Door To Door Sales

[Richard1978]

People selling things door to door is almost a thing of the past, mostly due to people not liking cold calling, & other factors.

I remember encyclopedias were a popular item, often you would sign up to pay in instalments & get a volume at a time.

Does anyone else have memories of items sold this way?

[Moonraker]

Re: Door To Door Sales

In the early 70s I knew of a man (a distant relative of mine) who use to sell material/clothing in a suitcase.
Soon after he opened a string of shops and became a millionaire.

[George 1978]

Re: Door To Door Sales

I think that the reason you don't see them very often now is because: A) people would rather come to you rather than let you go to them if they want to purchase something; B) technology such as online shopping has made it easier to but things you want straightaway - for example, even the milkman has made himself scarce in recent years - the Coop still does milk, in their supermarkets of course; and: C) it would be seen as harassment these days if you stand on someone's doorstep, knock on the door and harass someone into purchasing items that they don't want - and it was usually feather dusters and mops as well. Not quite the same thing, but Jehovah's Witnesses come to mind as well - don't answer the door whatever you do!

Obviously, the postman, gasman, booked appointments such as plumbers and all that don't count. I suppose that the irony is that as I do online shopping with Tesco these days, I do get my milk, bread and other items delivered, and that is indeed welcome. I suppose that mail order catalogues were similar - my late mother was an agent for one in the 1970s and 1980s and she used to get commission on purchases, etc. We had a few customers who lived a couple of streets away who made weekly payments on items, and they had to visit our home because of that.

[amethyst]

Re: Door To Door Sales

The double glazed reps have been around but I think most people dont bother answering doors for obvious reasons

[Richard1978]

Re: Door To Door Sales

I remember there was a worry about schemes to get people into work by selling door to door, especially as some were ex-prisoners or else people with disabilities.

[George 1978]

Re: Door To Door Sales

I have to admit that I would hate it if I was "cold called" by a doorstep salesman - it's like the gas and electricity companies doing the same like they did in the early 2000s - they knocked on my door so often that I almost had a different utility supplier for each day of the week.

[Danniella]

Re: Door To Door Sales

I remember there was a worry about schemes to get people into work by selling door to door, especially as some were ex-prisoners or else people with disabilities.

This reminds me of the time my nan received a letter asking her would she like her garden mowed and cleaned up by people who are on court ordered community service, i rang the number on the letter and informed them my nan has her own means of doing her garden and does not require the services of convicted criminals.
I was shocked really that elderly people were picked out to receive this service.

[amethyst]

Re: Door To Door Sales

I have to admit that I would hate it if I was "cold called" by a doorstep salesman - it's like the gas and electricity companies doing the same like they did in the early 2000s - they knocked on my door so often that I almost had a different utility supplier for each day of the week.

Yes and if you were to open the door to them,they would not take no I am not interested.Have to slam the door in their faces to be shot of them

[Richard1978]

Re: Door To Door Sales

This reminds me of the time my nan received a letter asking her would she like her garden mowed and cleaned up by people who are on court ordered community service, i rang the number on the letter and informed them my nan has her own means of doing her garden and does not require the services of convicted criminals.
I was shocked really that elderly people were picked out to receive this service.

I remember there was an episode of Juliey Bravo where YTS students were doing a similar service, but one of them was using it to stake out house to rob & ruined it for all the others.

[George 1978]

Re: Door To Door Sales

Yes and if you were to open the door to them,they would not take no I am not interested.Have to slam the door in their faces to be shot of them

It takes guts to do just that, but I managed to do that a few times.

[catflap]

Re: Door To Door Sales

I remember about 20 years ago we were living at the edge of a village and now and again out of nowhere you'd get this knock on the door.

It would be an expressionless man who would say in slow, deadpan voice...'Do you want any fish?'

Hard to communicate how spooky it was in text - I think he stared off past you as if into the distance while he said his line, though that may be my imagination embellishing it after seeing too many zombie movies over the years.

Glad he only came round during the daytime!

Edit - for info: I never bought any fish.

[Danniella]

Re: Door To Door Sales

I remember there was an episode of Juliey Bravo where YTS students were doing a similar service, but one of them was using it to stake out house to rob & ruined it for all the others.

That's exactly what i thought about the convicted criminals doing community service, i hate to judge people but they are convicted of crimes so i wouldn't trust them.

[George 1978]

Re: Door To Door Sales

Further to Nuggy's post above, I believe that we have community payback now, or did during Blair's stint as Prime Minister of the 2000s, (the age of the ASBO, lest we forget) - the offenders used florescent orange "name and shame" vests with "Community Payback" on where they go in public doing gardening, picking up litter, cleaning graffiti off walls and all that. Obviously it is a punishment often given by the courts, although one has to say that it is rather ordinary every day things that they do, and Mr Public can sometime fail to recognise where the punishment is in doing that - the punishment is, of course, the fact that it is unpaid work, but on the other hand one could say that when we go to school, we do work there, and not get paid for it - well, from the pupils' perspective anyway (and teachers think that they are hard done by as well...)

Indeed, a lot of people would not trust them either, depending on: A) what crime was committed in the first place; B) the nature of the punishment; and: C) whether there is happen to be any conflicting part between crime and punishment, such as putting something right if they have damaged something - for example, replacing a broken window that they had smashed deliberately.

There was a TV programme on crime prevention on BBC 1 around 15 years ago which involved two reformed burglars showing their former tricks of the trade by showing a couple how to be secure around their home - cue locks, chains and bolts fitted to the front door; new burglar alarms installed; crime prevention advice and all that. Fair enough, I don't want to stereotype the men - their crimes are water under the bridge as they have gone straight for so many years, but because of what they did many years before, it does make me feel uneasy for someone like that to do a crime prevention programme, although I have respected that they have since move onto the straight and narrow.

On the other hand, I obviously wouldn't allow someone with child abuse convictions to appear on children's TV, or someone with convictions for fraud or theft to work in a bank - the fact of the matter is that the former crimes clash with the occupation and that does raise the temperature quite a bit in hindsight.

[Danniella]

Re: Door To Door Sales

I once saw a group of men in orange hi viz vests, they were cleaning the outside brickwork on a church, they did have writing on their vests but i wasn't close enough to see it, however they were being watched by 2 guys without the hi viz vest, so could've been supervising Community Payback.
The first thing i thought of was i hope the collection box is locked away! Lol. ☺

[George 1978]

Re: Door To Door Sales

On the subject of being cold-called when one answers the door, I know that the telephone and online equivalent is very much alive and well - only last week I was a victim of fraud when someone cold-called me on the telephone (I don't know how they got my number to be honest), said he was from BT and mentioned that he could get a new router for my computer. He mentioned a phantom appointment with a BT engineer which obviously didn't exist when I dialed 150 on my telephone, and rather uniquely, he seemed to from a call centre which used a mobile phone number! Alarm bells rang eventually. I hate people who lie and mislead other people, especially when they use it to commit crime on them.

To cut a long story short, they stole three quarters of the contents of my bank account - a four digit number of pounds. I reported it to BT, my bank and Action Fraud. Thankfully, I got a new card from my bank in the post on Saturday, and BT have put me on Call Protect, and they both said that the prospect of getting every penny back into my account is very good.

However, it shouldn't have happened in the first place - indeed, it is bad enough when people knock on your door wanting you to sign up (which is what happened a few times at my old place), but when they are incognito on the other end of the telephone line where one cannot locate where they are calling from (and not to mention the fact that an ID card cannot be shown over the phone), it is a lot worse. I did let the police know, and I managed to get enough information about this man for the police to start on if they wanted to.

I am bitter that it has happened, and I hope that every penny is returned to my bank account.