If u do NOT answer door for solicitor,

I honestly don’t understand why people don’t answer the door , it’s strange to me and hiding in your own home , why …

Because I don’t know ant to talk to someone I don’t know. Because I don’t want to hear a sales pitch. Because I don’t want my aggressive dog to attack. Because stranger danger. Because I’m usually braless in my house.

I’ll answer for a neighbor but not a stranger. I generally stay out of sight but my office is in the front of the house and sometimes they can see me. I was about ready to kill the UPS guy last week because he dropped a package and then spent several minutes just staring at my front door while my dogs were going nuts. I was on an important call and just glared at him until he finally saw me and went away. No clue why he did that.

If I'm sitting in the chair right at our front window I do try to hide because it seems weird if they're looking right at me. lol. 

Living in a high rise... how do handle stuff like Amazon delivery or pizza hut??? Random but im truely curious...

I do answer the door. If it is a salesperson I, calmly, tell them it is against the law for them to solicit in our community, with or without a city permit, and it is posted at both entrances. I have 6 single women living close by, each of them love to bother the police department, so I don't seem to get many solicitors to my door.

I have a sign outside my front door that says "No Solicitors Allowed Unless You Are Selling Thin Mints". It works.

I usually acknowledge that we're home, because our area does have break-ins while people are at work. So, our local police dept suggests that we don't open the door(obviously), but let the ringer know that we're here.

It’s the same as not answering the phone for a spam call.

If I didn’t invite you to my house, I am not going to give you my time or energy.



To answer the OP, thankfully my front door is in sort of an alcove, so there aren’t any windows you can see inside my house if you’re ringing my doorbell.

I do have a narrow, tall glass window next to my door, but I had a custom curtain made to cover it up, so no one can see in.

I can usually tell a sales person because they knock heavily and ring the doorbell.  If anyone does that I don't answer.  The only exception is our local produce seller who comes to our door about every 2-3 weeks.  I am hoping he comes this week so I can buy strawberries.

If I answer the door and it is a sales person, I am blunt and say I am not interested and close the door w/in 30 seconds, and check to make sure it is locked.  Don't waste my time and I won't waste yours.

Because some people are nuts and I don’t want to deal with them. Because sales people are pushy and won’t take no for an answer. Because religious nuts won’t go away when you say you’re not interested. Because I don’t want to talk to politicians who are door knocking, and we get way more of them than I want to interact with. Because I’m busy with work or something else and I don’t want to be interrupted.

I also have a big loud dog that goes absolutely apeshit any time anyone comes up the driveway, and even more so if they make it to the door. I would have to physically restrain him and I can’t always do that. Sometimes he will bolt straight through the storm door because I can’t hold him back. We sometimes use the front door ourselves so we don’t usually latch the storm door. When I have people from our local buy nothing group come by my house to pick up stuff, I tell them I’ll leave it on the porch for them to grab, and let me know when they’re coming so I can make sure the dog is inside when they come. I don’t want to be responsible if he were to knock someone over or scratch the crap out of their car by jumping up.

Also, there was a home baker in one of my groups who would have clients come to her home for pickups. She had an incident where some guy went to her house supposedly to pick up an order, pushed his way in when he realized she was home alone and brutally raped her. Yeah, no thanks.

ETA: I look through the side window and if it’s a neighbor or someone I know, I open the door and talk to them. Same if it’s someone from a business we personally made an appointment to see. If it’s just some rando, I yell through the closed door that I’m busy working right now and can’t come to the door.

I don't really get many solicitors here, perk of rural living I suppose. I've found that generally speaking, if someone's knocking on my door there's a reason for it. So usually I open it. I've had law enforcement officers, utility workers, lost people, folks wondering about the church next door, people looking for a lost pet, that sort of thing. Once my post mistress was hand delivering a package (we all only have PO Boxes here). The only actual solicitors I've had have been people selling solar and Jehovah's Witnesses.

When I first moved here I really embraced the bra free lifestyle and in the summer it's so hot I'd run around in a tank top and underwear sometimes. When a knock on the door came it would send me into a panic and I would hide because I didn't want to answer the door half naked. So I to stay dressed appropriately enough to evacuate immediately (wildfires) and answer the door if necessary. But I still won't wear a bra. If you're knocking on my door be prepared to see some unbra'd boobs under my shirt, I will not apologize for it anymore.

I always answer the door in some fashion, because pretty much any cop will tell you, not answering makes potential burglars think there’s no one home and it’s safe to break in. No thanks.

I do have a front door camera, and can talk to them via my phone. Also my bedroom window is right above the front door, so I can talk to them from upstairs without opening the door. Also it’s a very low crime neighborhood. Lots of times I just answer the door. 

What I don’t understand is the “they won’t take no for an answer” argument. This doesn’t need to be a problem. I don’t care if they’re talking non-stop or not, I just say no thanks and close the door. I don’t need to convince them of anything. They get the message when I close the door. Sometimes I take one look at them and say no thanks right off the bat, then close the door.

oh, there are no windows by the front door and they can’t see in.

Exactly. The last time I had religious people at the door they started in and I just said "No thank you ladies, I hope you have a great day." And just shut the door. It's not a negotiation, I am not going to speak to them. When I was younger I was always so worried about being rude that I would sit there and listen and try to politely make them go away. Not anymore, now you can GTFO my lawn.    I do the same thing with telemarketers. Once they start in and I know the person on the line isn't anyone I need to talk to I just hang up. I simply do not care.