COMMENT
How To Show Cold Callers The Door

By Jane Mack (TMFJane)
December 13, 2005

A few weeks ago I rang my local Trading Standards department at the council in a fit of exasperation after getting three cold calls from doorstep sellers in the space of two hours.

No, I didn't want to switch my electricity supplier, nor did I want a 'free' wall inspection and no, I most certainly wasn't interested in karate lessons. The last was so aggressively determined to sign someone up that she even tried to persuade me that my 89-year-old father-in-law who can only get about in a wheelchair would benefit from taking up the sport. If I'd known how to do a karate chop I'd have given her one on the spot!

The Trading Standards lot sent me a sticker to put on my front door which states that we don't buy or sell and nor do we want any free advice thank you very much and so far it's kept the cold callers away, apart from someone who turned up on my doorstep this morning assuming I'd be happy to answer some market research questions since she wasn't selling anything.

As you may have gathered, I don't like doorstep sellers. According to a survey carried out by the Trading Standards Institute, neither does 96% of the rest of the population. Officials get at least 15,000 complaints a year from consumers who feel they've been conned into signing contracts for products and services they didn't really want after being pressurised by doorstep sellers. Quite apart from anything else, clear links have been established between doorstep cold calling and crimes such as distraction burglaries where crooks con their way into someone's home under false pretences.

So, if a doorstep seller does manage to grab your interest, use these tips to protect yourself:

• Don't buy on impulse even if you're given a so-called 'once in a lifetime offer' - you won't know whether it's a good price unless you shop around.
• Don't get drawn into conversation about family or interests - it's a common psychological trick.
• Don't forget that you don't owe the salesperson anything - if you don't want to buy, refuse firmly.
• If you sign up for something and later change your mind, remember you usually only have a seven-day cooling-off period - make sure you cancel in writing.
• Don't agree for goods to be installed during the cooling-off period or you lose the right to cancel entirely.

If you're a member of a local residents' group or neighbourhood watch scheme, you can enlist the help of your Trading Standards department to create a local 'no-go zone' to keep cold callers away. Signs and stickers can be used to make it clear to doorstep sellers that they're not welcome and unwanted callers can then be reported to the authorities for follow-up action.

Otherwise phone them and get a sticker for your own front door. As it happens, I got sent a dozen stickers (how many front doors do they think I've got?) and it's just occurred to me to post the rest of them through my neighbours' letterboxes. Maybe I can create a mini 'no-go zone' all of my own!

If you're also fed up with junk mail and unwanted telesales calls, here's how to stop them.