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Door to Door Sales - Southwesern (SAT/PSAT) Prep

Discussion in 'Broadlands Community Issues' started by tigercpa, Jul 15, 2011.

  1. tigercpa

    tigercpa New Member

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    Has anyone had contact with any representatives of this company in the neighborhood recently?

    They are selling PSAT / SAT prep materials.

    They sort of imply they are working for the school district.
     
  2. lilpea

    lilpea Member

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    Yes. Around 11AM today my next door neighbor and I watched this "guy" look inside 4 of our neighbors garage door windows before ringing the door bell. If no one answered the door he would go back and look inside their garage windows again. It also appeared as if he was taking notes.

    IMHO: This "casing" behavior didn't seem right. So we called the sheriff's non-emergency to report his suspicious behavior. It's better to be safe than sorry.
     
  3. ayayagirl

    ayayagirl New Member

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    He told me he worked for Kaplin, and he also asked me lots of questions about my neighbors around me.
     
  4. JLC

    JLC Member

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    These two guys were very annoying. I finally had to shut the door in their face because one guy wouldn't stop talking. He kept rattling off my neighbors' names like that would endear himself to me.
     
  5. soccerdudes

    soccerdudes New Member

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    We had one of the guys stop by our house. He was rattling off neighbors names, as well as some of the names of people that worked in the school system he thought we might know. He also asked if our kids were in Futura or Spectrum, which I thought was strange. He was very familiar with the schools in the neighborhood and said he was doing this for a college internship and that he was staying with a host family in Purcellville. He said he was selling something that would help students keep themselves organized.

    I told him we were absolutely not buying anything, and he moved on.
     
  6. VoiceGuy07

    VoiceGuy07 Member

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    One of the guys stopped by yesterday afternoon and yes, he was dropping so many neighbor's names, he needed a broom and a dust pan.

    He said he was selling "Cliff's Notes on subjects for middle school students". Wow, this guy seems to be all over the place. No order placed here.
     
  7. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    well now you know why they ask about the neighbors.. to arm their pitch for the next guy.
     
  8. tigercpa

    tigercpa New Member

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    Exactly.

    This guy came in saying "he was the SAT guy" and name-dropping like crazy.
     
  9. tigercpa

    tigercpa New Member

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    Looking for signs of school-aged children...or perhaps more sinister...
     
  10. Twinmama

    Twinmama Member

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    The same guy, or one from his team, spotted my toddler sized swingset and came to my door armed with preschool books. Same M.O. - telling me all about the neighbors he spoke to. I swear my front door gets more traffic than grand central station.
     
  11. Capricorn1964

    Capricorn1964 Well-Known Member

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    This behavior sounds SO bizarre...and HOW did they obtain the names of each of the neighbors? This sounds a bit too much and too coincindental and to be "looking" into the garage windows is in fact "peeping" and sounds like they could be casing the place. I hope someone DID call the cops to have them checked out. Did they have licenses or not? I hope that someone did call the cops because who knows whether they will gave the information to someone else for "sinister" purposes. This is kinda bothersome--especially when they are "name-dropping"...True salespeople aren't doing that at all.
     
  12. jamesmkelly

    jamesmkelly Member

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    Any time someone solicits at your door and is not registered withthe county and can produce the registration card, call LCSO.

    Keep these folks out of the neighborhood to begin with. Word spreads fast that we (Boadlands) will not tollerate it and they will stop coming.

    ALWAYS call LCSO when something does not look or feel right. They are there to help us and do not mind coming out on these calls.
     
  13. serendipity

    serendipity New Member

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    The "SAT guy" came to my door yesterday. I was on a call and was going to ignore him. First he pressed our intercom button and I didn't answer. Second, he rang the doorbell--and I still didn't answer. THEN, he knocked aggressively on the door and I was really annoyed. By this time, my dogs were barking their heads off and he still wasn't going away. So, I finished my call, opened the door and went out on the porch to address him. He started his pitch and I replied that I was not interested and had heard about him on our neighborhood forums and he said, "Oh, good things I hope." And I said, "Nope. Actually people are giving a heads up that you're coming and that you are dropping our neighbors names and they aren't happy." He seemed surprised. I'm in the middle of the street and he had more houses to canvass but he got in his car and left. I don't like door-to-door sales but used to always answer the door and try to be polite when they came and decline. I started not answering the door if I wasn't expecting someone or if I had a head's up that it was a salesperson. But when I don't answer and they make repeated attempts--you are not going to get me being terribly polite. How can these guys think that is a good sales tactic? Annoy the heck out of the customer and then try to sell 'em.
     
  14. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    It doesn't take a rocket scientist to lookup publicly available records.. available online.
     
  15. JLC

    JLC Member

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    He had a couple that he showed me. I didn't ask to see them - he whipped them out as part of his routine.
     
  16. tyger31

    tyger31 Member

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    Yet another reason not to answer the door, I'm also glad we don't have windows on our garage door. :)
     
  17. chiliburners

    chiliburners New Member

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    This guy made me so uncomfortable! He was pushy, and asked ton of questions about the neighbors. He wanted to know who the stay home Moms were in our neighborhood. He wanted to know the ages if the kids in our neighborhood. Although I did not buy anything from him, he was charming enough to convince me to fill up his water bottle. Felt like an idiot! Very fishy situation.
     
  18. ayayagirl

    ayayagirl New Member

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    That is exactly what he did with me!! Even the water bottle! I did fill it up for him too, but I shut the door before I did. But looking back, I should not have done that.
     
  19. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    I just shut the door on these people..

    that and the baseball bat right next to the door often gives them the shivers
     
  20. KTdid

    KTdid Well-Known Member

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    If he made you "so uncomfortable," why did you stay at the door long enough for him to ask a "ton of questions" about your neighbors? Did you talk about your neighbors? Geesh folks, if the person is on your porch and you are uncomfortable - tell them to leave - pronto - and then close the door!

    And yet he was charming enough that you filled up his water bottle? :huh:
     

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