Had a pair of double glazing salesmen this evening around 6pm; I never answer the door to cold callers or take any notice unless there are reasons to do so, but I observed this lot covertly as they were slightly worse than the norm, in that:
a) they parked up my drive (presumably because too dark to park safely in road? however, wasn't happy about it )
b) rang bell, waited, poked about a bit, went back to pavement, rang again, then rapped letterbox.
c) then for some reason one made a 5-10 minute call on his mobile, various chat/laughter/matiness &c, sadly couldn't catch the gist
d) the other one put the car boot up also for a good 5 mins, for unknown reason
e) had another good few knocks at door & finally shoved leaflet in & gave up. 10-15 minutes all told I'd say.
First off, I was stumped why they persisted so long as there was no car in the drive, few lights on, no signs of movement at that point, no sound no tv on etc. So at 6 pm you would conclude no-one was in - wouldn't you?
Second, I was quite taken aback & disappointed to find the company was a major & (I always felt) more respectable example of its type & not a prime doorstepping firm.
tl;dr really is time that door-to-door anything should be totally put a stop to. I can well imagine this pair coming back for another crack, so what d'you reckon - a no cold callers sign, or go straight for the hoot owl of death?