A survey conducted by Consumer Action earlier this year found that 56 per cent of shoppers feel the greatest pressure to purchase when visited at home, and 77 per cent of respondents said they disliked door-to-door sales – indicating that the Australian public is tired of persistent doorknockers.

The Committee’s report also highlights the importance of a number of ACCC cases before the Federal Court which will test the legal standing of the Do Not Knock sticker. If the court confirms that the sticker represents a request that a salesperson leave the property and they ignore it, the salesperson could be opening themselves up to significant fines under the Australian Consumer Law.

‘The Committee and industry have both pointed to the sticker as a reason why further protections aren’t needed at this stage, and we’re hopeful that the ACCC’s case will confirm our view of the legal status of the sticker. But, if it doesn’t, the Federal Parliament needs to be willing to revisit this issue and either amend the law to make the sticker legally binding, and reconsider a do not knock register,’ said Gerard Brody, Director of Policy and Campaigns at Consumer Action.

‘The Do Not Knock stickers have been a resounding success but we know from complaints coming through the Do Not Knock website that there are plenty of sellers ignoring them or coming up with excuses as to why the Australian Consumer Law doesn’t apply to them. So if our politicians are going to point to the stickers as a reason why we don’t need further consumer protections, they need to make sure the sticker is adhered to.

‘We’ve sent out tens of thousands of stickers and have research that shows only three percent of Australians have a positive opinion of door-to-door sales, so it’s clear that many Australians are looking for a way to opt out of door-to-door sales. We’re urging all parliamentarians to ensure the rejection of the Do Not Knock Register Bill 2012 isn’t the end of efforts to protect vulnerable consumers from high pressure door-to-door sales,’ said Mr Brody.

Consumers wishing to order a Do Not Knock sticker can do so at www.donotknock.org.au.

We’re tired of hearing stories of salespeople taking advantage of vulnerable people, like Tammy’s grandmother:

“I am writing in regards to my 80 year old grandmother. She has now been talked into signing up with 4 different power companies since December. All have been dearer than her original company!! She’s now been hit with cancellation fees from these companies… These pushy door knockers should not be allowed to harass people like this especially the elderly!”

In March we wrote to AGL, Australian Power and Gas, Lumo, Momentum Energy, Origin Energy, Red Energy, Simply Energy and TRUenergy asking them to voluntarily stop unsolicited high pressure door-to-door selling. So far, retailers have failed to agree to our request, though some have offered to meet with us to discuss the issues.

We’d love you to support our campaign by signing the petition and spreading the word through your professional and social networks: http://www.change.org/donotknock

Thanks for your support, and be sure to keep up with the campaign via this website.

One of the most common questions we get is whether or not the sticker applies to unwanted callers who aren’t salespeople—such as religious organisations, charities, and political candidates.

Consumer Action’s  Do Not Knock sticker is squarely aimed at unsolicited salespeople—with good reason.  As a legal practice, we get complaints from Victorian consumers about door-to-door salespeople using high-pressure tactics to get people to buy products they don’t want, don’t need, and can’t afford. We’ve also heard of cases where people have been deliberately misled, and even unwittingly signed up to high cost financing to pay for the product. Unfortunately there are some unscrupulous salespeople out there who target new Australians or people with limited English, signing them up for contracts without fully explaining the details, costs and cooling-off rights.

There is a real need in the community for some help in preventing unwanted salespeople—and that’s why we created the Do Not Knock sticker.

Of course, there is nothing to stop you from designing your own sticker or sign that asks other potential callers to stay away. Our view is that anyone who ignores such a sign would be trespassing, because the implied legal right to access your property is taken away by such a sign. You can read more in the Legal Section of the website.

Some consumers have told us they’ve done exactly that, to great effect. You could even do as one person suggested and make a sign that says:

 Sales people please note unsolicited door knocking here is UNLAWFUL. Friends and family are always welcomed. 

The campaign was launched by Karen Collier’s Herald Sun article ‘New warning for door-to-door sales‘ before being picked up by radio stations 3AW, 2UE, Triple M, Fox, Gold, 6PR, 2CC, ABC Breakfast Melbourne, ABC Statewide Drive, ABC Breakfast Adelaide, ABC Gold Coast, and 5AA. 3AW and 2UE have also published Do Not Knock information on their websites under the headings Door-to-door ‘pest’ crackdown and An end to door-to-door salesman?.

We anticipate a number of other news outlets will be reporting on the launch over the coming days. If we’ve missed any, please let us know!

But it’s equally true that we’ve got a lot more to do to clean up the door-to-door sales industry—we still hear shocking stories on an all too regular basis. Our friends at Financial Counselling Australia recently brought a particularly disturbing practice to our attention—a door-to-door marketing company targeting remote indigenous communities and selling them first aid kits worth around $50 for $300-$500.

To ensure the company gets its money, regardless of the customer’s ability to afford the repayments, it sets up direct debits from consumer’s bank account. But because the money is debited regardless of the customer’s bank balance, the direct debit can often force the account into the red—resulting in the account holder being hit with a dishonour fee from their bank.

In a particularly concerning case, a woman who’d been signed up to purchase a first aid kit was nearing the end of her payments when she was approached by the same company offering a “GOLD MEMBERSHIP” which entitled her to purchase a 32 inch TV for $35 per month. Unfortunately, the customer purchased the television which her financial counsellor believes she cannot afford.

Of further concern is that she was only told the cost of the monthly repayments, rather than the overall cost of the TV, so she is unaware of how long it will take her to pay off the TV and what the overall cost will be. If we were to hazard a guess based on other stories we’ve heard, we’d say she’ll end up paying far above the market cost for the TV.

It’s certainly not a one off either- the ABC’s World Today program has reported on similar cases in early November 2011.

These cases are a good example of where a Do Not Knock sticker could have prevented the salepeople using their well-honed, high-pressure sales tactics on vulnerable consumers, who suffered significant harm. Financial Counselling Australia will be undertaking a number of outreach projects with remote communities and we look forward to reporting on their the progress.

Matt Anker, who is the Pastor of St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Shepparton Victoria, was frequently approached by members of his Congolese and Sudanese congregation with contract problems resulting from door-to-door sales, including water purifier contracts.

The Congolese and Sudanese communities of Shepparton were being targeted by a door-to-door sales company selling water purifiers. They were told by this company that the water purifiers were needed as the running water in Shepparton was not clean enough (which is not right). Many members of the community signed up and were having trouble paying the cost of the purifier and the associated contract costs.

Matt felt that legal education would help prevent ongoing problems of this nature and spoke with Angela Costi and Erin Wilkinson of Community Legal Education, Victoria Legal Aid (VLA).

Angela and Erin organised an education session in Shepparton which had a prime focus on consumer rights against door seller practice. Joel Townsend, a senior lawyer of VLA, spoke at this session about contracts signed up ‘at the home’. Do Not Knock stickers were distributed to all 50 attendees from the African communities and further stickers were made available for other members of the community who could not attend the session.

At the session, Joel spoke with a few members of the community who were experiencing ongoing problems as a result of the water purifier contracts. These clients spoke to other members of the community and Joel was able to assist 37 people from the Congolese and Sudanese communities who had been adversely affected by these contracts.

Thon Thon, a community development worker and leader of the Sudanese Shepparton community said, ‘After this legal help, the company took the water purifiers away and stopped selling to us.’

Six months later Matt Anker says, ‘This is a HUGE benefit. Before the session I was spending hours every month dealing with companies and Ombudsmen to try to sort out unfair contracts. Since the session – not a single one!’

Just wanted to let you know of the experience my elderly mother had with a TRUenergy door knocker yesterday evening in Ascot Vale, Melbourne.

 A woman came to her door around 5pm saying she was from TRUenergy and that there had been complaints in the area of people not receiving the correct concession on their bills.  My mother said she wasn’t with TRUenergy and didn’t want to change for her current supplier AGL.  The woman asked to see an electricity bill, and my mother for some reason obliged. 

The woman said she was being overcharged about 50% and asked to come in so she could lean on a table to fill in a form.  She seemed to have my mothers details including date of birth, address, name.  She asked my mother to sign the form that she had.  My mother once again said she did not want to change, and the woman said it was not to change, but just to sign that the contact details were correct.  My mother signed! 

The woman then asked to use the phone and called TRUenergy, and put a man onto the phone to speak to my mother.  He said call would be recorded, confirmed some ID questions, and then asked her to confirm that she was changing to TRUenergy.  She again said NO.  He said he would fix it and call finished. 

Mum asked for the signed form from the sales woman, and was rejected, saying she would look after it, and left in a huff, with the signed form.  My mother was not left with a copy or any other information, and was left concerned that she had just been tricked into signing over electricity suppliers.

 I rang TRUenergy this morning, and they said they will ensure she remains with her current supplier, and didn’t say much else.

This type of trickery is unbelievable.  I was not aware of the Do No Knock stickers, so have just sent in a stamped self addressed envelope to request one for her.

 TRUenergy called Mum a couple of weeks after my complaint, and apologised and said they’d sent the staff member for re-training!

Jan has high anxiety and mental health issues. She advises that she didn’t sign any forms or have any verbal agreement with the salesman that came to her door. She was unaware that her energy provider had been changed until she received a cheque from her old provider for $180 as refund for her Centrepay deductions, which was the remaining money left over after her account had been finalised. 

Jan was left confused and upset and – her Centrepay arrangement has been cancelled and she didn’t know who her energy provider was or how to get her old provider back.

 I live with my aged mother who is 81 years old and has dementia.

Last night I got home to find she had signed up to change my gas and power to a competing company. She couldn’t even explain to me what had happened – she didn’t understand and there is no way she would have been able to give the information required to do this without some major assistance which should have been a warning to the salesperson that she was not well.

 I got home and tried to stop the changeover but when I got onto the company’s call centre I waited for over 25 minutes on the phone. I only have a prepaid phone as I’m digging myself out of a hole and it has been tough. I have $29 phone credit to last a month.

Anyway, after the first call used up over half my credit, I got hung-up on by the company’s representative.  I called back waited another 10 minutes only to get told they can’t call me back – so I was left paying for the phone call. Then after a little more talking – I get told well mum had every right to sign the documents and there was nothing that they could do.

After explaining for the third time that she had dementia and that I had Power of Attorney, I was finally put through to a supervisor who then put me through to another department. After explaining the whole thing again and asking to be called back – which they refused even though I had used almost my whole month’s phone allowance – I finally got put through to Customer Cancellations after an additional 15 min – and FINALLY someone understood what I was saying, and he was able to call me back.

15 min later and the cancellation was put through

 I’m now going to put three Do Not Knock Signs up on the door and try and stop them again.

- Ellen