Stopping estate agent tat through our letter boxes

[bugsbgone]

It drives me insane, day after day of estate agent leaflets and letters.. the problem is it must work if they keep persevering.. I mean, I know it is a free market economy but their persistent leafleting just piles up in the recycling, and frankly I do not need reminding of their glossy wealth and success.. leave me alone!

In an ideal world I would like to sign up to a petition which then makes it illegal for them to post pamphlets, leaflets, high end magazines through my letterbox..

There must be something that I/we can do??

[peterstorm1985]

Collect all you junk mail (of all varieties) then choose the local estate agent you dislike most and push it through their door. It doesn't solve the problem but it sure feels good.

[dbboy]

Reseal the envolope, add addressee not known at this addresss, put on the offending agents address, pop into the post box with no stamp, sit back and chuckle. PEDDERS in Forest Hill and Crystal Palace this is specifically for you.

[Thomas Micklewright]

I always email the contact on the add asking if they would like to take part in a meat free day for the dulwich vegan society, maybe try that? He he

[Loz]

Special mention to the Keating Estates leaflet dropper who put leaflets under car windscreen wipers on Saturday, just before the rain. Apart from being littering, the wet leaflets shed all over my windscreen and my newly washed car.

A good advert not to use them. B'stards.

[aspidistra]

They bug me. But more of a bug is the God-squad team that pull me out of the shower - with a head-full of shampoo - on a weekend morning. (It could have been an Amazon parcel expected, otherwise not would have bailed from the shower.) And being acosted by three God-squads in the space of one hour on a weekend is beyond a joke.

[neilson99]

@ aspidistra...well they say cleanliness is next to godliness so you can't really complain!

[PeckhamRose]

Put everything in to an envelope then send it in an envelope and simply address it to:

FREEPOST

BRITISH HERITAGE

[Sue]

Hey PeckhamRose, good call, I didn't know about that.

They are about to get all my junk mail :))

[peterstorm1985]

PeckhamRose, are you sure this Freepost address is still valid? I thought it was withdrawn, so the only people to suffer by sending junkmail to this address would be post office employees.

[PeckhamRose]

Oh, um, I don't know.

So I have checked, and looks like it was withdrawn.

I am sorry!

Next idea?!

[seanmlow]

I know agents do this. The problem is when leaflets are not pushed in properly - an open invitation to theives as it pretty much shows you are not at home!

[dbboy]

Its not just estate agents who do not push leaflets through letter boxes, so do take away shops, those people who collect second hand clothing and even the post man. Any ideas?

[kford]

Postmen are trained to, for the reasons listed above.

[Sue]

We were recently delivering flyers advertising the Crystal Palace Road Big Lunch Street Party, and with some letterboxes it really is extraordinarily difficult to get things right through, especially those with brushes attached and especially if what is being delivered is quite flimsy (an A5 sheet of paper in this case).

We persevered, but I can understand why some people might just give up and leave something half out.

[lldne]

Have you got a sign on your door saying 'no junk mail' or 'unsolicited mail' if not it may be worth getting one. I know some agents ignore this but just put it in your recycling bin.

Also just to add if you do have a sign that says 'no junk mail' it may be worth changing it to 'no leaflets' or 'no unsolicited mail' as most people delivering leaflets wouldn't class their own as junk!

[Moos]

Estate agents are annoying, but food delivery services are equally annoying and even more prolific.

Does anyone have good experience of the 'no leaflets' stickers?

[Sue]

lldne Wrote:

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> Have you got a sign on your door saying 'no junk

> mail' or 'unsolicited mail' if not it may be worth

> getting one. I know some agents ignore this but

> just put it in your recycling bin.

>

> Also just to add if you do have a sign that says

> 'no junk mail' it may be worth changing it to 'no

> leaflets' or 'no unsolicited mail' as most people

> delivering leaflets wouldn't class their own as

> junk!

xxxxxxx

And here was our dilemma .....

Is a flyer telling people about a local community event (in this case a street party) which they may well greatly enjoy, either in their road or in an adjoining road, and which will give them the chance to get to know their neighbours in a friendly setting, junk mail?

If somebody asks for "no unsolicited mail" might they miss out on something they would actually like to know about?

I'm afraid I put the flyer through everybody's letterbox even if they had a sign up :-$

Was that wrong? (That's a serious question, I'm happy to be told yes it was wrong if you really think so ..... )

[peterstorm1985]

If someone has a notice on their letter box saying "no junk mail" or "no unsolicited mail", or anything similar, I'd always presume they mean that they don't want anything that isn't personally addressed, or has a stamp on it, coming through the door, so you may have upset a few people Sue, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. (If there was a sign for no junk and you left the leaflet sticking half way out of the letterbox then that's more of a sin).

What's really annoying now is that the Estate Agents are sending junk mail through the post. We've had two letters this week; no name but our address and a stamp.

[Sue]

peterstorm1985 Wrote:

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>

> What's really annoying now is that the Estate

> Agents are sending junk mail through the post.

> We've had two letters this week; no name but our

> address and a stamp.

xxxxxxx

They've been doing that for some time.

Now if I get stuff in the post with an address but no name, I bin it (ie recycling bin :) )without opening it. Though actually maybe I'll start sending it back to the agents, without a stamp :)

[Burbage]

bugsbgone Wrote:

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> It drives me insane, day after day of estate agent

> leaflets and letters.. the problem is it must work

> if they keep persevering..

>

> There must be something that I/we can do??

Move to a grubby flat in an undesirable block. I did that, and get hardly any junk at all. The only thing I can remember was a copy of Southwark Life, and that was three years ago.

[Green Goose]

Send it back to them in an envelop with no stamp. Then they have they have to decide whether or not they go to the PO to pay the outstanding postage to get envelope. They have no idea what is in it until they pay the postage.

[Sonners]

I intend to e-mail KFH tomorrow having come home to find one of their leaflets half way through my letter box. There's an address on the covering letter so I will be suggesting that they brief their leafletters on safety measures if they insist on such employing such annoying marketing techniques. Perhaps if they're indundated by complaints they might at least address this part of the issue...

[wee quinnie]

Moos Wrote:

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> Estate agents are annoying, but food delivery

> services are equally annoying and even more

> prolific.

>

> Does anyone have good experience of the 'no

> leaflets' stickers?

Yes - we have a sign up saying "no menus or flyers" please, and it definitely reduces the amount of junk that comes through, but it doesn't stop it entirely. However, as Sue mentioned - if there was some info about a street party...I'd definitely want to receive that.

[Sue]

wee quinnie Wrote:

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as Sue mentioned - if

> there was some info about a street party...I'd

> definitely want to receive that.

xxxxxxx

And that's the trouble!

If you're delivering stuff about estate agents or pizzas, it's probably pretty clear that if someone has a notice up saying no junk mail (or whatever) they don't want to receive it.

But if it's something else, where do you draw the line?

Information about cleaners? Sash windows? Painters and decorators? The Co-Op's new half-price offers? I'm constantly getting stuff like that. Usually I recycle it, but sometimes it's something I do find useful ....