I think my house just got probed for burglary

[Averageman]

It was a larger than child size shoe; but I can see your point.
I'm sure in L.A. that would fly, fortunately for me it wasn't an issue and the Police were very friendly to the Military.
I actually had two Soldiers I had served with on the LAPD at the time and often got a heads up when we spoke.

 

[Fred Fuller]

The company that mamufactures a lot of the fencing supplies we use here also makes these signs... http://www.kencove.com/fence/Warning+Signs_product.php

 

[Trent]

Our office was scoped a few years back - this story reminds me of it.

When it happened to us, a very gregarious black man entered our office with a spray bottle of some cleaner. He was trying to sell us this cleaner, evidently. During his loud sales pitch, he went up to a stain on the carpet, started spraying it, rubbing it with a rag.

"Got a pen? Here, I'll get one" - walks over to a desk in the next room. Says "watch this ----, it'll clean that ---- right up!" (He was profane to a large degree). Marks on the wall with the ink pen. Sprays it. Wipes it. Doesn't come up.

"Oh it works better on clothes". Writes on HIMSELF. Sprays his shirt. At this point I'm smelling the distinctive odor of Windex, and where he sprayed his shirt was blue, like the white bottle was filled with Windex.

So, at this point my brain is moving from "condition orange to condition red" and transition to my desk where I keep a 45.

I tell him "Sir, it's time to leave."

He goes "Is that a chess board? I play chess! I bet I could whip you, I'll even spot you a king!" (It's obvious he'd never played chess before with that statement).

Anyway he's moving fast towards my chessboard on my desk.

I stand up - the 45 is not visible, I have it held behind my back.

"Sir, I said it's time to leave."

He stops. Looks at me for a minute. Then says a few profane things to us and leaves.

He's not out of the office 30 seconds and my employees have barely had time to calm down. I said "Eric, get me the number to ADT. We're upgrading our system."

That guy could have been voted the salesman of the year for a security company.

My employees found out I keep a gun in my desk that day. Several took me up on my offer to go to the range that weekend and learn to shoot.

A couple of years later... 100% of my employees are gun owners, and we have a hell of a security system.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

Put up a BEWARE OF DOG sign that is visable from the road. If they see that they will just move on to an easier target.

Burglars know many of these signs are red herrings. They look for/listen for dogs before moving on. In some cases, they will kill or injure the dog so they can ply their trade.

As for the person who cautions not "jumping to conclusions w/o sufficient evidence", there is nothing wrong w/ drawing any conclusion you think might be right; just don't do something you will later regret.

 

[SSN Vet]

she got a bone afterward

My Golden (a he) would have dropped a slobbery tennis ball at the guys feet and wagged his tail.

I'm thinking that the females are more territorial and protective.

 

[esheato]

Not sure what's wrong with her.

She listens really well. She is super submissive with my son. He climbs and rides her like a horse and she never nips or bites at him. Won't play ball. Won't retrieve. Is very quiet until an ambulance drives by (she howls, I'm assuming it's painful to her ears) or someone knocks on the door unexpectedly. I've seen her growl exactly one time and it caught me so off guard I knew something was up.

there is nothing wrong w/ drawing any conclusion you think might be right; just don't do something you will later regret.

I feel like that's where I was at. I trusted my gut, raised my level of awareness, actively responded, and it was resolved without anything more than an elevated heartbeat.

 

[Gunnerboy]

^ i think you mean with our english literacy gone , soon to be fair and just we will have to post all signs in spanish and english

 

[LordDunsany]

I live in a nice suburban community and have been here for over 20 years. During this time we have been relatively crime-free, but after a burglary of our vehicle I became more proactive. One thing I did was post a very prominent 'No Solicitors' sign by my front door. A pleasant side effect of that was to almost totally eliminate the vendors, magazine-sellers, vaccuum cleaner guys and so on. In the space of six months the incidence of door-knockers went from several times weekly to zip (almost).

We have had only two door-ringers who ignored my signage. Both were inner-city yutes, neither of which having the ability to speak intelligible English, and quite probably not knowing what 'solicitor' meant. Interestingly, neither seemed to have a sales-case, clipboard, notepad, or even a pencil. I took this opportunity to educate both these young gentlemen on the meaning of 'No Solicitors'. Neither of them seemed happy about their re-education. There was a certain amount of mumbling as they exitied my property. Somehow I don't believe it was anything resembling 'have a nice day'.

Guess its time to add a 'Bad Dog' sign as well, both in Spanish and in Ebonics.

Ron in Texas

 

[JustinJ]

We have had only two door-ringers who ignored my signage. Both were inner-city yutes, neither of which having the ability to speak intelligible English, and quite probably not knowing what 'solicitor' meant. Interestingly, neither seemed to have a sales-case, clipboard, notepad, or even a pencil.

A morning show was talking the other day about companies that specifically higher younger people with criminal records who are unable to get hired anywhere else and then have them use very forceful sales tactics to try and push magazines, BS sponsorships or whatever. I think they move from city to city and are common in TX. I had a female one the other day who mumbled the same way so thought your post was funny. My GF was actually struck in the face one night by what we believe were friends of one she sent away, two males actually. This was a few years ago. Luckily her dog started barking and scared them off but was unfortunately unable to get to the door because of a gate to keep her out of the living room. This was of course before we met.

 

[JohnKSa]

One thing I did was post a very prominent 'No Solicitors' sign by my front door.

Did the same here years ago. Figured it might give a "prober" second thoughts given that if someone DOES answer the door after a probe/knock they're likely to be highly irate and much more likely to call the cops.

I went through a number of options for No Solicitors signs and chose one that was somewhat amusing. Figured it wouldn't hurt for door-to-door salesmen to walk away chuckling instead of hacked off.

I strongly considered posting the following sign before settling on the funny one.

No Solicitors
Friends and Emergencies Only
If you're not a friend or an emergency, an emergency will be provided.​

 

[Trent]

Dude, I really like that sign.

 

[JohnKSa]

I thought it got the point across nicely. The wife thought it was a bit much... So we compromised and used the one she liked best.

 

[Ringolevio]

About "No Soliciting" signs

There was a period in my life when I did direct (aka door-to-door) sales, and I did quite well. I was selling encyclopedias.

I was trained by some real masters (who also taught me some basic principles of sales that apply whether you're selling hotdogs or Rolexes, and which I still employ and have trained others to use).

Their view was that doors with "No Soliciting" signs were the preferred doors to hit. Their logic was that such signs would deter lesser salesmen, but also that the signs had been put up by folks who knew they were "mooches" (folks who have little sales resistance).

Of course it helped that when folks answered the door and said, "Didn't you see the sign?", I knew the trick of making them think I had their name on a card. I also said, "Oh, I'm not selling anything; I'm here to enroll certain select families in an educational program!"

My point is that you shouldn't expect posting such a sign to put an end to
salesmen knocking on your door. However, you will probably weed out the amateurs.

We often joked that a good business would be to go door-to-door selling "No Soliciting" signs!

 

[Pilot]

Of course it helped that when folks answered the door and said, "Didn't you see the sign?", I knew the trick of making them think I had their name on a card. I also said, "Oh, I'm not selling anything; I'm here to enroll certain select families in an educational program!

So you lied? That is why people have those signs, and/or do not answer the door.

 

[JohnKSa]

Their view was that doors with "No Soliciting" signs were the preferred doors to hit.

I guess that's true if you found you had better luck selling to really angry people.

Their logic was that such signs would deter lesser salesmen, but also that the signs had been put up by folks who knew they were "mooches" (folks who have little sales resistance).

My logic is that any reasonable and polite person would see the sign and move on. Therefore anyone who ignores the sign is unreasonable and/or impolite. It doesn't improve their chances of selling to me at all.

What it would improve, depending on how the encounter progresses, is my chances of spending all my free time for the next few days seeing if I can get that person fired (or their soliciting permit revoked) by writing letters to the city council, anyone in their company's management I can find contact information for, the Better Business Bureau, my state representatives, etc. I figure that if someone who demonstrates that they're unreasonable and/or impolite bothers me after I've expressly advised them not to, that it's worth my time to see that they don't bother me the same way ever again or anyone else--to the extent that I can manage it. You know, as a service to my community.

I guess what I'm saying, is that if a salesperson were to knock on my door, I'd answer it and point to the sign. If the salesperson didn't take the hint, I would smile and ask the salesperson to leave his card or whatever other sales material he might be giving out on the doorstep for me to retrieve later. If the salesperson were smart, he would decide to move on without giving me anything at that point. If he weren't, he would give me the information I needed to get my campaign started.

However, you will probably weed out the amateurs.

Actually what it does is clears my conscience. I feel free to deal with the people who ignore my polite request in just about any legal way that takes my fancy given that they've already made it abundantly plain that they don't care anything about my wishes.

 

[Ringolevio]

¡Mea culpa!

Pilot:

[Ringolevio wrote:]
"Of course it helped that when folks answered the door and said, 'Didn't you see the sign?', I knew the trick of making them think I had their name on a card. I also said, 'Oh, I'm not selling anything; I'm here to enroll certain select families in an educational program!'"

So you lied? That is why people have those signs, and/or do not answer the door.

Yeah, I lied. More accurately, 40 years ago I was willing to be taught to fib in order to get a chance to pitch my product; by my reckoning, it was not all that different from so many pitches that begin with the promise of a "free gift" or "no obligation".

I might be ashamed of having done that, but I'm not the least bit embarrassed to tell about it. I've made my peace over that and any number of things I'm ashamed to have done in my life. In telling the tale here, I thought I was sharing some insight.

Nevertheless, that is what you choose to focus on?; that is what you choose to take away from my comments? Fine.

 

[JohnKSa]

Well, I have to admit it's good to know what "the other guy" is thinking. Knowledge is useful.

But knowledge doesn't always make one happy. It certainly doesn't make me happy to know that someone would specifically target me for door-to-door soliciting because I've expressly asked them not to.

 

[Ringolevio]

We started out talking about criminals who use the guise of a salesman/solicitor in order to case your house or as a subterfuge to gain entry (in order to commit robbery or worse).

The tactics of a genuine salesman or solicitor, no matter how overzealous or reprehensible, in no way equate with those of a criminal.

Tell the salesman firmly to go away, that you are not interested, and he will go away, and that will be the end of it.

If you then feel the need to take it further and write letters and make phonecalls to impact the guy's livelihood, you are a vindictive so-and-so with too much time on your hands. That time and energy would be much better spent protecting yourself from people who are actually out to hurt you.

That door-to-door salesman might even have been selling burglar alarms!

 

[JohnKSa]

Tell the salesman firmly to go away, that you are not interested, and he will go away, and that will be the end of it.

That misses the point.

I don't want ANYONE knocking on my door unless they are friends or there's some sort of emergency or other truly extenuating circumstance. That's because if I'm home I don't want to be disturbed and if I'm not I don't want anyone (not even a legit salesman) to be aware of that fact. And if I'm home and someone knocks I don't want to have to answer the door or be afraid of someone trying to break in because they think my lack of response means the house is empty.

And if my wife is home alone, I don't want her to have to answer or be worried about someone trying to break in later.

Maybe the salesman is totally legit, but I still don't want him to know I'm out because it's none of his business and nothing good can come of his knowledge of my absence. And I don't want others who may be watching him to figure out that I'm not home because no one came to the door when he knocked.

That door-to-door salesman might even have been selling burglar alarms!

Still missing the point. He might have exactly what I've been searching for for the last 10 years and be selling it at half the price I expected to pay and I still don't want him knocking on my door for the reasons listed above.

If you then feel the need to take it further and write letters and make phonecalls to impact the guy's livelihood, you are a vindictive so-and-so with too much time on your hands.

I'm just someone who feels that it's not too much to ask to be treated with respect, especially when I'm in my own home. When someone specifically goes out of their way to demonstrate that they have no respect for me or my wishes then I do what I can to help them (and others who may become involved) to learn why it's important not to do things like that.

Especially when (as laid out in the first part of this post) there's more at stake than just being left in peace.

If a salesperson doesn't want me to try to "impact his livelihood", all he has to do is respect my wishes. I ask very little--for NOTHING actually. I just ask that when a salesperson reads my sign, that he does nothing here and moves to the next house. Nothing is NOT too much to ask for, and a person who feels that honoring a request for NOTHING is unreasonable desperately needs to be educated.

I'm willing to take on that challenge as a service to my community.

 

[wolf695]

often times they are a neighbor,or someone that knows you either through a friend! I would say it was a good bet! Inform your local PD,next time get video! If you have a watch in your area, inform them,and talk to your next door neighbors. They should be aware! It was a wake up call!

 

[NoAlibi]

Ringolevio: "The tactics of a genuine salesman or solicitor, no matter how overzealous or reprehensible, in no way equate with those of a criminal."

How do YOU tell the difference between a genuine salesman, criminal or one in the guise of both? Do the BGs wear signs of their nefarious trade where the Kaw meets the Mighty Mo?

JohnKSa: "I'm just someone who feels that it's not too much to ask to be treated with respect, especially when I'm in my own home. When someone specifically goes out of their way to demonstrate that they have no respect for me or my wishes then I do what I can to help them (and others who may become involved) to learn why it's important not to do things like that."

His House -- His Rules

 

[Ringolevio]

NoAlibi:

Ringolevio: "The tactics of a genuine salesman or solicitor, no matter how overzealous or reprehensible, in no way equate with those of a criminal."
How do YOU tell the difference between a genuine salesman, criminal or one in the guise of both? Do the BGs wear signs of their nefarious trade where the Kaw meets the Mighty Mo?

Touché! [I don't do "smilies", but I'm smiling!]

Nevertheless, for folks like JohnKSa, who absolutely can't abide anyone ever knocking on their door for any reason, I'm not the one "missing the point" here.

All I was trying to show is that a "No Soliciting" sign is not a magic talisman that will automatically ward off pesky salesmen. I hope this isn't too much of a stretch, but it strikes me as similar to the OC debate: while many will be deterred, you should be aware that there will always be those who will see it as a challenge.

If your door is so very sacrosanct, you need a fence, with a locked gate, that prevents anyone from even accessing your door. Or maybe a moat.

Otherwise, putting up with strangers occasionally knocking on your door is just something to learn to live with, and to deal with on a case-by-case basis, if you even choose to answer the door. You can't bite the head off everybody who steps onto your porch.

When I was a door-to-door salesman, if anyone came to the door as angry as JohnKSa, I apologized while quickly retreating. But I still made a lot of sales to folks with "No Soliciting" signs. Just as I've exchanged merchandise and gotten refunds from businesses with "ALL SALES FINAL" signs.

I used to get angry with telephone solicitors. Now I realize they are just folks who have chosen a really tough way to try to make a living. I remind them of the sales principle that "Every NO brings you closer to a YES" and I wish them luck on their next call.

 

[JohnKSa]

Nevertheless, for folks like JohnKSa, who absolutely can't abide anyone ever knocking on their door for any reason...

I never said any such thing. In fact I explicitly listed the reasons I would not only abide but actually WELCOME a knock on my door.

"...friends or ... some sort of emergency or other truly extenuating circumstance..."​

I would add neighbors and family to the list in case it's not clear that I intended that in the first place.

If your door is so very sacrosanct, you need a fence, with a locked gate, that prevents anyone from even accessing your door. Or maybe a moat.

Fences, gates, locks and moats are to restrict animals, the illiterate, or outright enemies and criminals.

Signs will suffice for those who are literate, considerate and law-abiding.

You can't bite the head off everybody who steps onto your porch.

I explained how I would handle a person who disregarded my sign.

"I'd answer it and point to the sign. If the salesperson didn't take the hint, I would smile and ask the salesperson to leave his card or whatever other sales material he might be giving out on the doorstep for me to retrieve later."​

That hardly qualifies as biting someone's head off. Someone else's failure to be polite doesn't mean I'll follow suit. But it does mean that when it's feasible I'll take (legal and reasonable) steps to educate that person.

Society works best when it's members understand that it's a bad idea to intentionally ignore the polite requests of others. For one thing, it's impolite, for another (as is the case in this particular situation) the requestor may have very good reasons for making the request that go far beyond the immediately obvious and are more important than a casual observer might realize. The latter is the point that you are still missing. My "No Soliciting" sign is not JUST about not wanting to be disturbed; I'm also trying to make my home at least a tiny bit more resistant to being probed in the manner described in the original post of this thread.

As I said before, as a service to my community I'm willing to assist in the education effort.

 

[788Ham]

I have to agree with JohnKSa, no matter what others may think. I'm retired, my wife works, and we have a nice home in a very respectable neighborhood. We didn't buy this home to be subject to solicitors, encyclopedia sales persons, or vegetable sales persons, nor magazine sales persons, period! To this end, I bought a 12" X 12" red and white "NO SOLICITING" sign, and posted it square in the front security door for all to see. "If" I wanted your friggin' magazines, or whatever you might have for sale, I'd have another sign posted to "Beat the hell outta my door whenever you feel like it, any time of day or night!" We read magazines, don't want anyone to think we don't use these products, but WE decide which ones we want, if we wanted sports BS, we know how the internet works, and if we wanted vegetables delivered to our front door, we wouldn't need to go to the grocery store, having trouble understanding so far?

The sign was put up in good taste, no HOA problems. If you're selling something, I'll call you to bring it to me and mine, if you're trying to further your college education, you might begin by learning to read whats already posted !

I'm on your side JohnKSa ! Keep up the good work. Merry Christmas!

 

[BigSteve57]

My job is such that I can work at home. It's not specific days but hit or miss as opportunith presents. So a while ago I was doing a work-at-home day.
and the doorbell rings.

I'm expecting a UPS package with a cool gun-related item so I'm excited and I STUPIDLY open the door without looking out the window to see who it was. Standing in front of me was a scruffily dressed guy who said he and his "company" were in the neighborhood and "was I interested in any home improvement estimates". He had no business card, no logo on anything he was wearing, not even a clipboard.

I said no thanks and as I started to close the door he continued on. I opened the door wider, stepped out on the porch and as my blood began to boil I said rather loudly words to the effect that he'd just been asked to leave and that he'd best do it. NOW.

I'm truly sorry if this guy was trying to make an honest buck. But I think I was maybe being probed.