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Original poster

THOSE FLYERS THAT COME IN THE DOOR...GRAN GOING TO BANKRUPT HERSELF! ANY IDEAS????

38 replies

fireflyfairy2 · 21/04/2007 16:19

You know the type.. the ones that come inside newspapers ofering you magical cream, or a pair of oven gloves free if you order some trousers....

She has spent thousands of pounds on these

I am fuming with the companies as I feel they target the elderly who are lonely & often quite well off. This has been happening for months. But it only really came to a head this week as she had a heart attack & we have been opening her mail. There are boxes under her dining table unopened since last year.

She has ordered sweets from Austria, steamers for the microwave from yugoslavia, yan de vres (sp) stuff at over £50 a pot still unopened in the bathroom cabinet.

she has ordered 3 or 4 of the same things. Wax strips that she didn't even know what they for, a jar of handwash gel at £32. 2 tins of duck terrine from heavens knows where

She needs help I know, she is 84 but she has been starting to dote lately & she has ordered 3 or 4 of the same things, now you'd think that some of these companies would notice & stop taking advantage.

Also, some begging letters where she has been sending £20 cheques off every month for something or other, "We need £28,907 to buy cara & her friends their dinner, please forward a cheque to the shopping fund ASAP" etc..

She ordered bags from etheopia. 2 sets of wooden hand made rosary beads [she is a practising protestant!!]

What I need to know, please, before she has spent all her money & is left in debt, how can I stop these flyers/begging letters being sent to her??

I hope someone knows

OP posts:
zippitippitoes · 21/04/2007 17:15

I should think she wants her own privacy and independence though..i wouldn't want someone else getting my post and then handing their selection back to me

god dd1 is bossy enoguh

zippitippitoes · 21/04/2007 17:20

I have got lots of things I've bought and not used/worn/opened but no way is anyone going to try and stop me

Original poster
fireflyfairy2 · 21/04/2007 22:06

Zippi, I totally agree with you that her money is her own & she should do what she wants with it

But the thing is, she never remembers what she has ordered... it arrives with her signature on it & she is amazed that it is for her.

She said she is lonely & reading all the mail passes time for her. We have given her books & she has friends who visit her all the time, they were concerned also as I spoke to them today. I think it is the fact that she is ordering stuff like tummy toning cream, silk panties, remote controlled heaters etc that she will never in a million years use that worries us. She also sends for costume jewellery at about £40 a shot... she could get them for £5 if she really wanted/needed them.

I genuinely think she has a problem, as does the rest of the family.

OP posts:
TooTicky · 21/04/2007 22:14

My grandmother was doing this for ages. She was particularly drawn by the ones that said, "You have won £xxxxxxx, all you need to do to claim is spend £xx in our catalogue/send a processing fee"
She was saved from it by her heart attacks really, had to move and lost contact with the bastard companies. Also, my mother did a lot of returning to sender and signed up to the postal preference thing while my gran was in hospital.
Her cupboards were full of boxes of bloody awful products!

Wallace · 21/04/2007 22:17

Could she (you) sell it on ebay to get some of the money back?

Or car boot sale?

Original poster
fireflyfairy2 · 21/04/2007 22:19

She told me twice today she needed milk. I got her milk yesterday! I brought the milk in to show her, she seemed shocked as she said there had been none earlier!

She had eggs in her fridge from January!!

I try my best, but as I have the 2 kids & uni I don't often get to root around in her fridge/open her post etc... I usually just visit, or take her for a drive, I feel so guilty now, we seriously think she has a problem of some sort

Her sister has amnesia & she keeps saying she's afraid of ending up the same, but I'm sorry to say it looks like she is heading the same way

OP posts:
Original poster
fireflyfairy2 · 21/04/2007 22:20

Probably Wallace.

But I feel for her, I really do.

She orders things she doesn't need, It's like she's addicted.

OP posts:
Original poster
fireflyfairy2 · 21/04/2007 22:22

And, being honest, she spends so much money on things, like £35 on a face cream with aloe vera in it, we could never recoup the amount she has lost, but I guess it'e her money & not ours.

I have registered her with the MPS & we are going to call the companies on Monday & explain that she is not processing everything right & often sends for the same thing numerous times & get her name removed from some of the mailing lists.

OP posts:
TooTicky · 21/04/2007 22:35

Good luck. These companies are ruthless.

stitch · 21/04/2007 22:41

i think that everyones suggestions are excellent, but i also think that as a family, you will simply have to make a concerted effort to , i dont know, babysit her more?
perhaps someone, your mil perhaps, could draw up a rota of some sort with everyone doing something so no one has to do too much. iyswim

Wallace · 21/04/2007 22:47

poor thing, hope you get it sorted xxx

Tiggiwinkle · 21/04/2007 22:49

It does sound like her short term memory is beginning to go from your description of the milk incident. I would get her GP to check her out as she could have the beginnings of dementia. If so, someone is going to have to take charge of her financial affairs eventually for her own sake.

B1977 · 22/04/2007 19:37

Would she agree to redirect all her mail to you? Then you could take out the dodgy stuff and only give her her "real" mail?

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