Do You Open the Door for Church People/solicitors?

I remember Andy was a week old and the Jehovah's Witnesses came to my door and asked if it was a good time. I said I have a one week old child that I just got down for a nap and need a nap myself. I was still in my PJs. They said this will only take a second. Really? That didn't sound like a bad time to come a calling to anyone else?

So I proceeded to attempt to convert them to Catholicism. They never came back after that!

Yeah they annoy me to no end.

My husband and I ignore the door but I personally love my nanny's approach. She stands inside the house and through the closed door announces at the top of her voice very slowly, "I'm not here." Then she walks off. My husband asked her one time how that works for her and she said they never ring the doorbell again. Bless her.

Nope, hate them all.....if I see them making their way around I will shut the front door and act like no ones home. I even tell my girls lets play hide n seek. It would be ok if they took no for an answer.

Nope. Everyone that knows me knows if I dont know your coming I wont answer the door.
I especially love it when they look in the side lights on the door and see me sitting there looking at them. I really need to get those covered up. Jerks.

I've stopped answering the door. We go through phases where we get up to 10 people a week and it's a huge disruption to our life. On top of that some of the surrounding neighborhoods have been experiencing burglaries and the police have discovered that some of these "solicitors" are actually burglars who are casing your house!
I'm thinking of putting out some windex/paper towels and a sign that says "No Solicitors. If you try to peek through the curtain on my front door to see if I am really ignoring you please be courteous and clean your forehead print off the glass so that it will be clean for the next person."

Nope.
If I don't know you-I'm not opening my door.
Period. ;)

I live in the sticks, so we get a solicitor once every six months or so.

I really like having visitors or getting to know new people, so it's no bother to talk with a stranger (MOST of the time). I quite enjoy myself. If it's a bad time I say so firmly - never been an issue.

If someone is selling something "Oh, I'll stop you there. We don't have the money for it even IF I were interested in your product. However I wish you good luck, and I hope today is a very profitable for you."

Last time we had missionaries come through the neighborhood, they asked if they could help me with anything. I laughed really hard. "Yup, I have a three and a four year old...of COURSE there are things you could do in my home. If you'd like to come and help with house work, you are welcome to it! If you would like to come in and sit for a cup of tea, we may be able to exchange our spiritual experiences and understanding. If you are here ONLY to convert me, or if you only wish to be heard and to not hear, I'll be able to save you some time by letting you know that that doesn't fly in my home."

Thus far, no one has stayed for a cup of tea (nor has stayed to do my dishes, lol). Honestly, it bums me out. An equal exchange of ideas is almost always a productive activity for me. *Sigh*. Doesn't seem that's the way it works though.

I will relate a funny story. A Jehovah's Witness came to our door preaching their religion. I was in the middle of getting some things together to pass out at my own church service (we are not Jehovah's Witness's) so I reached over and grabbed a pamphlet and said "okay, I'll take your pamphlet if you take mine." I don't think it's wrong of anyone to try to spread the word of their religion, so long as they do so respectfully and to those people who are interested.

Well that set the Jehovah's Witness back and she actually didn't know what to say! I tried to give her my pamphlet and she actually backed away and wouldn't touch it. I placed it on her stack of papers and said "you really should read about other religions too," and she looked at me and said "I can't!" Then she left, dropping the pamphlet as she did.

I felt slightly bad about freaking her out, but I think fair is fair. If you come to my door preaching your religion, then I think it's fair you hear about mine. Funny though...no one has ever come back to our door. And that was 2 years ago...

Try this, which has worked for me for over a year..

Big sign on the door (which is up 24/7)

NAP TIME - Do not ring or knock please!!!!

I told my neighbors that it doesn't apply to them--they can always knock, but it has stopped ALL solicitors. Thank God!!

No, never. I don't care if it's obvious I'm home. It's my house, and I don't want to talk to them!!

My dad used to tell church people that he worships the devil. They would run away! Pretty soon none came around anymore, because they were scared of the devil house. Kinda hard to explain that to your friends!

I seem to remember this question come up not too long ago....For me personally, I do hate the solicitors who are purposely trying to sell me stuff (girl scouts and kids doing school fundraisers I'll exempt). If they aren't respectful of my "no thank you" and get super pushy, I will still be courteous but shut them down fast and close the door. When it comes to church missionairies, my mother taught me a valuable lesson about those trying to show me a better way of living so I will let them share a small thought or scripture with me. My mother was right that sometimes, a message will come through exactly when you need it and it will say exactly what you needed to hear. It's happened only a couple of times but I respect those who are trying to be a better person than I. So church people, I definitely don't mind. But with that said, I'm not looking to convert, I enjoy my religion but a quiet thought or scripture being shared sometimes is just a reminder to calm down and view the world in a better way.

I have a sign that says.

I already have a ( insert your product here) and am already a (insert your religion here).

You know I haven't had problem since.

I do know a lady told me once that she was like 8 months pregnant and JW came to the door. So she grabbed her belly and said, "OH I am going into labor!." You know what? THEY RAN OFF! Just left her there. Good thing she was faking. :)

If I don't know you...I generally don't answer the door..

My old house had an intercom with a camera so I could actually SEE who it was before deciding whether to answer the door or not - THAT was awesome! "What? Who is this? Oh, sorry, not interested..." then just hang up. Fabulous! Now if someone comes to my door trying to convert me, I usually tell them bluntly "I don't believe in God in the first place, you'll have to convince me of his existence before you can even try to convert me to YOUR particular religion." They find that to be too much of a challenge and leave quite quickly. If someone's selling something, I very politely say "No thanks" with a big smile on my face and close the door. But, yeah, it does annoy me that I have to stop what I'm doing to answer the door, which I always do, because it *could* be a delivery or a friend, which I welcome.

Unless someone has called ahead that they are coming to my house, for safety reasons I no longer answer the door. Even if they see me living in my house. I'll wave and that is it and go on with my day. Anyone who knows me, won't even knock on my door. They will call me from the driveway and say...I'm here. There are too many people coming to doors to scam, burglarize, and sell. I don't want to use my life encouraging them. Let your friends and family know to call before they stop by even if they are in the driveway as you aren't answering the door anymore without a quick call .

I refuse to hide in my own house.
If I see that the person on the other side of the door is holding any kind of literature, or is wearing a name tag that says "Elder..." I open the door stark naked.

I don't answer the door... even if I know they heard my son yell.. Mom! Someone's at the door. I figure they have a right to knock on my door, but I also have a right to not answer my door. I too, have a sign, but nobody listens. I was out running one time and after my run I stopped at the park to let my son to play. There I am doing my post running stretching and drinking my water and these church guys come up and are trying to sell it. Seriously? Do I look like I want to chat about God? I told them I attend church and am Catholic and that I'm not interested in changing religions, but of course they didn't stop there. I finally had to get a bit rude and state I had to go and take my son and leave the park. I too, try not to be rude, but when you don't take no for an answer I get frustrated. I could never do sales, I'd hate knocking on people's doors.

I don't feel pressured to open the door. It depends on my mood. Sometimes I'll open and say no thanks; sometimes I just go to the door and say no thanks. I never hide in my own home, except maybe from trick-or-treaters--ha ha.

This is my NUMBER ONE pet peeve! I, too, have a sign on my door and the goofy ones who DO ring anyway get my speech about the sign at the entrance to our subdivision. Which is met by denial/more goofy looks/argument. ARGH!

Don't even get me started on the "missionary"/pamphlet types... What I don't get about JWs is, having had all the rejection they've had, don't they EVER question whether THEY have the wrong beliefs?!?!

Seriously, Jennifer S? How pathetic is THAT? :D

Here's a joke, slightly off topic, but makes me feel better:

REDNECK HOME SECURITY SYSTEM:
1. Buy a pair of size 14-16 work boots.
2. Put them on front porch with a copy of Guns & Ammo.
3. Put some giant dog dishes next to boots & magazines.
4. Leave note on your door:
"NICK: Me & Rita went for more ammo & beer. Back soon. Don't mess with the pit bulls; they messed the mailman up bad this morning. I don't think Killer took part; hard to tell from all the blood. I locked all four of 'em in the house. Better wait outside. Be right back.

Here is the sign I wanted to post yesterday to mamapedia:

DO NOT KNOCK ON MY DOOR IF:

You Want to SELL me Anything, I have No money.

You want to try to CHANGE my RELIGION

You want a DONATION of ANYTHING

You think you can SAVE me MONEY

You want my signature for your CAUSE

I NEVER will want to subscribe to the AMERICAN STATESMAN

I DON'T WANT to help Your Underprivileged youth; HOWEVER you may slide MONEY under the Door To Help Ours.

Sincerely,

The Smith & Wesson Family

I usually answer the door (because the second the doorbell rings my girls are plastered to the front picture window like little suction-cupped Garfields - no hiding the fact we're home! lol), but turn them away.

I feel like, if I wanted to belong to your church then I would already....stop peddling god. I try to buy something from kids who are fund-raising, or donate to bottle drives. But I can't get rid of other sales people fast enough!

I tell them we are not interested, please take us off their list. I don't let them in and I don't entertain them on my porch for long. We get campaign people (they don't realize we have registered one each with both parties) and we have gotten "charities" in the past. If you can't hand me your information so I can review it at a later time, then you don't get my money, period.

Years ago my mom had a Rainbow vacuum guy show up and talked her into the demo. Even after it was obvious that she couldn't afford it, she felt stuck listening to him because there was a raw egg on the floor. It's like he left it there til the bitter end so she'd listen vs shooing him out and cleaning it herself. I don't let people do demos that I don't invite.

I also don't take kindly to people who come for an estimate on one thing and then try to sell me tons more stuff. No, I want THAT tree gone, not that one and if you looked, the gutters are covered. I like my wooded lot, thankyouverymuch.

We occasionally got people coming by to speak to us about their church and 99% were very polite when we said we had a religion, thank you. They don't tend to come around our current neighborhood. Might be all the people walking to temple that clues them in how Orthodox our neighbors are so they don't bother.

Absolutely not. I ask, "Who is it?" through the closed door. If it's someone I don't know, I just tell them I'm not interested without ever opening the door.

I heard this was the best thing to do instead of just hiding and hoping they go away. God forbid, it's someone who wants to break in the house. If they think no one's home, they might try harder to get inside. If they know you're there, they'll just leave.

It's okay to be rude. They are strangers ringing your doorbell. They do not have an appointment. They are not being respectful of your time and privacy, nor will they be respectful of your beliefs, although they expect you to embrace theirs. God is not a box of Girl Scout cookies to be sold door to door. I was very rude when they had the nerve to ring my bell on Yom Kippur one year.

I have a "cute" no solicitors sign on my door. That has cut down on 90% of people knocking on my door I would say. A couple of weeks ago, however, a man pushed his luck and rang the bell. I usually don't open the door, but I did for some reason this time. He looked like a neighbor through my peep hole. When I opened it and he began his spiel, I recognized him as trying to sell me something previously so I just cut him off, said 'no thanks' nicely, but closed the door. I heard him on the other side say, "Wow, thanks. God Bless you!" Please, buddy, I know why you threw that 'bless you' in there :) I just yelled the same back to him through the closed door. I'm not a rude person, but if you're going to have the guts to still try to sell me something after you've seen my sign right on the front door, you're not going to have a happy homeowner open the door.

Oh bother! I just had a response typed out and my computer wigged out and it disappeared.

The jist of it: I have a no-soliciting sign as well, but it has not stopped a few of them. The one that came this week started off by telling me he was not selling anything. It took about 15 min to find out he was selling magazine subscriptions. I was not happy. And he went from nice to rude when I told him no. Lesson learned: I WILL still open the door, because we have many neighbors and family who drop by unannounced, and I am always happy to see them. But if I cannot IMMEDIATELY tell who you are and why you are at my doorstep (flower delivery, UPS man, neighbor, etc) then, "I am sorry, but I work from home and I am on the clock. I have work to do, goodbye". This might work for you as you work from home as well. Good luck!

IF you don't call in advance I don't answer the door at ALL. My SIL learned this the hard way a few years ago.

The dogs usually run people off pretty quick!

I open the door and greet them. I take their brochures and tell them I can't meet with them today. If they offer to clean my carpets, I let them. I don't let them put dirt on my floor. I don't let them do half a floor or just one spot. Then I make them an offer they have to refuse. Some times they want to come back and show my wife, but she NEVER seems to be there.

It was a real bother at first, but now all solicitors just seem to pass me by for easier pickings. Maybe they are now going to your home.

A friend would hang a "Nap Time don't knock or ring the doorbell" sign on her door and it worked well for her except for the girl scouts or that age kids selling stuff.

Good luck to you and yours.

During the depression, people who needed help would put a mark on a person's mailbox to let the next one know if it was the home of someone who would help or not. Apparently they have marked mine as a house to no longer stop at.
Yes, I would let the missionaries in, but they had to listen to me! One woman left scratch marks on the door trying to get out. They seem to only know the spiel they have memorized. When you actually quote the Bible and attempt to debate, they get very nervous.
I never open my door to others who I don't know. I have an intercom to speak to them through.

No, I actually look through the peephole and they see us through the glass.
Then, I go back to what I am doing. No one has ever rang the bell twice.

A guy from Norway happened to be on my porch when I opened the door as the UPS guy was walking back to his truck. I told him "No thanks I don't want any" and turned around. He tried twice to talk as if he didn't understand. I closed the door anyway. The UPS guy still L. about him standing there.

If I do not know them, I will not answer the door. Unless of course, it's the mail man or a delivery that I need to sign for. I'm paranoid and have had some weird people come to the door when I was younger, so I will not answer it if I don't know who it is. I don't care if they can hear me or see me.

I don't answer the door. Period. I don't care if they know I'm home. There is nothing I need to buy/sign/hear about from anyone coming to my door.

One more reason why I like living in the country. In 18 years I have had 3 people come to my door, Jehovah's Witness twice and some guy selling educational workbooks this past summer. I usually don't answer the door but he drove up as I was working in the yard. (Eye roll) I tried to be nice but he was relentless. I finally said, "I am a teacher and I have tons of educational stuff. We don't need any workbooks!" So annoying!!

I usually answer to door, tell them no thank you or not interested. Sometimes I take their handout, if they are not harassing me about it. There has been one time where I was rude to the seller, but he was very vulgar and I found it inappropriate. Oh, and there have been a few times where I have been asked if my parent's were home, which REALLY ticks me off. Apparently I look young for my age (I once got carder for a rated R movie when I was 23 years old!)

There has been one time where I was scared because of a group of ladies that were pushing some religion. My brother, sisters and I were alone after school one day and we never opened the door when we were unsupervised. Our age ranges were 8-14 years old. The ladies knew someone was home because the TV was on and we had been making a lot of noise before they came to the door, but when we didn't answer, they went around the entire house, knocking on every window that they could get to from the front of the house. It was terrifying. At one point my older sister yelled for them to go away, and even then, it took them a while! If that were to happen now, I would immediately call the police!

Ha ha this so reminds me of the incident I had last week. Normally I do not open doors when I'm home by myself with the kids. I will look out the peep hole and if its the postman I will, otherwise they can knock to their heart's content, knowing full and well I'm home. In addition, when the hubby's not home I don't open the shade/shudders at all...and the front of our house is all windows too! Up until last week that worked wonders....

Some gentleman comes up and knocks on our door nothing unusual, except for some strange reason the kids go bonkers, screaming "who's that mommy who's that?". I tell them to calm down I'm busy (knowing the gentleman can hear me). So what does my 3.5 yr do, he goes and pulls up the shudders and then starts talking and pointing to the guy through the window---Uh ya seriously? Needless to say I felt obligated to open the door at that point.

Thankfully we have a security screen door, so when I opened the door, I very quickly blurted out "I'm so sorry, we aren't interested! Thankfully the guy said I can see you have your hands full and left....I felt like the biggest dunce at that point!

After that my son and I had a very long talk about how dangerous that was and not to talk to strangers even through a window--but really? s

I have a note on my door bell that says DO NOT RING BELL OR EVEN KNOCK - DO NOT DISTURB - INFANT SLEEPING!!! It still doesn't work! I just don't answer the door.

Like many here I just don't answer the door. Even the phone for that matter if I'm busy.

But the other day while waking the dog, she pooped a 2nd time and I did not have a back up bag with me. And I did not want to leave the poop on the front lawn. So I knocked and waited, hoping they would answer the door, b/c they don't know me, and if they are like me, probably wouldn't answer the door, but then would complain that people let their dogs poop anywhere nowadays....but I just shouted through the door that I was from the neighborhood. So, they answered, I asked for and received a poop bag and was on my way.

Sometimes I ask, "Who is it?" or "What do you want?" right through the door.

And yes, I do have a No Solicitor sign, and have tried "baby sleeping' signs....but many do not read those.

The one that worked the best over the years was a sign I made myself that simply said, "GO AWAY"

Quick additional thoughts: 1) Get a "no trespassing" sign. This will help to ensure against all types of solicitors. They are legally not allowed onto your property.

2) You should always acknowledge someone at the door. Many burglars knock on doors to assess whether someone is home. If no one answers, they assume the house is unoccupied and ripe for the picking. At the very least, tell them "go away, not interested" through the closed door/window.

And I HATE religious solicitors. Does it ever work?!

If someone knocks on our door, I will open it as long as it isn't DARK yet. I don't have a no soliciting sign but quickly tell them I'm not interested and shut the door. If its missionaries I tell them thanks for visiting but I go to the chuch in the neighborhood (I tell them the name) and have no intention of switching religions. I also ask them to REMOVE me from their follow up list. Yes, they have one and that's why they keep coming back! And the reason why NONE of us answer the door after dark is because my hubby's ex is psycho and we literally don't know what she *could* do so we don't open the door. Her nickname is The Kracken so I'll just leave it at that! =)

Same here...I just don't answer the door if I don't want to speak with them. I'm not worried if they know I am home or not. I typically don't need or want what they have anyway. The only ones I typically answer for are the neighborhood kids if they are fundraising.

The Jehovah's Witnesses who come get talked to, for one reason. They bring their little boy, and I have a hard time shutting the door in the face of a child. Otherwise, unless it's the neighbor kids, I tell them politely, no, we're not interested and shut the door.

I do not talk to people who come around. If I feel like it I do answer the door then say no to whatever they are there for. Sometimes I don't bother to answer the door at all. But, OMG, my husband answers the door and steps out and has long conversations with anyone who shows up. It drives me batty, but it's his life right? He has some JW that come every other week to "talk" and my husband talks and talks. He even told them he wasn't going to be recruited, but they still stop by and talk, so more power to them I guess!

I really try to NOT answer the door for them. I had some LDS people come to my door once and I made the mistake of answering. I told them I was not interested, I was happy with my church, they didn't get the hint, so finally I went to shut the door....and they stuck their foot out to prevent me from doing so! I couldn't believe it! I had to tell them that if they didn't leave my property I would call the police.
My husband's family goes to a very pushy Baptist church and they go door to door. They have been to my house twice (I'm pretty sure they know we live here) and I purposely haven't answered the door. Its soo much easier to pretend we're not here than to have to listen to them, pretend to be nice, and then have to finally get nasty in order to get them to leave.
The only time I answer for "solicitors" is if its a neighbor kid selling something for school. I usually try to buy something since I know that will eventually be my kids trying to sell something!

My husband starting talking to them and now that he is on days they come every Tuesday and bother me. I do feel obligated sometimes cause these ppl that come by are so nice to us. They gave my 3 1/2 yr old a childrens bible at no cost and they gave her a tinker bell umbrella so I feel that I have to talk to them. But sometimes it gets to be to much and I do hide from them. With our second child due anyday now, I have so much to do and they take up some of my time. I told my husband that once the baby comes I will not have time to talk to them. I down right refuse to let them in my house and once cold weather sets in I am not standing outside to talk with them. I don't want to be rude and they have enlightened me on alot of things but it is getting out of hand. I really don't know how to tell them not to come by so much.
My old neighbor used to see them coming and tell them that she was athiest and they would turn around and leave. It was sad that she had to do that but they wouldn't leave her alone.
Since you say that your house is all windows and they come knocking just ignore them even if they do see you. Hopefully they will get the hint. If they see you just walk to another room until they leave. Best of luck!

I know I'm late, but just today they woke up both of my children when they knocked on the door. We have a little dog who barks when someone she doesn't know comes to the door. I have asked them over and over and over again to please leave us alone and they are still here at times 1-2 times a week.
My husband had a discussion with them today about this being a community and there are signs on the entrances about "NO SOLICITING"

I used to be polite and just tell them we already belong to a church and have no interest in changing our beliefs. Now though I am rude I have two small children and babysit up to three others during the week. There is usually someone asleep in my home and besides that I'm just busy. I am usually the only one home on my street and still they walk up and down knocking on every door making my dog go crazy! Waking everyone up and making me crazy.

I answer the door because I'm assuming people can READ our no soliciting sign, but nope! When I was 9.5 months pregnant, one week away from delivering my daughter, a solicitor rang the door bell and knocked, causing the dog to start barking which then woke up my 2.5 year old twins, thus ending my much needed nap. Solicitors really make me angry! Since we've put up the sign only two people have come to our door, and I want to scream and shout to read the door, but I'm too polite for that.

I think what gets me even more mad is when a church group comes to my door and I inform them I belong to a church in which I am very involved and the don't LEAVE! They still try to convince me to go to theirs!

I also try commenting to my small kids, "I know you're hungry, mommy is, too," but people just can't figure it out!

Oh, and a friend of mine has a note that reads, "Do not ring doorbell. There are small children here, so I probably can't afford whatever it is you're selling anyway."

If it's church people I tell them "I'M the ONLY one who reads scripture in this house, have a nice day," and shut the door. I don't even let them get a word in edgewise, and I don't feel bad for it for one second. They can keep on preaching to my closed door for all I care.
If it's a school child selling something I let them say what they are selling then politely tell them no.
If it's girl scouts selling cookies, I tell them heck yes and get my purse. =)

I'm late on this one, but just had to answer. For me it depends. Sometimes my kids will run to the door and beg to open it. We often have neighborhood kids come by, so random knocks on the door aren't unusual. I'm usually polite. If it's the middle of the day and my older kids are at school, I usually ignore it. However, today, while my youngest was napping, I hear a pounding on my door and the door bell rings 3 times. I ran to the door and peeked through the peephole - didn't recognize the person. After a few seconds, he leans forward and tries to peek in the peek hole! What?! Then he pounds the door and rings the bell again. Well, he's not holding anything, so maybe he's not a salesman and there's an emergency outside. I opened the door a crack and peek my head through. He makes a joke about my doormat. EXCUSE ME?! I shut him down so fast, I have no idea what he was even trying to sell. So for me, it depends.

As for "church people" my husband was a missionary and hopefully my 3 sons will be as well :)

If you're serious about not wanting to open the door for any strangers, then just announce it through the door. "Sorry, I don't have time right now." And walk away. Who cares if they can see you? You can't stop people from knocking on your door, but you don't have to open it.

I usually answer the door and very quickly say I am not interested and shut the door before they have a chance to say much else. Sometimes with the church people, I tell them that I do not believe in God (because I don't) and then proceed to say 'thanks anyways' and shut the door. I don't do it to be rude, I am 100% open to other people's belief's, but I don't go knocking on their doors asking them to change their beliefs, so it is a little annoying to me.
Also, I have dogs that bark like crazy when some one comes to the door, so sometimes I'll just say through the window that I can't answer. - or that my son is napping (depending on the time)

I don't even go to the door - and my door is all windows too so sometimes they know I'm home. I don't care. Of course, I don't actually get a lot of solicitors. On the odd day that I think the person may have business with me, I'll open my interior door but my storm door is always locked and it's glass. I NEVER unlock that door unless I know the person. There are too many crazies out there and I'm home alone during the day most of the time.

I tell them very firmly "I'm not interested" and shut the door. If its politics, sometimes I'll listen for a few minutes & close the door.

We've had scammers and possible scammers come to the door, kids selling candy for supposed school or church things, but I don't buy, because of the scams (they are just pocketing the $ or their parents are).

We also have 2 large dogs that bark (they are friendly, but always bark when someone knocks or rings the bell), and that often makes people a little less eager to come to our door.

If I have to face a pushy person at my door I always say no thank you Im not interested and if that doesnt work I tell them exactly how it is. I understand you are doing your job but I said Im not interested and you are not going to change my mind. If they still dont get it I proceed with how would you like it if I stood on your step (while you were busy non the less) and harrassed you about something that you bluntly told me you were not interested in? Okay so Im closing the door now - have a good day and please remember NOT to come back