We're lucky then - our town prohibits door to door solicitations. I can also see whoever is at my front door from one of my living room windows and from an upstairs bedroom window. So if by chance someone does ring the bell I can check first. But I would never open the door to someone I didn't know.

If that happened often I wouldn't hesitate to post a sign and I'd put it closer to the walkway to stop them before they come to the door.

I don't open the door. I have thought of posting a sign, but I doubt they would pay attention to it unless it were huge which I wouldn't want. Wish our town would prohibit solicitors.

Prohibited here, too. I do get people asking me to sign a petition or make a donation.I don't make donations but sometimes I sign the petition. I really get tired of the Jehovah's Witness bugging me. I either hide from them or politely say no.

I just don't go to the door, whether they can see me or not! I live in a place that people don't just happen by and my friends would always call before coming by. So if someone rings and I'm not expecting them, I ignore it. Friends would be able to tell I am home and would call me from their car if I didn't answer. If you still want a sign...Here are some great ideas:

This is a little too long, too rude and too violent, of course, but some would find it funny:
" NO SOLICITING!

(Unless you are someone under the age of 12 selling something sweet, like cookies or candy, at a price not to exceed $2.00, for your scout troop, sports team, or church group. IâÂÂm sympathetic to child slave labor, I like kids, and I like cookies even better.)

But if you do not fall into that category, I donâÂÂt want your magazine because I already have a subscription. I donâÂÂt want your newspaper because I already get it. I do not want to pay you to run, walk, swim, jog, jog-walk, swim-jog, or walk-run. I do not want to pay you to cure AIDS. I donâÂÂt want to fund your fraternityâÂÂs trip to Mexico. I genuinely hope that together we can help stop female breast cancer, and while IâÂÂll be more than happy to give you a free exam, I do not want to pay you to examine others. I do not want a âÂÂtrialâ anything. I do not want to pay you to leave me alone, thatâÂÂs what this sign is for. I do not want you to keep standing in front of my door, reading this sign in the hopes that I might have posted an exception for your particular breed of leech. If you want my money, feel free to try robbing me. I carry a knife with a 4-inch blade and will gladly extend your smile to your ears. Thank you, and the best of luck screwing over my neighbors."

{{gwi:1497530}}

I find it annoying, too. I'm trying to get my intercom replaced so that I can once again answer the door from my telephone.

Oly, those are great!

I'm another who doesn't bother opening the door. Typically it's Jehovah's Witnesses and I'd rather not get into a discussion with them. Religion is a personal thing ... I don't want anyone trying to sell me their "version".

That first sign forgot, "Leave your political literature at the door, I'll read it later and then consider voting for you."

I hate when strangers come to the door because it upsets the dogs and that's a whole other fiasco.

We live up a dead end road and have a long driveway. Occasionally we get strangers coming to the door and it irritates me to no end, I start thinking about gates and such. Naturally, they leave an oil drip on the driveway and run over some of my shrubs while trying to back out of our narrow, curving driveway although we have a large turn around area at the house. And it also startles the dogs.
Totally clueless.

I love the Thin Mint sign!!!

The beauty of being off the beaten track, is the expectation that no one bother with solicition given how far they have to walk to actually get to the house. We've never had a single trick-or-treater in 25 years.

The only soliciting comes when the dark sedan parks at the end of our drive (where there are no parking spots, curbs, nada). Exit four adults in dark trench coats carrying their bibles and handout information. They want to give me Bible literature, quote scripture and otherwise tell me I am going to end up in hell, lol. I have no patience for these people. While I try to be polite, they are insistent and will not take no for an answer. I usually give up and just close the door while one of the group is still in mid-sentence.

In our neck of the woods, only businesses display "No Soliciting" signs, and from what I've heard, those signs don't deter solicitation at all. Perhaps a regional thing, but I can't say I've seen any home with a sign. Loads of security system signs, but "No Soliciting" only on the door of businesses.

I always answer the door and before they can say anything, I say in the sweetest most sincere voice I can muster, "Thank you so much for stopping by but I'm just not interested, (as I'm closing the door) have a wonderful day!"

Kindness usually leave solicitors speechless.

Closing the door in someone's face doesn't sound too kind to me. Better not to open it in the first place.

Natal, your definition of closing the door in someone's face must differ from mine. It's really obvious that someone is home at my house since I have a clear glass front door. For me, it would be ruder to not open the door.

But thank you so much for your attempt at teaching me the proper etiquette for brushing off solicitors, have a wonderful day!

Just because it's obvious someone's home doesn't obligate you to open the door. I doubt it's your kindness that leaves them speechless.

We don't get many solicitors so I wouldn't consider a sign. Can't imagine only going to the door if I knew that it was someone I knew and expected. Several times we have had young people knock on the door for help. One was a young woman who had made her, drunk, boyfriend stop and let her out of the car. I invited her in, gave her a cup of coffee, and let her use the phone to call her mom. I suppose some would think it stupid to let someone you don't know into your house but I hate to think of that young woman having to walk the many miles home because no one would help her. I'll continue to open my door.

Rose, I've heard of situations like that where the "person in need" is a ruse to get into someone's home. Be very careful!

natal, your hostility/defensiveness is very curious.

Kelly, I don't know what you're talking about. You made a comment and I responded.

Natal, your passive-aggressiveness doesn't work on me. Never has.

Sorry for the thread interruption, folks.

In my neighborhood we have had cases where people "in need" have entered homes as a pretense to case them out. We also had a case where an elderly man let two men claiming to work for the utility company in. When they left he discovered he was robbed. I do not like having strangers in my home, not even when they are installing something or cleaning ducts because you never really know whose coming in. After a spate of burglaries in my neighborhood I talked to the detective investigating the crimes and he told me it's not unusual for people's homes to be robbed shortly after they've had work done in the house because the people doing the work are checking them out. I think crime is increasing because of the length of this economic downturn. I even walked out of my door a few weeks ago and found people rummaging in my trash. They were going from trash can to trash can looking for scrap metal. But as for soliciting, many towns will require solicitors to register with the police before they make their rounds. If a solicitor is not wearing the badge the police issue where you can see it, there is no record of their being there and if they have not gone through normal procedure, I do not under any circumstances open the door. If I see the badge I might open it and talk to them. There have been too many cases where the person on your stoop also tries to push their way in and are aided by an accomplice. Sorry to sound so paranoid but things are changing and you need to be careful.

Kelly, maybe you should re-read your first post. Own your own words.

I don't consider it rude not answering my door anymore than I do not answering my phone. I do consider it rude when I make the mistake of answering the phone only to find I have to cut someone off, because I shouldn't have answered in the first place.

Judith, around here there have been similar instances. There have also been cases where someone was allowed in and then raped or murdered the homeowner. We had a serial killer who murdered a number of women that way.

I refuse to not help people just because by doing so I might put myself in danger. Have you never needed the help of strangers? I have and the people who helped me have a special place in my heart. Would you have ignored, or called the cops on, the four youngsters DH found wandering out of the woods? They had gotten off track while exploring. He gave them a ride home. To me that's being a good human being.

Yes, you need to assess the situation and danger. To never offer help, by never looking at the people asking for your assistance, is just plain cold-hearted and selfish in my opinion.

I have to say that I also don't think it is rude to not open your door to strangers. I often have the doors open with the storm doors locked to let in more light. I don't worry if they know I am home or not. Same thing with the phone. We get so many people who want to trim our trees, mow our lawn, clean our gutters, save our souls, buy their magazines because they are supporting younger siblings and trying to better their lives (some of these last tend to become quite nasty if I turn them down. I feel awful because I know the company that sends them out is taking advantage of them and they will end up making next to nothing, so I have bought from them knowing I will never get the magazines). I just thank them and say no if they catch me in the yard. I will also accept their cards which end up in the recycling. All in all, no difference to them if I don't open or go to the door, so I rarely do now.

That said, I will sign petitions and would let someone use the phone if she were in trouble, but I would hand it out the door and keep my dogs in view when I did so. I have taken the phone out to the road as well when a car is obviously broken down.

I have a No Soliciting and Do not leave Flyers on my door...computer created. The flyer thing irks me, if they are left it appears that I'm not at home. Think the sign has worked 90% of the time. My dog knows immediately if there is someone on the edge of driveway. And I will look. Most of the time they walk away without knocking. The black coat guys turn up about twice a year. I want so much to ask them if they forgot to go through reading classes. They totally ignore the sign.

Solicitors have no idea who they are waking up, may be too ill to answer the door or in the middle of painting, detailed project, etc. I hate being interrupted by a stranger.

With the above said, we don't have that many around in my area. There will always be someone sometime...so my sign stays. But I think most of this has gone away as our hi-tech world evolved. Which leads me to concern if someone is at my door without knowing who they are. And a sign wouldn't do much good if the person was up to no good.

I love the ones you found Olychick. Time to put some humor into mine.

I miss the days when you could feel comfortable inviting the Maytag or Sears guy into your home but the world has changed and unfortunately, people need to be smart about how they deal with strangers.

We always ask family, friends even workers to call when they are on their way so they are expected. We also have everyone we know enter through the garage so if someone is at the front door, we automatically know it's either the Fedex guy or someone we don't know. When that happens I always check thru the window to decide about answering it. Sometimes I do, other times I don't. BUT I don't believe it's rude to close the door on someone while they are still speaking or to just not answer the door at all; actually, it's quite the opposite. IMHO it's the solicitors and especially the religious people who are being rude. They approach someone's door uninvited, they don't take a kind "no thank for you" for an answer and they keep on talking knowing it's most people's nature not to be rude. It's a passive-aggressive way of forcing someone to listen and it really irks me. At that point, I don't really care about how they feel when the door is shut or not answered. Fortunately, solicitors and the religion recruiters are rare in our area. :c)

We do live on a curved road where unfortunately at least 2-3 times a year someone takes the turn too quick and ends up either killing our mailbox or meeting up with a tree. If they kill our box or it looks like there is a problem, we are the only ones in our neighborhood that will go to them to help. I call 911 as I go and would be careful about inviting someone in our home but I still want to help if it's needed. After 6 years I'm still surprised that no one else around us will reach out.

Last year we had furniture and some appliances delivered several times and there were a few times the delivery people made me a bit uncomfortable. I could SEE them checking the place out when I was distracted by another worker and it gave me the creeps. That's one reason why we got our puppy who is already 54 lbs and still growing. She has a nice hefty bark and her size alone can be intimidating. I also started making sure my husband is home when a delivery is scheduled; at least that way he can keep an eye on things if I get distracted.

I think it's generous and right to want to help others Stinky, I can totally relate as I've had to run to a strangers door for help before myself. It was after midnight and I still thank God they answered as I would have been in trouble if they hadn't. That was a long time ago though and as others have said this is a different world so be careful.

Three acres + gate + dogs = this is never a problem.

However, it means I DO have a problem getting the UPS guy to leave my packages. There is no perfect solution.

No perfect solution - that pretty much sums it up.

Regarding giving aid to strangers - that's one thing. I believe in that as we've received help often (husband is disabled in wheelchair & we have 2 preschoolers). However, I believe in keeping my family safe.

If someone comes to the door saying they need help, I will gladly call 911 for them and other neighbors but I won't necessarily open the door. If I open the door to someone who actually has bad intentions then I've completely removed any security my family has from that closed door.

I really miss our speakeasy door that we had on a previous house. I could open that little window, talk, say no thank you and move on. As soon as finances improve, that's something I want to invest in.

In the meantime, I think it will be a "no soliciting" sign.

Olychick - thanks for posting those signs. Love the thin mint one!

I think I might print this one out:

"BUT I don't believe it's rude to close the door on someone while they are still speaking or to just not answer the door at all; actually, it's quite the opposite. IMHO it's the solicitors and especially the religious people who are being rude. They approach someone's door uninvited, they don't take a kind "no thank for you" for an answer and they keep on talking knowing it's most people's nature not to be rude. It's a passive-aggressive way of forcing someone to listen and it really irks me. At that point, I don't really care about how they feel when the door is shut or not "
I agree with lukki 100%. The very worst were the couple who, when I said a polite 'no thanks' , pushed forward a small child who began reading from the bible. of course I had to stand there till she finished.
I have read police reports of would be intruders ringing/ knocking and breaking in if no one seems to be at home. I now check from a window first, but no longer play possum.

Used to just ignore uninvited door knockers but was told by the police that we should let them know we are home so they don't try to break in while we are home. I have 3 dogs so I won't even attempt to open the door. Luckily our kitchen window looks right out at the door and I can stand there and talk to them thru the window. If they are selling something, I just wave them off and walk away. If it's someone I know I can tell them to wait while I close up the dogs. Works well for me.

Police just caught a dog door burglar. All I could think about was that our 90 lb dog can fit thru a dog door that I can't fit thru so what size dog do those people have where a human can fit thru their dog door (and would I really try crawling thru their dog door to meet the dog on the other side)???? Crazy burglars--some dog needs to eat him.

OT - Sorry, I do not want to get into a debate about opening the door to strangers being unsafe. Just watch the news. People don't even have to open the door any longer, there are so many home invasions happening in neighborhoods of all socioeconomic levels. I remember watching news of these home invasions primarily happening in the city neighborhoods. No more, they are happening in the nicest of burbs.

Recently a friend hired a new cleaning lady. The woman came to my friend's home, cleaned and was paid for the day's work. The cleaning lady having unlimited access to the home, conveniently opened the locked slider in the MB. Being door that my friend never uses, she had no reason to give that slider a thought, let alone to check that door was locked before going out for dinner that evening. That same evening my friend's home was robbed of many things, the most devastaing of which were several pieces of jewelry that her recently deceased DM left to her. No forced entry - entry was gained through the unlocked slider. I would recommend that anyone beware of allowing a stranger access to your home. This cleaning lady came very well recommended, but you just never know.

If someone is in trouble, I have no problem dialing 911 to summon help. In the event the person is truly in trouble, summoning the police to help is really all that is necessary. Open the door and allow a stranger to enter - no way.

JMHO

I did forget to mention that a sheriff's deputy came to talk to our neighborhood during National Night Out last year and she made it clear that it's always better to let a door-knocker know you're home rather than pretending not to be home. Any "empty" house makes for a good target.

She also said that if the knock comes in the middle of the night, turn lights on and if you have to go to the door take your cell phone with you. I would take it with me with 911 ready to be dialed. I don't expect anyone to come knocking at our door in the middle of the night unless they're inebriated (lost) or have malicious intent as we live in a cul-de-sac 2 streets into our neighborhood.

work_in_progress, your friend could have prevented the robbery if she had an alarm system. My cleaning ladies sometimes forget to lock doors they have opened, so I double-check after they are done, but I always set my alarm when I leave, even if it is only for 10 mins while I pick up one of the kids from a nearby activity. A monitored alarm system does work and it would have been set off when the robbers opened the door.

I also have the door chime feature turned on, so any delivery person or worker will hear it and know we have a working alarm system.

chispa - she had an alarm system, but it wasn't armed. Apparently, living in a gated community doesn't afford you more safety than living in any other neighborhood. She thought it did.

I am definitely in the "I don't open my door" camp. And, boy, am I glad that's so. A few weeks after we moved into our new house, a strange man came to our door and asked if we'd just had a solicitor (NOTE: this conversation occurred through the front door--I told you I don't open the door!).

It turned out he was our neighbor, two doors down, and a "solicitor" from a non-profit had knocked at their door. The wife did not answer the door, and came down ten minutes later to find her purse, etc., missing. The solicitor had just barged in and grabbed whatever he could, and then dumped his non-profit materials on the porch as he ran away. It was a reputable non-profit, too. I keep wondering if he really was the non-profit's employee, or if he had forged materials.

I do what Chispa does--the chimes are on and workers know I have an alarm system.

And yes, I arm it every time I leave.
That's what it's for.

Several years ago when we lived in the suburbs of a large city I was at home working at the sink, which looked over my driveway and the cul-de-sac in the neighborhood. I noticed a woman that appeared to be in her early thirties with some type of flyers going up to doors. The television was on in the den/living room, which unfortunately, my glass door allowed full viewing into the middle of the house.

The doorbell rang, the dog barked, and I was in the middle of something and just didn't want to answer. She rang twice and I assumed she went to the next door. Still at the sink, I looked up and this woman was MARCHING up my driveway, looked at me as she passed the large window over the kitchen sink and went straight to my back wrought iron gate and opened it, she was as mad as a wet hen.

I immediately grabbed the phone and opened the back door (not a good idea I suppose but that area was all windows and she could see me anyway)and met her on my patio and she was sceaming, "Why didn't you open your GD door? I could hear the TV on in there, who do you think you are not answering when I am at your door?"

I yelled back she had better get her backend off of my property immediately as I was calling the police. She went back out the gate, still cursing at me.

I called and the drove around but couldn't find her anymore.

There are a lot of nuts out there, and the people that are the "nicest" (movers teasing me, etc., found my jewelry box and stole a diamond ring, took it out of the ring box) are sometimes the ones that are the worst.

I don't like not trusting people but you just can't.

The magazine guys came here about two weeks ago in pouring rain and thunderstorms, long predicted. I did not open the door but talked to them through the glass and they do take advantage of your courtesy and inclination to be nice and listen to them, particularly in pouring rain. I do think it's a good idea to let them know you are at home, and if you can, to have a dog or and alarm system, or weapons, or all three. I do.

My husband and I work from home. The following notice on our front door,computer printed and laminated, was created after one to many interruptions.

Unless you are:
USPS, FedEx, UPS or DHL
DO NOT DISTURB
Soliciting is not tolerated.
Period.

It has worked beautifully.

This reminded me of something I did when I was working and away from home every day. I didn't want an alarm system, but house is fairly isolated and I worried about coming home in the dark to find the house burglarized, etc. It made me feel like people would think there was someone at home...both burglar and solicitor. I put a little sign above my doorbell which read:

DAY SLEEPER, please do not disturb!

We have an alarm and a Labrador retriever who is a worthless watch dog - she would simply sit and watch. I wouldn't open the door either but now with the latest news I know that I need to make whomever is at the door aware that someone is at home.

I live in a fairly affluent suburb of Philly and my town has had 18 break ins since mid October. Most of these occurred during the day when the homeowner was away and involved entry through a rear door or window that was pried open. The police have reported that on several occasions neighbors saw a young woman in her 20's knocking on the front door. The police think she was checking to see if the home was empty or not.

Luckily I have 2 windows that allow me to see who is there and also speak with them if necessary.

We have two good-sized dogs who go nuts when the doorbell rings. When unfamiliar solicitors come knocking I let the dogs go to the door and do their thing. The solicitors can see and hear them through the sidelights and usually go away quickly. If they don't I will open the door with my crazy dogs and say "I'm so sorry, but it's just not a good time." Heh-heh.

Seriously, my dogs annoy and protect me at the same time. The only time one of them has become truly threatening to anyone was with one particularly scary delivery guy. My pup got her fur up and growled like I've never heard. The guy left fast. Usually I will put them in their crates when I am expecting a service or delivery call, but I admit on a couple of occasions to letting them out when a delivery or service guy gives me the creeps. Because they'll check him out, but they stay with me.

And Lynne, I am laughing so hard at the image of you waving someone away with a gun!!!! You go girl!

I know, Nellie . . . just call me a pistol packin' mamma, but let me tell you, would-be burglars don't ever think about coming back (LOL). It makes even me chuckle sometimes, though, as I wonder what they may be thinking while hot-footing it down my (major) steps and looooong driveway. Too funny!
Lynn

I got a laugh out of Lynne's post too! Not that I don't appreciate your reasons for packing heat, but I guess the vision of you walking towards the door and waving the gun to tell them to take off just was too much!

I tend to just not answer the door. I'm also sort of rude to phone solicitors. When I answer and they start talking, I just say no thank you and hang up. When I'm in a bad mood, I admit to just hanging up and not even saying no thank you.

Especially since I went to such pains to signup for the "Do Not Call List" and it seems to do no good. We have caller ID on our TV, and that helps to not even answer in the first place, but I've found that if you don't answer, they just keep calling back with their automated dialer.