Junk newspaper rant

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andrewNZ

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#169629 20-Mar-2015 19:23

Today I received two junk papers, The Property Press, and the local paper The Star as I do every week. However the delivery method has changed and I think it is a disgrace.

Rather than being put in my letter box, it was wrapped in plastic and thrown in the general direction of my house onto the road frontage.

The wrapped in plastic, and being chucked at my house, rile me up in equal amounts. The fact that I see absolutely no value in these other than starting the fire just makes it worse.

As far as I'm concerned, this is illegal rubbish dumping. And I intend to make it stop, I may resort to bailing up the delivery person if I can't find a formal avenue.

Rant over.

Now, what are my options around opting out, and what are their obligations around respecting that.

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78 posts

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#1264305 20-Mar-2015 20:23

Assuming you are in the Otago area (and The Star you refer to is not the chch one) I would suggest giving the Allied Press Circulation department a call at least to start.

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Lias

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#1264315 20-Mar-2015 20:49

I used to help one of the kids do a paper run, this is now it works.

No sign = Get everything
No Circulars/No Junk Mail sign = Don't get warehouse, noel leeming catalogues, etc, but still get free papers.
No Newspapers sign = Get circulars but no newspapers
Both or "Addressed Mail Only" = Get nothing

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andrewNZ

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#1264316 20-Mar-2015 20:53

I honestly don't think a sign is going to help in this instance. These are clearly thrown from a moving vehicle.

Hiamie

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#1264331 20-Mar-2015 22:09

My daughter used to deliver the local paper. There were one or two addresses on her round that had contacted the paper people and asked not to have the paper delivered.

I would expect that if you ring the paper(s) concerned you would be able to have your address removed from the circulation.

Don't bail up the delivery people, especially they are just kids... they are probably just children trying to earn some pocket money doing a really low paid job, wet or shine. And they are learning that if you work hard, you reap some reward.

blakamin

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#1264332 20-Mar-2015 22:17

HAHA, we get the same thing in adelaide... I wish they could just aim it straight at the recycle bin so I don't have to drive over it before it goes in there.

ilovemusic

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#1264341 20-Mar-2015 22:40

lucky you.
for over a year the delivery people have been too lazy to deliver the free community papers in my area.
only in the last two weeks has someone picked up the run.

tardtasticx

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#1264342 20-Mar-2015 22:46

ilovemusic: lucky you.
for over a year the delivery people have been too lazy to deliver the free community papers in my area.
only in the last two weeks has someone picked up the run.

I don't think its laziness. More likely just uneconomical.
When I done it like 7 years ago atleast, I got paid $12 a week to deliver to over 200 homes 3 times a week. How it's legal, I don't know. But I can guarantee they wouldn't get paid much more after all this time either.

Geektastic

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#1264374 20-Mar-2015 23:49

We occasionally get the Wairarapa Times Age delivered by tossing a plastic wrapped copy vaguely into our gateway, some 300 metres from the house from which you cannot see the gate. If we happen to be away it can sit there, slowly getting damp if the weather is bad, for days sometimes. We do not have mail delivered to the house, so there is no mail box - which I would have taken as an obvious clue not to leave mailbox type stuff at the gate!

We have never subscribed to it, so I do not really have any idea why they do it.

mattwnz

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#1264387 21-Mar-2015 01:08

You get it in a plastic bag if they are delivering from cars. When the dom post started doing this, I cancelled the sub, as they would either get picked up by kids walking by, or it would be socked if it rained. I was told they were unable to pick up to the postbox to deliver due to OSH regulations, which prevented them gettiing out f their car. More like laziness.

psychrn

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#1264388 21-Mar-2015 01:12

We been in our new place 6 months or so now.
Notice on the letter box for no junk male and it appeared to be working to the extent that we were not getting any free Newspapers either. This notice was there before we moved in as there was another small unit attached to us.
I put another Dymo line saying free papers are welcome and it seems to be working. No Junk male and the free newspapers

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Kyanar

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#1264395 21-Mar-2015 01:40

blakamin: HAHA, we get the same thing in adelaide... I wish they could just aim it straight at the recycle bin so I don't have to drive over it before it goes in there.

Worse in Brisbane. I get two of the things (up to three) dumped in my driveway, and there's only a 50/50 chance they even wrap it in plastic!

Dratsab

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#1264417 21-Mar-2015 09:03

What everyone needs to do is drive past the place that prints this stuff and lob the papers in the general direction of the front door as they go past.

floydbloke

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#1264433 21-Mar-2015 09:49

I know for the most part everyone hates junk mail but do spare a thought for the thousands of teenagers who are able to earn some money this way, and at the same time learn some work ethic at a young age. And certainly in my son's case they get instructed to adhere to 'no junk mail' signs in accordance with Lias' post above.

They get paid pretty poorly, as they are contractors not employees, and it's nowhere near minimum wage if you translate it into hours effort.

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Dratsab

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#1264446 21-Mar-2015 10:54

floydbloke: I know for the most part everyone hates junk mail but do spare a thought for the thousands of teenagers who are able to earn some money this way, and at the same time learn some work ethic at a young age. And certainly in my son's case they get instructed to adhere to 'no junk mail' signs in accordance with Lias' post above.

They get paid pretty poorly, as they are contractors not employees, and it's nowhere near minimum wage if you translate it into hours effort.

Quite agree with what you're saying here and think it's disgraceful the poor amount of money young kids get for their hard work. It's nothing short of child exploitation imo. Added to this is the time factor parents have to put in as well to help their children through the run safely.

That said, the OP is referring to these items obviously being lobbed, scimitar like, from a moving vehicle which is more likely to be an adult in the drivers seat.

TinyTim

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#1264491 21-Mar-2015 12:09

mattwnz: You get it in a plastic bag if they are delivering from cars. When the dom post started doing this, I cancelled the sub, as they would either get picked up by kids walking by, or it would be socked if it rained. I was told they were unable to pick up to the postbox to deliver due to OSH regulations, which prevented them gettiing out f their car. More like laziness.

THose cars delivering papers are an OSH hazard if ever I've seen one.

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