To chuck the Avon book in the recycling.

[Houseplanter]

So I know there's someone out there trying to make a living and good for them. But i don't want Avon stuff. My choices are to

a leave it out on the step where it'll likely get wet
b keep it in the house but I'm unlikely to be here when they call back
c (and this is my preference) chuck it in the recycling with the rest of the unsolicited trash.

Straight into recycling here.

My no cold callers /junk mail notice is pretty explicit where it says no catalogues so if they are stupid enough to think it doesn’t apply to them then that’s their lookout.

JustAMinutePleass · Yesterday 23:32

"The books belong to the rep. Expect an invoice if you recycle / destroy it - and Avon reps get support from Avon to pursue CCJs. Not worth it. Just leave it on the doorstep in a plastic bag."

I think they would have to prove they posted it, and have evidence that the recipient threw it away. People go on holiday/die/move homes/become ill/restbite/house share etc.

I honestly think people shouldn't post through random doors, they should knock and ask if they'd like one. This is what they used to do back in the 90s.

I remember a samples company used to post sample washing detergents/chocolates etc through letter boxes. They had to change how they did it due to making dogs sick. They started posting a permission slip on a bag, when it was placed on the external door handle, would they fill it. They acknowledged responsibility for their property and realised they needed permission to give samples.

I have the same problem - there seems to be a different charity bag through my door every day !! I tried leaving the bags out to be collected but they never were, so now I take them out of the envelopes, turn them inside out and use as bin bags !!

I remember a samples company used to post sample washing detergents/chocolates etc through letter boxes. They had to change how they did it due to making dogs sick. They started posting a permission slip on a bag, when it was placed on the external door handle, would they fill it. They acknowledged responsibility for their property and realised they needed permission to give samples.

Good point. Also, what happens if you have a toddler going through the ripping everything up stage and they find a catalogue on the doormat, before doing their worst?

I dont leave things on the doorstep, its really windy here and I dont want some old tatty plastic bag all full of condensation with a soggy catalogue in it sitting on my doorstep or being blown round the front garden. I hate all the junk that comes through the door, its a chore keeping up with it and the cardboard bag over fill regularly, I feel overwhelmed with all this crap

However, am properly laughing at the CCJ poster, I'd like them to come back and explain their thinking!!!

Completely off topic but why do you turn them inside out?

I just use them as is, although they tend to have holes in the bottom so no good for kitchen bins.

PPs mentioned the charity bags upthread, I find those useful for getting rid of lots of stuff, many take old books, kitchen stuff, bric a brac and stuff like that as well as clothes, easier than going to the recycling centre.

I have the same problem - there seems to be a different charity bag through my door every day !! I tried leaving the bags out to be collected but they never were, so now I take them out of the envelopes, turn them inside out and use as bin bags !!

Isn't it bizarre? Up and down the country, there's an industry that exists whereby plastic bags are put through people's letterboxes and then nobody ever returns - until it's time to put the next free bag through.

Has nobody ever put two and two together and seen the pointlessness of this - and the unnecessary cost to them, instead of actually making them money?

It reminds me of the old joke about the two council employees who spend all day going from one end of the park to the other with one of them digging holes and the other filling them back in again straight away - and it never occurs to anybody that, if the bloke who puts the trees in is off sick, there's not much sense in the other two turning up and doing their bits!

The charity bags you receive through the door are not usually charities either - if anything only a partial donation will be made to a charity.

I prefer to take things to an actual charity shop or clothes bank which benefits a charity.

Same principle as Avon. The rep puts the catalogue through the door with an order form, and expects you to leave it outside your door on collection day if you’re not going to be in. Our Kleeneze rep knocks and hands you the catalogue now - if you’re not in he won’t leave one. Think he’s learned his lesson with that. BTW - if anyone does throw one away and is threatened with being charged tell them where to go. They posted it into your property unsolicited and at their own risk.

I just use them as a recycling aid for unwanted stuff that the shops probably wouldn't want, it's quite hard to get rid of old books

I did make donations once or twice and put the bags out on the specified day. They were never collected and I ended up taking them to the local charity shop a couple of days later. So, as you say, a pointless cost, and not good for the environment either.

The mental picture of the two council employees made me howl !!

Now as you mention it, I don’t actually know. They go in the ordinary bin collection tied up and a little nagging voice at the back of my head says to turn them inside out so the charity logo is on the inside !!

I don't think the bin man, who is the only person likely to see them will care if it's got a charity logo on😂. I use mine that don't get filled with old books and stuff to put clothes in for the clothes charity bank at the supermarket

I used to do Avon. Next time it's best to leave it out with a note saying you aren't interested, that way they should stop wasting catalogues on you (until they quit and someone else gets the territory with your road on). They do pay for the catalogues but if you're on the month behind book they probably won't reuse I used to reuse each one just once so if you were second it wouldn't matter

A CCJ for a 50p catalogue ? Don’t be daft, they’d be laughed out of court !! If you want to be correct, put a notice or sign on the door or in a front window saying ‘no junk mail or unsolicited advertising’. Then if catalogues, charity bags etc, continue to be delivered you’re perfectly within your rights to bin them. For info, if anyone is suffering from piles of junk mail, Royal Mail offer an opt out service on their website.

The charity bags you receive through the door are not usually charities either - if anything only a partial donation will be made to a charity.

Which makes it even more bizarre how they barely ever collect them - if it's not some well-meaning-but-bumbling charity volunteers, but actually determined businesspeople.

Back in the old days when it actually was mainly charities, and they often did come to collect them again, I remember reading of crooks who would deliberately come around two hours before them and take all the donations to sell for themselves - without even any pretence of giving 5% or whatever in support of the charity.

I use quite a lot of Avon stuff and really like it. It's cruelty free and a good price and lots of the stuff is much better than some of the high end brands I've used in the past. FYI - I am not a rep.

You can buy via the website or through a rep (also via the website) but I do request a brochure now and then so I can smell the perfumes (they have those search and sniff things). My local rep is good and doesn't ever harass me.

If you don't want any Avon stuff chuck the brochure but don't completely write it off. You might be pleasantly surprised by some of the products.

Yes, on the very few occasions I’ve actually seen these charity bags being collected, it’s always ‘white van man’. Plain white van, no charity logo - although I’ve never actually challenged someone and asked to see ID.

I know, it’s daft really. 😁

When I was a young mother with a pushchair, Avon reps in cars would pull up beside me in the street and ask me if I wanted to be a rep. One even got out of the car when it was raining and gave me some spiel and tried to arrange an appointment to come to my house, to pressure me more I suppose. A few years ago I was walking through a rough area where drug addicts walk around and some woman came up behind me and started talking to me about Avon?
I hope they go out of business.

I used to do Avon. Next time it's best to leave it out with a note saying you aren't interested, that way they should stop wasting catalogues on you (until they quit and someone else gets the territory with your road on).

I think that's the perspective that people find particularly annoying - the idea that somebody stuffing junk mail through your letterbox might see you as a waste of their catalogues.

So? If someone won’t answer for the book they’re hardly going to order and answer for the order, are they? Don’t leave bulky junk mail.

@Bunnykins34 and those that are actually reps- What do you get charged per catalogue???

Bloody hell. Haven't these people heard of the internet? Who flicks through the junk mail stuffed in their letterbox on the off chance they want to buy something?
If it is the Avon rep's property then they shouldn't be posting it in my letterbox! Mine now! Straight in the bin with it.