How to opt out of getting a phone book

[marla]

Does anyone know how to opt out of getting a phone book delivered to your house? I never use it and it's a gigantic waste of paper so I'd like to cancel it being delivered each year. How do I do that? I can't find any number in the book itself.

[sweeps]

Which company sent it?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

We get phone books from two companies. With three million people in the area, we get both residential listings books and commercial listings books. Both are fairly large. One of the companies gives us books for two lines. This means we get a total of six large books every year. I take most of them straight to the recycling station. One year I called the company with whom I have no business and told them to come pick up the book they'd left on my porch, that I did not order it or want it. They told me I could drive it to them (14 miles away) for disposal, but that they would not pick it up. I asked them to not deliver books to my address in the future. They did no so much as say they'd try to avoid the delivery or even look into it. And of course they still dump their stuff on my porch. These books are a nuisance and a waste.

I guess I could write a letter telling them to not deliver books or to come on my property. Less instant communications (letter in US mail) seem to be taken more seriously sometimes.

[Fern]

I''m not sure, but at least in my town there's a special bin at the dump where you can recycle your old phone books.

[simpleyme]

I believe phone books are just money generators for the people who publish them and they probably get paid by the number distributed so they probably have no desire to not deliver them
and people in our area actually get paid to distribute phone books

so i just send mine off to recycling

I used to live in area and got just one a year but I live in a city now and get many phone books I used to keep one but after I realized i never used it I no longer keep any

I have a PO box our most recent phone book came as a card to be exchanged for a phone book by the post master ,he said the phone books were guaranteed delivery so he could not simply put them out for people to get one if they chose and so far very few people had collected one so he was drowning in them ,we added to his pain and did not get our phone book either

[disneysteve]

I believe phone books are just money generators for the people who publish them and they probably get paid by the number distributed so they probably have no desire to not deliver them

I think this is exactly right. These books are advertiser supported. The higher your circulation numbers, the higher rates you can charge for advertising.

I have this problem with medical journals. There are probably 20 or more medical journals that I receive on a regular basis. Hardly a day goes by that I don't get at least one. They aren't things I've subscribed to. They are all sent free of charge. About once/year, the cover has a little tear off card to send back to either continue or stop the free subscription. I always check STOP but they keep on coming. I've also written letters to the publishers requesting they take me off the mailing lists and that had no effect either. So they go right into the recycling pile. It is an outrageous waste of paper and resources but there seems to be no way to stop it.

[jamai]

you could put a note on your door, maybe the delivery guy will respect it!

[Denvergirlie]

you could put a note on your door, maybe the delivery guy will respect it!

No that doesn't work either, at leaast not at our house. I left a BIG sign last year on the STEPS, they would have had to walk over the sign to put the stupid phone book onthe porch telling them I did not want it. However, that delivery person gets paid per book he delivers... grrr... they go in the front door, directly out the back door to the recycling bin. What a waste.