I live in a split foyer house, and it’s getting harder to walk up and down the stairs. So it’s annoying to answer a knock on the door only to find out it’s someone trying to sell me something I don’t need (car warranty, internet access, lawn care, etc.)
One thing I’ve observed: solicitors usually don’t just knock with uniform spaces between knocks. It’s often something like ‘shave and a haircut, two bits’, or some other rythmn.
FWIW solicitors are also usually young, 30 or under. This might also correlate with the non-uniform knock patterns.
This has actually helped me distinguish the likely sales calls from neighbors and other people i want to respond to.
The pattern with solicitors (adult, not kids selling cookies or candy) I’ve noticed is: knock knock knock ding dong ding dong knock knock knock knock. Makes me feel like channeling Miracle Max.
We have the typical mid-century BING BONG door bell [thank Ghu it isn’t the damned Big Ben bong doorbell] and nobody seems to knock, they ring the bell.
I wish that was my experience. It seems like everybody who comes to my door has never encountered a doorbell before, and they just knock. Unless they knock really loud I might not hear it depending on where I am in the house. If they ring the doorbell I will hear it anywhere inside.
To the OP’s point I can’t say I’ve noticed any rhythmic knocking. It’s either three or four knocks in quick succession.
I highly suggest that you get a doorbell camera. When I get a knock or a ring, I peep who it is on my phone and if I don’t recognize them, I don’t answer.
I don’t always need to do that since where I sit in my living room gives me a view through my window. They can also see me ignoring them. It’s typically Jehovah’s Witnesses or people trying to sell me solar panels.
WE get probably 2 door-to-door salesmen (it is always a youngish man riding a hoverboard or segway type thingy) per week. I usually go down the stairs (split foyer house) and enter my garage where I can see who the person is. If I see the typical D-T-D guy I just return to what I was doing;.. I do not answer nor engage. I did D-T-D sales when I was 10 years old selling greeting cards for “Junior Sales Club of America” . Even had my plastic gold ID badge. Rejection is the main part of that job.
We have a pest control company here that routinely sends young men out, ignoring our town’s solicitation ordinance. Yesterday one came to our door
Knock knock
Knock knock knock
Ding Dong
My wife thought ringing the doorbell after the secret knock was a bit much. Then she told him he wasn’t wearing his solicitation badge (that shows the company has registered with the town) and he said, “Oh, I forgot.” Funny, he didn’t forget the Segway he was riding.
No special knock that I’ve noticed. What I have noticed, though, is that those who do knock always open the storm door (double-pane glass insert in the winter; screen in the summer) to knock directly on the door.
Which puts the average male or female directly at eye level with my conspicuous-as-all-get-out “NO SOLICITORS” sign.
I guess they either get lazy and stop noticing, or they figure that I’m definitely going to be the one guy whose “NO SOLICITORS” sign … really doesn’t mean it
We typically (tho not to frequently) get guys who want to do tree work for us or pest control guys. They all ring the bell, then step back off the porch to the foot of the steps.
The pest control guys (2 in 2 days) are really “assertive” - asking if I’ve talked to “your neighbor, Dave.” Um, no. Other than the guy directly next door, we don’t know anyone’s names. We’ll wave and/or say hi to anyone walking by, but the houses are spread out on large lots and people tend to stay inside unless mowing. So, back to the topic, no, I don’t discuss pests with “Dave” or anyone else. At that point, I just say “Thanks, but not interested” and I go back inside, even if the sales guy is still talking.
The tree guys are less annoying, and in the past, we have hired a couple of them. In fact, the next one who stops by may well get a job.
I’ve done a lot of door knocking for political campaigns. Technically, we aren’t salesmen and the “no solicitors” sign doesn’t apply, although the odds of a positive response from someone with such a sign are low. I sometimes rang the bell, sometimes knocked “rap, rap”, and sometimes did “shave and a haircut”. Then i stepped back so as not to be close enough to the door to look threatening. (I’m an older woman; I don’t look very threatening. But no one wants to feel crowded at their door.)
One of the people who trained me claimed the “shave and a haircut” got a better response, because leaving out the “two bits” made occupants a little curious. But honestly, i mixed it up as much to alleviate my own boredom as for any other reason. But if there was a working bell (usually, there wasn’t) i started with that, because i feel like that’s my preferred notification at my door, so I’d guess other people prefer it, too.
I sometimes rang the bell, sometimes knocked “rap, rap”, and sometimes did “shave and a haircut”. Then i stepped back so as not to be close enough to the door to look threatening. (I’m an older woman; I don’t look very threatening. But no one wants to feel crowded at their door.)