thursday, august 28, 1 975
daily nebraskan
Consumers wary of door-to-door sales in Lincoln
By Dick Hovorka
There's a knock at your door. When you
open it you come face to. face with a
'direct salesman", better known as
door-to-door salesman.
It may be a phone call, a voice on the
other end wanting to demonstrate a
product in your home.
If you are like most consumers you may
feci uneasy and try to avoi d them.
"We tell them we're just leaving,"
explains one working girl who has been
approached by five door-to-door salesmen
in the last few months. Another person
says he lets salesmen in but never intends
to buy anything.
"I let them in because I might win a free
prize," says another consumer.
Shady reputation
Jess Smith from the Kirby Vacuum
Company believes the shady reputation
sometimes attached to salesmen goes back
to years when peddlers went from town to
town, or home to home selling goods. It
may go back to Biblical days when tax
collectors were tied in with peddlers, he
said.
The list of products sold by direct sales
is as long as the imagination, from pots and
pans to candy, cards and seeds, to
grapefruits and oranges, according to
Ramona Goeschel at the City Clerk's
office.
"Many of these things must be
demonstrated. You couldn't do justice to
the product in a store. People wouldn't
take the time. Quality must be
demonstrated," Smith said.
"You are always selling something.
whether it be yourself or a product. With
our products, we are trying to help plan for
your future," said Wes Bair of Vita Craft
products.
If, after purchasing something from a
door-to-door salesman, a person decides to
cancel his order, the Federal Trade
Commission now says a consumer has 72
hours to do so by mailing or delivering a
signed cancellation notice to the company.
This applies only to purchases over $5.
Few complaints . '
The Better Business Bureau (BBB)
receives few complaints about local andor
established firms, according to Lois Tefft
of the B.B.B. Most complaints are about
sales people from "outside," such as
magazine salesmen, she said.
The BBB advises these steps for dealing
with salesmen.
1 . Never open your door to strangers.
2. If a stranger asks to use your phone,
have him wait outside while you make the
call.
3. Don't be pressured into buying.
4. Shop around. -
5. Read the contract; know what it says.
6. Remember the 72 hour cooling off
period.
7. v Pay by check written to, the
company, not the salesman.
8. Be familiar with the
cqmpany guarantees and offers are only as
good as the firm's reputation. .
, According to Tcfft, there are 139 BBBs
across the country. The bureaus exchange
news on companies, and information is
passed on to consumers and police
departments
Mail-order complaints
There are about 10 times as many
inquiries from the public as there are
complaints, Tefft said. Mail order
companies cause the most complaints, she
said.
"If there are magazine salesmen in
town, we may receive from 10 to 15
complaints a day," Tefft said.
Before a salesman can go door to door
he must apply for a license at the City
Clerks's office. According to Ramona
Goeschel, all applicants are checked before
issued the $5 license.
"I'm proud to say we resolve about 87
of the complaints abouL, door-to-door
salesmen, Tefft said.
"I'd like time to decide whether I want
to spend my money on what these
salesman offer, many of them run into .
quite a bit of money," one consumer said.
2,500 student accounts
Put things off
Bair defends the salesmen's point of
view by saying "People tend to put things
off until they just don't do it. A good
salesman wiU have answered all questions
the first time he sees you. If the buyer has
any questions about the product after the
display, then the salesman hasn't done his
job."
"You get what you pay for," Smith
said. "What people don't realize is that
almost everything in their house has been
bought from a salesman somewhere along
the line."
Bair and Smith agree they make sales
about every third or fourth display.
. Many consumers are happy with
products they buy from direct salesmen,
satisfied customers say.
Union bank 'here to stay1
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Gateway Bank is starting its second year
in the Nebraska Union and favorable'
response makes it look like the bank is
there to stay.
Gateway rented space from the Union
last year for $15,000 and, according to
Union Director Al Bennett, it has been a
success financially and as what he called a
service to students.
Before the bank opened, the union
provided a check cashing service which
Bennett said cost about $18,000 annually
to pay for wages, supplies, space, and
covering bad checks. Since Gateway
started, the Union saves that money and
gains rent on the space the bank uses, he
said. "I'm real pleased with the service
they've provided," Bennett said. "I've had
many favorable comments on the decision
to let the bank operate in the union."
Some complaints were raised last year
on the bank's policy of charging 25 cents
to cash checks for non-Gateway customers.
However, Bennett said, the fee helps meet
the cost of the service, and if the defunct
Union check cashing office still was open it
also would require 25 cents per check.
Gateway Bank President Roger
Dickeson said he is "very satisfied" with
the bank's first year in the union.
"We've had more student accounts than
we expected (2,500) and we've enjoyed
working with students as customers," he
said. Dickeson said the bank plans to
remain on campus.
Bennett said other private businesses
have contacted the union about operating
branches there. They were not considered
because of lack of space, but there is "a
good chance" more businesses will enter
the Union if it is remodeled, which has
been proposed, Bennett said.
The Union Board will create a space
planning board next spring or fall to begin
studying Union remodeling, he said. The
plan will include surveys to assess students'
needs, and if needs dictate private
businesses can better serve students than
could the university, the board will con
sider renting more space to firms, he said.
Businesses which have shown an interest
in space include stereo and music stores,
floral shops, hair salons and restaurants.
Bennett said plans will take a year to 18
months, and final remodeling could not be
completed until 1979.
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I also feel good about my posi
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I'm a leader there, too. I'm some
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