Dave Liquorice :
I get the impression that the OP and her partner are of mature years and
will have been brought up to be be polite and show courtesy to everyone
(if you didn't you got a clip round the ear hole...). So being forceful
and rude by closing the door in someones face goes against that
upbringing.

I'm of mature years and had a similar upbringing. But I feel no need to
show respect to someone who doesn't show respect to me. If they don't
take no for an answer, they deserve to be left looking at a closed door.

Not that I get more than one cold caller every couple of years or so. Or
to be more accurate *two* cold callers - one at the front door, swiftly
followed by the same person at the back door (thinking, with some
justification, that it's the front door of another house).

--
Mike Barnes