How I made a door-to-door alarm salesman vanish. What do you do?
Posted on July 7th, 2009 – 10:43 AMBy James Shiffer
It was a sultry summer evening in south Minneapolis. I was helping my son and his friend from across the street look for bugs underneath rocks in my front yard. A young man with a stubbly beard walked up my steps and crossed my lawn.
“Is this your home?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered, antennae twitching. I noticed his gray tennis shirt had a corporate logo on it, and that he held a binder in his hands.
“How long have you lived here?”
“Who are you?” I said. I’m sure he could almost taste the hostility in the air, but he kept smiling. He said he was selling alarm systems for Pinnacle Security and that in this neighborhood –
I cut him off. “Do you have a city solicitor license?”
Mr. Pinnacle Security, who still hadn’t told me his name, opened his binder and out came the scripted response, “Yes, I know that the city of Minneapolis requires a license for soliciting, just like many cities…” He flipped through his binder, “Okay here’s the one for Blaine.” He flipped back and forth a few times. “It must have slipped out,” he said, his grin never waning.
“You know, it’s illegal to go door-to-door in Minneapolis without a solicitor’s license,” I said. “I could call the cops on you right now.”
“But I’m in a good mood,” I lied.
“I’ll make sure I get the license before I do any more soliciting,” he lied.
Then he shook my hand and moved rapidly off my lawn and down the street.
Having blogged about fast-talking door-to-door alarm salesman before, I feel some pity for those who wander onto my property. I would gladly install an alarm system that would repel alarm system peddlers, who come around much more often than burglars. I find it unlikely that Pinnacle Security will offer that product any time soon.
I did check with the city of Minneapolis’s business licensing department (612 673-2080) and found that Pinnacle Security does have a valid solicitor’s license. The company’s web site allows you to look up an individual rep’s identification number to confirm that he or she works for the company. As the web site describes it:
Any legitimate door-to-door representative of Pinnacle Security will be happy to show you his employee ID number. You can look up their license status and verify their identity from this page. It’s just another way Pinnacle Security watches out for you.
Now I know - demand an ID number, in addition to the solicitor license. Whistleblower learns more every day about how to defend his home from the marketers laying siege to it.
So how do you deal with door-to-door solicitations?
49 Responses to “How I made a door-to-door alarm salesman vanish. What do you do?”
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July 7th, 2009 at 11:27 am
How do I deal? Easy–bought a condo with secure entrance. Never had 1 person try to sell me something.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:31 am
I wish you would have let him continue talking a bit. The
same company came to my door and told me there were at least
7 break-ins, just one block over, in the past month. Then the next day he saw
my boyfriend outside and told him there were just 3 break-ins
the night before. They use the scare tactic to get people
to buy their product. I should have called the police to
check on these supposed “break-ins”!
July 7th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I have a big dog who doesn’t stop barking at strangers
until I tell him to. Sometimes I don’t tell him to.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:50 am
A few years ago I was in the market for a home alarm system because of a recent break in. A sales person like this one came by conveniently and offered something that was new at the time - an alarm system that was wireless so I would not have to also invest in a land line phone which would essentially double my monthly payment for an alarm. This sounded good so I went with it - BIG, BIG mistake. Complete and utter scam which has cost me a lot of time, money and a credit hit trying to get out of this. It not only never worked but was never, in fact set up and when I called the monitering company, they had no record of me in their computers. You can imagine how helpful the companies were in trying to “fix” that situation. That company, APEX Alarm, sounds eerily similar to Pinnacle.
Just don’t do it.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Just tell them to go away, with a rude tone. I see no
reason to be nice to any intruder into my space
whether they be calling on the phone or knocking on my
door. My wife finds my approach to be appalling. Just the
other day while mowing the lawn two scruffy “salespeople”
tried to interupt my task, I just waved them off and
told them to go away.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
If a polite, “thanks, but I’m not interested ” doesn’t work, I’ll tell them that I have something on the stove and I’ll be right back. I cannot recall how many people I’ve told that and they’re still standing on the front step after 5 minutes.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I moved into a nice home in the northern suburbs several years ago. I my first couple of months in the home, I had several solicitors a week knocking on my door. I work nights and sleep days, so I found this incredibly annoying. I invested in one of those little book-mark sized $3 signs that says “NO SOLICITORS.” I have only had two strangers approach my house since. One was a religious advocate who wanted to share their beliefs with me. When I told her she was waking me up and that I would be more than happy to come to her home, unannounced at 4am someday to speak with her about something that I was passionate about, she told me that I should put up a sign or something. I pointed out the “NO SOLICITOR” sign and she said that she did not think it applied to her. The other was a political figure who walked up my driveway while I was powerwashing my camper. I simply continued spraying water all over and yelled “busy” and he eventually went away too.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
My dog alerts me to people on my property before they even approach the front door.
When I answer the door, I leave the outer screen door shut and allow my dog to keep barking and growling. I make no attempt to calm her down as the solicitor(s) try to rattle off their sales pitch. They typically spend no more than 45 seconds on their pitch before caving into the mad barking dog I am barely restraining.
It works like a dream.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
We’ve had really good success with our “No Solicitors” sign which hangs next to our door bell. We were sure to get one large enough to be able to see it from the street.
The only people who continue to ring the bell are “religious types”. It turns out that in Crystal, they are exempt from the rules of no solicitor signs. Large barking dogs do enoough to deter them anyway.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Real simple. If I want you at my home - you will be invited. If not? Beat it - NOW!