CONCORD, N.C. – A new warning from the Better Business Bureau says a group of door-to-door magazine salespeople are using a wide variety of tactics to get people to buy in. In one woman’s case, the salesperson became violent.

One of the salespeople came to Elysia Schabel’s door when she was nine months pregnant. She told the salesperson no, and things turned for the worst.

“She called me a liar and she came at me with her fist, stomped towards me about a foot into my home, and I shut the door immediately,” Schabel said.

Schabel said the encounter caused her to go into labor.

“I could feel my heart race,” she said. “:My nose started bleeding in a couple of minutes, and within a couple of hours – I think it was all the stress – I had my little girl.”

The Better Business Bureau reports thousands of calls in North Carolina and hundreds of complaints about the door-to-door magazine salespeople.

“It’s an emotional appeal of someone working their way through college or just got out of prison,” Tom Bartholomy, president of the Charlotte BBB, said. “You’ve got to be highly suspicious of that.”

The BBB recommends verifying the business before you make the purchase. Don’t be pressured into buying on the spot. And if you’re too concerned, don’t open the door.

http://www.bbb.org/us/Find-Business-Reviews/

“Sometimes they try to intimidate. Other times they try to be very nice. You’ve got to be prepared for just about anything,” Bartholomy said.

Schabel did call the police on that solicitor. Since the salesperson had a license, she was allowed to continue selling in other neighborhoods.