meter replacement was going to be done in my neighborhood on Monday could have saved a lot of trouble. I don't know why companies don't do that these days.

[speedsix]

...common sense would say to park the truck (marked clearly) in front of the house you were working at...have a uniform shirt and clearly marked hardhat...which you could read through the peephole...but that'd be too easy...
...your precautions were wise...glad it turned out to be legit...and so is HE...but he'll never know just how much...

[92f-fan]

I know it was covered earlier but I want to add my $0.02.
I'm nearly 50 - IMO - Anyone who has a sleeve of tats has intentionally grouped themselves, with MANY groups that are not viewed well by LARGE parts of society. I'm not here to say if that's right or wrong. Its just a fact in my world.

I own a small business. My employees are customer facing, and impressions matter. I cant and wont hire someone with tats that cant be covered up, because of the perception of the public. I cant afford to alienate my customers.

It may be that everyone in your peer group thinks that tats are simply self expression and nothing more.
Its unlikely that the majority of society agrees with you. Certainly the majority of my Customer's dont.
That kind of self expression and individuality is completely ok. Just keep in mind that while you think you are setting your self apart from the crowd, you are actually joining another crowd.

Doug

[speedsix]

...I believe in the individual right to self-expression...be it long hair or beard or tattooes...clean and neat counter that a lot...some will sniff at you because your shirt-tail's out...but in the business world...you either care what your customers think...or they'll do business with someone who does...and that makes for different amounts of change for different client/customer target groups...
...the road I've travelled...I draw the line at dirty...not WORK-dirty...but unkempt dirty...and when I see the tats, I notice the attitude...some of those inky dudes have risked their life for you and me...

[Jumping Frog]

My 18 year-old son opened the door to a solicitor today.

When I reminded him that I don't want the door opened, he replied, "Come on dad. The guy was tiny. I could have pounded him in my sleep."

The arrogance of youth.

I reminded him, "My house, my rules".

[sjfcontrol]

And he could have shot you, and walked in before you could have even formed a fist.

[agarcia82]

Lol..if he would have showed you a chl license you would have invited them in for tea and crumpets wouldn't you..but tattoos..no way! They are bad guys cause of that.. man what is this world coming to..

[Ameer]

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

[Jim Beaux]

Lol..if he would have showed you a chl license you would have invited them in for tea and crumpets wouldn't you..but tattoos..no way! They are bad guys cause of that.. man what is this world coming to..

Of course I would offer hospitality to a CHL. His possession of a CHL shows respect for the law & of convention; it shows that has been vetted as a responsible member of society, & we also have a shared interest. The guy with the tats has stated that he doesnt respect nor care about my opinions.

So why is this so difficult to digest?

[agarcia82]

I have a chl and i have lots of tattoos..does that make me a bad guy?? I think what you did was just racial profiling..you didnt care what the man had to say..you just seen tattoos and automatically thought he was a bad guy.. and when you told him to buz off thats exactly what the man did he left you alone..you on the other hand did not my good sir you pursued it by calling the cops.. heaven forbid someone with a tatoo ask you for help if they are being robbed youl just shut the door on them..

[tacticool]

I think what you did was just racial profiling..you didnt care what the man had to say..you just seen tattoos

I didn't know only some races are able to get tattoos. Please tell me more about this.

[pbwalker]

I think what you did was just racial profiling..you didnt care what the man had to say..you just seen tattoos

I didn't know only some races are able to get tattoos. Please tell me more about this.

Same here! I'd love to hear more...

Or maybe I misunderstood...was he saying that people with tattoos are a race of people? If so, I'd LOVE to hear more on that.