RESIDENTS who are tired of telling unwanted door-to-door salespeople to go away can now get their message across without saying a word.
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The “Please, Do Not Knock” stickers are being delivered to every Origin Energy customer.
It’s an initiative created by the energy company, which said they were “respecting customer choices”.
Others might see it as a marketing ploy by Origin Energy trying to eliminate any challengers.
Whatever the reasons for the sticker, 75-year-old Orange resident Betty McEvoy loves it.
“I think it is a great idea. I hope salespeople take notice,” Mrs McEvoy said.
“If they don’t, they won’t get a good reception from me.”
Mrs McEvoy said she didn’t like salespeople knocking on her door.
“We have had them up here at night,” she said.
“I don’t answer the door until I know who is there.
“It does annoy me.”
Under Australian Consumer Law, salespeople are not permitted to doorknock on Sundays or public holidays and are restricted to door knocking between 9am and 5pm on Saturdays, and 9am and 6pm on weekdays.
An Origin spokesperson said the company had customers complaining about door-to-door salespeople.
“Some people prefer not to be contacted by door-to-door salespeople or telephoned by organisations that they do not have an existing relationship with,” the spokesperson said.
“As a result of customer and more general feedback about door-to-door sales, we’ve sought to make it easier for customers to avoid such contacts by providing them with the Please, Do Not Knock stickers as part of respecting customer choices program we’ve been running for several months now.
“It might sound odd for an electricity company to do this because we won’t be able to knock on those doors that display the sticker.”
The stickers were developed by the Consumer Action Law Centre.
“It’s really about choice,” the spokesperson said.
“We give them the sticker and it is their choice to put it on.”