Door to door solicitation is creepy. Gone are the days of the nice Fuller Brush Man of our grandparents’ era. A few years ago I had a very unpleasant experience with door to door window salesmen. Suffice it to say there is nothing like having all new windows and telling a salesman politely you’re not interested and then they don’t and won’t leave.
As a matter of fact the only door to door folks I have found to be polite the past are the clean water action people (can’t remember the correct non-profit name) and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. And when you tell the Jehovah’s Witnesses you aren’t interested they say thank you and leave. They might leave you a hopeful religious pamphlet, but they leave pleasantly and actually GO.
So here we are in the midst of still dealing with a global pandemic AKA COVID-19 with cases on the rise. But that doesn’t matter to Whitetail Disposal of Perkiomonville, PA. Yes, these people are #COVIDidiots:
Today Whitetail Disposal showed up at my door. I have read online posts about their aggressive door to door sales people, who even come back a second time when they have been turned down.
The guy was clean cut and neatly dressed. No complaints there. He was easily identifiable as one of their employees. No complaints there. But when a homeowner (me) says she is uncomfortable with a door to door solicitation during COVID-19, and you should leave and here is what you shouldn’t do:
1. Don’t tell the homeowner you aren’t doing anything wrong. You are by arguing.
2. Don’t keep standing there waving your badge and saying you have a permit to solicit when the homeowner has asked you to leave. That’s called trespassing.
3. Don’t go to leave by cutting through people’s properties to get to other properties, that is still trespassing!
That is what happened to me today. And I do know from others in my area and research I have done that they have been cutting through people’s properties to get to other properties to solicit. If that guy had just said “thank you for your time” and left when I asked him, there wouldn’t even be this post. And I would not have contacted my township. But I did. I understand that townships have no mechanisms to put parameters on times like these because, well, in our lifetimes there hasn’t been a global pandemic. However, it does give you pause with regard to companies which want to put potential customers and employees at risk like this. Even the census takers stopped going door to door!
I had some people in my area give me a hard time locally over my opinion and experience. Suffice it to say this is MY right to tell them to leave and complain to my township is a door to door salesperson doesn’t do so immediately. I am not having them over for tea. I did not invite them over period. So it is at my discretion to ask them to leave and complain if they don’t.
If you have ever done any kind of sales you know the ability to exhibit a graceful defeat and back away means that some day that same person might well remember that moment and HOW the salesperson handled it. Seriously. I came out of the financial services industry and if you want to meet among the most aggressive and pushy breed of salesperson, it’s a stockbroker on commission. The most successful ones I ever knew were the ones who put the customer and potential customer at ease, even if it meant backing away when they were told “no”.
I have spent some time researching Whitetail Disposal and I was astounded at the sheer volume of complaints. Even on the Better Business Bureau website. Here is an array of complaints from here and there and social media:
But they won’t get my business and based upon my research and experience today, it is doubtful that they deserve anyone’s business. My hypothesis is they stay afloat by getting new business by undercutting the other companies. But they can’t seem to maintain their customer basis and it’s kind of obvious when they have employees post how wonderful they are, eh?
My final word? I actually tried to call them three times to discuss their door to door policy. But like their reviews everywhere state, you can’t get anyone on the phone.
#COVIDidiots
Thanks for stopping by.
