Not answering the door?

corblimey

Does anybody else act like me and just not answer the door anymore. I've told my immediate neighbours to bang on the window if it's an emergency, and all my friends text or phone before popping over, so the only people ever at my door seem to want money. I don't turn off the lights and hide behind the couch or anything, I just don't go in the hallway. It gets a bit much around Halloween as it's ding dong every 5 mins. I was considering removing the doorbell but then they'd just knock which is even more annoying.

Or am I just an anti social boob? In these days of texts, skype and even facebook, is there such a thing as a good unexpected caller?

MrStuffins

"Sorry, but I just don't answer the door anymore"

I know they say "They've heard all the excuses" but i'm not so sure the TV License man would've heard that one!

chin_grin

Heh "boob".

Yeah I'm the same. I only answer to people who've warned me in advance that they're coming over. Door to door salespeople? F*ck the f*ck off! (Hmm must make that sign).

Seachmall

Get a security camera pointed at the door step and connect the DVR to your TV. Next time someone knocks just flick the channel and see who it is.

CucaFace

No I'm the same to be honest. Like you said anyone coming over to visit me will phone first to see if im in so opening that door can only bring bad luck or annoyance.

Plus the fact i don't have a TV license also means im not too keen on opening the door to unknown people.

But sometimes the curiosity as to who it is ,kills me.

super_furry

Frightened to answer the door? People scared to answer the phone from unknown numbers? When did we turn into such a nation of bedwetters?

Kevin Duffy

This will be one of a series of threads from you on topics such as "How many cats is too many?" and "What's the most effective way to burst footballs that come into my garden?".
After your demise we will have a thread on how your body lying undiscovered for several weeks is indicative of the breakdown of community spirit in Ireland and we will all read in horror that you were partly eaten by the cats.

RachaelVO

I'm inclined to agree OP, maybe for different reasons.

It's my door, and if I want to open it I will.
Same when I get an unknown number, chances are its a ****e call, and I can't be arsed, and it's my phone, I got it for my use, and if I choose not to use it, I won't.

languagenerd

If I look out and see it's a salesperson, then no. But then the fcukers won't go away! Someone stayed on my doorstep for over 15 minutes one day (obviously knew we were in there) - just go away, we don't have to open the door!

But I'm not afraid to open it, jeez! If they don't look like a salesperson, I'll open it. You must never get your ESB meter read properly?

fungun

when i had young kids our default doorbell was so loud it woke them up so I disconnected it. Never got around to reconnecting it. Is great: any regular caller knows this and opens the porch and knocks on the door, but no one else does. Havent missed one thing of importance as far as I know in 7 years

fungun

languagenerd wrote: »

You must never get your ESB meter read properly?

They are outside on all modern houses, so no worries there!

Seachmall

fungun wrote: »

Havent missed one thing of importance as far as I know in 7 years

Your wife is divorcing you, your house is being reclaimed and your TV licence has expired.

See you in court.

Sooopie

My bell doesn't work...

I live on a main road & there are a lot of weirdos about, so I never answer my door - my mates ring once outside, anyone else, may jog on - No one is going to be radomnly knocking on your front door to give you good news are they?

smash

Is there anywhere I can buy a "f*ck off Airtricity" sign?

Malari

Sooopie wrote: »

My bell doesn't work...

I live on a main road & there are a lot of weirdos about, so I never answer my door - my mates ring once outside, anyone else, may jog on - No one is going to be radomnly knocking on your front door to give you good news are they?

Clearly you've never answered your door to a Mormon.

Kevin Duffy

Sooopie wrote: »

My bell doesn't work...

I live on a main road & there are a lot of weirdos about, so I never answer my door - my mates ring once outside, anyone else, may jog on - No one is going to be radomnly knocking on your front door to give you good news are they?

Jehovah's Witnesses do and who would want to miss out on that??

Plazaman

If you don't answer your door how are you ever going to know that Jesus loves you, theres a 10% discount on electricity prices until the end of Nov and old clothes will be collected right on your doorstep if you want to get rid of any.

I love callers to the door although my hugs and offers to rub their feet with camomile teatree oil are not appreciated. They never take my special leaflets anymore.

De Hipster

Fortunately/unfortunately I'm far beyond the age of " Can DeHipster come out to play..." so no such thing as an unexpected call these days.

Usually either door to door sales people, TV Licence, NTL - they want to cut off my free cable conection!

So everyone rings/texts before arriving - no tingle, no talk.

ronan45

I dont anymore UNLESS I get stung through the glass and am seen by the Phantom Door knocker. Last few times I opened the door to people who I was not expecting it has been

Jehovahs Witness early one sunday morning
Local Kids looking for money to pick up rubbish they dropped in my garden
A Pikey looking to clean my clean gutters
A window cleaner looking to clean windows that dont need cleaning
An absolute pushy COW selling Phonewatch took me about 40 minutes to get rid of her
A Guy selling airticity who took an attitude because i didnt want to save 15% on my energy bills

ON THE LAWS OF AVERAGES ITS ALLWAYS SOMEONE YOU DONT WANT TO TALK TOO

Doinker

Glad to see I'm not alone on this.

Rearly open the door to unexpected callers. The only people that call are those that are looking to sell me something. If someone does drop by unexpectently they phone when the door isn't answered.

I made one expection last year during the heavy snow. I thought that the knocking on the door may have been someone in need given it was snowing heavy and there was a foot and a half on the ground, but it was only a fricking Sky sales person! Fair play for the determination, but he still didn't make a sale.

pajunior

Sooopie wrote: »

My bell doesn't work...

I live on a main road & there are a lot of weirdos about, so I never answer my door - my mates ring once outside, anyone else, may jog on - No one is going to be radomnly knocking on your front door to give you good news are they?

Maybe not but what if there was an accident and it was a guard? or a housemate who had got mugged? I'm assuming since you don't go to the effort of opening the door you don't bother looking out the window.

Also what if it's just a neighbour who needs something, you may need something of them someday.

Also watch some porn, answering the door can lead to crazy situations :rolleyes:

..Brian..

Same as most above, very very rarely answer an unexpected knock at the door these days. TV License inspectors, charity muggers, fieldsales reps, annoying neighborhood kids ... fúck em. I won't give money to any of them and don't feel the needs to explain that to them.

ScumLord

I always answer the door it might be someone I want to punch in the face. Last week it was Christians, the trick is to stand well inside the door and then make very, very subtle gestures for them to put a foot inside the door then, Pow! Right in the kisser.

Sooopie

pajunior wrote: »

Maybe not but what if there was an accident and it was a guard? or a housemate who had got mugged? I'm assuming since you don't go to the effort of opening the door you don't bother looking out the window.

Also what if it's just a neighbour who needs something, you may need something of them someday.

Also watch some porn, answering the door can lead to crazy situations :rolleyes:

I don't have a housemate, nor neighbours

chin_grin

Sooopie wrote: »

I don't have a housemate, nor neighbours

................any more.

Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!

homerjay2005

super_furry wrote: »

Frightened to answer the door? People scared to answer the phone from unknown numbers? When did we turn into such a nation of bedwetters?

i dont think anybody is scared to answer their door or phone on private, i would call it sick of idiots calling to sell something or to talk s*it. i rarely answer private numbers as all the people i want calling me, dont have private numbers. if you have nothing to hide, why hide your number.

likewise, there is no reason for anybody to come to my door without telling me first, i for one would not bother to go to somebodys house without at least asking if they are there.

re your post itself, when did you join the nation of drama queens that irish have become?

cruiser178

corblimey wrote: »

Does anybody else act like me and just not answer the door anymore. I've told my immediate neighbours to bang on the window if it's an emergency, and all my friends text or phone before popping over, so the only people ever at my door seem to want money. I don't turn off the lights and hide behind the couch or anything, I just don't go in the hallway. It gets a bit much around Halloween as it's ding dong every 5 mins. I was considering removing the doorbell but then they'd just knock which is even more annoying.

Or am I just an anti social boob? In these days of texts, skype and even facebook, is there such a thing as a good unexpected caller?

.

revell

smash wrote: »

Is there anywhere I can buy a "f*ck off Airtricity" sign?

make your own:pac:

OneArt

I lived in apartments as of recently and being Ireland the buzzer to let people in generally didn't work so I'd be surprised if anyone knocked on the door. Everyone else texts or calls so we could go down and let them in.

But the apartment I live in now has a working buzzer and literally anyone can come in by pressing the name of one of the flats because most people would just assume that it's a friend of people. Sneaky damn sales people.

But what I really like is that I've got one of those peep-hole things now so I don't have to answer if don't want to :pac:

Corvo

Yeah couldnt agree more here.

The last few times I've opened the door, this is what I've opened it to:

1) A pikey "Do you want your drive tarred?"..."I dont have a drive, f**k off"

2) Airtricity sales person "ITS 15% LESS"..."I still wont pay up, f**k off"

3) AES sales person (waste disposal)

Plus, I live in house where the previous tenant owes quite a few euro to a Limerick crowd so there is the chance I could have my head ventilated should I open it at the wrong time.

Richard Hillman

Nothing worse than a **** that knocks on your door without notice.

Saila

we just have a curtain where the door is, we also have a sign on the wall
saying 'come in and play the game of life' if I stumble across anyone in my house its up to me whether they leave, or them If they want to take the chance of not surving the experience

ismiseX

I worked as a census enumerator....it's desperate the amount of people who won't open the door. It's very annoying when you've a job to do!

Cee-Jay-Cee

We lived in an estate a few years ago and i was exactly the same, it was either children looking for sponsorship for holding their breath for 30 seconds or some other nonsense or ticket sellers and then at halloween you had the kids trick or treating...which i done myself when i was young but we had party pieces that we done whereas now they arrive with a bucket and expect you to give them sweets without having a party piece...some of them didnt even bother dressing up they just stood there in their regular clothing and expected to be given stuff....f**k off and make a bloody effort if your going to expect people to give you stuff...but yeah i just stopped answering the door completely. The door was always unlocked and friends and family knew to just come on in when they arrived so i had no need to ever answer the door.

Gummy Panda

Generally no.

Its usually a pikey selling pirate DVDs (I have the internet and am not paying you a €5 for cam footage), some sales people or kids looking for sponsership.

Couriers always ring the contact number first. I know if SDS/An Post is making a delivery and tbh they usually fúck me over with an attempted delivery card anyway. Friends ring always.

stovelid

I answer the door but the recent practice of sales people ceiling around in the evening - usually when you are sitting down to dinner or trying to get the kids to bed - is really annoying,.

I can't even tell them to fuck off because I end up feeling sorry that somebody has to spend their entire evening pimping Airtricity or whoever to tired and hostile people.

Zebra3

Would never bother getting up to answer the door unless I was expecting someone. If it's someone dropping in unannounced, they ring my mobile when I don't answer the door.

A lot of the time I can see who's walking up the driveway (when I'm watching tv) and if I don't know them, I'm not bothering me hole to get up and open the door to them.

50% laziness, 50% knowing it's gonna be a waste of time.

bridgemond

Has the world got so lazy that people wont answer the door??
Sometimes the people selling stuff door to door have good deals and might save you a few euro on your internet/gas etc.

Columbia

I don't usually answer doors, however my housemate has developed the unimaginably annoying habit of inviting people to the house, and then leaving before they arrive. This happens so regularly (twice a week I'd say) that I think it has to be on purpose to piss off everyone else in the house.

Sooopie

bridgemond wrote: »

Has the world got so lazy that people wont answer the door??
Sometimes the people selling stuff door to door have good deals and might save you a few euro on your internet/gas etc.[/QUOTE]


This is highly unlikely

I get harassed walking down the street, in shopping centres, at bus stops, etc

Am certainly not going to open my door at home to even more harassement

They may jog on

_feedback_

ismiseX wrote: »

I worked as a census enumerator....it's desperate the amount of people who won't open the door. It's very annoying when you've a job to do!

I actually made an effort around the time of the census to answer the door, as I knew they would be calling round at some stage.

But generally I don't bother answering. I'm not scared, I really just couldn't be arsed talking shíte to someone. The other option is being rude to them, which I have done once but don't like doing generally.

Zebra3

bridgemond wrote: »

Has the world got so lazy that people wont answer the door??

People don't like being harrassed in their own home.

It come across as lazy, I am living with my partner at the moment its a small estate and you never get sale people calling yet when I lived in my own house ( a large housing estate about ten min's from here ) I was plagues with the airtricty eircom phone watch sales people, I haven't a clue why its different here.

bridgemond

Zebra3 wrote: »

People don't like being harrassed in their own home.

I see where ye are coming from alright. I would find it kinda of strange to sit there and not move if the doorbell rang but that's just me. Although all my mates just walk in so the bell dosent ring that much;)

corblimey

elviscostello wrote: »

I actually made an effort around the time of the census to answer the door, as I knew they would be calling round at some stage.

The woman who gave me my census form actually took my mobile no so she could call me when she wanted to collect it, so there must be a lot of people in the same boat. Of course, it took her 4 tries to get me to answer the door to give me the form in the first place

Sykk

ronan45 wrote: »

I dont anymore UNLESS I get stung through the glass and am seen by the Phantom Door knocker. Last few times I opened the door to people who I was not expecting it has been

Jehovahs Witness early one sunday morning
Local Kids looking for money to pick up rubbish they dropped in my garden
A Pikey looking to clean my clean gutters
A window cleaner looking to clean windows that dont need cleaning
An absolute pushy COW selling Phonewatch took me about 40 minutes to get rid of her
A Guy selling airticity who took an attitude because i didnt want to save 15% on my energy bills

ON THE LAWS OF AVERAGES ITS ALLWAYS SOMEONE YOU DONT WANT TO TALK TOO

Those upper caps in the last sentence really made it much easier and clearer to understand, thanks!

Malari

bridgemond wrote: »

I see where ye are coming from alright. I would find it kinda of strange to sit there and not move if the doorbell rang but that's just me. Although all my mates just walk in so the bell dosent ring that much;)

I don't sit there not moving, I go to the window and look down to see if its someone I need to open the door to. Sometimes I just say "no thanks" from the window

Karona

I don't answer the door anymore, our neighbour is a drug dealer and there is always fights outside. I don't know anyone around these parts anyhow so there is no reason for me to open my door.

TankGuy

Im the same, never open my door.

AgileMyth

I can have the Jesus freaks questioning their own beliefs in five minutes. Its my most useless talent.

Also, winding up canvassers at election times is great craic!

AgileMyth

TankGuy wrote: »

Im the same, never open my door.

Then how do you get out Mr. Smartypants?