Answering the front door

A thread over in the Emergency Services forum brought up something that I never understood about certain people. Answering the front door. Some people I know outright refuse to answer it whatsoever, under the impression that if it's important enough the person will have their phone number and contact them that way. Others won't if they are on their own, while some won't go near it after a certain time in the evening.

I've never understood this, I find it quite ignorant really. It's ironic that you'd expect somebody to go to the extra bother of having to phone you when you can't be bothered to get up off your hole and answer the door.

I can possibly see it from a safety POV of somebody not wanting to expose themselves to a burglar or whatever, but surely they're more likely to break in if they think nobody's home? You can always come to the door and speak to them without actually opening it. And what if they were knocking to tell you that your chimney was on fire? Or you'd left the key in the latch or your headlights were still on? Wouldn't you prefer to know? (I've done all three, by the way)

What say you, Boardsies? If I knocked on your door, would I get an answer?

harr

Personally I do but it’s nearly always sales people.
My wife would as well but probably not after a certain time we have a ring doorbell which kind of makes it easier to ignore the sales reps.
If it was a stranger and my wife was on her own she’s uses the ring app.

Kermit.de.frog

I opened my front door one evening recently and the guy tried to force his way past me in to the house.

I'm much more cautious now.

Trigger Happy

FOMO always gets me off my arse to answer the door.

Richard Hillman

I was in bed and I had somebody call to my door at around 9am this morning. At first I thought, bollox, Just leave it, then I thought it may be the postman with a package. I throw on the dressing gown and run down the stairs. I could see somebody trying to put something into the the external post box. I open the door and some aul wan goes to me "I just dropped some scriptures of the Bible into your post box"

Moral of the story, don't answer the door

Signore Fancy Pants

Knock knock

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Why would I answer it. It's always bad news or something I don't want if I'm not expecting it. **** that

Under His Eye

Never!

Church on Tuesday

If I'm not expecting someone, or a delivery and I don't recognise them I don't answer the door.

Fiery mutant

I answer the door every times here is a knock. Sure, it could be anyone. Could be the Gardaí knocking to tell me that something has happened to a loved one, in which case I sure as **** would want to know.

Or it could be a burglar knocking to check if anyone is home, in which case I sure as **** would want him to know I am home.

Or. It could be Jehovah’s Witness, knocking to see if I have found God, in which case i’ll Just politely tell them i’m not interested.

Why the **** wouldn’t people answer the door. Weirdos.

demanufactured

I usually answer the door with my lad In my hand.
It went down well with the last Jehovah witness who came knocking

KungPao

When my door bell rings, I jump behind the sofa and put my fingers in my ears, while gently rocking and telling myself everything will be okay.

monkeysnapper

I grab my youngest child and if it's a sales person tell them I'm feeding him and I let them go on their way...its getting harder to use that now as hes 16 years old and it looks very weird. ....

ELM327

Never, unless expecting a delivery.
Anyone calling over has my phone number.

Unsolicited calls to the door are not welcome.

BettePorter

I'm cynical as **** anyway but I'm just thinking back to the last 5 times I answered the door to unexpected callers and in all 5 cases I came off the worst for it. It always tends to be someone who wants something from you. I certainly never answer it without trying my best to gauge who it might be first via the window. So I defo never answer after dark.

Also what's a 'ring' doorbell?

Eggs For Dinner

Myself and the dog usually answer the door together. If the caller is not for me, I'll leave the dog to it

Pelvis

My mam lives on her own, a couple of months ago she wasn't feeling right and went into her neighbour for help, ended up having a stroke.

Thankfully the neighbour was home and called an ambulance.

KungPao

BettePorter wrote: »

Also what's a 'ring' doorbell?

It’s device new to the market, which you insert into your ‘ring’ which vibrates when someone is at the door.

Quite inventive really.

Garibaldi?

Just call out politely "Whose there please?" Nobody should be offended by that. If you're not comfortable with the response don't open the door.You can also open a window and pleasantly address them. If it's not someone you know/not important just say "Sorry Im busy right now"

I generally ask who the person is, and their business. Before assessing risk of unlatching the chain. Too many tarmacadam experts on the circuit these days.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Opened the door yesterday and the local drunk wanted 20€. Which I gave him.

Feisar

I always do, never know who it might be. I had a couple of Jehovah Witness's in recently, I like learning about other people's thoughts.

LOL google "Jehovah Witness" the pic that comes up, is a couple at someones door!

No offence meant to anyone of that faith.

artanevilla

It's as ignorant to knock on someone's door uninvited/unexpected as it is to not answer it.

my3cents

If anyone even gets to our door past a massive GSD and a Newfoundland then they obviously thought calling around was worth the effort so of course I'd answer the door.

incentsitive

Peek out through the chubb lock, perfect level for assessing if I should answer or not.
No good ever comes from an unsolicited knock.

rgodard80a

ELM327 wrote: »

Unsolicited calls to the door are not welcome.

I have a yellow warning sticker I bought from eBay to that effect.

Something like "No cold callers, no marketeers..."

Seriously reduces the annoying cold callers, especially the usual offenders like PhoneWatch, all sorts of utility switching callers etc.

Well worth disfiguring my porch door with a yellow warning triangle.

endacl

It’s mostly the likes of Sky sales or energy suppliers who call out our way. There’s a big window beside the door so we can vet before answering.

Bonus: They can see that we were in, but didn’t answer.

Zorya

Generally I answer any knock to the door. It's a pain when it's Jehovah's Witnesses or farmers selling GAA tickets.

Having said that, I do feel somewhat trepidatious by times. I am 5 foot and a few inches, female and live alone during the week in a very very isolated place. So, if it is dark and I do not recognise the person, I answer the door with my unseen hand holding a baseball bat. Hopefully I will never have to use it. Horrible to have to feel even that bit of fear. I would love a lady-sized pistol for concealed-carry and to come back as a tall strong man in my next life.

artanevilla

artanevilla wrote: »

It's as ignorant to knock on someone's door uninvited/unexpected as it is to not answer it.

Crazy talk. "Sorry, just to let you know....You've left your headlights on by mistake....not sure if you meant it but just in case " is the exact opposite of ignorance in my book.

Mr. CooL ICE

I left the driveway and front garden get fairly overgrown for a while, which attracted many people offering to clean it up. Annoyed me so much that I eventually got off my ass and sorted the front out myself and which point, they stopped calling.

monkeybutter

Feisar

Zorya wrote: »

Generally I answer any knock to the door. It's a pain when it's Jehovah's Witnesses or farmers selling GAA tickets.

Having said that, I do feel somewhat trepidatious by times. I am 5 foot and a few inches, female and live alone during the week in a very very isolated place. So, if it is dark and I do not recognise the person, I answer the door with my unseen hand holding a baseball bat. Hopefully I will never have to use it. Horrible to have to feel even that bit of fear. I would love a lady-sized pistol for concealed-carry and to come back as a tall strong man in my next life.

There's always someone taller/bigger/stronger so being male isn't much of a plus.

my3cents

Feisar wrote: »

There's always someone taller/bigger/stronger so being male isn't much of a plus.

Just offer to sell the caller some GAA raffle tickets or offer them a bible tract and you'll be safe enough

seamus

Meh. If it's in the morning, it's probably the postman. If it's during the day, it's probably one of the kids' friends. If it's after 6pm it's always a salesperson, so I might answer that around 50% of the time. If I happen to be walking past the door, I'll get it, but if I'm in the middle of something I won't bother. I'm going to tell them to go away anyway, so I'm saving us both time by not answering.

freshpopcorn

We don't answer the door when a certain relative calls but apart from that we do.
I like to know who's at the door sometimes before I answer so I might leave them walk away from the door.

LollipopJimmy

artanevilla wrote: »

It's as ignorant to knock on someone's door uninvited/unexpected as it is to not answer it.

That has to be one of the most ridiculous statements I've ever read on here.


Anyway, I don't mind door to door sellers, it's rare they will get me to switch anything because I'm fairly on top of switching utilities as contracts run out and still get the aul staff discount on the leccy even though I'm 2 years gone. The guys selling door to door don't want to be doing it either but it keeps them off the dole and over 60% of people who switch utilities do it on the doorstep. So door to door sales keeps people in work and keeps the market on its toes

Garibaldi?

You do need to be polite. A neighbour of mine many years ago was in the habit of ignoring everybody. If a child knocked to retrieve a ball she would not answer. She left the windows of her car open in the driveway and and didn't respond when a man on the road attempted to inform her of the fact as there was a downpour. He did not persist in his efforts. She had a nasty surprise next morning

Boom_Bap

I never answer the front door, I don't know how Mrs. Bap keeps getting back in!

Pawwed Rig

I see who it is before deciding whether to open up or not. The sales guys are accomodating in that they often have a hi vis with company logo on it. They do not get answered.
If I know the person I will answer it.
If I don't know the person and cannot see a logo I make a judgement call.
Uniform I will answer too.

Under His Eye

Invest in a spyhole.

bertsmom

I usually look out and see. I have a large glass oval on my front door so I can see when it's the MANY various 'salesmen' we get around here. If it's one of them I just shout out 'no thanks without opening it and the set the house alarm so they can hear it activate quiet clearly through the door.
I have been sitting on my sofa when some cheeky arsehole looks through the window after not getting a response at the door. They are met with an altogether less pleasant response from both myself and the dog.
Generally never answer until I have checked to see if courier or postman.
Just on nodding and quick hello terms with my neighbours which is the way I'd like to keep it so we wouldn't be calling into each other at a time of need anyway.
If I am down home at my parents house I'd ALWAYS answer the door as it's a rural farming community and the neighbours are all good friends and decent people who you would want to help.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

I don’t answer because it’s usually just sales or kids looking for sponsorship or selling tickets. If I’ve worked all day and made no plans with anyone the evening is mine and that doesn’t include answering the door to people I don’t want to engage with

facehugger99

Always answer but often regret it.

Usually it a sales person, God-botherer or someone collecting money for something.

I'd be temped to invest in a smart doorbell or something that would allow be to tell them to PFO from the comfort of my sofa.

Wexfman

I always answer the door. Mostly it’s lads selling tickets or something. My wife would bring one of the dogs with her when answering it while I’m not there as we live in the country and she’d be nervous on her own

Thatnastyboy

Unsolicited callers seem to have a penchant for calling when I'm working in the garden or on a mechanical project in the yard/shed,


Holding an implement of destruction & looking like Trevor Phillips from GTA clears off most folk on it's own.



Shame, I love to chat

facehugger99

I actually answered it the other day to one of those salespeople. Before he even started his patter I was in straight away with a "Sorry, I'm not interested".

He came back with a "You're not interested in saving money?"


"Yep, you heard correctly"

*Door slam.

Cheeky Fcuker.

monkeybutter

Feisar wrote: »

There's always someone taller/bigger/stronger so being male isn't much of a plus.

Just no

Wibbs

I have a "NO sales types" sign up and 99% of the time they abide by that. If the bell goes after 9 at night I'd be somewhat more cautious, but otherwise I answer the door. AKA normal human being behaviour.

TerrorFirmer

I always answer the door because you just never know, but pretty much it's always sales pitches of some kind. I instantly just tell them I'm not interested in wasting their time or mine and let them on their way.

What a dreadful way to earn a living though, knocking door to door trying to flog tat/sign people up for charities/et al. The ones trying to get you to switch energy provider are probably a little better off.

Alun

facehugger99 wrote: »

I actually answered it the other day to one of those salespeople. Before he even started his patter I was in straight away with a "Sorry, I'm not interested".

He came back with a "You're not interested in saving money?"


"Yep, you heard correctly"

*Door slam.

I'm surprised it took that long. My usual sequence is ...

- Open door
- See clipboard / name tag / smiley face
- Close door

LollipopJimmy

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

I always answer the door because you just never know, but pretty much it's always sales pitches of some kind. I instantly just tell them I'm not interested in wasting their time or mine and let them on their way.

What a dreadful way to earn a living though, knocking door to door trying to flog tat/sign people up for charities/et al. The ones trying to get you to switch energy provider are probably a little better off.

You'd be surprised to learn what some of these people earn. It's not unheard of for door to door salespeople to earn €40k+, with flexible hours. This is higher than the average industrial wage.