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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to have told the clean eas woman that if she didn't want me to bin her catalogues she shouldn't put them through my door?

53 replies

wannaBe · 28/05/2010 09:42

Knock on door from woman wanting her catalogue back. Tbh I pick up everything that comes through the door and stick it on the desk where dh then recycles the junk (which makes up a decent proportion of it.

So I say to her "sorry, dh has probably binned it." at which point she gets quite agressive and says "I have to pay for those! You can't do that!" To which I replied "well, if you don't want it binning don't put it through my door." She wasn't happy.

OP posts:
KerryMumbles · 28/05/2010 09:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BessieBoots · 28/05/2010 09:44

Agree wholeheartedly. So this crappy magazine has to sit here waiting for you to come and get it? No!

ShinyAndNew · 28/05/2010 09:45

Well she shouldn't have gotten aggressive, but, DH shouldn't have binned her catalogue.

Both DH and the cleaneze woman were BU.

She is just trying to earn some money at the end of the day and I believe you have to pay for the catalogues.

mumofthreesweeties · 28/05/2010 09:45

YANBU at all. I said the same to the lady in my area and she also started to get aggressive and I just slammed the door in her face. The cheek to be aggressive is what did it for me

Silver1 · 28/05/2010 09:45

Well I always make a point of catching any new Kleaneze people to tell them first. But YANBU.

trice · 28/05/2010 09:48

I feel a bit sorry for these people as they are trying to make a job for themselves but it does make work for the rest of us.

It was unreasonable for her to have been cross with you as you didn't throw it away on purpose and they do look like rubbish.

It would be unreasonable to throw the thing away on purpose as they can be used again and some poor soul has had to pay for it.

Perhaps you need one of those "polite notice" things on your letterbox?

Casserole · 28/05/2010 09:48

I did exactly the same once. I do think I was being a bit unreasonable though!

So, by default, you were too

(would probably do it again tho)

diddl · 28/05/2010 09:51

I do agree that it coming through the door makes it "your property".

But it´s not that much effort imo to keep it to one side.

Ours used to have a note saying it would be collected.
It also was in a plastic bag.
I used to stick it straight on the doorstep.

BigFatSepticToe · 28/05/2010 09:51

why can't you just put a sign on the door saying no catalogues please? for many people this service is a godsend, if they cannot get out or want something specific not available locally, or something bulky. In my experience there is always a polite note saying please leave the catalogue out even if you do not wish to order. if i dont want to order anything ( and we get kleeneze, betterware and avon round here, i rarely order from any of them) i just put it straight back outside the door for them to collect at their convenience, its not hard!

wasuup3000 · 28/05/2010 10:39

I agree with Bigfatseptictoe. Just have a sign on the door. I did Avon a couple of years ago and it wasn't easy having to knock at the doors where people hadn't left the catalogue out and to have to ask for it back because they have to be bought by the sales representative at their cost and they will have other customers to deliver them to before they have to place an order. Some people left the catalogues out in the rain as well instead so they got ruined that way as well.
There are a few people that hide and don't answer the door or say their dog ate it.
Obviously I learnt quite quickly which doors to put the catalogue through and which not.
You probably got an inexperienced newbie who didn't know not to bother putting anything through your door but hopefully she will know for next time. It wasn't right that she was rude to you but I can understand that she maybe felt frustrated as she may have only got 9/10 catalogues back out of a drop of 20.

WombFrootShoot · 28/05/2010 10:54

Heh, I had exactly the same thing happen to me. She really started shouting at me, and I was just and then I was all and then I said..."don't post your shit through my letterbox then" (I totally didn't, I wish I'd said "Look, love, no one is interested in buying the crap in this catalogue when there's a bloody Netto at the end of the road FGS" I just mumbled apologies and closed the door)

JaneS · 28/05/2010 10:59

Agree. I don't have time to sift through all the junk that comes here, it all goes in a big pile. I find saying 'sorry, DP can't read English' (he can) shuts them up, but it is a bit cowardly.

GetOrfMoiLand · 28/05/2010 11:03

I just shove the things back out on top of the recycling box if I remember.

I think it is utterly stupid that the salespeople for these ludicrous companies have to pay for marketing material. But frankly, that is not my problem. If they are daft enough to sign up to Kleeneze or whatever, they have to accept that there will be a high attrition rate with the catalogues.

That said, i wouldn;t deliberately bin a catalogue to make a point. But I wish they would stop utting them through my door (I have a sign, nobody ever takes any notice).

overthemill · 28/05/2010 11:05

totally agree with binning it - i bin all junk mail an that is what it is. if they don't want to run the risk they should post it randomly through letterboxes should they?

moominmarvellous · 28/05/2010 11:05

It is annoying. I know that they have to buy them as part of the job and re-use them so for me clean easy's just go straight back outside the door in their plastic bag for them to collect the next time.

She shouldn't have gotten annoyed with you though, a simple question, 'Would you prefer if I didn't leave them in future?' would have been better!

sapell3 · 28/05/2010 11:09

YANBU to throw it away if it came through your door.

But to save them knocking, when I get a catalogue I'm not interested in, I just put it straight back outside the door for them to collect.

kando · 28/05/2010 11:09

Agree she shouldn't have got aggressive at all, but it's not really that hard just to open the door and put it back outside as soon as you see it's one of those types of catalogues is it? Perhaps just put a note inside the catalogue saying you don't want any more to be delivered. I do Avon, and like another said, found out pretty quickly who to deliver to and who not, but I also put a little note in with my catalogues asking them to let me know if they didn't want any more catalogues. It is annoying that they sometimes get wet, but at least they have put them outside and not binned them. We're just trying to make a bit of extra money at the end of the day

Casserole · 28/05/2010 11:09

Wasuup I do understand your frustration but:

a) Most jobs have cost, be it commuting, or marketing costs etc. To be honest this strikes me as your marketing cost, just as I pay for a yellow pages ad etc for my business. You don't always see that money again. Out of interest what sort of money are we talking here, pounds or pennies??

b) It seems we can't win then, if leaving it outside isn't good either, in case it rains. So is the only solution that it acceptable to keep it inside? I'm sure the kleeneazy ones come in a plastic wrapper or summat... don't think Avon do so perhaps you should buy some cheap freezer bags to put them in?

craftynclothy · 28/05/2010 11:20

I tend to stick them back outside right away (they're always in plasic bags here) but if it isn't collected by the day marked it goes in the bin.

I had someone once who hadn't collected it so I chucked it. A few days later there was a note through the door asking me to leave it outside for a different day . They didn't come that day either. Then a few days after that they came and were funny about me having thrown the thing out .

I'm interested to know how much they cost the people delivering them too.

TooPragmatic · 28/05/2010 11:50

hilarious. someone shoves something through your front door and then knocks and demands it back. wtf?

SloanyPony · 28/05/2010 11:55

So you have to have them blight your porch until they decide to come and pick them up? Feck that. Get a sticker as ample warning and recycle anything else that dares to come your way.

RedFraggle · 28/05/2010 11:59

I just put mine straight back outside - even better is if you hear it come through the door, then fling it straight outside. I did this and the person saw me. He asked if I was not going to look and I replied that I was sorry but I just wasn't interested and if it stayed inside it would get lost or thrown out. He made a note of my house number and I never got another catalogue again.

They are just trying to earn money and don't want to waste their own time either...

YAB a bit U. But I do understand as I hate these catalogues too!

JaneS · 28/05/2010 12:06

If I put all the catalogues we get outside my door, there'd be no room for me to get down the stairs! Don't be so daft.

Original poster
wannaBe · 28/05/2010 12:07

tbh if I see the catalogues I usually do put them outside, but dh usually sees them and bins them.

But I don't see why the onus should be on me to tell people not to put junk through my letter box. It's my property and if people put things through my letter box then they do so at their own risk. The fact they choose to pay for these catalogues is really not my problem. If you choose to do something for a living that costs you money then that is just part of the risk.

OP posts:
Casserole · 28/05/2010 12:11

What wannaBe said

I don't know anyone who orders from these things. So does anyone actually make any serious money from these things? Serious question.

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