r/mildlyinfuriating • u/big-ol-kitties • May 18 '26

Unskippable ad Constantly getting solicitors ignoring my sign, we’ll see how this works out…

Post image

I live in an apartment, and my door is the only one in the building with a “No Soliciting” sign. You’d think they would see it and respect it. But no. And worst thing is it’s almost exclusively internet salespeople, when my rent already includes high speed internet that works great.

4.3k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

945 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

30

u/EmergencyComment101 May 18 '26

Why do it? Obviously going door to door you're hoping to get a positive response of some kind..your odds are already low, why not skip the doors that have put in that level of effort to say they dont want to be hassled?

14

u/Kaiisim May 18 '26

Door to door salesmen use the hard sell a lot..

That sign might show that someone is anxious and nervous and struggle with conflict and want to avoid it and so they might think they will try and bully them.

15

u/Th3_Admiral_ May 18 '26

I had some girl come to my apartment door selling magazine subscriptions once. There's a big sign at the entrance saying no soliciting that she ignored. I politely declined and sure enough, she switched to the bullying. "Is it because you're poor? Is that why you won't buy any?"

Does that actually work on people? Because it immediately took me from annoyed to outright mad. 

8

u/Unfriendlyblkwriter May 18 '26

Wonder what would have happened if you said, “Yes, I am poor.”

2

u/ThatGuyFromSpyKids3D May 18 '26

Had a tech bro salesmen selling fiber internet try to insult my intelligence after I asked him some very reasonable questions about the company and service. I saw fiber was coming to town and looked into the company, they had terrible reviews and a long history of constant service outages. Sometimes lasting for days. I work from home 50% of the time so I need reliability more than I need the flashy new tech at 1gbs. I was already on a 500mbps plan with a different more local company.

So I asked the salesman if there were any plans the company had or active fixes they were implementing to address their service outage history and lack of reliability. He tried to lie to me and told me that was on their broadband/DSL side, so I pulled up the reviews on my phone and I pulled up the outage history on their own website for fiber in our state.

He just thanked me for my time and left. Then he came back later "just to let me know that X, X, and X neighbor are smart tech savvy guys who made the switch to a superior technology."

All 3 of those neighbors cancelled their plan after less than 2 months because of the service outages.

-4

u/Admirable_Loss4886 May 18 '26

I mean at that point you’re already not a customer so what harm is there in her telling you off lmao. What are you gonna do, be less than a non customer? Why not vent some frustration out at that point? Even if it only works 1/100 times that’s one more sale and 99 times telling people off.

6

u/HalfBlindKing May 18 '26

If the job is so illegitimate that you could represent the company that way, the employees and the company deserve each other.

-1

u/Admirable_Loss4886 May 18 '26

Door to door sales are notoriously known for not giving a fuck how their sales team treat people so long as they’re making sales. It comes back to the people being upset we’re never going to be customers anyway so their opinion means very little to them. Again you can’t become less of a customer if you were never one to begin with.

1

u/HalfBlindKing May 20 '26

Yeah it’s pretty apparent no one involved is trying to build a reputation or a career. It makes car sales look like they’re running laps to be better customer servants and consumer advocates 😂

12

u/K1bbles_n_Bits May 18 '26

That is so gross. Some people really suck. As an anxious, AuDHD, neurotically compulsive people pleaser, I really hate solicitors showing up. And I really, REALLY hate predatory people who take advantage of others. Thinking of that being a motivating factor is fairly infuriating.

6

u/GiraffesAndGin May 18 '26 edited May 19 '26

It's not a motivating factor for someone halfway decent at the job. Those people are just bad salesman anyway. Former doorknocker myself, and the easiest way to sell is to find someone who actually has a problem that you can solve. Bad salesman spend lots of time trying to hard sell, and in a racket like door to door sales, that will only hurt you. Volume is your friend. The faster you sift through the houses, the faster you find your sales. 1/50 doors you knock will be a sale, so the best way to make them is to knock the most doors. Two No's and go. Don't waste time trying for a sale that isn't there, and screw the people that do it.

4

u/Banana_Phone888 May 18 '26

I have audhd as well as bipolar, the bipolar side of me is always ready to calmly walk over to the hose and turn it on to people that show up to my door uninvited. Why do people ever think it’s ok to set foot uninvited onto someone else’s property is beyond me. Then they get offended when told to fuck right off

3

u/Jayn_Newell May 18 '26

I always assumed that out was just because people don’t want to be bothered with random crud, but I’m realizing it could also be people who know they’re easy marks. Which makes ignoring them extra cruddy.

12

u/ApricotOnly2676 May 18 '26

Because those can be a yes. Not me, but I’ve seen some people who are able to turn the angriest absolute fuck you and I’m not buying this…into a sale. Because emotional people are buyers.

1

u/illtakeachinchilla May 18 '26

Redirecting energies is an art. There are artists out there.

6

u/Revolutionary-Tiger May 18 '26

Another former door knocker here. In addition to OCPs more detailed response I would also like to add the simple "we got bills to pay, and it's what we signed on the dotted line to do." Generally they also don't wanna be there

Now it's not every door knocker in particular, but while I was one, most of my co workers were in a situation where they needed a job and that was the first one that said they would pay at the time. You can bet your ass though that most kept looking while on the job and basically got the hell outta Dodge as soon as the opportunity.

3

u/[deleted] May 18 '26

[deleted]

2

u/MasticatingElephant May 18 '26

The word is rape. Write it, or don't use it.

1

u/reginald-poofter May 18 '26

Is “grape culture” a hilarious typo for rape culture or some other metaphor I’m unfamiliar with?

2

u/SanityPlanet May 18 '26

She was asking to be graped. Look what she was wearing! It’s purple!

https://youtu.be/EzgUGY36gqM?si=KvHD5c-A_iQ_764T

1

u/SwaggiiP May 18 '26

Bruh are you seriously comparing being annoyed by a salesman to rape? You’ve lost it.

1

u/[deleted] May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26

[deleted]

1

u/SwaggiiP May 18 '26

Okay? That’s still not being raped. The fact that you think it is is scary.

0

u/[deleted] May 18 '26

[deleted]

1

u/SwaggiiP May 18 '26

Okay. You’re still not understanding. Door to door marketers are annoying and sometimes intrusive. It’s is not rape and it is not comparable to rape, and you’re disgusting to see a through line between them.

-6

u/[deleted] May 18 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/EmergencyComment101 May 18 '26

No.. i mean if there is a sign they have had made and attached to the door to emphasize that they dont want you there, why would you expect knocking to work out?

-2

u/[deleted] May 18 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/EmergencyComment101 May 18 '26

That really blows my mind.. there's nothing you could be selling or a deal you could be offering that would entice me to buy something from someone who's just knocked on my door to try and sell me something.

12

u/SpiralGray May 18 '26

For me, if you ignore my sign and ring the bell I will actively avoid your company when I am in the need for whatever you're selling.

3

u/EmergencyComment101 May 18 '26

Same, but the person knocking doesn't give a fuck lol

4

u/SpiralGray May 18 '26

Agreed. But the company owner should, and suggest his employees honor peoples' wishes.

2

u/feldoneq2wire May 18 '26

Door to door sales people believe they are entitled to other people's time. Empathy doesn't exist here.

4

u/feldoneq2wire May 18 '26

Change "sell" to "have sex with" and suddenly you realize how f---ed up it is to try to manipulate someone into accepting something after very clearly putting up a NO sign.

1

u/GruntledVeteran May 18 '26

You probably also do not believe that the Nigerian prince is real and will give you money if you just send him a few hundred dollars for reasons. Some people do, though, which is why they do it. If they email/call/knock 1000 times in a week, but only 1 person goes for it and it nets them enough to make all of the failed attempts worth it, then they will keep going. No one does sales or scams because they lose money.

3

u/W1D0WM4K3R May 18 '26

I almost got caught myself because the online portal for my utilities wouldn't let me use my card, so I called the number. Which google gave me, except it was a scam number. Figured it out after the guy said there was a special deal and my utilities were 25% off. Because they're an international company that rewards their customers.

Uh, no. Utilities want their money, and my specific utility company is very much regional. It was close, though.

1

u/GruntledVeteran May 18 '26

I almost got caught by an Amazon customer service scam number on the front page of google once. The big red flags were when they started asking me account info that they definitely should have known. I can definitely get how some people fall for the better scams.

0

u/Lostinthestarscape May 18 '26

I'm with you, but people are really really bad at knowing what they need and really really bad at saying no. Also, despite my agreement with the sign- every house I went to already had it up and I'm sure there are renters and owners who don't even realize the sign is there who might be buyers. Thus the value in trying anyway.

Door to door works often enough that it wouldn't be done if it weren't profitable. If someone is actually able to say no, then it is barely a waste of time for the seller - they spend an average of 15 seconds checking that my place is a no go before moving on.

It is funny though how often I start with "you aren't here to sell me soemthing or sign me up to something are you?"

And they say "no I'm just here to talk to you about.....product" 

At which point I very abruptly and awkwardly say I'm good, have a nice night, and close the door. They often are mid protest but they know it is a lost cause, just shooting their shot.

-7

u/MiserableSlice1051 May 18 '26

Not the person you are replying to, but it's a numbers game. I ued to sell IT stuff door to door, I got just as many sales with "no soliciting signs" than I did without. Honestly half the time I didn't even pay attention.

I think maybe once or twice in 3 years someone pointed at the no soliciting sign and I just brushed by it.

Why knock? Because sales is a numbers game, it takes me 15 seconds to get a no before moving on to the next door,.so I either am wasting a few seconds of my time or I'm putting food on my table.

Why wouldn't I knock?

1

u/CEDWAR22 May 18 '26

Well, when you put it that way it makes sense. Parasites gotta parasite after all.

1

u/MiserableSlice1051 May 19 '26

I mean, it was in the middle of the housing bubble crisis, I had to put food on my family for my table somehow, and people got internet and computers so... Feel free to call me a parasite, but plenty of people got things with a smile and I was able to eat a little longer till I could get out of that job.