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In general when a salesperson sees a "No Soliciting" sign they are trained to believe that these are the most likely sales candidates.
They use the line of reasoning that generally it is a stay at home mom who has a bad habit of buying stuff while her husband is away at work. So HE put the sign up in the hopes of limiting the damages, so to speak.
You know, a smart burglar would knock on your door with the intention of having you follow him around for an hour while his unseen partner goes into your house once you are out of sight and cleans you out. And your appearance on someone's doorstep is going to be just as unwelcome as the solicitor's.
You know, a smart burglar would knock on your door with the intention of having you follow him around for an hour while his unseen partner goes into your house once you are out of sight and cleans you out. And your appearance on someone's doorstep is going to be just as unwelcome as the solicitor's.
LOL, you think my house is not occupied by multiple people and multiple shooters.
As I am very active on my community association, my neighborhood has all of about 3 households where the occupants don't know me. None of the others will consider me "unwelcome" and will very much take my word for it if I tell them I suspect these are burglars (Regardless of whether I really believe that)
Our city has solved this problem. I don't think your idea would be illegal in any way, but it could earn you a reputation as the neighborhood nut. Our police have little else to do and will respond, and in fact arrest violators. Here is how we handle them:
We have similar laws in my county, but surprise surprise the police don't bother enforcing it.
By the way, the reputation that this "neighborhood nut" has is the man who has been elected and reelected as Treasurer of the Association time and time again, and virtually everyone knows me.
So it would me more like:
Me: "Hey Bob and Carol, let me tell you a little bit about our friend here who claims to be a 'salesman' "
Them: "A salesman! Really, you don't say!"
Solicitor: "And that's why I made several hundred dollars less than my quota today boss. I thought that sign was a bluff! Please don't fire me!"
That is not bogus about burglars. In my area, there have now been three reported instances of people posing as door to door sales or survey takers and when the door is not answered, they are trying the door handles, front and back, to try and gain entry.
Thank you for saying so. We had something like that going on in our area too.
Your annoyed by door to door solicitors wasting your time yet you are willing to waste 10x as much time trying to "get back at" them. I'd just ignore it, it's part of life, nothing you do will make a difference.
That's my thinking on it. Either ignore them or blow them off. Salesmen are gonna knock on your door and neighborhood cats are gonna mess up your flower beds; welcome to suburbia. If these are the worst of your problems, count your blessings.
To answer your question, OP: No, you couldn't do that. A solicitor doesn't need a written restraining order to prevent you from following him around, even if he's in public. What you're describing is harassment, and a PO will instruct you to leave him alone or face arrest.
Please don't misunderstand, I'm real proud of you for being elected and re-elected as the Association Treasurer, but it sounds like you really need to get yourself a hobby, Bob.
How many solicitors are you getting? I live in a suburban area with no gates, and maybe we get one a month? Generally it's in the summer, when the grass grows more quickly than weekly mowings can control; they see our overgrown lawn on Fridays and assume we need their landscaping services.
Get a big dog (or a small dog with a big WOOF). Not only will you have less to worry about in terms of a break-in (would-be burglars are generally dissuaded if they know they'll have to deal with a dog), but doorbell-ringers will often leave pretty quickly if they see/hear a barking dog at the front window. At least, that's been my experience.
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