What part of "No junk mail" doesn't the Chronicle understand?

Dude, its the law that lets em get away with this, and others sending it via Aust.Post. I have used threatening emails and letters with the words (Tribunal, Privacy Act,envelope scribes of “dont you f*+king understand RTS no junk mail”, etc) but to no avail. The Privacy dudes can do nothing, there is no law to say they cant send unsolicited mail. The Privacy dudes told me so. I have the same issue with ANZ, LJ Hooker (even confronted the Manager responsible), Readers Digest, and Australia Post too. The best you can do is write to your Local Member and ask for the laws to be changed, if you feel so.

spinact said :

luther_bendross said :

Yes this annoys the crap out of me too, the only time I read it is when I’m trying to procrastinate a uni assignment. Google gives their address as:

9 Pirie St
Fyshwick ACT 2609

My plan is to ring them and ask for a stop to their service under the direction that if they don’t cease, I’ll simply return all their unused material to their office, all over their lawn.

If you have the time to follow through on that ‘threat’ why don’t you just take the time out to make an extra trip to your recyling bin once a week?

Because using your method doesn’t let me feel as vengeful and spiteful as my narcissistic self would appreciate.

No but seriously, if the same person came by once a week and threw the same piece of rubbish on your lawn, eventually (I assume) you would get sick of cleaning it up yourself and confront them.

The chronicle is finding it harder and harder to find people willing to deliver it by walking

Perhaps because they pay such a ridiculously small amount to deliverers!?!?

I enjoy getting the Chronicle, the deliveries here vary a bit week to week ranging from being thrown out a car window in plastic to folded up in the letterbox, sometimes we don’t get them until the weekend. The Chronicle is good for 5 minute entertainment value, the same as most cataloges too, so I can look at all the nice things I want but can’t afford.

The main problem here is that people are lazy whingers who think it’s too much of a hassle to take action that will take them a whole 30 seconds to pick it up and put it in the bin if they don’t want to read it. It would be far less of a hassle than visiting the shops to purchase some sort of signage to stick to the letterbox and ringing the paper to have a cry.

What’s so hard about picking it up and putting it in the recycle bin. You could probably do with the exercise.

What I find odd is that the Government has all this legislation in regards to unsolicited emails, but doesn’t give a toss about junk mail going into mailboxes using only God knows how much paper product only to be looked at for a few moments before hitting the bin/recycling.

Why can’t we have an opt in approach? If you actually want to receive junk mail then feel free to put a sticker on your mail box stating so, if not, then piss off and take your stupid junk mail away with you.

I whole heartily agree with niftydog’s opinion. No amount of advertising in the world is going to make me rush out and buy something.

This is what you need to do in ACT:

http://www.tams.act.gov.au/live/Recycling_and_Waste/factsheets/junkmail

So for newspapers it looks like you can only ask them. It is not an offence apparently even to put junk mail in “no junk mail” letterboxes (just against the code), despite it actually being an offence in Victoria http://www.litter.vic.gov.au/www/html/204-litter-and-the-law.asp for example.

If they persist, newspapers, or any junk mail for that matter, I would suggest collecting them all together and one night go to CT and throw them all over their fence or under their door. Or better still post them back to them with no stamp.

I’m more worried about all the paper it uses for people who don’t want it.

How about picking it up, driving past their premises and chucking it on their lawn.

This litter that was thrown in our street for ages but they eventualy got the message it was not wanted when there were 2 or 3 outside each house.

luther_bendross said :

Yes this annoys the crap out of me too, the only time I read it is when I’m trying to procrastinate a uni assignment. Google gives their address as:

9 Pirie St
Fyshwick ACT 2609

My plan is to ring them and ask for a stop to their service under the direction that if they don’t cease, I’ll simply return all their unused material to their office, all over their lawn.

If you have the time to follow through on that ‘threat’ why don’t you just take the time out to make an extra trip to your recyling bin once a week?

I used to deliver the Chronicle many years ago and I was told to never deliver to people with no junk mail signs and to always put them in the mail box. It was a pain but they were the rules so that’s how I did it.

Those rules either don’t exsist anymore or are ignored. I find it really annoying that my Chronicle is chucked into my front bushes meaning I have to climb through the garden to get it, then unwrap the plastic before I can put it in the recycling bin. I never read it and since I do want to get my other junk mail can’t put up a no junk mail sign (though it sounds like that wouldn’t work anyway)

Anyone know where I can get a No Chronicle but yes to junk mail sign? 🙂

Yes this annoys the crap out of me too, the only time I read it is when I’m trying to procrastinate a uni assignment. Google gives their address as:

9 Pirie St
Fyshwick ACT 2609

My plan is to ring them and ask for a stop to their service under the direction that if they don’t cease, I’ll simply return all their unused material to their office, all over their lawn.

What I used to do was have all my mail go to a PO box and take ALL material on driveway / in home letterbox directly to the recycling. I’d give it a quick vet in case I’d forgotten to divert something to the PO box, but generally this worked extremely well.

Am planning to do the same again as I complete my move to Sydney in the next couple of months. A couple of people in my street in Mortdale have reported that their locked letterboxes were forced open, mail stolen and that they’d later witnessed someone appearing to exchange a bundle of mail for cash. Source material for identity theft, I suppose. PO box is sounding better and better

NeedHelp said :

Personally, I think all those Chronicle Whingers had a bad experience with Make-A-Date at some point, and now they’re holding a grudge.

I only read the Chronicle for Make-A-Date. Made being the rest of the paper just bearable……just. Now Make-A-Date is gone, the paper is a hollow shell.

burkes08 said :

Ahhhhhh Brindabella, I feel your pain!

There are always one or two rotting somewhere in my garden.

Yeah, it’s worse now that they’re covered with plastic – before they would just rot in peace…

Perhaps Brindabella’s angst stems from chronic advertising overload! I mean, we are absolutely bombarded with the stuff all day every day.

cross said :

If it wasn’t for advertising business’s could not operate…

To some degree, but a complete lack of unsolicited advertising does not suddenly mean that demand for goods and services dries up – that’s patently ridiculous. I receive no junk mail, I mute the adds on TV, I addblock+ my internet experience… and yet somehow, miraculously, I still manage to know what I want and where is the best place to get it.

Most adds these days are completely disingenuous, annoying and incredibly insulting to your intelligence. Therefore I much prefer to actively seek what I want rather than have some raving lunatic shouting at me through the radio. If anything, persistent or unsolicited advertising turns me away from that business.

I spoke to the Chronicle driver yesterday and apparently they do get a list weekly of address’s that have complained of not receiving the paper or getting it when they do not want it but not the same person always does the same area some of the problems seem to be not being able to see letter boxes if they are not facing the street or being hidden by bushes or to far back off the street or their no junk mail sign fails sign making principal No1 i.e. being readable,Papers are also driven by contractors in some areas where there is a lack of walkers and large areas need to be covered by Thursday evening and complaints can be made for not receiving the Chronicle because believe it or not most people want the paper.so to Benita_449 who said
” I used my evening walk to collect every copy delivered in all nearby streets and dumped all of them in the trash!” you are probably doing your neighbours a disservice.
And one last thing complaints are not necessarily a bad thing it shows the area supervisor that the area is being covered

Hopefully the same people who complain about not knowing what is happening and never being consulted about anything aren’t the same ones complaining about receiving the Chronicle.

It’s a local rag that gets hand delivered to you, and always contains great and informative articles about what is happening close to you, and they usually run the ‘ACT Government seeks input’ media releases and others of its ilk.

If you used that description for a free iPhone app, people would fall over themselves to get that.

IMO people should be a little more community minded, a good start would be just spending 5 minutes scanning through the thing. Worst case just take it to the can with you.

Ahhhhhh Brindabella, I feel your pain!

There are always one or two rotting somewhere in my garden.

Personally, I think all those Chronicle Whingers had a bad experience with Make-A-Date at some point, and now they’re holding a grudge.

BTW. The neighbour’s Daily Telegraph often ends up on my lawn. It’s “news”. It’s wrapped in plastic. And it sits three feet from my No Junk Mail sign. Junk. Gotta be.

“Yes I agree – their deliverers are either incapable of reading English, or completely incompetent. They ignore ‘No junk mail’ signs“

no they don’t – as others have posted, ‘junk’ is a non-defined term, legally, and deliverers of any material are still entitled to provide you with their material, which to them is not ‘junk’. a ‘no unsolicited mail’ sign is required, and then only mail actually addressed to you – or the occupant – is able to be delivered.

but really, brindabella, while i agree that this is a classic grumpy old [insert appropriate gender here] scenario, it really isn’t a drama – the government (or is that gubbmint?) give you a big bin with a yellow lid for such travails: give it a try. easier than getting frantic at such small fry. get along to the baby rally outside kate lundy’s office, or apply for the triathalon office dude gig and see what is worth some angst…

anticodon said :

blah, blah…to wipe away your tears…

This is becoming a hackneyed, RiotAct cliche. Originality please!

cross said :

So if this is the worst thing to happen to you in your week you are very lucky. Maybe you should take along hard look at yourself.

Indeed perspective is a great thing. So is freedom of speech.

basketcase said :

What is it that you find objectionable in the Chronicle?

Nothing at all. The point is, I just don’t want it delivered to me each week.

LlamaFrog said :

Is this really the biggest problem in your life?

Yes. This, and the price of beer.

Spectra said :

Dude. Chill.

Your definition of “junk” clearly includes anything unsolicited…

…like your comment….Chill back atcha, dude.

TP 3000 said :

If you wish to inquire about who is delivering The Chronicler in your area, have a look in the job classifieds of the paper, usually every suburb has places going & the contact of that suburb coordinator.

Good idea. Would be good to get their address, I’ve got a few papers that I’d like to return. Perhaps other do also?

If it wasn’t for advertising business’s could not operate governments
would not be funded and financially fail and we and our children would not be gainfully employed.Our whole system relies on trade including advertising.The holier than thou are happy to reap money from their investments and super funds but donn,t realise those very funds rely
on advertising, so whine all you like it’s paying for your lifestyle

Whilst I agree with the many posters here suggesting that this is a bit of an over reaction, the solutions is quite simple. “Junk” mail would braodly fall under the definition of material not registered as a publication with Australia Post – I would expect that the Chronicle would be registered. A sign that simply states “No Unaddressed Material Accepted” will suffice.

There are some slack junk mail delivery people as I use to deliver The Chronicle & I would see the same paper from 2 weeks ago in the letter box. However those in charge of delivering the Woolies/Coles/Rest would pile the new junk mail on top of the old news paper. I however would just leave that house & I would always have an extra 30-50 left over afterwards of no junk mail homes & would just toss them in the recycling bins. Nobody ever checks up on the number of papers you delivered & the suburb coordinators didn’t care.

If you wish to inquire about who is delivering The Chronicler in your area, have a look in the job classifieds of the paper, usually every suburb has places going & the contact of that suburb coordinator.

Dude. Chill.

Your definition of “junk” clearly includes anything unsolicited – that’s fine, but “junk” is an extremely vague term. It could equally be taken to mean “material that contains only advertising” which clearly wouldn’t cover The Chronicle (regardless of what you might think of the standard of reporting). I’ll guarantee you there is no legal definition of the term.

If you had a “No Unsolicited Material” sticker, well then then that’s pretty clear. You, however, have chosen a sign with nice vague terminology and when people don’t follow your interpretation you seem to take it as a personal slight and immediately jump on the internet and complain? Is this really so significant a problem that it’s worth spending time on? You have almost as little life as those of us who spend time replying to you 😉

This is one of my pet-hates too, and like you, delivery day coincides with recycling day. A long time ago I called the CT once about it, and their response was to put up a ‘no chronicle’ sign and/or speak to the delivery person – which would be fine if I ever caught the buggers dumping this rubbish on my nature strip.

I wonder how many go from lawn to bin in one swift movement?

It’s a community newspaper. Is the Telegraph or Canberra Times junk mail? Make sure you save the front page each week to wipe away your tears…

The chronicle is finding it harder and harder to find people willing to deliver it by walking,
that is why many deliver the chronicle by tossing it out of the car while driving at speed.
I got No junk mail too on my letterbox, but you cant read/see it if your behind the wheel of a car:-)
So unfortunately the problem wont get any better unless chronicle make people deliver
it the old fashioned way by getting fit. Delivering the chronicle ain’t for making money,
its really about the exercise, isn’t it? You should live in Curtin, they still deliver it by walking.

Yes I agree – their deliverers are either incapable of reading English, or completely incompetent. They ignore ‘No junk mail’ signs and anything similar, and simply deliver or throw their rubbish newspapers wherever they please. In a nearby busy street, the deliverers were continuing to deliver to houses despite 3 copies of the paper from previous weeks still lying uncollected on their nature strips! I know it’s the resident’s responsibility to pick them up, but should they have to? Regardless, the deliverers shouldn’t be continuing to deliver to a house that clearly isn’t interested in receiving it. Doing so effectively becomes littering on a massive scale. I called The Chronicle (effectively the Canberra Times as they are sister publications) and requested the delivery manager put a stop to the practice. They didn’t bother. So I used my evening walk to collect every copy delivered in all nearby streets and dumped all of them in the trash! heheheh 2 can play at this game……

I imagine they don’t consider their publication to be junk mail. I don’t read the thing either, but I don’t really miss the 3 seconds of my life it takes to put it in the recycling bin every week.

Possible explanation. The Chronicle is being delivered by vehicle, ie thrown onto each lawn as they pass, and not reading what is on your letterbox. Now that the Chronicle is covered in plastic, SOME delivery folk don’t seem to be bothered with actually placing them in letterboxes.

Some Chronicle deliverers choose to walk, for fitness sake, but there are the lazy buggers who do it all by vehicle if they have left their deliveries too late.

The Chronicle is out on a Tuesday and they have until Thursday 5pm to deliver it to their allocated residential streets. If they decide to slack off, they may just think it’s quicker using their vehicle with the drive-chuck-drive-chuck approach.

You can get the Chronicle stickers from the Chronicle or the area delivery manager. Call the Chronicle office via the Canberra Times switchboard and tell them what you need.

Hope that helps.

PS I always spare a thought for the Chronicle deliverers. In many years, I’ve never missed out on my copy. They work for a pittance and kudos to them.

If you care that much, complain directly to the Chronicle.

You must have a pretty small yard if the Chronicle is managing to ‘bombard’ it.

Is this really the biggest problem in your life?

I’ve always wondered what gives the Chronicle deliverers the right to drive around throwing copies (roughly) at peoples homes. If I drove around in my car throwing plastic wrapped paper at every house that I passed, i’d be charged with littering.

The Chronicle is often done by children,disabled or retired people to earn
a little cash or donate the money and sometimes provides the only paper many elderly and non mobile people receive. A lot of people with no junk mail are happy to get the Chronicle as they don’t consider it junk or mail.
So if this is the worst thing to happen to you in your week you are very lucky. Maybe you should take along hard look at yourself.

Try this fellows approach

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8326992@N08/2763560787/

(can one hotlink photos here?)

I think there is probably a misinterpretation of the term ‘junk’ (but I agree with your definition by-the-way).

The only thing that works is to ring them up and complain. It took me five phone calls over a few months before it sunk in, but I haven’t seen a Chronicle on my drive for several months now.

They sell advertising based on their distribution, so the more they can claim are being read the better off they are. Naturally this makes them reluctant to stop delivering it.

I think the problem lies in the definition of “Junk Mail”. Some might claim there’s desirable information in the Cronicle, rather than being purely advertisisng (So the politer “No advertising material” is also ruled-out as a letterbox sticker).

It gets a bit verbose if you want to have broad and precise directions about what you want to be delivered:
“No unsolicited deliveries”
“No unaddressed deliveries” (“To the householder” is cheating)
“No Junk mail, advertising material or other similar spam including free newspapers and magazines such-as the Cronicle”

… Then you’ve got to trust the deliverers care to follow your wishes – good luck with that!

a sticker on the letter box won’t work if ends up on your lawn, but getting to the root of the problem, why the hate ? the chronicle is all class 🙂

I like the Chronicle and look forward to its weekly delivery. No way would I call it junk mail.

What is it that you find objectionable in the Chronicle?

Hear, hear.

The Chronicle used to deliver itself once every two months, so it didn’t used to be so bad. However, lately it has been delivered reliably once a week. I don’t want it and never have!

Mine’s respected. *shrugs* Ring and complain. It gets back to the junk mail people if there’s a few complaints.

I have often had the suspicion that their advertising charges are tied to the number they deliver, so it benefits them to ignore them…

When I was fourteen and delivered the chronical to on my pushbike, I was instructed not to deliver to no junk mail letterboxs. But then, I was specifically banned from tossing them on the lawn too, which has clearly changed.

Does anyone else here find that the wonderful plastic coating they put on the paper doesn’t actually seem to keep it dry from even the lightest rain? Or is that just my driveway, where it lands to be run over at least once each week?

/end rant

I rang CT asking them to stop delivering the chronicle but they told me that wasn’t possible. Is that just littering then?

I have had this same argument with The Chronicle. The person delivering it drives around in a car with their arm out the window throwing it where ever they liked without noticing the ‘No Junk Mail’ sign.

I rang the call centre 3 times and was told each time that ‘if you have a No Junk Mail sign that it shouldn’t be delivered’. After continual delivery, I got onto someone via e-mail to cease the delivery. After being assured it would not be, it continued to arrive until a harsher e-mail was sent which led to it not being delivered again.