Lately door to door solicitors have been a plague in our small town of 3000. Anywhere from roofing services to pest control.

My property has a four-foot high fence in front with only two gates (a double swing gate on the north side, and a 20 foot sliding gate on the south side at the driveway). To the immediate left of the sliding gate at the top of the fence is a sign stating "no soliciting or distribution of religious literature". Distance from the sliding gate that I leave open a few feet to the front door is 40 feet.

By entering the property to hock goods and services the solicitors are committing the class C misdemeanor of Criminal Trespass 2 as the signage is clearly stating they are not welcome.

I also figure it is reasonable that if they travel the 40 feet to my front door after ignoring the signage that they are committing more than trespassing as maybe they are casing my property to commit theft or other crimes.

So other than getting a good description and turning it over to law enforcement what are my options?

I know I wouldn't be legal to show a firearm and prone them out in the front yard while we wait for law enforcement to come write citations.

Close all your gates.

Moat.

And alligators.

Had one the other night while my S-I-L and I were working on the lawn tractor, no uniform just street clothes and some sort of a name tag on a lanyard. Reeking weed stank, he didn’t get within twenty feet and I could smell it, once he said “I’m doing pest control in the neighborhood…..”

“Not interested, goodbye.”

Last year I had one that wanted to inspect our roof, power wash the outside,come inside the house to see if there was anything we needed to be done. Kept insisting.

Twice I said politely “No thank you”, third time I finally said “What don’t you understand?”

I got sick and tired of all the religious people ringing my doorbell so I placed these signs at both entrances to my circular driveway and one right above the doorbell.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZ..._fed_asin_title&th=1

The only problems I have had are two separate salesmen from the new high speed internet company who said the sign did not apply to them. I also had two democrats campaigning who said it did not apply to them. I was in the garage with the door open and a republican came campaigning and when I asked him why he ignored the sign he said he missed it and apologized profusely. I called the internet company and complained and haven't seen any of their salesmen around. I told the two democrats I would never vote for them anyhow and called the local democrat headquarters.

Most people have been respectful of the signs.

When I was a kid those folks were common. Selling everything from vacuum cleaners to whole life insurance policies. I haven’t seen any for ages though.

I like something with as little more leeway.

https://a.co/d/0e0VSi2j

quote:

Originally posted by k5blazer:
I got sick and tired of all the religious people ringing my doorbell so I placed these signs at both entrances to my circular driveway and one right above the doorbell.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZ..._fed_asin_title&th=1

Most people have been respectful of the signs.

We have a Ring doorbell and a “No Soliciting” sign immediately above it. Doesn’t matter, they either can’t or won’t read it. It’s almost like they take it as a challenge.

Last year as I was about to pull into the driveway, I saw a salesman a few doors down and I knew he was going straight to my door. I have a no soliciting sign but that doesn’t always work.

I rushed inside, wrote a quick “Go Away” note and taped it to the front door. Sure enough he came up the walk with a smile but he stopped about 10’ away when he saw my note. He turned around with a scowl on his face.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
When I was a kid those folks were common. Selling everything from vacuum cleaners to whole life insurance policies. I haven’t seen any for ages though.

Same here.

Phillips head screwdriver
Electrical tape.

1. Remove doorbell from the wall
2. Unscrew one leg of the wire
3. Wrap wire with tape
4. Put the doorbell back up on the wall

Also you could do this at the other end of the wire/bell and remove a wire.

Then don’t answer when they knock.


I usually don’t answer the door

I have a no solicitation sign.
If they knock I point at the sign.
If they continue, I close the door.

We actually had a Terminix salesman running up and down our street on an electrics scooter.

quote:

Originally posted by BigJoe:
We actually had a Terminix salesman running up and down our street on an electrics scooter.

One last year did the same thing and rode it across my grass,watched him on the Ring doorbell.
When I came home for lunch and saw him on the sidewalk down the street I stopped to tell him I wasn’t interested and as a friendly hint while I wasn’t that particular about my alleged lawn there were a few neighbors that would go off if he rode it across their lawns.

You could try one of these.

Or, just answer the door buck nekkid, and say, "You're late. Come on in. Let's get the party started. Oh, did you bring the Vaseline?"

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
You could try one of these.

Or, just answer the door buck nekkid, and say, "You're late. Come on in. Let's get the party started. Oh, did you bring the Vaseline?"

For the WIN. Definitely.

Didn’t read all responses so I don’t know if this a copy of a post, but answer the door butt-ass naked with gun.

They won’t be back.

Impale a few of them, the rest will get the hint

I have a FS P320 in a holster on a web belt for the times when I want to have it handy, without tying up my hands.

After the 3rd or 4th visit from the IQfiber people who didn’t understand the word No, I answered the door wearing the web belt and gun, and nothing else. As any cop will tell you, the people you see naked, are not the people you want to see naked.

I have not had any of their salesmen come by since.

I get them more frequently than I would like. My dad sold precision machine tools for a living, so while technically a salesman, we hasn't a "salesman." Never the less, he understood "salesman," and taught me how to deal with them. The first thing he told me, "Don't treat them like they are human, because they are not." This is rather profound because most salesman's approach exploit the natural reluctance of most people to be rude. Once you understand they aren't human, treat them like a cockroach. I'm not quite so brutal, I give them a polite no thank you. If they don't accept that, too bad for them.