to wonder

[RuleBritannia]

why people delivering free newspapers, the inevitable pizza or Indian takeaway leaflets or charity bags or anything else that's pushed into our letter boxes cannot push all the way through so that the letter box closes?

My gas bill is enormous a fair amount and some of the cause is my letter box being left open because I'm out and can't pick the rubbish out of the open letterbox to allow it to close and save fuel that I have to pay for.

I'm grateful that our postman pushes things straight through. It's newspapers and takeaway and estate agent rubbish that keep the letter box open.

Why do you heat your house when you are out? No wonder your gas bill is enormous.

I deliver leaflets, and I will tell you some reasons why:

1. You may have a difficult letterbox. If you have one of those letterboxes with two hinged flaps on either side of the door and in between a whole bunch of bristles, then stuff may just be getting stuck.

1. You may have a dog that sounds like it loves fingers, so deliverers aren't willing to push in very far.

1. Some deliverers think it's better to leave them hanging because they think you'll be forced to look at their leaflet as it's hanging artfully from the flap. I actually know someone who does this. He purposely designs his leaflets to have the price/main selling point showing as it hangs down from the flap.

1. Sometimes it's just hard to push that little sucker all the way in. It keeps coming back out with your fingers and you can give up and say "Oh, close enough."

I am proud to say that I am NOT one of those people who leaves things half-way in the letter box. I actually use a small piece of plywood to push things through. Sometimes, when the weather is damp, the leaflets start to stick as described in 4 above. When that happens, I use this... um, letterbox speculum I invented. It's basically a skinny plywood box open at both ends. I stick that all the way through the letterbox, and then I pop my leaflet through the slit. I can launch a leaflet several feet into your home, to land in all its uncrumpled glory so far away from your door you may wonder how it got there.

Anyway, I sometimes see signs saying "Please push everything all the way through." So, I know you're not the only one to have that problem. Oh, and I also see mail stuck halfway in, so some posties aren't that careful!

sneezecakesmum I did not say that I am out when the newspapers / leaflets are pushed through the letterbox. I'm not. The pushing is just done quietly and I do not hear it or, like today, I might be out in the back garden so not hear it.

KatyTheCleaningLady

1. I do not have a difficult letterbox (it was applied with the new house 38 years ago).
2. I would not dream of having a slobbering, lap, or any other type of dog in this house. Visitors have to leave their dog at home or outside.
3. Your 'friend' has no conception of what the potential customer sees / does. Indoors, it's just paper being put through the letterbox. Quick glance and it's a pizza leaflet or estate agent blurb or carpet cleaning = recycling paper box.
4. Says something about your attitude to prospective litter if the wind blows too strongly.

Your letterbox speculum sounds like a good idea. Have you thought about patenting it? Do so and earn something from it!

If you see mail half way through the letter box and you want to push something through, do you push the mail through first?

Uugh. I've sometimes had the misfortune to have to do DD or DS1's paper rounds. There are too many houses with letterboxes that bite.

OP, are you seriously having a go at katie for her perceived attitude to litter?

Or am I not getting your sense of humour?

Mmm.... another person wondering if you are being snide or humourous OP. I think katie's explanations were interesting.

I thought Katie's reply was lovely.

Thanks!

My attitude to littering is that I shouldn't leave leaflets where they can get blown by the wind. My friend is not my "friend." He is my friend in the conventional sense of the word. And, he says that his method does work for him.

I know a lot of people hate getting leaflets through, but for some businesses, they are the best way to advertise. I got 10,000 a5 leaflets printed for £110. If I'm not cleaning, I am putting leaflets through letterboxes, so I don't pay for delivery. Within two weeks of beginning to distribute them, I made my money back. They are all repeat customers who have since spent more money and will continue to do so for an indefinite time, and I've still got about 7500 leaflets left.

Leaflets are said to have a response rate of anywhere from .5-1%, depending on factors like how well targeted they are. The best way to distribute them is singly, through letterboxes. Combining them with other leaflets to save money on delivery or inserting them into newspapers is less effective.

Everyone I know who advertises their cleaning business in newspapers or those local magazines tells me they're a waste of money. Very expensive and no responses at all.

So, leaflets it is.

and of course hanging on the outside its a pretty good clue to mr opportunist housebreaker the house is prob empty

none of the houses here have letter slots in the door, they have separate post receptacles on the outside wall, much more sensible.

If you were not out why did you write
my letter box being left open because I'm out and can't pick the rubbish out of the open letterbox
You can get an outside postbox you know, or alternatively a sign on your door saying "no leaflets etc" Here www.online-sign.com/ you can make your own sign!!

Today a dog got my piece of wood for pushing leaflets all the way through! I just heard a throaty snarl and then it was snatched from my hand!

Later, when I was headed back to my car, I saw that there was a car in the drive, so I knocked, apologized for the bother, and got my board back.

I saw the dog... had sounded like a viscious Rottweiler through the door but was just a little fluffy thing.

Our postman does this. And he folds just about everything. I dislike him intensely for it.

We do have a letterbox that bites slightly, but that's just something that postmen should deal with as part of their job. Every job has a pain in the arse feature. Deal with it Mr Postman!

Apart from anything else, people could steal my post so easily!