How do we make those gigantic phone books that magically appear on our porches GO AWAY!

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lizaanne

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I tried calling AT&T and got so wound up in a phone queue, until after three tries, I ended up speaking with someone who just learned English last week, and had no IDEA what he was saying to me. Clever tactic I suppose. :rolleyes:

Anyway - I have not opened a phone book in so many years I can’t tell you. And having these monstrosities show up on my porch every year just cheeses me off. I don’t want them, I never asked for them, and I want them to go away and never come back!

Anyone ever successful in making this happen?

~Liza
 
lizaanne said:
I tried calling AT&T and got so wound up in a phone queue, until after three tries, I ended up speaking with someone who just learned English last week, and had no IDEA what he was saying to me. Clever tactic I suppose. :rolleyes:

Anyway - I have not opened a phone book in so many years I can’t tell you. And having these monstrosities show up on my porch every year just cheeses me off. I don’t want them, I never asked for them, and I want them to go away and never come back!

Anyone ever successful in making this happen?

~Liza
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Nope… we just toss them in the recycling bin! 🤷
 
I have no idea why you wouldn’t want your phone books.

They come with your phone service (you are paying for them anyway), and they are handy to have around if you want to phone someone and you don’t know their phone number, or if you want to order in pizza or Chinese food. 🤷
 
jmcrae said:
I have no idea why you wouldn’t want your phone books.

They come with your phone service (you are paying for them anyway), and they are handy to have around if you want to phone someone and you don’t know their phone number, or if you want to order in pizza or Chinese food. 🤷
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and all of the information contained in them is available online. I just got my AT&T phone book over the weekend at it didn’t even make it in the house, wound up straight in the recycling bin

They will still always send them to you Lizaanne because they make money selling the ads in the yellow pages. Their ad rate is directly related to how many copies they distribute, so they are not going to stop distributing I am sure.
 
dulcissima said:
and all of the information contained in them is available online. I just got my AT&T phone book over the weekend at it didn’t even make it in the house, wound up straight in the recycling bin

They will still always send them to you Lizaanne because they make money selling the ads in the yellow pages. Their ad rate is directly related to how many copies they distribute, so they are not going to stop distributing I am sure.
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Oh - woe is me - I’m doomed to have these things with me forever. 😦 You are right, and I never considered that all they are is massive advertising books.

Anything I want that could possibly be in a phone book I can get online. AND now that Google has free information service on the phone, I really don’t need them any more!!

This is truly the coolest: 1-800-GOOG-411 I love it!!! 👍

~Liza
 
Usually around the time of year that new phone books come out, some of the local grocery stores have big recycling bins you can bring 'em to. If I forget… I sneak them into work and get them recycled there. 😃
 
Put the yellow pages in your car. That is one of the few places where most of the people do not have access to internet.
 
Cristiano said:
Put the yellow pages in your car. That is one of the few places where most of the people do not have access to internet.
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👍

And!!! If you are short, or teaching your 14 year old how to drive with their learner’s, they can use it as a booster seat! haha
 
lizaanne said:
I tried calling AT&T and got so wound up in a phone queue, until after three tries, I ended up speaking with someone who just learned English last week, and had no IDEA what he was saying to me. Clever tactic I suppose. :rolleyes:

Anyway - I have not opened a phone book in so many years I can’t tell you. And having these monstrosities show up on my porch every year just cheeses me off. I don’t want them, I never asked for them, and I want them to go away and never come back!

Anyone ever successful in making this happen?

~Liza
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never been able to get rid of them. maybe call the local place that publishes it? usually they are the distributors. i probably shouldn’t tell you that they usually use (at least here) groups that would like to make money (youth groups, cheerleaders, etc.) to get them out to the community (you can make like 25 cents per book delivered when we did it).

i actually liked the last ones we got, we got a huge one, then a small car one. 🙂
 
If it’s really huge, such as the Chicago phonebook, put a pretty but washable cover all the way around it and use it as a booster seat for a toddler when they come to visit.😃

Otherwise- I recommend the recycling bucket. Many Catholic parishes and schools recycle for money. I a msure they would appreciate somebody dropping off his or her phonebook, the bigger the better.

I have been telling the phone company not to leave them for years. They can’t, because of the way they are delivered. There are also other phonebooks NOT from the phone company that are distributed inthe same fashion. They’ve somehow locked themselves into this.
 
jmcrae said:
I have no idea why you wouldn’t want your phone books.

They come with your phone service (you are paying for them anyway), and they are handy to have around if you want to phone someone and you don’t know their phone number, or if you want to order in pizza or Chinese food. 🤷
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No, look up canada411.com
 
Guess I’ll find one of those green and yellow recycle bin things - I think there is a Catholic school near by that has one for fund raising. I have about six of these things in the coat closet, and I’m tired of them taking up the space. I just don’t want to put them in the landfill.

There is no reason for me to have one. I have other means of getting any of the info I need, as clearly evidenced by the fact that I haven’t opened one of these books in well over three or more years. I think they are a gross waste of paper.

~Liza
 
In the United States, here is how you make the book from your phone company stop coming.

Call the company to you pay for your phone line, call the same number you would call if you wanted to add caller ID or make some other change to your phone service.

Be very specific, tell them that you want to change your CSR (that stands for Customer Service Record). State that you want NO delivery of a directory. Be clear that you do not want to change your listings (that is how you are listed when someone calls 411), but only the directory delivery.

If that person does not know how to do it, ask for a manager.

There is a place in your CSR - your “permanant record” - at the phone company that not only tells them to have a directory delivered to you, tells how many and WHERE to deliver them (for instance, you CAN get them delivered to your back door instead of your front door).

Two decades in the phone business, I can at least help a couple of people here.

This may or may not stop any other directories you get - the non ATT/Yellow Pages official directories.
 
I could send you one of my cats to get rid of the problem. She has an insane “affection” for all paper products and has destroyed more than a few phonebooks in her day. 😃

Seriously though, kage_ar gave a great idea. I may have to try that myself. 👍
 
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