AT&T U-verse solicitors

... are pretty aggressive. I've had a half-dozen visits from these heroes in 2009. Usually they travel in pairs for additional obnoxiousness.

This one wasn't so bad; she ignored my No Solicitors sign but at least wasn't beligerent about it. She left promptly once I said "No thanks, and did you see my sign?" spiel. Half the time these ATT clowns will stand there are argue about how "they got all the paperwork" but somehow be unable to produce it and will continue the hard-sell while you're closing the door in their face. Those guys get the cops (at RPD's request).

Today's salesdroid drove away quickly instead of continuing to work the street so I didn't call it into the RPD.

Update: Best Foundation flyer

Update from the previous post.

I got a professional response from Always Distributing (AD hereafter), who appears to handled Best's flyer work. I received their email a few days ago but am just now answering; busy weekend.


Here is my email reply, with his text redacted as I am a little squeamish about posting email without consent when the sender appears to be operating in good faith.

[AD was concerned I had been inconvenienced]

I haven't been inconvenienced. My intent was to help local businesses comply with local law. [my personal info redacted], I am keenly interested in who enters our neighborhood and whether or not they perform their business lawfully.


[AD requests I delete the blog post]

I will update the posting, noting that you responded professionally.

I'll give it a month (Nov 2) and will contact Richardson PD to confirm that Always Distributing has obtained a permit to distribute flyers in Richardson. I am confident that AD will comply, as the process is inexpensive and easy (particularly when compared to the $500/day fine for distribution without a permit).


[AD is concerned that my blog post about AD's failure to comply will reflect poorly on Best]

I don't think it does. Looked like they handed my concern over to you quickly and you responded quickly. In a perfect world they probably would have responded to me directly as well but that's their call.

Handbill: Best Foundation Repair

Here is a local company getting it wrong three ways:

1. handbill attached to rail rather than door
2. No Solicitors sign ignored
3. Solicitor not displaying the solicitor permit.

Here's the video where you can confirm the solicitor is not displaying a permit. (.avi, about 3MB)

Even local companies can get it wrong.

I've emailed info@best-foundation.com with this information.

Update 10/05/2009.

flyer: Green Lawn Services

Young flyer distributor had no permit displayed, and taped the flyer to the door a few inches from the No Solicitors sign. Wrong 3x in a ten second period (taping is disallowed, in case you were wondering about the infraction count).

The flyer says "call Miguel", though the only reference I found to that number on google was used by Victor Santamaria.

Handbill poster: David the Plumber

Here is the legman for David the Plumber distributing his flyers.

The best thing about this is that he left the flyer within a couple inches of the No Solicitors sign on my door. Bold.

Congratulations, David, you're the first contestant to get called in to the RPD for soliciting w/out a permit and leaving handbills when the residence is posted No Solicitors.

1032: solicitor hangs handbills, continues eastbound
1100: I get home, see the handbill, check the video
1105: reported this to COR non-emergency, who passed me to dispatch. Dispatch ask if he had a permit displayed (no), took the description.
1107: heard it dispatched over the scanner
1115: assigned patrolman called off to attend a wreck on Central
1123: reassigned to another patrolman.

posted

I posted a No Solicitors sign on my door. It does not meet COR standards for bringing the $500 (fine) hammer down, but might help keep the door-knockers at bay.

More handbills: Legacy Custom Painting

Here is Legacy Custom Painting (out of Garland) posting a handbill on my front door. Note that in the screenie you can see the timestamp in the file name.

I called COR at the 972.744.4800 number given as the contact point for solicitor violations in an archived Brief on the COR website. It was answered by the Richardson Police, who directed me to Dulce Luna. Ms. Luna was pleasant and confirmed:

• We can call her directly at 972.744.4922 to check permit status of solictors
• The public has no direct (web, print, etc) access to the solicitor database
• The RPD cruisers do have access to the database through their MDT

And, germane to this particular post, Legacy Custom Painting does not have a solicitor's permit to distribute in Richardson. A trivial deal, you might say. Consider this: if you are hiring someone to do work on your house would you prefer to have someone that understands and follows the relevant residential codes?

I do understand that I may be at risk of obtaining crank status for following up on this stuff. But here is my logic:

• The COR crime watch officer for our neighborhood has explicitly warned against doing business with people that appear on your doorstep.
  
• He has also warned that appearing on the doorstep (or ringing the bell) may be a way to scope out locations for daytime burglary.
• Highland Terrace has suffered significant daytime burglary activity lately.
  
• Getting information on ALL solicitors helps ensure that I do not discriminate against solicitors based on [your pet peeve here].
  

Yes, I am in search of a No Solicitors sign to post at my front door. At that time I will provide evidence to RPD of all violations. But it's harder than it appears; the statute dictates the sign must be a minimum of 3"x4" and the lettering must be a min of 1" tall. I take a tape measure with me and have not found any signs meeting this criteria yet at walmart, lowes, home depot. I will report when I find one.

Handbill poster: Greenville Church of Christ

The guinea pig for my new "get a permit" information campaign was a pleasant group of folks out canvassing in the light rain.

Polite, quiet, wearing their group's shirt, they appear to be doing it right. Starting the project out with an innocent group of folks hopefully indicates that I am trying to inform rather than pick on folks that I think are potential burglars.

Now, let's see if they have the permit.

"Greetings.

The attached vidcap was taken on my front porch at 10:02am, 20090516.

Does your doorhanger distributor have a solicitation permit as required by the City of Richardson?
http://www.cor.net/police.aspx?id=4336

This is not a complaint. I have no particular opinion about your
service/product/group. I send these notes to handbill distributors to make sure I know who is is my neighborhood. Highland Terrace has been experiencing an increase in daytime burglaries and as a citizen involved with CrimeWatch I want to keep my eyes open.

Many groups seem to be unaware that the city can fine handbill
distributors $500/day unless the permit is carried "on thier person" or if attaching handbills when the resident has a No Solicitors sign. Getting the permits beforehand protects both your organization and my neighborhood."

Handbill posters

COR has a city ordinance requiring a permit be kept on one's person for solicitation and distribution of handbills (including door hangers).

Highland Terrace has, according to our CrimeWatch police officer / liason, been suffering an uptick in residental burglaries in the daytime. CrimeWatch has been asked to increase daytime patrols.

I had a relatively unpleasant interaction with two ATT fellows yesterday trying to sell me fiber optic everything. The first words out of my mouth were "I am not interested" but they kept fishing for information. I was polite and they finally left. This reminds me to get a No Solitictors sign, which needs to be a minimum of 3"x4" and have 3/4" lettering in order to have a binding effect on soliticitors according to the Richardson ordinance. Going to get it today.

But while I am pondering this, I got a handbill distributor on my porch. I have no complaint about them or their handbill, but thought I would roll out a new process that might help inform groups of their responsibility to get the permit. My email to them is in the next post.