Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To throw the Avon catalogue...

212 replies

onionbahjeepers · 10/12/2024 13:06

I didn't even think Avon still did catalogues but I've just got home to find one through my door and a note saying they'll collect next week.

Person A says just throw it away, it's unsolicited mail.

Person B says just throw it out on the doorstep and let it sit there for a week.

Person C says keep it in and remember to put it out on the day it says it'll be collected.

Which team are you?

OP posts:
ByMerryKoala · 10/12/2024 13:10

Yeah, this happened to me and until then, I had also been labouring under the impression that Avon was relegated to the 90s. I did B. Mercifully, it stopped after three weeks.

wheretoyougonow · 10/12/2024 13:10

If it's in a waterproof bag just leave it outside to be collected.

It's just someone trying to make a bit of money. I don't see why you would chuck it in the bin to make their life more difficult than it needs to be.

Rainingandlookslikeitwillneverstop · 10/12/2024 13:10

Put it on doorstep in the bag - the reps pay for them.

might be unsolicited but is probably a mum trying to earn a bit of cash for Christmas .

stick it out in the bag if you don’t want anything - it’s really no effort / cost to you .

gamerchick · 10/12/2024 13:16

I put them out on the day, they're in a bag and the reps have to pay for them. It's just some poor bugger trying to earn some coin for Christmas.

Thedishwasherbroke · 10/12/2024 13:21

The first one I did B, in a sandwich bag, with a note asking not to receive any more. The next couple, from the same rep, went in the recycling. I can barely remember bin day, there is absolutely no way I’m babysitting a catalogue for a few days then dutifully putting it out on the correct morning.

Jostuki · 10/12/2024 13:25

I think they have to pay dow the boos so I would just put it in a sandwich bag along with a no thank you note and leave it on the doorstep. Unlikely they would traipse all the way down our drive on the off chance we might be interested though!

RandomUsernameHere · 10/12/2024 13:27

I'm really against unsolicited junk mail for environmental reasons. On one hand it's better to hand it back if it can be reused. On the other, if you recycle it instead, then it might discourage the production of the catalogues in the first place which is better in the long run.

Imnotarestaurant · 10/12/2024 13:27

I would put it out on the collection day the first time, with a note saying ‘No Thanks’. If they kept putting it through the door then I’d put it straight in the recycling

rubiconartist · 10/12/2024 13:30

I never remember to put them out on collection day so would just have to leave it outside.

I do feel bad because I know they have to pay for the books but I don't want catalogues.

Jumell · 10/12/2024 13:34

C

purplecorkheart · 10/12/2024 13:34

Haven't had one in ages but used to stick it in a plastic bag and stick it under a stone by the front door. T

It is someone trying to earn money. I wouldn't fancy going door to door in this weather delivering brochures and they have to pay for the,

Jayne35 · 10/12/2024 13:38

Just put it straight back out in a bag with a note saying no more books please. I have ordered from Avon before and the nail polish is good so I don't mind occasionally receiving a book. Just some one trying to make a few quid and I get enough recycling already without unnecessarily adding to it.

5foot5 · 10/12/2024 13:40

I think I would do C for all the reasons already mentioned.

I am kind of surprised they are still going. When I was a kid, in the 60s and 70s, my Mum would regularly buy some presents from Avon. Anyone else remember soap on a rope?

I guess they were useful at the time, decades pre Internet and we lived in a very rural area with few shops. Mum got a lot of stuff through mail order catalogues as well

JingleB · 10/12/2024 13:42

Like @Thedishwasherbroke , I did option B) for the first one, with a note saying to please not send them around again (it was Betterware).

I put the next catalogue out with a second note a couple of months later.

When the third one came I put it in recycling. The rep had an argument with me on the doorstep about "destroying her property" and wanted to charge me for the catalogue. I pointed out I had twice returned her unwanted junk with a polite request not to give me any further marketing. If she keeps posting unsolicited junkmail, I will recycle it.

The catalogues stopped after that.

I understand the reps have to buy the catalogues so are keen to be able to reuse them. If they won't respect polite requests not to receive them, getting binned is a consequence of their disorganisation or rudeness.

bigkidatheart · 10/12/2024 13:44

It's random for an Avon rep to put them through the doors nowadays, social media is the best platform and someone wants a physical brochure you can drop them one off if they request one.

However, it could be someone just up your street, and they do pay for the brochures. It should have an order form in it with contact details for contact details on the back of the brochure, just drop them a text saying you have had a look at the brochure and do not wish to order anything if they would like to collect the brochure to pass on to another potential client.

Dotjones · 10/12/2024 13:44

Option A, if you give it back it just passes the problem onto someone else. Take a stand and throw the thing away.

HospitalitySux · 10/12/2024 13:44

Imnotarestaurant · 10/12/2024 13:27

I would put it out on the collection day the first time, with a note saying ‘No Thanks’. If they kept putting it through the door then I’d put it straight in the recycling

I have done this, I never remember what day it's supposed to go back out so I put it back out when I receive it with a polite note saying I don't want anything, or future catalogues.
I know it's just someone trying to earn a bit of money and they pay for the catalogues but if I don't do that then it'll end up in the recycling anyway because I won't remember to put it out on the right day.

80smonster · 10/12/2024 13:44

Bin. Don’t post your tat through my door if you want it returned… I wouldn’t order from Avon if they paid me.

Crazyclover · 10/12/2024 13:49

If you put it out in the bag and write no thank you remember to put your address on it or they won’t know who has left the note - they collect them up in piles and don’t read them all until they are home usually

B1anche · 10/12/2024 13:51

I had a row with someone who knocked on my door asking for their Avon catalogue back. I said I hadn't got it and she started ranting on about how it had said on the front to leave outside. I told her that junk mail usually ends up straight in the bin so I wouldn't have checked for any instructions. She went ballistic and said it was her property that I had destroyed blah blah blah. Funnily enough, I didn't get any more through my door after that.

B1anche · 10/12/2024 13:52

Alternatively draw moustaches on all the models and blame the kids. You won't get any more delivered.

JaneJeffer · 10/12/2024 13:55

D. Order stuff

Vaxtable · 10/12/2024 13:56

If it’s in a bag, then B.

WhoDatDen · 10/12/2024 13:59

My SIL used to have an Avon round back in the day and she said some people were so rude to her. They talked to her like she would know an absolute bellend lived in the house. How dare she put a book through Bellend's door!

Not had any for years, but was always polite and left it out on the day and if I forgot, would hand it over if she knocked at the door. Manners cost nothing and it's usually a hard-up mum trying to make some money.

Snowflakes1122 · 10/12/2024 14:00

Just leave it on the doorstep. Out a note on it saying no more thanks, so they don’t bother you again.

I had no idea they were still around!