Door to Door Roofers~

[gena264]

Can you get a no soliciting sign?

I actually did have one and then we repainted the front door (and side part where the sign was) and decided it looked better without the sign. I am now rethinking this ..

[artk2002]

My personal policy for dealing with door-to-door contractors - you insult my home, you don't get my business. That covers pretty much everyone. If I need work done, and can afford it, I will contact a business directly.

I no longer feel rude telling these guys that. After all, they were the ones offering unsolicited help to "fix" my house in the first place.

Mine is even simpler. "No thank you" to any unsolicited vendor. This is in person (rare since we have a gated community) or on the phone. I don't care how polite or rude they are, I simply won't do business with someone who contacts me out of the blue. Even if they have the exact service I need (extremely rare), I won't do it. I'll find someone to do the work, thank you very much.

[Girly]

I start with a "No Thanks", and if they continue, I just say 'Look - my husband will kill me if I spend any money, especially on this'.
One guy offered to call my husband and ask him if it was ok (door to door meat salesman). I asked him to just come back later in the day - he never returned.

[jaxsue]

OP, is there a reason your DH feels compelled to open the door to behin with (when he doesn't recognize the person)? I don't feel bad about ignoring the doorbell if it's a stranger or if I'm not expecting a service call.

Let's hope the guys who are selling unclaimed meat from their truck don't come by. That's a shady thing, too!

I think he only opens the door when he is caught off guard or if someone comes by when he is in the garage with the door open. I have no idea why he feels compelled to let them talk and waste his time. I asked him about it before and he says that he wants to hear what they have to say and not everything is a scam...

Got it. I used to be polite to solicitors; learned that from my mom, who believes every phone call must be answered and every doorbell reponded to.    Not that I'm overtly rude, but I cut them off before they waste their time.

[wyliefool]

[snippage]

Ah, the old 'we were in the neighborhood' line. Yeah, just no. Hubs needs to learn to say 'no thanks' whenever anyone tries to sell him anything. In a perky, cheerful tone. Over and over. And if they ring your doorbell again I'd tell them to go away and not come back. Then call the cops to report them. Soliciting insurance fraud must surely be a crime, no?

I REALLY wish my husband would say no thanks to these door to door sales people. I asked him why he stands there and listens for a long time and he says that he sees no harm in it and he wants to hear what they have to say. He says not everything is a scam. He just has no idea how to leave a situation like that. I think he finds it rude to say no thanks before they had a chance to say their speech. I tried to tell him his time is valuable too and he doesn't owe them anything.

On the bolded--well, now there's been harm. Because you have these scammers bothering you multiple times, trying to induce you to commit insurance fraud with them.

"Hubs, for my peace of mind, would you please get rid of these people before they see you (us) as a mark? It causes me stress when I have to deal with it, especially when they don't take no for an answer. It's true that not everything is a scam, but the vast majority of these drop-ins are, at best, incompetents who can't get business any other way. And enough of them are scams that I feel uncomfortable letting them even hang around the house, much less take pictures and keep coming by."

Maybe if he sees it as helping you he can overcome his gullible instincts.

[CaffeineKatie]

Have your husband talk to your insurance agent--that might help him to learn to say NO!!! to these door-to-door repairmen.  Mine told me a dozen stories about local scams like this when I went in to adjust our home policy.  They will indeed damage your roof, take a photo and insist they can get the insurance to cover it.  That won't happen, and then you are out the money for the repair.  PLUS you will end up in the scammers' sucker file, and they will be back year after year after year....

[jane7166]

I honestly don't think you need any etiquette advice. You just need to be firm and watching out for your own back. You don't have to yell or be verbally abusive or violent to do this.

If you have  a police force on any size, you should be able to call the station and ask about these people. They are not licensed and they are not bonded. That right there should be enough to prove it is a scam. (I know of a town with a 2-man police for, in which case the residents can call the county.)

Do they have a local address (in my area that would be within 30 mi. of town)? Are they in the phone book? History has shown that these guys offer a good deal, you might make a down payment pending insurance- sometimes even more so they can buy materials - start the shoddy job, and are gone and you have no recourse.  You might be stuf with an unfinished that really needs to be finished now, at your expense.

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/money/Avoid-being-door-to-door-scam-victim

http://chameleonmarketing.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/is-this-a-roofing-scam/

Their address is somewhat local, about 40 minutes from my house. I just double checked their website and they are part of the BBB and have a good score...

If your roof isn't leaking or shingles aren't flying off, you don't need repairing so NO is the best option.  For your own curiosity, you might want to check the phone book and see if the phone number, address and website match whatever is on their business card.  Or call them up, using the phone number from a phone book. 

We had a respected roofer whose office was on the other side of our fairly large city, open a new office in our area and his employees fixed several damaged roofs after a particularly bad storm.  Except that the respected roofer didn't open up the new local office.  A scammer did.  With the same logo, same signs (different phone number on the sign - to send people to the local office,) etc., as the respected roofer.  So, none of these new roofs - which actually were pretty well done for a scammer - is guaranteed. 

Don't ask me how I know this. 

[hyzenthlay]

Their address is somewhat local, about 40 minutes from my house. I just double checked their website and they are part of the BBB and have a good score...

The BBB is about as reliable as those Amazing Who's Who books that every business owner is plagued by offers for. A little money and a letter stating you didn't do any thing wrong and every customer complaint is dismissed.

It's seriously about as big a scam as door to door roofers these days.

[Lady Godiva]

Never allow a door-to-door roofing salesman up on your roof to "examine your roof" or take pictures of roof damage. It's not uncommon for scammers to actually cause damage to the roof (loosen shingles, flashing, etc.) and take pictures of it to prove to you that you need their shoddy and overpriced services. And some have been known to check out houses to come back and burglarize later.
Legitimate roofers don't troll for jobs via door-to-door solicitation or pressure you to sign a contract on the spot. If you need roof repairs, call several local roofers for competitive bids.

[gramma dishes]

Never allow a door-to-door roofing salesman up on your roof to "examine your roof" or take pictures of roof damage. It's not uncommon for scammers to actually cause damage to the roof (loosen shingles, flashing, etc.) and take pictures of it to prove to you that you need their shoddy and overpriced services. And some have been known to check out houses to come back and burglarize later.
Legitimate roofers don't troll for jobs via door-to-door solicitation or pressure you to sign a contract on the spot. If you need roof repairs, call several local roofers for competitive bids.

Lather, rinse, repeat everything Lady Godiva just said.  Each thing she mentioned was exactly what I was going to say, but she beat me to it and did a great job.  So I'll just "Ditto".

[doodlemor]

Lady Godiva advised........Never allow a door-to-door roofing salesman up on your roof to "examine your roof"

They could also pretend to throw themselves off and sue you, too.

[Amara]

I'd be at the door as soon as they greeted my husband and say to him, "I called the police already. They asked if you'd keep these guys talking until they got here." Aiming a cell phone camera at them while saying that might help too.



Good lord, but I can be rude to scammers.

[gramma dishes]

I'd be at the door as soon as they greeted my husband and say to him, "I called the police already. They asked if you'd keep these guys talking until they got here." Aiming a cell phone camera at them while saying that might help too.



Good lord, but I can be rude to scammers.

I really LIKE this idea!!   

[siamesecat2965]

Never allow a door-to-door roofing salesman up on your roof to "examine your roof" or take pictures of roof damage. It's not uncommon for scammers to actually cause damage to the roof (loosen shingles, flashing, etc.) and take pictures of it to prove to you that you need their shoddy and overpriced services. And some have been known to check out houses to come back and burglarize later.
Legitimate roofers don't troll for jobs via door-to-door solicitation or pressure you to sign a contract on the spot. If you need roof repairs, call several local roofers for competitive bids.

My friend's DH has his own roofing business. he has never ever solicited door to door. He's been doing it for 25+ years, so most of his business is by word of mouth, or, in the case of the aftermath of Sandy, people simply calling anyone they could to see about having their roof repaired, and him being one of the few, according to many of them, who even bothered to call them back, let alone go out and take a look.

[oceanus]

I'd be at the door as soon as they greeted my husband and say to him, "I called the police already. They asked if you'd keep these guys talking until they got here." Aiming a cell phone camera at them while saying that might help too.



Good lord, but I can be rude to scammers.

I really LIKE this idea!!   

Yes!  Great idea.