ArticlesAh, it’s that exciting time of the year. My new Yellow Pages has just been delivered. I do enjoy unwrapping my Yellow Pages for the first time.
To be clear, I am unwrapping last year’s Yellow Pages for the first time, because I don’t want put the plastic in the recycling bin. This year’s Yellow Pages goes into my cupboard, still wrapped, just in case this is the year that the Internet is down just at the moment I urgently need to find a new supplier.
I’ve never been one of these people who whinges about the wastage of delivering over 3 kg of paper that I never use. I understand the difficulties in logistics of only delivering the Yellow Pages to the people without Internet availability.
However, this year, there was a bonus included. A smaller version designed to fit in your car. It is still over 1 kg.
So, the idea is to not only waste paper and freight costs getting the book to your door, but having an ongoing waste of fuel carting it around your the boot all year.
That’s going too far. I’ve become a whinger.
There must be a better way of only delivering this to the people who need it. How about making them available, free, from participating petrol stations?
Comment by Mr Rohan on December 16, 2008
That’s a great idea – the petrol station pickup – because that’s where your meant to drop them off for recycling – so if you want one, it’s like a “swap-n-go” gas bottle …
Comment by Alastair on December 18, 2008
As an alternative to whinging, you can call the Sensis opt-out line and request no further phone book deliveries.
And of the two, I would rate whinging as marginally more effective than the opt-out line.
That’s just my opinion of course, but I’m sure others would agree.
Comment by Julian on December 18, 2008
Good suggestion, Alastair.
I gave them a call, and I got the distinct impression it wasn’t one of their frequently asked questions. The automated IVR didn’t have an appropriate choice, and rather than the operator saying reassuring things like “Your name has been removed from the database, and will take effect in 7-10 days.” she said things like “I should be able to help with that.”, “I have put that request in, let me just see if I need to get any other information from you.” I was also put on hold for about a minute.
Come back in 12 months and we’ll see if it worked.
Comment by Julian on May 7, 2009
After opting out of Yellow Pages in December, there was a delivery run of yet another version of the Yellow Pages this week. This time it was the local suburban version, rather than the whole city.
Success! I received two copies of the same book on consecutive days!
Err… wait… what was the criteria for success again?
Comment by Julian on May 7, 2009
The Sensis call-centre confirmed I am marked as an opt-out on the computer and suggested that the reason for receiving two is that someone has misread the order form and thought I had a special opt-in for 2 copies rather than opted out for any.
Who said avoiding waste would be easy?