Letter Of The Month: Door-To-Door Sales Pests

By AJ of Bronte on March 27, 2012 in Other

Nobody likes a door-to-door salesperson knocking on their door, so what’s with the recent increase in this irritating activity in the East?

Door-to-door selling is illegal on Sundays yet they still knock, catching residents off-guard – asleep, half dressed, on the job, on the toilet and possibly at their most vulnerable – hoping that we’ll give the complete stranger on our doorstep our cash or personal details and signature on a contract that we’ll regret signing for years to come.

Even a prominently displayed ‘Do Not Knock’ or ‘No Salespeople’ sticker on the door is no deterrent. Why haven’t door-to-door sales been banned completely? It’s the mother of all no-brainers. Has anybody been pleased to open the door and cop a barrage of dodgy sales pitch for something they don’t want or need? No. The government expenditure saved by not having to chase scamsters and criminals as a result of victim complaints, many from elderly residents who are often targeted because of their vulnerability and age, could be pro-actively utilised elsewhere in the community. Related property crimes would drop and seasonal crime gangs would be deterred from even thinking about trying it on in Australia.

For Beast readers that are unaware of the current door-to-door sales laws, unless invited, it’s against the law for door-to-door salespeople to:

1. Knock before 9am.

2. Knock after 6pm Monday to Friday or 5pm on a Saturday.

3. Knock on Sundays and public holidays – a definite no-no!

Door-to-door salespeople who knock outside the allowed hours are either dodgy as all hell, stupid, casing properties to burgle or have a sexual fetish where they get off on having doors slammed in their face.

However, for some strange reason that nobody can explain, bona fide ‘religious groups’, political parties and ‘charities’ are allowed to door-knock whenever they feel like it, which is also invasive and an unwelcome interruption. And how do we know they are actually bona fide and don’t fall into the categories mentioned above?

Government and local councils need to get off their arses and ban all door-knocking completely with the ONLY exception being the traditional Salvation Army Annual Red Shield Appeal, when the whole of Australia knows beforehand that they’re likely to get a visit for a very worthwhile cause. All other door-to-door marketing companies and salespeople can use their door-bell-fingers-of-doom to stick their bullshit sales pitches and the misery they create where the sun don’t shine.