So tonight we get a knock at the door and when I open it, there’s a middle aged chap with a crate full of kitchen stuff with the opening line “Before you slam the door in my face…” at which point I said Thanks but no thanks and shut the door.

WTF? In this day and age does anyone buy T towels at the door at 7pm on a Thursday night?

I half feel sorry for him (tough gig) and half think he’s just daft even trying…..

most probably people coming out of jail .

A lot of them don’t have any pedlars licences and it’s still a good way of casing potential houses to be targeted at a later time/date for burglaries…….so don’t have your key racks within sight of the front door/letterbox, if you have a house alarm, set it, and alas trust no one unless they produce a valid pedlars certificate!

Some of them are people with learning difficulties out selling such items through a charity.

My mother in law refers to them as “burden to society”, as in burden to society knocked tonight. After quizzing her this is because one of them once opened with the line “I don’t want to be a burden to society living on benefits so am selling…”

valid pedlars certificate!

What on earth is that, never heard of it?

When I was a kid (a long time ago), you used to get disabled kids being sent out selling kitchen stuff etc, but in this day and age I’m sure that would be illegal.

and it’s still a good way of casing potential houses to be targeted at a later time/date for burglaries

Hadn’t even occurred to me!

To travel from door to door selling stuff is an offence unless you hold a pedlars licence.

Last lot of Nottinghamshire door knockers we had on our estate followed two days later with a remarkable increase in car key burglaries…..they knocked on my door (paid attention to the R32 on the driveway) and other houses with performance cars on the driveways…..I rang the police and followed them for a while waiting police arrival but they jumped in their minibus and did one upon clocking me following them.
Alas I do speak from a lot of experience of nerdowells!

The OP has my sympathies. How dreadful to be exposed to that kind of thing. It must have been a terrible inconvenience. Hope it didn’t disturb supper.

It’s fresh fish at the door round our way. Followed by having your mutt kidnapped for fighting bait. True.

Pedlar’s licence is not required for everything. I speak as someone who sells on the doorstep without needing one and is actually quite respected in this area. Haven’t nicked anyone’s car. Yet.

Answering your own door?
Must be the butlers night off..

Ah, the old “Nottingham Knockers” routine.

As they used to say on Police 5, “Keep ’em peeled.”

Unless I’m expecting a pizza, the door doesn’t get answered.

Unless I’m expecting a pizza, the door doesn’t get answered

Me too, nor is the phone ever answered (though stupid other half is not so stubborn!)

Always answer the door.
The odds aren’t great, but it might, just might, be Kylie.

nor is the phone ever answered

I don’t get this.

OH won’t answer her phone if she doesn’t recognise the number. Drives me mad.

Drives me mad.

Why?? (Genuinely!)

If it’s important, any caller can leave a message but otherwise I’m not going to answer a phone unless the caller display indicates somebody I want to talk to. I’ve never understood why people feel under any obligation to answer a phone to some random person if they don’t want to…I’m constantly interrupted answering a phone in work so I’m buggered if the same is going to happen at home… 🙂

I always say “sorry I’m on the phone”, easiest way to deal with any unwanted door knockers, although I do wish sometimes the jehovas would rock up when I have time and I’m in the mood to ridicule their beliefs.

Sad fact of life that Bad People sometimes disguise themselves as Good People in order to carry out their evil deeds. Very unfair on the legitimate Good People who are treated with suspicion as a result, but that is how life works.

I remember that as a kid some thirty years ago; selling kitchen wares door to door. Could well be as per Drac’s suggestion.

I purchased a rather good looking pencil drawing of a woodland scene off a man who claimed to be deaf and mute. He handed me a card telling me his story, and in a moment of weakness I gave him a tenner.

Showed my housemate when he got home, he pointed out at the top you can see it had been photocopied! Fleeced.
So never buy art work off a deaf mute, who in his selection of drawings, has a suspiciously large amount of pencil drawings of cats.

It was standard in the 70s

Bin strikes next

Best one I heard about was the one selling “No Cold Caller” window stickers.

Made a kiling apparently!

Best one I heard about was the one selling “No Cold Caller” window stickers.

Made a kiling apparently!

Like the people selling those Guido(?) masks at anti-capitalist rallies.

“This time next year, Rodney…..D’oh!”

I rang the police and followed them for a while waiting police arrival but they jumped in their minibus and did one upon clocking me following them.

Suggsey earlier….

So never buy art work off a deaf mute

Wise words indeed. Maybe even a metaphor for life…

The shutting of door in his face has put you on ‘The list’

Careful now

I’ve never understood why people feel under any obligation to answer a phone to some random person if they don’t want to…

Likewise. I carry a mobile for my benefit, not everyone else’s. I’ll get a text or something, my OH will go “what’s that?” and look at me like I’m mad for not immediately dropping what I’m doing and finding out. I’ll finish what I’m doing then go check; I’ve yet to see any SMS / Facebook / Twitter alert that would’ve required my absolute immediate attention.

Phone calls from unknown / withheld numbers are almost universally from someone I don’t particularly want to talk to, probably someone wanting to talk to me about PPI or my recent accident. If it’s important they’ll leave a message or call back.

Our home phone doesn’t have a phone plugged into it, so I’ve never answered it (don’t even know if the line still works).

Answering your own door?
Must be the butlers night off..

We’re not all CFH, some of use don’t have enough staff for 24/7 service.

these will help

https://www.gov.uk/doorstep-selling-regulations

it appies to goods and services over £42 – i think under that value, then you need a pedlars license.

https://www.gov.uk/pedlars-certificate

certain services are exempt from both.

We had a load of recently released / reformed characters selling door-to-door, i queried this on here a while back and i also spoke to local plod about it. Those chaps(esses) will never belong to a “licensed” group as plod discourage it. They are often being used by less scrupulous types to earn money, as the “pedlars” only get a small cut form the proceeds.

I can see why they do it, and sometimes i feel sympathetic about it, however at the same time by allowing it you support the real profiteers!

I had one knock on the other day, his opening line was ” sorry if my lip starts bleeding, I had a fight with my brother last night” followed by “I’ll be honest with you, i just got out of jail last week”. As soon as I told him I had no money in the house he looked to my neighbours house and carried on. I don’t have a problem helping someone out by buying a couple of tea towels but am cautious of the casing the joint. Allso no ID.

I wonder what happens when they knock on the door of a Jehovahs Witness??

Is it a bit like travelling back in time and meeting yourself, does it open up a gap in the fabric of space and time?? 😯

I’ve always been tempted to pretend to be ultra religious and offer to pray for such people when they knock on the door, but I’ve never had the nerve…………..

Used to work in a supported house that was on a cul-d -sac where 6 out 0f 12 houses were Jehovah witness owned,used to get the Mormons n born again crowd around was fun to watch out the windows.

Company policy was to get the client to answer their own door too .
with us stood in the background ,was amusing sometimes as our guys were interesting to deal with if you didn’t know them to say the least.

I’d be curious to know if they do actually ever sell anything….

Binners 😆
I’ve chased burglars down the street in my pants before now…….it’s a quicker response than getting the uniform staff to turn up these days……

I’d be curious to know if they do actually ever sell anything….

My missus bought two tea towels off them once. I asked why she bought two (as most people do, we have enough Tea towels to last a lifetime – wtf do they come from?) and she said the seller had told her that he had to sell two as he got to keep all the profits for the second one. I asked her how the f..k their boss would know they had sold two at one house and not one each to two houses. Somehow I still lost the argument, think it ended with ‘well you should have been here to answer the door’.

think it ended with ‘well you should have been here to answer the door’.

do all women think like this, are we sharing a lady? I get that even though i’ve been sent off on some errand somewhere.

That deaf mute artist gets around a bit…

Pencil drawing of a galleon, £15. He was kindly to my eldest daughter, I was suckered in.

He probably hadn’t made it to the end of the street before he’d have heard “AHHHHWHATTHEFKHAVEIJUSTDONE.”

There’s a homeless person in Cambridge who for years (10+) was mute and just grunted and screamed for money and then miraculously he developed perfect language skills sometime last summer. Keep meaning to ask him why he changed his begging pitch….

Maybe I’m a miserable old sod, or just completely unsociable but I don’t think anyone has got a right to come knocking at my door unless its bl88dy important. A few months ago some Morris Dancers were doing their annoying lively happy jiggy clacky f888ing dancing in the pub car park over the road, and one of them came down my drive, knocked on my lounge window and held out his cap, asking for a donation! Cheeky c88t. I wasn’t even watching them, in fact I was doing my best to pretend they weren’t there. And I was recovering from a stroke at the time, not that he knew that, but still!

Aah, I feel better now.