| Author |
Message |
    
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 1826
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 7:52 am: |     |
I have been told that those weekly bagged advertising packets that get thrown on our yards are allowed via some sort of permit from the township. I've also been told that a condition of that permit is that they will remove addresses from the delivery list upon request, via the toll-free number printed on the bags.
I can't tell you how many times I have called that number and sometimes the deliveries stop for a few weeks, sometimes a few months, but they always come back. I got a packet today and I had just called a week or two ago.
If, in fact, these deliveries are made under such a permit system, the township needs to crack down on the offenders in some manner.
I for one would prefer that they not be allowed to do it at all, but I suppose that might be some sort of freedom of speech or press violation.
I really resent having garbage thrown in my yard by someone who actually has "permission" (in some sense although not from me) to do so and I think something needs to be done about it. |
Bill P
Citizen
Username: Mrincredible
Post Number: 44
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 8:45 am: | |
sac, I don't think this sort of commercial communication is protected by the first amendment.
I didn't even know you could call and ask to be removed from the list, so I'll try it myself I guess. I basically toss the contents and keep the bag for use when I take the dog out walking.
But I agree with you, if they're supposed to honor your request they should honor it.
I actually called the NY Times once a while ago because they kept delivering to my house. I don't subscribe, and I barely have time to read the Star-Ledger, so it was mostly going to waste, plus I got the feeling someone else wasn't getting their Times.
|
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 3880
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2005 - 5:55 pm: | |
Sac-
A few years back, I went thru the same thing. I called & called, to no avail. I finally sent a letter that stated the next time someone set foot on my property to deliver one, that I would have them arrested for trespassing.
That seemed to do it, which really aggravated me, because it pretty much meant that they ignore the phone calls to stop.
|
vicdeluca
Citizen
Username: Vicdeluca
Post Number: 206
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 9:25 am: | |
This was a problem we addressed on the Township Committee about six years ago. We brought in the company that distributes the ads and told them to work out an "opt-out" system. They agreed to stop delivering the bag to anyone who calls the 800 number. We also said that we would funnel complaints through the Township Clerk if the deliveries did not stop.
My name was put on the list then and I have not received a delivery in over six years. I suggest you call the number again and send a note to the Township Clerk Elizabeth Fritzen telling her you have contacted the company. Sending a letter to the company as Greentree suggests is also a good idea.
Good luck. |
Earlster
Supporter
Username: Earlster
Post Number: 967
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 9:41 am: | |
We have called and once we finally got through, they actually stopped. Haven't gotten one in about 5 month.
I like a system where, after you opt out, if they deliver it to you again, you can mail it back to them and charge them a $10 handling fee.
It's the law in Germany and when it came into effect it put a quick stop to unsolicited garbage in peoples mail boxes. |
bak
Citizen
Username: Bak
Post Number: 705
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 10:03 am: | |
Can someone please post the number to call for the opt-out? Thanks! |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 5466
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 11:03 am: | |
Maybe you can bill the company for your disposal (and handling) fee. That might get their attention. |
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 1832
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 6:50 pm: | |
bak, the number is printed on the plastic bags. I don't keep them, so can't post it but next time you get one, there it will be. |
LilLB
Citizen
Username: Lillb
Post Number: 422
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 3:27 pm: | |
I called that number a few years ago and they stopped immediately. My neighbors still get them, so I know they're still delivering, but they never drop one in our yard. |
algebra2
Supporter
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 2977
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 4:30 pm: | |
am I the only one who opens them and reads the circulars? I am a supermarket circular junkie. I wish they'd include coupons in there. |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 4962
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 7:47 pm: | |
I am not a big fan of unsolicited junk mail. Think of how many trees are killed just to place an increasing amount of unread paper product in the nation's landfills.
If you read the circulars, great. If you just throw them out without reading them, the trees could be put to better use.
Delivering ads which will be unread isn't good for the advertizers either since they are paying by the household to have their message delivered by the company distributing the circulars. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 5566
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 7:54 pm: | |
Joan, think of all the extra power consumed by all the computers sending spam! They are consuming fossil fuels and generating pollution.
I'm half joking. But I remember when AT&T changed the way it "spammed" its own employees, from paper to spam. We got what we asked for and were not that happy about it in the end. |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 4965
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 8:01 pm: | |
Tom:
I agree. Spam is as wasteful and senseless as paper junk mail. Unfortunately, at present sending spam is the cheaper and less labor-intensive method for sending ads to computer-literate people. Until spam becomes harder and/or more expensive to send, it won't be going away any time soon. |
Mark Fuhrman
Citizen
Username: Mfpark
Post Number: 1319
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 8:25 am: | |
Vic: Why did the TC allow this in the first place? Does the Town get any money from the delivery companies? Can the TC ban it? It is bad enough to have to weed through the junk mail I get in my mailbox, let alone have it spread across lawns all over town. |
Bobkat
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 7637
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 8:35 am: | |
I think it is a free speech issue. Commercial speech is also protected by the First Amendment, or so I have read. |
Earlster
Supporter
Username: Earlster
Post Number: 985
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 9:59 am: | |
Could the town have an ordonance that they are required to deliver it to mailboxes, instead of throwing it on the lawn? That would probably make it so expensive that it would stop it. |
Bobkat
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 7641
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 10:12 am: | |
I think it is technically illegal to use a mailbox for anything other than US Mail. If I am wrong I suspect Ashear or Nohero will correct me shortly. |
vicdeluca
Citizen
Username: Vicdeluca
Post Number: 207
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 10:54 am: | |
The TC never gave its approval. We discussed outlawing it and the lawyers said it is legal under the constitution. Bob is correct on the mailbox issue. Only US mail may go in a mailbox. We worked out a solution to protect those who did not want to receive these deliveries.
You should know that a fair number of residents told us they liked receiving the advertising information this way. |
Bill P
Citizen
Username: Mrincredible
Post Number: 47
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 10:58 am: | |
Well, Bob, there's commercial free speech in the form of a billboard or an ad on the radio. And then there's commercial free speech that gets thrown onto your front lawn. I'm not an expert in constitutional law, though, so I'm sure someone else knows more than I do.
Where's the line? We don't allow business owners to park a van with speakers hawking their goods and services on the corner of a residential neighborhood, fr'instance, although I know there's a big distance between that and circulars on the front lawn. But both are intrusive in a way. Is the 60 seconds it takes me to pick up the bag and throw out the contents (saving the bag for my dog's toilette) that onerous that it requires something beyond an opt-out number?
More questions than answers, admittedly, but that's half the fun of MOL. |
Bobkat
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 7651
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 18, 2005 - 3:07 pm: | |
Bill, gosh 60 seconds to pick up a flyer? You aging superheroes must have a lot of arthritis issues. Guess superheroing must be as tough on the knees as football. 
Seriously, I don't know where the line is on commercial speech. I do, however, in a different where when remember trucks with loudspeakers announcing new store openings and such and in some areas of the country it isn't unusual to see a truck billboard parked near the road. |
critter
Citizen
Username: Critter
Post Number: 53
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, February 19, 2005 - 7:39 pm: | |
I called to discontinue delivery several years ago. I have gotten only one packet delivered since. A new guy didn't realize I was on the list. His supervisor raced up my front steps and apologized profusely for the error. |
Bill P
Citizen
Username: Mrincredible
Post Number: 58
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, February 20, 2005 - 5:17 pm: | |
Bobkat...
Okay, you remember the trucks with the loudspeakers and you're making cracks about arthritis? 
I meant the 60 second total extra time to retrieve the packet, dump the contents and put away the bag. Do we need to do a re-enactment of me walking onto my lawn, picking up the bag, walking into the house, opening the trash, mashing down the overflow because I'm too lazy to take it out, dropping the paper contents in and putting the bag in the doggie poo-bag container? It'll be just like in "Twelve Angry Men."
Barbed-wire fence and attack dog works just as well as calling the number. |
Bobkat
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 7670
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 9:18 am: | |
Bill, I have an upclose and personal relationship with arthritis. 
Also, those advertising circulars should be recycled!! Be afraid, very afraid that one of our local echoterrorists reads this thread. |
Bill P
Citizen
Username: Mrincredible
Post Number: 59
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 11:51 am: | |
Well, of course by "trash" I mean ecologically-friendly, recycled-materials-construction recycling container. |
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page