No Soliciting!
This past Monday I answered a knock at my door and was greeted by a young woman who said my next door neighbor had just signed up for her company's carpet cleaning service and they would like to offer to clean one of my rooms for free. She said if I like the service I can get my whole house cleaned and she showed me a laminated sheet with an ad for free carpet cleaning and a business name. When I looked at my No Soliciting sign, she quickly said, "don't worry, it's free!" The problem is that last year a different person came to my door with the exact same offer and laminated sheet. Last year the business name was different. When I told the man that I wasn't interested and went to close my door, he pushed it back open and asked to come inside to use my restroom. I told him to go down the street to the public park. Because that interaction had me on edge, I looked for the company online and found that they were listed as a singing telegram service, not a carpet cleaning service.
It also turned out that they were really selling Kirby vacuum cleaners. The offer to clean one room for free is a misleading tactic to get them into your house for a sales pitch. One of the things they do is pour liquid soap onto your carpet, but make a point of not cleaning it up until the end of their presentation. That way, when people realize it's a sales pitch rather than the cleaning they were promised, they are less likely to immediately kick them out because they are waiting for them to clean up the mess they made, but hey are trained not to clean it up until a sale has been finalized. There are endless complaints about the unsavory business practices and sales tactics of Kirby distributors.
So, I told the young woman at my door that someone had come around before with the same offer and that I already knew they weren't cleaning carpets, but instead selling vacuum cleaners. She looked surprised at first, but then begged me to let her set up an appointment anyway because she gets paid based on how many appointments she sets. "You don't have to buy a vacuum, but please let me set an appointment so I can get paid." No thanks. I'm not interested in listening to a sales pitch for something I don't want just so someone I don't know can get paid. I think next time when they come around I'll let them set an appointment for their "free carpet cleaning" and instead of letting them into my house I'll bring some old stained carpet squares into the driveway and let them do their demonstration/sales pitch outside.
It also turned out that they were really selling Kirby vacuum cleaners. The offer to clean one room for free is a misleading tactic to get them into your house for a sales pitch. One of the things they do is pour liquid soap onto your carpet, but make a point of not cleaning it up until the end of their presentation. That way, when people realize it's a sales pitch rather than the cleaning they were promised, they are less likely to immediately kick them out because they are waiting for them to clean up the mess they made, but hey are trained not to clean it up until a sale has been finalized. There are endless complaints about the unsavory business practices and sales tactics of Kirby distributors.
So, I told the young woman at my door that someone had come around before with the same offer and that I already knew they weren't cleaning carpets, but instead selling vacuum cleaners. She looked surprised at first, but then begged me to let her set up an appointment anyway because she gets paid based on how many appointments she sets. "You don't have to buy a vacuum, but please let me set an appointment so I can get paid." No thanks. I'm not interested in listening to a sales pitch for something I don't want just so someone I don't know can get paid. I think next time when they come around I'll let them set an appointment for their "free carpet cleaning" and instead of letting them into my house I'll bring some old stained carpet squares into the driveway and let them do their demonstration/sales pitch outside.