Doorstep Hawkers

[Oswyntail]

I have just had yet another visit from a doorstep hawker. Youngish lads regularly come round, trying to sell kitchen products at inflated prices - and I have a vast stock of them. They claim to have been bussed in either from Middlesbrough, Doncaster, or Lincoln, and to be either ex-offenders or ex-army. Usually (not unreasonably) they claim to have a young family to support. They do not give details of who the "scheme" they are on is run by, only saying it is government supported.In the past, I heard one name ("St Helen's"?), but I found a website of a charity with that name that said they were not connected; today's visitor said it was "Helping Hands", but I couldn't find anything on the web The lad today said that, if he didn't sell his quota, he would be chucked off the scheme, which also made me wonder a bit.
Does anyone on here know if this is a genuine, government-supported scheme, or something akin to gang masters? I am as willing to help anyone down on his luck as the next man, but not if he is being organised by someone exploiting him.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Are they required by law to carry any ID ?

 

[ExRes]

I think it's safe to say that you were put on a list when you said yes the first time, the result of which is that you are now on the 'easy touch' list for all and sundry to tell their sob stories to

Demand identification, if they have some then check the business out online, if they don't have any then show them where your front gate is

I personally won't talk to, buy from or donate to anybody that knocks on my door or accosts me in the street

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

My wife has an old saying that "cold-calling" should be responded to by "cold-reception".

 

[maniacmartin]

If it is legitimate, they'd have some sort of ID and be willing to disclose who they work for.

Also, I believe some sort of license is needed see here, so ask to see it as they should present it on demand.

 

[Oswyntail]

They do have a form of ID, but it doesn't name the group running the scheme (suspicious itself), and I have no real way of checking if is the sort of ID they should have. I suspect you are right, and I am now Mr Soft-Touch. I shall probably pop round to the local cop-shop to see if they can enlighten me at all.

 

[plarailfan]

There's quite a number of these people trawling the area where I live in West Yorkshire.
I guess it's just a sign of the times with firms cutting back to save money - many of these young people are "self employed" and some of them are, indeed, travelling around by car or minibus to cover a given area, stipulated by their boss.
I was made redundant a while back and the job club I attended advertised job vacancies for this kind of work. I already knew someone who had given it a try, so I gave it a wide berth.....
Generally, they spend around ten hours a day raking the streets in all weather, trying to get people to buy "their" products, such as "Sky" TV, or maybe a charity, such as the RSPCA.
They normally, but not always, get paid on a commission basis, rather than an hourly wage, which means they literally can work for days on end without getting any wages !
Beware though, as some of these people can be dodgy, reckoning it's bankrupt bed stock, or whatever and it's in their van now, cheap, especially for you !!
They probably come from the same base as the lads who turn up with a truck full of left over tarmac from a council / road repair and offer to do your drive quick and cheap, while the tar is still hot !

 

[Tim R-T-C]

I'm pretty sure if this was a real government scheme where people were being forced to sell door-to-door for quotas then there would have been complaints made about it - remember the massive kick-offs over the idea to make people work at Poundland for example.

Probably just people trying to shift stock that 'fell of the back of a lorry'.

 

[Jones]

A couple of these guys turned up at my aunts house whilst I was there servicing my uncles shotguns.

I absent mindedly opened the door with one in my hand......

They haven't come back.

 

[Kite159]

Living out in the country means I miss most of the doorstep sellers, boo

 

[plarailfan]

I thought I might return to this subject briefly. The Chap I knew at the job club saw the vacancy description advertised as "meets nat min wage"
He eagerly bought a new pair of cheap shoes (being on the dole, it was all he could afford) then he went round to see the team leader and got the job straightaway.
He went out in a battered old car with two other people, to a city eighty miles from home and spent all day walking round cold calling at peoples homes.
He was trying to get people to sign a direct debit to donate a minimum of £5 a month to the RSPCA.
Very few people were at home, or if they were in, they didn't want to commit themselves to the scheme.
Being "self employed" the chap who owned the car never ever had any petrol money for his efforts in spite of driving a round trip of 160 miles ! and the lad from the job club wore out the soles of his shoes in two weeks, not having earned even 1p for his efforts - they were leaking badly every time it rained. The situation was unbelievable !
Anyway, he complained very bitterly indeed at the job club because it didn't meet the minimum wage and they did find him some other work quite quickly.
I think most, if not all of these job clubs have some Govt funding and the one I went to was really good.
I don't know how, or why, job centres and job clubs accept these job vacancies without checking the facts. Some people really are being exploited, but anyway, despite having first hand experience, I still turn these people away when they knock on my door, mainly because I suspect it could easily become a scam due to giving your bank details away for the direct debit !

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I still turn these people away when they knock on my door, mainly because I suspect it could easily become a scam due to giving your bank details away for the direct debit !

Quite right too. There are more than enough Nigerian internet-based professionally run criminal schemes that try to obtain these details (as the banks are forever warning us) without the British cold-calling brigade attempting to obtain such information on your doorstep.

 

[CarltonA]

Many years ago a seemingly respectable middle aged man called at the door. He was selling stuff for a "charity" that was Saint something or other. "A cracking good cause" he enthused. To get rid of him I bought a three pound chamois leather. When I opened the packet the leather was just a good part on the top and the rest was shreds. A complete con by a well spoken gent who could have passed for a teacher or other professional.

 

[ExRes]

"A complete con by a well spoken gent who could have passed for a teacher or other professional"

That would be an MP on his day off then ...........

 

[Butts]

Such visits were commonplace in the time of my youth along with onion sellers on bicycles - yes they really existed.

Most of them used to flog dusters and the like.

 

[fowler9]

Treat anyone who turns up on your doorstep, phone or e mail inbox with suspicion. If they are legit and any good at what they do they won't be employing people on minimum wage or less to use such desperate sales techniques.

 

[455driver]

Quite right too. There are more than enough Nigerian internet-based professionally run criminal schemes that try to obtain these details (as the banks are forever warning us) without the British cold-calling brigade attempting to obtain such information on your doorstep.

I always ask for the bank details of the 'charity' so I can do the DD myself, that normally sorts them out!

 

[maniacmartin]

Regarding purchasing stuff that turns out to be duff, doorstop selling is covered by the Distance Selling Regulations (the same law that covers mail order and online purchases), so providing you get their name and address, you can return it for a full refund if you change your mind, regardless of the quality of the goods.