Charity collectors at 10pm???

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Bubbly Scot

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I was puttering around about five to ten and there was this bang on the door.I couldn't see anyone when I looked out and since himself had taken himself off to bed at the other end of the house I called through the door asking who is it?
This voice came back, very thick accent and I could only pick out the words......"mumble mumble...travelling....mumble mumble mumble....collecting...mumble...(North?) Wexford General Hospital"

Called back "not tonight thank you" and when I next looked out there were car lights but couldn't see anyone and away he went.
I'm not really LOS about this, it was annoying and a little worrying. Thing is, as a small community we tend to support charity callers so now I'm wondering if I'm the bad 'un for not even opening the door!

We live on a fairly sparsely populated road and only get called on two or three times a year but never at ten pm. I thought you couldn't make an unsolicited call to a household after 9pm???

Apart from anything else, it took 20 minutes to calm the dogs down but then we like them to make a lot of noise when people bang on the door.
 
Totally out of order for legitimate charity people to call at this hour. Maybe a young person who thinks that his/her idealism is clock proof. But I think that this is a scam.
 
Simeon said:
Totally out of order for legitimate charity people to call at this hour. Maybe a young person who thinks that his/her idealism is clock proof. But I think that this is a scam.
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The confident knock on the door didn't correspond with the drunk sounding voice that called back to me, which makes me think scam.

The drunk, thick accent makes me think local person not bothering about the time.

It was an older voice, to be honest I immediatly thought "traveller" on account of the accent.
 
Bubbly Scot said:
Thing is, as a small community we tend to support charity callers so now I'm wondering if I'm the bad 'un for not even opening the door!
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Absolutely not-you were totally right not to entertain unwanted callers at your door at 10 pm.
 
might be worth giving the hospital a ring to see if they have a legitimate collection going. If they have, you can voice your view around the time of the call. if they haven't you should advise the Gardai of bogus collectors in the area
 
You did the right thing, I would be thinking personal safety rather than scam, there have been a few cases lately with women being assaulted in their own home by intruders.
 
TBH, I rarely answer the door after dark - even it's it reasonably early.

Very rare that it happens, but there have been a couple of people who if genuine, were probably highly irritated to see that we were obviously in but just not answering the door.

I think you definitely did the right thing Bubbly.
 
When home alone (or himself asleep) I NEVER answer the door to unsolicited callers anymore at all - I used to answer if it was broad daylight, but Ive had a number of scammers call, plus local traveller kids looking for sponsorship - that I used to give, til a bunch of us neighbours got together and discovered the same kids were using the same story week after week to get their 'sponsorship' money :)

I have an intercom thing, a phone handset is on the wall of the kitchen, when someone rings the doorbell it rings, I can pick up the handset and talk out through it. I am in a ground floor apartment so if the window is open and I answer the door on the phone you can probably hear me more clearly through the window than through the intercom! However - I have no qualms at all about looking directly out the window at someone while talking through the intercom and not coming to the door. I couldnt care less if they can see me, if they think Im some kind of paranoid lunatic, or if they think Im just plain rude.

Incidently - people dont expect to be answered by an intercom - and you can sometimes hear that someone non genuine is at a loss at how to proceed when they cant talk to you face to face - whereas the local chinese delivery man is completely unphased.
 
We have two dogs, one who goes mental if someone knocks at the door or comes onto our property. It's one of the reasons we got him, to alert us to a caller and to let them know there's a big dog in the house. He's protective but harmless, but strangers don't know that.

I'm not one for answering the door unless I'm expecting someone but this was a new situation so perhaps it felt a bit weird to be shouting through the door. I would have ignored him completely but i was in my office right next to the door so he knew I was in (light on, blinds closed). Himself said I should have woken him and he'd have given the guy an earfull!!

I guess in this day and age we can't be too careful and I think I'd rather be careful than get myself into a situation. Sad sign of the times, eh?
 
Bubbly Scot said:
I guess in this day and age we can't be too careful and I think I'd rather be careful than get myself into a situation. Sad sign of the times, eh?
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Better to be safe than sorry Bubbly, I know someone who answered the door to a guy pretending to be an local service engineer, the second she had the door opened he barged through it, produced a knife and subjected her to an horrendous ordeal (the details of which I will not post here as they are disgusting and could possibly identify the person).

If you are not expecting the caller - dont answer. If its someone you know they will ring you.
 
This can also be a ruse to see if you are in, burglars size up would be targets this way. Whatever they were up to one thing is certain, it was bogey, treat it as a wake up call.
 
We had the "family" call to the door last week singing carols. They said they were collecting for St. Josephs school.
 
p45 said:
This can also be a ruse to see if you are in, burglars size up would be targets this way. Whatever they were up to one thing is certain, it was bogey, treat it as a wake up call.
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Ta, I'm so glad now he heard the big noisy dog barking.
 
We had a few local young lads chancing their arm "carol singing" when they knocked on our door at 10pm last night. Too bad Scrooge was in residence!
 
Two would-be burglers knocked on my door one lunchtime many years ago. A big one and a little one who would have been getting in a window. They were surprised when I answered the door (with an unshaven just out of bed head on me); they gave me a complicated story of some bloke who sold motorbikes who lived around. I pointed directly to the house opposite and said he lives there. They went to the end of the drive and walked hurriedly up the street looking back all the while. Vermin.
 
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