by Sara 

We used to live here?

17 Comments

This happened in our hood on the evening of the 11th…

My spouse and I were out and the kids were home with a younger babysitter. ?A man came to the door and when they didn’t answer he knocked on the window. ?She told him to leave. ?She wrote it on a piece of paper and put it up to the window. ?He then opened up the mail slot and said that he “used to live here”. ?The babysitter got the kids downstairs and called her mom for help. ?There was another one waiting in a van. ?Her step dad drove up and talked to them and asked them to leave. ?They claimed they said they lived in the neighborhood and were selling vacuums. ?My daughter and the babysitter very clearly heard him say that he “used to live here”. ? Perhaps just the usual overly pushy magazine salespeople? ?Hopefully. ?Definitely weird and a little concerning.

This was at the end of Williams right off Lawton Park around 8:30 pm.

Any one else notice anything or have any salespeople come?

 

About the author 

Sara

  1. 8:30pm sounds late to be making sales calls to begin with. The sales person told the step dad they were selling vacuums but then you stated magazines? Well regardless?.your babysitter did the exact right thing so kudos to her. Yes I have heard of somewhat aggressive salespersons around the area who knows if they are for real or not?..homeowner beware. Maybe the stepdad could have gotten the license plate number or asked for id. Thankfully no body was accosted.

    1. Yes, sometimes the magazine sales people will say anything but that they are selling magazines because they know they have a bad rep. So that was just a thought. Emailed the mom of the babysitter and they actually said they were carpet cleaners. It was a white Ford van. They gave the step dad a flyer. She said her husband sais the guy seemed off. Neighbors think it’s a possibility it was an adult child of the former owner who has a drug problem. Police have been called out because of him before. Will try to see the flyer! Babysitter did great, only thing we told her and the kids were to not be shy about calling 911, no one will ever get made at you for calling. Probably would have been the better idea since the man did not leave when asked to.

  2. I had a ‘Used To Live Here’ come to my house several months ago and she indeed ‘used to live here’! She (in her late 80’s) and her son (in his late 60’s) wanted to see what I have done with the house and how much of what she remembered from the 1950’s was still there. They loved the remodel and enjoyed the tour of the home. That was the second ‘Used To Live Here’ that has stopped by to see the home in the last year. Sometimes you CAN trust people!

  3. I had a young man on my porch at 2.30 PM very aggressive. We have a no soliciting sign on the door and he started yelling at me when I told him it was illegal to make a sales call to a house marked as no soliciting. I had a feeling he was no indeed selling vacuum cleaners but wanting to see if anyone was home. Who the heck comes to a neighborhood at that hour when most people are working elsewhere to sell something, where was the vacuum cleaner by the way? I slammed the door and regretted even opening it.

    You have to be careful and I know they prey on older people with these aggressive tactics. I wish we had a law in Seattle door to door sales people have to register with the city and pay a permit fee for something showing they are legit.

    It’s not a sleepy little hollow any more…

  4. Thank you for posting this. Do you have a description of the van? Or of the guys? I live on the other side of Lawton Park and there was a creeper white van with blinds parked here all day on the 14th. There was an attempted child grab near Lawton about a month ago – I emailed MV but no response (shocking!) – guess it wasn’t as interesting as a missing cat or a dog poop dispute.

    1. Maybe the MV were too busy getting there $30 in for the spaghetti feed. Or scouring the area for those women in small white tennis skirts. At least there is news and suspense in Magnolia!

  5. So it was both vacuum salesman/carpet cleaner. The flyer is for a “Dashen Enterprises” in Bellevue and it’s a Kirby vacuum distributor. So basically trying to sell you a vacuum by offering up free carpet cleaning demo. Still doesn’t add up why they were cold calling our house on a Friday evening and why they wouldn’t leave when asked to leave.

  6. There was a super high woman running around our block of Williams at the same time offering to clean one room of our house for free. She had a crumpled up flyer and tried to push her way in and look around.

    1. When I lived in Las Vegas there was a cleaning service that offered to clean your house in their bikinis. I suppose you could pay more for less.

  7. Hello everyone, This is The Kirby Company. Please be advised that we are investigating the comments made here on this post. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Consumer Relations Department and speak with a friendly representative. Consumer Relations can be reached by calling 1-800-494-8586. Their hours are 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, Eastern Time.

    1. Fabulous! I was just going to call the 800 number about the incident.

    1. Nice sleuthing Kassandra!! Looking at that big vacuum?.it looks like it really sucks!! The dirt in that is.

  8. If you have concerns about persons or activities in the neighborhood, call 911

    1. I would have if I had been the one home at the time. We did tell our babysitter and our children never to feel reserved or shy or that they might get in trouble for calling 911, when in doubt, call.

  9. I have a friend who lives over near 43rd & Magonlia, and her house was broken into yesterday. They took everything of value, including her car which was parked in the garage. This happened during the day when no one was home. It may or may not be related to these incidents, but everyone should be aware that people coming to your door could possibly be checking to see if anyone is home. If you see a suspicious vehicle, try to get a license plate just in case.

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