Humbling round of permission asking. Frustration.

[Tommybuckets]

I pass by these big houses with big yards from 1890-1900s often. I decided to suck it up and knock some doors. How hard could it be? Back in my home town if you are lucky enough to actually find a person near their home they are like "sounds cool have fun."
I found that many residences were broken up into rental units. No go there on 3-4 of them but found out where to find one of the owners who works at a law office. I doubt I'll be following up on that one. I got a nice husband and wife who were iffy so I gave my pitch, left my number and said I'd check back in a few weeks if I don't hear from them. Slow motion disappointment.
Then I saw what I was looking for. A car pulls into one of the driveways. I waited until he got situated n walked up the driveway. He came out to check the mailbox as I walked up. Perfect timing. I gave my pitch and before I was finished he was like " yea no problem have fun." I was explaining I would show him the finds and he goes " you dig it up its yours." Wow I like this guy! Like a comedy skit his wife busts out on the front porch and is like " Woah no you don't!!! I just was overhearing you and you're going to let this guy dig up the yard!?"
The guys like "Oh yea, like he could hurt this beautiful grass? lol (the grass was crappy and patchy and he didn't care about it obviously which factored into my choosing his house vs the neighbors in the first place) I launch into my explanation of how I dig the plug and the conditions are perfect they'll never know I dug a thing, its nice and moist etc. but she was on a mission to shut me down. The guy looked at me kind of apologetically and said they'd think about it so I left my number and said I'd check back with them in a couple weeks if I didn't hear anything- slow motion disappointment number 2.
Then I went over to a snoball stand next to a little park where I had found lots of quarters by eye on the ground and got a " I am not qualified to say yes the owners not here". By then I had been asking and talking for over an hour and a half and the day had gotten away from me and my mood was shot. I dug a couple pennies and trash at the local park n headed home hanging my head. I feel like my pitch is good, my presentation is good, people find me friendly and tend to trust me and like me but I can't land a single yes out of 4 homeowners? Ugh, I am irritated. I am going to keep hammering my way down that stretch of road because every yard I've gotten has yielded some silver around there but man its frustrating.

 

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[cudamark]

When they seem to have a hesitation about what damage you may do, I offer to give them a demonstration. I try to find a medium depth (something that should be just under the roots, so you don't have to tear the plug apart) target in some nice, soft, easily pluggable ground, and make the cleanest possible trap door plug that you can. A copper memorial cent is ideal, if you have a detector that can I.D. one. That way, they probably won't want it, but if they do, no big loss. You'd hate to pop a nice Walking Half or Barber and have them snatch it out of your hand! They might decide to get a detector themselves and tell you to get lost! It also gives you more credibility and appreciation if you can I.D. the target before you dig it. Pass over a few "junk" sounds (and let them know they're junk) and then pop something that you can positively I.D. They'll think you have Xray eyes! That will impress them with your competence and show that you can be selective about what you try to recover and are not going to just dig willy-nilly.

 

[against the wind]

Yep, it's tough for me to get up the guts to just ask.
Then if you get rejected,, it gets tougher. I do like old permissions though.

 

[Raider19962]

I know this frustration. I have a potentially great spot, an old colonial river landing site, and I have been over a month trying to find the owner. No one is EVER home!

 

[A2coins]

I dont want to hear the no and get off my porch you wont find a treasure chest in my yard

 

[A2coins]

that or they just dont answer cause your selling something

 

[Nitric]

Then sometimes you will get lucky with a group of neighbors, one will say "yes", and the others want in! They don't want to miss out!! "Do my yard too!" and before you know it you have 5 or 6 in one spot.

Keep at it!! I was very lucky. I didn't do too many yards over the years but had more yes's than no's. You just kind of feel out the whole area and once you make a friend in that area, they tend to have someone else that is curious of what's in their yard.

Added....The wife has the say a lot of times....Take a female!!! Girlfriend, Wife, daughter, neighbor, sister etc...That is upbeat ! That helps a ton on permissions and seems less intimidating in some cases. The old guys want to talk to the girl, sometimes the lady of the house connects, etc....Kind of sick way to get permission? But does work in a lot cases if there is a certain place you really want to hunt.

Keep the whole conversation upbeat! stray from "negative words". Sounds stupid but can play a part.

Your just basically working a sale or same kind of idea. Make them comfortable, try to gain quick trust, appearance has to match the area, etc..... Your the one walking into "their area"... I've had "no".."Absolutely not" ...turn into.."well? Go ahead, your not hurting anything" within minutes of talking to them. I've had the "no". and just no way around it.

 

[DiamondDan]

Pretty sad that the guy was completely run over by his wife. Like, grow a pair, dude.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Pretty sad that the guy was completely run over by his wife. Like, grow a pair, dude.

Reminds me of a comedian I follow when talks about “Man Caves” he says that those didn’t exist with his father, his dads man cave was called the house!

 

[jimzz977]

Well I had scored a nice permission and the landscape guy was there and told the owner not to let me md the yd, so the owner listen to the landscape guy redacted the premission. I had dug about four plugs and I ask landscaping guy if he could see where I've been and said no, but owner said no.

 

[releventchair]

Swing till ya hit!
You want to dance ,then when a gal says "no thanks" you ask another.

I don't take detecting permission refusals as personal. They would turn down most any one else too.

A yes will take away the no's. No's don't count anyways unless you let them.
Still ,it is not easy sometimes askin...Then to get shot dion. L.o.l..

 

[Rookster]

I sold industrial supplies for 41 years. It's nothing more than cold calling and selling yourself. I hated to be rejected for(I've heard them all) reasons. But when you get use to it they just happen and you're all set. Donuts don't hurt either.

 

[Swaveab]

You could also let them know of the metals in the yard that they can get cut on. As a side bargain of the permission that you will dig up and dispose of any metal trash you find. If that woman is a mother with kids that play in the yard, it's a service to her kids' health and that you are extra careful of putting things back into order to avoid anyone tripping on a hole and extra effort in keeping it looking as it currently is. Then show a demonstration to seal the deal on winning her confidence. Offer for her to supervise if she likes.

 

[devldog]

Tommy, don't feel bad, I feel your pain. Our town doesn't seem to be detector friendly at all. If you're not being told No", folks in public parks call the Police on you. I have felt many times like good ole' Charlie Brown Trick or Treating. I always seem to find a rock in the bottom of my bag. Best of luck to you in the future. Keep at it.

 

[Phishfarmer]

Some good replies on here. It is an issue for all detectorists. Believe it or not Charlie Daniels wrote a book about his professional life I think it is called, "Don't Look at the Empty Seats". Some lessons in there for us all. Good luck.

 

[DirtDigginDan]

I figure if I get a couple of permissions out of 10 I ask, that's not bad, and usually leads to others nearby.

 

[SD51]

You never know what you're going to run into, even after you get permission. I was detecting a place where I had permission and one of the caretakers comes up and says it's ok to detect, but don't dig any holes!


I explain that I never dig and leave the ground with an open hole. I showed him that I cut a "U" shaped plug and tilt it out to get the target. I also explained that I remove all trash even if I see it laying on the ground. He went away happy.

 

[devldog]

Mr. Charlie Daniels is a Fine American. We need more like him, especially in the entertainment industry.

 

[Nitric]

Mr. Charlie Daniels is a Fine American. We need more like him, especially in the entertainment industry.

I agree! I'm lost, but I agree!

 

[dirtdigginfool]

Permissions are hard for me too, but recently, one of the few places I've had my eye on for awhile had the "lady of the house" out in the garden so we pulled in. Introduced ourselves, made our pitch, and she said "sure". When we were unloading and gearing up, the "man" of the house strolls out, asks wifey what's up, she tells him and I hear him say he wouldn't have let us, but since she already ok'd it, we were good. She explained it wasn't damage or holes, but liability. She talked to us a couple times, curious as to what we were finding, and loved the 1926 Merc dime I'd found. I even offered it to her, but she declined (whew)...Before we left, she walked over with an armload of cukes and squash fresh out of the garden and put them in back of my truck! Wish they could all go like that...and THOSE permissions make up for the ones we DON'T get. So keep knockin and keep swingin! Ddf