to want them to go shove their Avon catalogue

[TheSeventhHorcrux]

At 9'o'clock tonight we got a knock on the door from a man asking for the Avon catalogue that was posted through our door.
(Junk that gets posted through gets put straight on the kindling pile for our log burner)
He was very pleasant and I was polite and said that sorry I couldn't find it, I did look but presumed the OH had chucked it.

We frequently get people knocking on our door (at least once a week) at all hours asking for the damn Avon catalogue back - if its that precious, stop posting it through the door.
We have never bought anything from Avon, and never will, and I'm sick of having to essentially babysit a brochure for them.

I don't really mind junk mail, as such, as - like I say - it just provides us with stuff to burn but I really hate people coming to the door (except the postman - he sometimes brings nice things!) not least because it makes the dog go mental and really distrupts the evening.

TBH, I know I'm being unreasonable by disliking it so much (and trust me, I'd never actually say anything to them) but am interested to see if it bothers anyone else.

Note: I am thinking of investing a "No junk mail" sign, though I doubt this will stop them...

[MissFredi]

I am an Avon rep and I don't think yabu at all! 9pm is ridiculous. When it's winter I feel bad doing it in the dark even if its only 5pm, purely because they can't see me.

Although tbh if someone chucks it away I don't really mind. I ask them on a post it to leave it out and if they don't I assume they're not interested whatsoever so fair dos to them.

Also that axe on the note thing is creeeeepy

[pumpkinsweetie]

Yanbu in the fact 9pm is too late, but yabu in the fact that it is just as easy to slip it in a sandwich bag and leave outside for collection. Some people make money doing this, and they have to pay for the catalogues they give out so it might be fairer to put a note in with it saying you are not interested in purchasing from them.

[NumericalMum]

I can't stand these and any of those party things either. It is always someone trying to fleece money off their friends using guilt tactics, especially when it is someone doing it as a hobby when they are SAHMs while I trek off to work every day to earn money. Either get an evening job in tesco or don't but don't make me spend money via a guilt trip!

[TheNebulousBoojum]

That's why I put it in the recycle bin by the door, they can have it back, and dry too.
They just have to go through the junkmail, cans, newspapers, bottles and glass to find it. Then tidy up the mess.
No one has chosen that option yet.

[HappyMummyOfOne]

Detest Kleeneze and Betterware, over priced and i'd rather buy from a store. Catalogues rarely collected so just get wet.

Thankfully they seemed to have died off in the last year. Forums suggested people do this sort of thing to bump up hours for WTC but HMRC are now stricter re SE people so its not the easy option anymore.

[CleverCircusFlea]

Here's a lovely story about my local bettaware man... Some months ago he must have pushed one of his catalogue a through my door. In ever really look too closely at junk mail, so it probably went straight into recycling bin. For about four weeks he used to come about twice a week (always in my working hours, so I never actually met him) and leave a lovely printed note saying he wants his catalogue back... The note had a picture of an axe on it

[Ragwort]

My favourite lipstick came from Avon & was then discontinued. No one at Head Office could give me any advice as to what was a reasonable replacement, their replies just said 'order what you like as everything can be returned'. To me that is NOT good customer service, I know the reps would have had to have the time & trouble of ordering & then refunding me. Someone must have been able to do a colour match.

.

[Sokmonsta]

What I don't get is why they only come out in the summer months round here. I get that most of them probably don't like doing the rounds in the cold/wet. But still, hardly profitable.

We've had people come from quite a way to leave us various catalogues - completely different area code on phone number and I did wonder if they were trying to poach someone else's round as in one week two different people delivered the same catalogue.

I've also given catalogues back as soon as they arrive if I can. One man got really funny about it, insisting I keep it until collection day. He didn't collect it, it went in the bin and when he did turn up, and get quite confrontational, I told him politely where to go and if he continued I'd report him to the company for intimidation and harassment. Needless to say I haven't seen him or his catalogues since.

[LittleAbruzzenBear]

*door, not doir!

[Jestrin]

YABU. Put the catalogue on the doorstep in a clear sandwich bag with a note that says 'no thank you' . He can just pick it up and go on his way without disturbing you.

[Theicingontop]

As soon as I get these bloody things, kleeneeze, avon, betterware - They go straight on the doorstep. In fact, once a lady posted one through and I opened the door whilst she was walking away and gave it back to her.

Must have about three representatives for each brochure along my road.

Had one lady complain to me that her brochure was wet

[LittleAbruzzenBear]

The Avon catalogue gets on my tats too quite frankly. Last time I put it back out on my doorstep with a note saying please stop posting them through my doir, not interested, thank you. Haven't had one for 6 months. She will probably try again soon.

The Betaware guy, I ran down the drive and gave him back the catalogue saying no thanks and he got really arsey.

[TheNebulousBoojum]

I used to get all 3 catalogues; Betterware, Kleeneez and Avon. Plus around 3 charity sacks a week.
I use the post-it note and tell them that next time the catalogue will be in my recycling bin, which is next to the front door. It's a mixed plastics/paper wheeliebin, I've never seen anyone attempt to retrieve a catalogue.
The irritating thing is the repetition needed due to the fast changeover of reps, ours are polite and non-confrontational.
I have a small sign saying No Junk Mail, makes little difference.
I use the charity sacks for binliners, I take things to the shops instead.

[whiteflame]

I come from a country with mailboxes at the end of drives, and so this type of "wanting a catalouge back" stuff hasn't really taken off there. Thank goodness.

I have some sympathy with the reps having to pay for the catalouges. But this sympathy is what the company is banking on to make people give the catalouges back. It's a bit like tipping in places that pay below the minimum wage - why should you pick up the slack for the company because you feel bad? Not totally sure what my point is, other than these company models annoy me a lot.

Put a note on the door saying "no catalouges - they will NOT BE RETURNED". Then, the first one you get from each company, put it outside with a note on, saying "no more catalouges, next one goes in the bin ". If they keep coming then bin them. If reps are going to behave like arses (and obviously most of them don't) then they can't expect cooperation.

[MidniteScribbler]

I'll ask politely once for them not to leave the books, but if they persist it goes in the bin. I'm not cluttering up my doorstep with junk. I have an "No Junk Mail" sticker on my mailbox, but they seem to think that because they leave it on the doorstep it is ok. One actually argued with me "Oh, this isn't junk mail! It's a catalog."

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I have a No Junk Mail sticker on my door.

I still get tons of junk mail

[BenjaminButton172]

My Avon lady is lovely. She posts the book & then i email her my order and the book gets binned.

She doesnt give a book to anyone who doesnt want one.

Thats the best way to do it. Why waste time and money giving a book to people who dont want one.

[TheSeventhHorcrux]

I don't like buying at the door, whether it's through catalogues or otherwise. It wouldn't actually ever occur to me to buy anything. Ill get it at boots or online!

[Sneezingwakestheyoni]

YANBU. I used to get them through and twice I told the woman that I didn't want them anymore and would she mind not leaving them as I don't buy from Avon. She still kept leaving them so I binned them and stopped answering the door to her. I felt bad that she was wasting her money on the booklets but that became her choice after I told her twice.

As an aside, does anyone really buy from Avon anymore unless its someone they know like at work or family? It seems so outdated.

[DeskPlanner]

I do get the point, that people are paying for these catalogs.But I hate having things left on my doorstep for days till there collected and I don't want to spoil the lovely look of my front door with a note asking for them not to be delivered.vain front door

[fairylightsinthespring]

I really don't get why companies like this keep going the way they do though - with t'internet which really IS pretty all-pervasive, it just makes no sense. In decades past, with no internet and lots more people home during the day, door-to-door was a sensible way to reach everyone who might not go to a store. Now though, with so many homes empty 8-6, really what is the point? I put the catalogues back out the minute I find them on the mat and then throw them away when they are still there two weeks later.

[WorraLiberty]

Thanks MrsV, good point about the address.

[SophiaTheFirst]

I don't mind Avon, they never seem to knock for their catalogue, but the local Kleeneze man is a real git.

Last time I actually remembered to leave it out for him to collect, hoping to avoid a door knock from him because he is so grumpy. It rained, he knocked on the door to ask why I'd left it out in the rain, it was in the little plastic bag FFS, it says on it 'please leave outside'.
You. Just. Can't. Win.

[MsVestibule]

Is it profitable? Is it fuck! To begin with, it was the most soul destroying job I've ever done. While I was building up my 'business' I was earning less than £2 an hour, but now I have about 20 regulars, I make about £50 every 6 weeks - probably NMW. I know it's peanuts, but it pays for a caravan holiday once a year.

If I put more effort in, I could make a bit more, but not much. I keep up to 25% of the sale price, but when you consider I have to deliver a catalogue, collect it, check the form is filled in correctly, order it, sort it out when it's delivered, then deliver it back to the customer, the £2.50 you earn on a £10 order, less the cost of the books... well, I'm not planning on upgrading my holiday to Necker Island any time soon .

I do understand why people are pissed off, especially when the reps are unprofessional, but most of us are just trying to earn a pretty small amount of cash in a job that probably wouldn't be their first (or second, or third) choice.

[ChippingInLovesSpring]

Horcrux - a million years ago when we did it, we made a bit of money... but we were young & had the energy to be faffing with it for a bit of extra money - but it was hard work, tedious and not the best way of making extra money. I guess it would be different if you either had a lot of friends/family ordering stuff or lived somewhere that was the right demographic for it.