Free ‘Do Not Knock’ Sticker From Origin Energy
This was posted 5 months 23 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal
Prefer not to have door to door sales people knocking on your front door? If so, order a "Do not knock" sticker for your front door below.
Once the sticker's up they should get the message to leave you alone - that includes Origin sales people too.
What an odd bargain.
It got 67 votes (so not too shabby) last time it was posted.
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/49082
While technically it IS a dupe, it's unlikely those who are taking up the offer now would have stumbled accross an 18 month old post
Todes Angst on 28/12/2012 - 20:18 ¶I have 2 on my door. One near the bell and the other right below the door knocker. They seem to work ;)
+4 votesBeware you might not get anyone knocking anymore but you might get a stack of crap in the mail -
"We collect the personal information set out above so that we can send you a do not knock sticker. You give us your consent to our exchanging your information with our related bodies corporate, agents and contractors in order to send you the sticker and also as authorised by law."
Worst thing is that they give these stickers out to people so they know not to knock on those doors… they are not doing anyone any favours… just alerting their reps to the fact they've been there & you have no chance! My Neighbours have one & the girl selling fake oil paintings knocked on her door the other night so they don't really work.
However I do have to say that my Neighbours are really happy with theirs… they showed me when they put it up… anything for free I guess :)
That's very interesting you mention oil paintings mrsjools. Years ago I got a door to door salesman selling oil paintings who explained the paintings etc. I'm 99% sure he was genuine in his story and I have googled information about it extensively. I bought one and can't be happier.
The paintings were REALLY good - the creation of man one was one of the best paintings I've seen.
The entire thing was quite bizarre and fun to think about.
greenpossum on 28/12/2012 - 20:38 ¶No problem, just put a fake address on the form. Hmm…, there might be a problem with that idea. Let me go back to the drawing board. LOL
The Legal Aid one is free also (along with other material):
http://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/3068.htm
I think these ones sends out a better message
http://donotknock.org.au/take-action/get-the-sticker-2/
darthhasbro on 28/12/2012 - 21:22 ¶I have these and they work, went from having 3-4 sales people a week to none :)
What did you add?
I used the picture and added:
Please note that unsolicited door knocking here is UNLAWFUL
Deliveries, Pre-Arranged Appointments, Friends/Neighbours Permitted
Sales, Hawkers, Charities, Religious, Market Research, etc. UNLAWFULThis one is by the meter box just in case they missed the first one.
Yup I use this one and it works very well. Sales people walk up towards the front door and see this in the window then turn around. Zero unwanted door knocks since. The "UNLAWFUL" in bold is the secret I think :)
Not sure why anyone would want an Origin one when there's ACCC and a consumer advocate one available for free.
drazenm on 28/12/2012 - 21:16 Comment score below threshold (-9).
darthhasbro on 28/12/2012 - 21:23 Comment score below threshold (1).
Sales companies take these stickers seriously: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/companies-fined-for-do-not...
They might not have done so prior to this ruling, but they sure as hell do now. I'm speaking from experience too, I tried out door knocking for a week and in their training they were pretty bloody clear that if you knock a door that has a DNK sticker you'd better have a good reason why.
- greenpossum on 28/12/2012 - 22:16 ¶
They are all like that. They called me more than once to ask if I wanted to buy gas from them. First I told them I don't have gas at my location and surely you can discover this without having to bother me? The last time I lost patience and said I've told you before I don't have gas and they said ok ok we'll note it down and not call you again. I guess it must be cheaper for them to cold call than research the gas supply info.
I was a door knocker for Energy Australia at one point in time. Let me tell you now, I ran into multiple people who could have saved a bit of money (at least $50+ per year), if they just took a few minutes of their time and listened to me. The funny thing I found was that those who were better off (had the bigger homes, the more expensive cars in the driveway) were usually the people more willing to hear me out and listen. As a result of this, they heard my logic, decided to save some money, and signed up.
There are many shonky door knockers out there representing energy companies, solar panel resellers, telco companies etc. There are however also many good deals out there, if you take the time to listen.
I was lucky enough to represent one of the better energy companies in QLD (Origin and Energy Australia had the best rates and discounts on offer at the time). I would always laugh when a Lumo customer would turn me away. You can almost guarantee that they are paying well above the regulated rate with little to no discount. If these people had been a bit more patient and listened to me, I could have saved them around $100+ per year.
If you are paying the regulated rate for electricity (or less, if lucky) and have done your research to get the best discount possible, then good for you. If you are however like most of the population that doesn't bother looking for good electricity deals, slams their doors and uses these stickers, then have fun paying more than you have to. You are paying more extra per year than my commission was, so it is your loss. :P
+8 votesYou lost me at "I was a door knocker…." ;).
Your viewpoint is too simplistic. Yes, if you were the ONLY cold caller and you offered the savings it WOULD be worth it. But because you are not alone in your door knocking ventures, and it takes a lot of time to sift through all the crap offers, it's most definitely NOT worth it.
You claim that you could have saved them +$50 per year (and then +$100 per year later on in your post), but not every salesman offers such good deals (as you've quite rightly already said).
So lets say I get 10 door knockers in a year (VERY conservative, because some people get A LOT more in a year- and your suggestion to to listen all these door knockers), and out of those 10 door knockers only 1 or 2 are 'good deals'. That means I have to listen to 10 separate spiels (at least) to get that $100 or so in savings…. because there's no way ascertain who's a good deal or bad deal unless you listen to ALL deals.
Now I dont know about you, but between 5-7pm weeknights and any time on weekends, my personal time is worth a hell of lot more that $10 an hour (being that if you sit down and listen to these sales men and their deals, and happen to sign up to a few of them, your time wasted would equate to less than $10 per hour after tax).
I'd rather NOT save that $50-$100 you are claiming, and instead save all that time and frustration from being disturbed at the most inconvenient times of the week listening to what equates to, crap deals. I can get crap deals rammed down my throat for free on TV at a time of my choosing watching ad after ad;).
I wouldn't have as much of a problem with sales people if they weren't blatantly dishonest. Many of them (mostly Indian) claim to be government representatives, and that's a bold faced lie. They ask to see my bill to make sure I am not being overcharged, but if they are the government, I figure they have ways of knowing or finding out how much I'm paying, and if there really was an initiative to check if people were being ripped off there would be much cheaper ways than sending people door to door. For example, run some TV ads, send letters, or newspaper ads, displaying the rates you should be paying, and informing the customer to respond if they are being overcharged.
Sending someone to every home would be incredibly expensive to do!
- +3 votes
"You claim that you could have saved them +$50 per year (and then +$100 per year later on in your post)"
Could have saved most people $50+ per year (pretty much everyone who wasn't with Origin or didn't have their best discount). Lumo rips off their customers so much, that you are looking at saving $100+ per year if you are with them and aren't on the regulated rate.
"and your suggestion to to listen all these door knockers"
"That means I have to listen to 10 separate spiels (at least) to get that $100 or so in savings…. because there's no way ascertain who's a good deal or bad deal unless you listen to ALL deals."
You obviously use some common sense too. If you don't want solar panels, you say no. If you are in a contract with a telco or have a product that no other telco can offer (such as the T-Box), then you say no. With electricity in particular, if you just signed up with the default provider in your area (Origin or AGL in QLD), then you are almost guaranteed to be paying more than you should be, and perhaps should spare 5 minutes.
"between 5-7pm weeknights"
You won't see any door knockers after 6PM (if they are doing the right thing).
I was once very kind to all kinds of door knockers, until I was signed up by some salesman to a gas company without my notice, I only showed him my gas bill and didnt sign anything. After that, I decide that I'd rather have some privacy than saving some bucks talking with unknown salesman.
BTW, I got the stickers from ACCC, and it seems working fine for me.
this is hilarious since my parents were door knocked succesfully by origin.
they dont much speaky the english. no its ok sign here and "nothing will change" - probably means electricity is still by same supplier but the biller/bills will change..suckers.
i wish you could choose your parents..or shoot them.Mod: Removed foul langauge
lools…
freakitude on 29/12/2012 - 12:57 ¶i always tell them i am just renting the house and owner looks after the bills and away they go.
+3 votesThe last two door-knockers at my place were two very attractive women, so I don't mind so much. It's not difficult to dismiss them.
One was a lady from Plan Australia who looked like Rosamund Pike (prettier, even) and wore tight black leggings. But my family already sponsors one child with Plan, and I rejected her offer to sponsor another child. When I dismissed her and she turned and walked away, she had the sexiest bum I'm ever seen, lol.
The second was a pretty young lady from Energy Australia. I'm not in charge of paying the energy bills so I dismissed her.
Exactly – that is their technique.
We usually don't answer door-to-doors, but the other day, someone from Lumo came (they're our current provider). She said that she'll take a look at our bill to see whether we were getting the correct and best rates. She found that they were ripping us off with the solar rebate rate.
So that's one door-knocker I'm glad we answered!
CH33ZEBURG3R on 29/12/2012 - 19:42 ¶I ordered one but I guess they only do it to get your name and address so they can bombard you with letters trying to get you to switch suppliers?
54
Now if only the clowns trying to get me to switch to Origin etc would take flapping notice of them…