Stop giving me free newspapers!
January 11, 2011 9:30 AM Subscribe
I pay for the NYTimes to be delivered on Sunday. The problem: it comes every day, and I don't want it.
I moved to an apartment building in a major US city in October. I pay for Sunday delivery of the NYTimes. However, since I moved, the delivery service leaves me a NYTimes every day. I am not charged for weekday delivery, just Sunday delivery. I have called the NYTimes customer care line 3x and emailed once, and still, no change. It seems to be a distributor issue. (When I go out of town and stop my Sunday delivery, it's never a problem.)
I never read the paper during the week, and it feels wasteful to get it every day and immediately recycle it. How can I stop getting the paper on weekdays?
I moved to an apartment building in a major US city in October. I pay for Sunday delivery of the NYTimes. However, since I moved, the delivery service leaves me a NYTimes every day. I am not charged for weekday delivery, just Sunday delivery. I have called the NYTimes customer care line 3x and emailed once, and still, no change. It seems to be a distributor issue. (When I go out of town and stop my Sunday delivery, it's never a problem.)
I never read the paper during the week, and it feels wasteful to get it every day and immediately recycle it. How can I stop getting the paper on weekdays?
Take it to work and leave it in the break room.
Share it with someone in the building.
Donate it to schools (you can keep a box and bring it when it's full for this one).
Actually read the paper during the week.
That's four things and I'm not even trying to come up with ways to do it.
posted by theichibun at 9:34 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Share it with someone in the building.
Donate it to schools (you can keep a box and bring it when it's full for this one).
Actually read the paper during the week.
That's four things and I'm not even trying to come up with ways to do it.
posted by theichibun at 9:34 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
You could drop it on a subway seat or put it on the table at a coffee shop.
I always feel lucky when I nab a fresh paper unexpectedly.
posted by cranberrymonger at 9:36 AM on January 11, 2011
I always feel lucky when I nab a fresh paper unexpectedly.
posted by cranberrymonger at 9:36 AM on January 11, 2011
Leave a note for your delivery person
posted by cubby at 9:39 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cubby at 9:39 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Leave a note for your delivery person
I was going to say this too--include your account number, phone number, address, etc., in the note so there aren't any barriers to them taking it to whoever they have to take it to and letting them deal with it. CC the 'head office' by mailing them a copy.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 9:45 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Be careful though. I have family members who were getting "surprise!" weekday delivery of their Big City Paper despite only paying for a weekend subscription, and repeated calls to customer service to stop it were ignored or brushed off. A year later they had to spend two months arguing with the paper when they received a bill for a full year of daily service. Document anything you can via email or phone call, so that if and when this comes up you can demonstrate you did try to rectify the issue on your end.
posted by olinerd at 9:50 AM on January 11, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by olinerd at 9:50 AM on January 11, 2011 [2 favorites]
Be careful though. I have family members who were getting "surprise!" weekday delivery of their Big City Paper despite only paying for a weekend subscription, and repeated calls to customer service to stop it were ignored or brushed off. A year later they had to spend two months arguing with the paper when they received a bill for a full year of daily service. Document anything you can via email or phone call, so that if and when this comes up you can demonstrate you did try to rectify the issue on your end.
Yes, it might be a backdoor revenue-generation ploy, created by students of the mafia. Once you're in, you have to pay one way or another to get out.
I finally got fed up with getting almost daily delivery of a paper I was only supposed to receive on the weekend. It was just too much newspaper piling up. Eventually I stopped renewing my subscription yet the paper kept coming for weeks. When I finally called to ask why they were still delivering a paper I was no longer subscribing to, they got a little snippy with me. Then almost immediately afterward I started getting bombarded with calls from two different states from some mysterious "subscription services" telemarketers. No wonder the newspaper business is dying if this is the way they treat people who are actually willing to pay to get largely stale news (and local sales flyers).
posted by fuse theorem at 10:14 AM on January 11, 2011
Yes, it might be a backdoor revenue-generation ploy, created by students of the mafia. Once you're in, you have to pay one way or another to get out.
I finally got fed up with getting almost daily delivery of a paper I was only supposed to receive on the weekend. It was just too much newspaper piling up. Eventually I stopped renewing my subscription yet the paper kept coming for weeks. When I finally called to ask why they were still delivering a paper I was no longer subscribing to, they got a little snippy with me. Then almost immediately afterward I started getting bombarded with calls from two different states from some mysterious "subscription services" telemarketers. No wonder the newspaper business is dying if this is the way they treat people who are actually willing to pay to get largely stale news (and local sales flyers).
posted by fuse theorem at 10:14 AM on January 11, 2011
I have this problem with the Washington Post and like you, I find it irksome and wasteful. I mostly just remind myself that it's better than the situation I had with the Wall St Journal four years ago where no quantity of calls or complaints would get me the paper I was paying for but not receiving.
I don't know how it works for the NYT but the Post's delivery - at least outside of DC proper - is handled by small businesses. Until recently they even handled billing & collection. My bill still has a name and number for the distributor, who, when I spoke to one of their delivery guys once, I was told was a lawyer who owned the business but was essentially impossible to get a hold of & who barely participated in the operation of the business.
The fact that it was his name and (never answered) number printed on the bill as a contact person spoke volumes, I'd say.
I would wager that in my case it's the Post providing him with extra issues to deal with mis-deliveries or damage - so it's not impacting his business' profits any to be dumping this extra paper on my stoop. If they were coming up short every day I suspect they'd deal with it. The one personal contact I ever had with their delivery staff was because they weren't getting paid - THEN I got some attention.
My point being that while the waste may chafe, odds are you're getting a paper that would just end up dumped/recycled somewhere else anyway. Take it to work or plop it on top of a coin-operated paper vending machine if you pass one during the day - save someone $0.75 or whatever the M-Sa issue costs these days
posted by phearlez at 2:43 PM on January 11, 2011
I don't know how it works for the NYT but the Post's delivery - at least outside of DC proper - is handled by small businesses. Until recently they even handled billing & collection. My bill still has a name and number for the distributor, who, when I spoke to one of their delivery guys once, I was told was a lawyer who owned the business but was essentially impossible to get a hold of & who barely participated in the operation of the business.
The fact that it was his name and (never answered) number printed on the bill as a contact person spoke volumes, I'd say.
I would wager that in my case it's the Post providing him with extra issues to deal with mis-deliveries or damage - so it's not impacting his business' profits any to be dumping this extra paper on my stoop. If they were coming up short every day I suspect they'd deal with it. The one personal contact I ever had with their delivery staff was because they weren't getting paid - THEN I got some attention.
My point being that while the waste may chafe, odds are you're getting a paper that would just end up dumped/recycled somewhere else anyway. Take it to work or plop it on top of a coin-operated paper vending machine if you pass one during the day - save someone $0.75 or whatever the M-Sa issue costs these days
posted by phearlez at 2:43 PM on January 11, 2011
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posted by Lucinda at 9:32 AM on January 11, 2011