Do You Respond to Solicitations?

Pinyo recounts a situation where he was solicited for a chimney service via phone (he declined.) He also lists some things to do if you're solicited for any sort of services.

We get this every once in awhile. In fact, we had a guy stop by our house last fall asking if we needed any new windows. My wife started talking to him (since we needed windows) and had even initially agreed to him coming back to measure our windows for a quote when I stepped in and said I was sorry but we really weren't interested. Why did I do this? Several reasons:

1. We had NO IDEA who this guy is. Does he even know anything about windows? Is he a convicted felon? Is he a scammer of some kind? Why would we even consider him without checking him out a bit (is his business established? for how long? does he have references?). Answer is: we wouldn't.

2. We hadn't shopped around for alternatives yet. Even if we would want to consider him, how did we know he was even good enough to make it into our consideration set?

3. We hadn't discussed getting new windows. We both knew we needed to get them, but we hadn't agreed yet to take action (which we always do on major purchases.)

So we passed. Really, it wasn't so much of my wife not thinking of these as it was simply her aversion to telling people "no." She hates to tell any door-to-door salesperson "no", so I usually need to get involved to get rid of anyone selling anything. (Don't even get me started about the time I pulled up and a guy had $150 in meat laid out on my front porch talking to my wife. Yep, you read correctly -- MEAT!)

In addition to people showing up at the door, we also get the following solicitations:

1. Phone -- Numerous charities call us asking for donations. We tell them that our policy is to never make decisions over the phone as we want to discuss our charitable giving. If they want to send us some information (assuming we're even remotely interested in donating to them), we'll consider it, but that's all we promise. It works like a dream.

2. Mailbox -- We have lawn services, painters, repairmen, etc. constantly leaving flyers attached to our mailbox. They go straight in the trash.

3. Mail -- Anyone else open their mail over the trash can? I get so much junk mail it's pathetic. But every once in awhile something worthwhile comes by and gets more than the usual five-second consideration.

How about you? How do you handle businesses soliciting you?

Comments

[Bob's Occasional Musings]

I handle the charity calls much like you do. I always ask them to send me financial information about their cause including amounts that go to fundraising, administrative costs and the amount that actually gets into the hands of the people whom the charity is sponsoring. I get these calls both at home and at the church (I'm in charge of benevolence) and I have yet to have one charity that cold calls me, send me information.

[Dotty]

I find this kind of funny (well, the meat guy was just weird). Maybe the window guy was a quack. But maybe the window guy was in debt. And maybe he works for a window company full-time, and solicited door-to-door as a way to raise extra money for his family?

Isn't finding ways to supplement one's income encouraged on personal finance blogs? If us "frugalites" aren't the ones that are going to support people to trying to better their financial situation, then who will?

[Christina @ Northern Cheapskate]

I won't donate any money over the phone - even if it is an organization I know and trust - I make them send me the paper work.

We've had some interesting folks show up at our door - a guy selling oranges (in Northern MN!), people selling wrapping paper, and my personal favorite - the guy with extra tar who offered to pave our driveway for us.

No thanks. I prefer to plan my purchases and compare prices before I spend money.

I also disagree with Dotty (previous comment) - EVERYONE needs extra money. Con artists included. Making a purchase of something I don't need to "help someone out" is a fast track to money problems. You don't buy something because you feel guilty if you don't. Not frugal at all.

[Dotty]

Christina - I would never suggest buying something out of guilt. I do, however, make purchases of things I don't need (ie. chocolate covered almonds or girl-guide cookies) to help someone out.

I'm coming at this from a different, more sympathetic angle. My father was born in Sicily. When he was six, he was forced to work on a farm. When he was twelve, he was sent to construction. When the island was hit by an earthquake, he was forced to leave home in search of more work.

His journey eventually brought him to Canada. The only thing he had with him were his construction skills; so he marketed them. He offered chimney service and other forms of brick work to complete strangers. Some said yes, most said no. But bit by bit, he established a reputation for himself, and eventually a business - with zero education and no help from anyone except for the people who were willing to give him a shot.

My point isn't about guilting ourselves into buying anything. It's about being less cynical. People are so quick to assume they're being conned. Be informed, do the research, and invest only in what you're interested in/what you need. I fail to see the benefit of turning someone away simply because of their advertising method.

[FMF]

Dotty --

I think this post is for you:

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2009/04/should-you-buy-stuff-from-people-to-help-them-out-financially.html

:-)

[Andy]

We've had the same window company come to our door at least twice in the last 2 years. The first time, I agreed to let them give me a quote. They never showed up. They called later and asked to try again. They still didn't show up. A year later, a different salesman from the same company stopped by with the same pitch. We told him what happened last year. He was of course apologetic and we gave them another chance since we need windows and wanted the free quote as a starting point for our comparison shopping. AGAIN, they didn't show up. They called again and we told them no thanks. The manager called us back and begged for a chance to make it right. I told him that we wanted to buy windows from a company that would be fast and reliable when it comes to servicing our windows. If they couldn't even show up for a quote, why would I expect them to service my warranty claims without hassle?

[Homer S.]

Shame, FMF! I urge you to open your mail over the RECYCLING BIN. :) I certainly do.

[FMF]

Homer --

Ha! Yes, I recycle the junk mail (our trash bin and recycle bin are next to each other, and I simply refer to them as "trash".) Thanks for helping me clarify.

[Kevin Eldridge]

If you are receiving unsolicited mail in your mail box, call the company and ask them to remove you from their mailing list. You will need to give them your information that is displayed on the TO: section of the address block. However, this will reduce your overall mail. Also, if you have a bank, insurance, or credit card account, I believe they often sell or make your address information available to their partnering marketers. Make sure you opt out of this "feature". When ordering items over the internet or telephone, you will often be added to their mailing list. Call them and tell them to remove you from the mailing list as well. I receive very little junk mail. And that is how I combat the hoard of unwanted mail.

If you are simply throwing that "junk mail" in the garbage/recycle bin, you may be putting yourself at risk of scammers. Make sure that your shred them with a good cross cut shredder before placing them in the garbage. Or, use the micro-clippings in the garden soil. I believe they can be used as compost.

[FMF]

Kevin --

If I think the info is sensitive, I tear it up. If it's really sensitive, I shread it (and some makes it into my compost bin.)

[Adam@YMR]

Every week we have a different high school student come to our door selling magazines. They say that they are in a contest with other students (usually the opposite sex) trying to win a trip. It is really starting to get annoying to the point that we no longer answer the door. Some of the students are even starting to use swear words in their pitch! I know I am a young looking guy but that still doesn't make it appropriate.

[Al Howard]

My reply to ALL calls for donations is "Our charitible giving has been earmarked for this year". We tithe to our parish,donate to the food pantry, and occasionally help out at the local soup kitchen. I think that is enough.

[Josh Stein]

Now come on - don't call and request to be removed from lists? How else will our poor postal service survive?

It does get annoying. Very annoying. But I open stuff anyways, because it is amusing at times to see what people are trying to offer.

"Start your career in legal transcriptioning today!!! At Brown Mackie College!!!" To a household with two people that have Masters' Degrees...and a one-year old (tomorrow) kid. Addressed to our names, so they at least did that much legwork. Good job!

[rwh]

I agree with how you handle the door-to-door and charitible solicitations, but please clarify for me FMF; aren't you in marketing as a profession? If so, why the frustration with all the phone calls and junk mail?

[FMF]

RWH --

Yes, I'm a marketing professional.

As a professional, I understand how they can work, though I've never used them in any of the jobs I've been in.

As a "customer", I dislike them and want them to be as limited as possible.

[Bill]

The only door to door solicitation that I have said yes to was when I had a huge dead maple in my front yard. I got weekly visits from people driving by and stopping to ask. I was planning to do it myself some time but as the price got lower and lower as more came to the door, I finally said OK and in an hour, the tree was gone. Definitely worth it!

[Pop]

The most annoying ones in my opinion are: the "reformed" ex-cons selling magazines with their pitch of "Wouldn't you rather have me selling magazines than robbing your house?" (yes they actually said that to me); and the guy who offers to re-paint your street address on the curb for $15, but if you don't want him to do it you have to take his flyer and tape it over your address, otherwise he'll just assume by your inaction that you've accepted his offer. I had a good laugh when he tried to come and collect the $15! "I'm here to collect the $15." "I never asked you to do the work." "Yeah but you didn't tape the flyer over the address." "Oops."

[Travis W.]

I get flyers stuck in my fence, attached to my doorknob and slid in the door. All go in the trash because I hate having litter all over my place. I have considered saving them up and dropping them off once a year at the company but that is too much work.

I used to shred up CC offers and send them back with out junk since it was a per-paid envelope. I wonder what ever happened with them

[Ben C]

LOL, I thought my wife was the only one who had a hard time saying no to salespeople. I've since taken over answering the door and have no problems saying NO! Even though our neighborhood has no solicitation signs at the entrances we still get them. My favorite are the Kirby vacuum sellers who are always amazed that we already have one. Yeah, my wife fell for that trick before we got married and spent $800 on a vacuum cleaner. My biggest fear is that someone will sell her another one when I'm not there...

[Hamaca]

We have responded to a few mail box ads that in the end worked out pretty well. One was for landscaping and the other was for deck cleaning and refinishing. Of course we checked out references. I don't think I would buy windows, insulation, a new roof, or other services/goods from that kind of solication though.

[Corporate Barbarian]

We handle unwanted visitors the same way as unwanted phone calls - we don't answer the door or the phone. Caller ID is a wonderful thing. Just because it's a good time for someone else to knock on my door, doesn't mean I'm ready to hear their sales pitch. I wish my doorbell had a spam filter.

[MC]

I never respond to any kind of solicitations--for the reasons you list. If I want something, I research it and then contact the company.

Junk mail? 100 % goes straight into the recycle bin. Flyers? Similar (but with a curse--they blow all over the neighborhood! Should be illegal.) Door to door salespeople? I'll close it before they finish their time-wasting spiel. Why should I feel bad? They're "stealing" my time from me, just so they can (try to) make a buck. I don't watch commercials on TV either, if I can help it--same thing, in my opinion.

The only exception are grade-school kids selling candy for their school & boy scouts selling popcorn for their "den". I'm a sucker for kids! I like the popcorn but otherwise I just skip purchasing the crappy overpriced "fundraiser" merchandise from the school kids and just give the kids a check made out to the school. I'd rather 100% of my donation actually go to help the kids instead of most of it going to the companies that make that awful fundraiser stuff.

OK, I guess I have another exception also. The local windows & siding construction company who did my siding a few years ago sent out a mail flyer giving 20 % off on window replacements. It did stimulate me to call them, since I do need new windows and they did a great job on the siding. But I wouldn't have responded if I didn't already like the company.

[Jim]

I really hate door to door solicitors. I have a 'no soliciting' sign up and some of them still come to my door which makes me hate it even more. If its a charity then its a different matter.

I hate telemarketing as well but for that you can get on the 'do not call' list and screen calls with caller id.

I really don't mind getting ads in the mail. It just doesn't seem like an imposition at all.

[friend]

"My wife started talking to him ... when I stepped in and said I was sorry but we really weren't interested..."

Wonder how your wife felt at being infantilized/having her conversation and her judgment trampled over.

[FMF]

"Friend" --

She probably didn't like it because I cursed her, slapped her around a bit, and spit on her while doing it.

Thanks for assuming the best in people...

[Marc B]

Here's my favorite way of handling unsolicited phone calls....I hand the phone to my daughter and let her talk to them (she's 4 now). My favorite time is when I handed her the phone when she was about ten months old. She was goo-goo'ing on the phone and the salesperson didn't even stop his pitch. He kept at it (I couldn't beleive it). He talked to her for a good two minutes before he hung up!

[Foobarista]

Phone: caller ID. If it's an 800 number, I ignore it. If I do pick up, I hang up immediately upon discovering it's a telemarketer.

Door: An immediate "No, thank you" and a quick close.

Mail: straight to the shredder.

We actually like to do most donations anonymously so we can avoid charity-spam.

In the old days, our approaches would be called "rude", but sales people are trained to never let you "out" of a dialog politely. To defeat this approach, you have to break these things off forcefully.

[yipeng]

I sometimes find it hard to be nice to people making solicitations. I think it is increasing difficult when today we live in a society that has no tolerance for spam. Guess I need to try harder. ;)