Another "magazine salesman"

[ClarkLZeuss]

Mrs. Zeuss and the kids and I were watching TV last night, when around 7:30 pm there's a knock at the door. As it's dark and we're not expecting anyone, I first yell out, "Who is it?" An odd reply comes: "Jesse." I look through the peephole and see "Jesse" standing alone, but something else bothers me that I can't pinpoint. I tell him "just a minute" and go get my 9mm. I'm thinking at this point it might be a teenager selling stuff for school, because of how he answered my question. (I remember being the same way in highschool).

I look again through the peephole, then cautiously open the door, but am surprised to find out Jesse's no kid, but a guy that's probably in his 30s. (I hadn't been able to determine his age through the peephole). Now my motive changes to getting rid of him, but he quickly goes into a spiel about selling children's books and magazines to "earn a trip to Hawaii." Something else nebulous bothers me. Then, a complication happens: my 3 year old runs over, grabs my leg and tries to see what's going on. My focus is now split between Jesse and my kid (who disobeys my command to go sit with my wife).

Anyway, in short order I tell Jesse "no thanks" and he politely leaves (well, I actually told him twice), and all is well. Then I start to realize what made me uncomfortable. The first obvious thing was the time of day. Enough elsewhere has been said about that. The second thing was that when I first looked through the peephole, there was a split-second when I thought I saw him glance or maybe say something quick to someone else. But it was so subtle that I didn't process that til later. Then, when he was talking about the books/magazines he was supposedly selling, all he could show for it was a single brochure. So, beyond just no product to display (which I know this is how some types of sales work) not even a brochure to give out. Jesse either had poor salesmanship, or the thing was a fraud. Or, if I'm to believe him, he had just "one more book to sell," and thus was out of brochures. Either way, I wasn't interested at all, and anyways have a pretty rigid policy against buying stuff from door-to-door types. Especially at night. I also realized later that I've never met a "selling-magazines-for-points" guy as old as this one. Who only gave a first name and no further credentials. All of these factors together made my alarms go off, though it wasn't until later that I figured out all the reasons why. Hooray for instincts.

As for the "Never Again"-ness of this story, it was letting my 3-year old stay there with me. I didn't want to take my eyes of Jesse, but I should have been more forceful about telling my kid to leave the doorway. I had a talk with said kid afterwards, saying that "only daddy can talk to strangers." Oh, and I decided from now on that I'll say to salesman, "Just a minute, let me go put something on."

[TDDude]

It does sound fishy.

Door-to-Door salesmen don't bother me. If that's the job they have, God bless them and good luck. I won't begrudge them a living as long as they are respectful and so far, I've never had anybody knock that wasn't. The fact that it was dark is cause for concern so I believe you did the right thing.

I remember selling junk as a kid to raise money for this or that but doing so after dark is dangerous for both parties and is just not smart. Also, be careful about gauging someone's age. Today’s kids can easily look to be in their 20's when they have barely crossed into their teens. I know my 12 yr old son is around 5'9" and since he swims competitively, is already ripped like Charles Atlas himself. He looks much older than he is. He even has to shave his mustache a few times a week already.

As far as the kids are concerned, when mine were small it was an immediate spanking if they answered the door. Period. It didn't matter if they knew who was there or not. That included when my wife or I was talking to whomever was there. Kids knew to stay away from the door. They just need to know what the rules are before the situation is at hand.

[Sewer_Ice]

<--- 3 year veteran of door to door sales.

NEVER trust a magazines salesmen. I recruited A LOT OF THEM. Long story short, the ones that were scamming, didn't find out that the magazines never arrived until MONTHS after working there. Some quit the job after finding out, others were in dire need of supporting their family and couldn't quit (thats where I came in).

And yes, for door-to-door leaving "literature" is STUPID. Every rep I trained would NEVER give them ANYTHING to leave the customer besides a signed contract ordering our service (TV, Internet, Phone). Reason is simply because you overwhelm your customer with things to read before making a decision, you want a decision while your AT THE DOOR! Also, print-outs cost money. If there scamming you, there actually more likely to have a crap load of stuff on them to try to convince you it's "OKAY" to give them your personal information.

My advice: Never magazines, and if you buy any TANGIBLE (non-service related) product, PAY CASH.