Free Knives Took 4 Hours I Will Never Get Back

In the Star Tribune this morning I saw an article about pushy door-to-door salespeople popping up in the South Metro and SE Minnesota. These people are always one sale away from a trip or big cash bonus, the pressure always seems to be on you. Well, I've been there, unwittingly opening up our door after getting a piece of mail, and it was purely a moment of naivete.It was February of 2017 and I was about 2 months from being married. After getting the mail I noticed a peculiar piece. It stated that I, it was addressed to me, had won some knives. I didn't think much about it, we had been to a wedding fair two weeks earlier, so it must have been a door prize we registered for.

I called the local number and spoke to a man who congratulated me on winning the knife set, and he was going to arrange for the set to be dropped off at my house. I thought it was odd, but it was a local number, so ok. My response was 6 pm. Done.

That night at 6 pm, a lady came to the door holding a box, and a smile. She asked to come in and being that it was cold out I let her in. BIG MISTAKE! The next thing my fiance and I knew is that we were in the middle of a vacuum presentation! This woman no matter how many times we said we no longer wanted the "free" knives, or weren't interested wouldn't give in. SHE WAS THERE 4 HOURS! She was one sale away from a trip to Tahiti and a cash bonus. It didn't matter the price of the item she sold, it just mattered she made one more sale.

It wasn't until we threatened to call the police did she finally leave! I won't name the company or the person, but let's just say we did see this woman in the neighborhood a few days later and once she saw us she high-tailed it out of there.

I share my story with you because in the article it mentions areas close to us that are being impacted by these door-to-door tactics;

"Savage and New Prague residents have called police after sales visits from RG representatives, officials said. Two cities — Isanti and North St. Paul — said enough was enough and revoked RG’s sales permits.

Armed with complimentary cans of air freshener, the salespeople reportedly spend hours showing off their Kirbys until they’re asked to leave. Then they become rude and resistant, according to the pattern noted anecdotally and in police reports."

Shortly after our experience my fiance and I were proud owners of a brand new 'No Solicitation' sign, rather than a brand new set of knives.