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Globe Direct makes people beg
By adamg on Sun, 12/13/2015 - 4:10pm
Look at this sign some poor Cambridgeport resident thinks will stop the plague that is unwanted bags of ad fliers.
Ed. note: What finally worked for us was a BBB complaint. Start the complaint process here (linked because you won't find Globe Direct at the Boston BBB site, because they're officially located in Millbury).
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My Direct Deliveryman Left an Envelope For a Christmas Tip
Seriously. Can I tip him if he agrees to stop?
It would be more welcome if there were really useful coupons...
It would be more welcome if there were really useful coupons. And the advertising wasn't bait and switch for mattresses.
I find the GD coupons useful
I clip coupons (about one-third each from the GD, the sunday paper, and coupons.com). I also shop strategically for sale items, and by doing that I typically save between 20-33% off reg retail on all my grocery bills. I don't have a big system or a file folder full of hundreds of coupons - just clip the coupons I think I might use and keep them in one of those clip-on-the-grocery-cart wallets.
I estimate that coupons alone save me about $500/year.
And occasionally I manage a big win - yesterday I paid $0.44 cents for $29.89 of groceries at CVS (milk, kashi cereal/granola bars, nuts) *and* got a dollar off my next purchase. (That's really unusual though - so I'm totally taking advantage of this thread to brag).
Sorry for all people that hate GD - I actually called them multiple times to get delivery restarted when the local guy stopped doing our stretch of street a few months ago.
Coupon
I'm a big coupon person too but I rarely find anything in GD that is useful or doesn't require me to buy 10 cans of something to save any money. Hard to justify six cans of soup to save 50 cents for one person (me!)
I, too, am a big CVS Coupon person. I do the same thing you do.. I get so much stuff for pennies sometimes. I always wait for the weekly email coupons to shop at CVS.. I save so much.
Ouch! don't know what kind of coupons you're getting...
...that are $0.50 off of six cans, but those aren't the ones I typically see in my circulars. Sure - $X off of two of something, but that's about as silly as it gets. (Seriously, who the hell needs to buy two dozen eggs at a time except at Easter?)
Also, we get the GD on Thursday and its really useful to get circulars for all the local stores right before the new 'sale week' starts on Fri/Sun. In this part of town all the stores are roughly equally convenient, so what's on sale where week-to-week makes a big difference - anywhere from $10-25 a week.
What's your address?
I'm certain many of us could help fill in the gaps when they skip your street.
Thanks - got them to start it back up
But if you're really less bothered by driving to someone else's neighborhood to leave extra circulars than by picking up a plastic bag and throwing it in the trash if you don't want it, I'm not suprised you get so worked up over first-world problems like this. ;)
first world problems
such as systemic waste and pollution and pointlessly large carbon footprints are things that impact everybody
Buy one less cell phone every decade
Or take one less plane trip in your life, and you will more than make up for a lifetime of circulars and papers.
I'm always chagrined by how cluelessly self-righteous people can be about green issues. Personal electronics have a far greater impact on the environment than paper (not that I'm an abstainer in that dept - I develop sw for mobile/ubiquitous platforms!)
That's nice dear
Some of us have to use these devices (smartphones and planes) to do our jobs.
We don't need to play "hunt the piece of crap in a red bag" every week when we don't want the crap in the red bag to begin with. It isn't about being ecologically conscious - it is about an intrusive pain in the ass, wasted crap in bags, and wasted time.
but...but...
this post isnt about the minutes to a meeting?? are you feeling ok?
Globe Direct is a criminally negligent safety hazard
If I slip and fall on one of the many slippery Globe Direct bags sprinkled around the sidewalk and stairs, I'm going to own the entire Globe company and the Red Sox, by the time my lawyers are through with that bastard.
Hint: Jurors hate Globe Direct too.
Thanks Adam
Guess what I was planning on doing tonight? Now I've got a direct link.
Here's the thing, I've defended these guys on your board, but the thing that set me off was when they started tossing TWO copies under the car in the driveway. I even tried leveraging my daily subscription as a means to get it to stop, but they are more interested in being sadistic pricks (I was complaining every week, so they doubled up one week) than keeping me as a customer.
The worst part is, I like getting the ads with the Thursday paper, but I prefer not getting yanked around by the Globe and it's subsidiaries.
I plan on being very verbose, even mentioning supervisor Paul Pelland by name (I have his work number if you want it posted, Adam.)
Thanks, but ...
As I mentioned in the post, we haven't gotten one of these things in months, thanks to the BBB complaint (grr, did I just jinx things?)
Maybe it worked for all of us?
I no longer get them in West Medford. I'm not getting them in the mailbox either. I don't know if they actually put me on a Do Not Throw list (and are abiding by it) or if they couldn't find enough advertisers to make it worth sending the guy out around here. (Which would be surprising.)
Perhaps when enough people on a street complain they just cut the street entirely.
in Rozzy
They have stopped on my street near Rozzy Sq. but only after City Councillor McCarthy and others held a special meeting of the Council to call them to account as a littering nuisance. Their formula is this: if you are a former subscriber to the Globe, you will receive GD, even if you don't want to. If you are a current subscriber, you already get the Thursday ads. It is not possible to unsubscribe. It's part of GD's 85% saturation plan to get both current subscribers and former subscribers, without making the actual effort to subscribe.
I have to disagree with you
What changed my mind on the GD situation was getting 2 baggies in the driveway in the afternoon after getting the ads in my paper on the front walk in the morning.
In short, they don't care if you're a subscriber or not.
Really?
I thought that their formula is "carpet bomb every neighborhood with as many ad bombs as possible in as short a time as possible".
They don't seem to care that neither my holly tree, my rhododendron, or my bayberry read what is in the bag (the arbor vitae might take a peek, but I'm not sure).
Print journalism is kept alive by....
Anybody, anybody? Buehler? (Just throw them in the recycling bin and don't harass the poor guy that gets paid to deliver papers to your door at 4am.)
Nice try, Mr. Henry
People who don't subscribe to the Globe don't care about paying for John Henry's yacht. And those of us who do subscribe don't want these things piling up when we're on vacation or during the winter and don't want to have to worry about finding them in the creative locations they're thrown.
Thought you guys meant the inserts
That does sound annoying, but again print journalism is holding on to dear life by ad dollars. No point in going "Hey man, John Henry is rich, why does he need the money?" Do you want there to be print journalism or not? We've seen the slow death spiral for years, as the quality keeps dropping. Someone has to do the actual journalism for "internet journalists" to link to. (There, you made me say it.) And don't pull the old "but when I go on vacation" false drama. Talk to you neighbors and problem solved.
Not my job to keep the Globe in business
Really, you're trying a guilt trip for some bag of crap that is thrown at random places on your property on random days of the week? That's really all that's standing between the Fourth Estate and lives of despair living in cardboard boxes under highway ramps?
Given that Globe Direct has a separate corporate structure and is located in another part of the state, I'm betting whatever profits it makes don't flow to the newsroom anyway. But just in case I'm wrong, I still don't care. Annoying large numbers of people is no way to stay in business.
And it sounds like you've never had to deal with a) this thing (and worse) getting flung on your property, b) trying to get it stopped.
Don't worry, I'm not calling for the Globe to go out of business
It's possible to want the Globe to survive - but to cut out the crap of forcing something on people they don't want.
What if I want the Globe to go belly up?
Look, much like the rest of Boston, I move to the Herald. They are the fish wrapper that cares about the unsolved homicides in the city. If the Globe goes belly up, we still have one more daily newspaper than New Orleans does.
The downfall of the Globe has a lot to do with industry trends, but the company itself has shot itself in the foot several times. They almost partnered with monster.com but passes. Remember when boston.com was a go to source for news, one of the most popular news sources on the Internet? Now it is a joke.
The Globe drove me, a subscriber, from them due to the ad baggies. I got sick of going under my car to fish them out. I got sick picking up 2 baggies a week when I got the ads already.
I used to be like you
And the poor woman who delivers the Globe at 6 AM is great, but this is the guy who comes in the middle of the afternoon, on a day that is not regular, and doesn't care if you want them or not.
Perhaps if the Globe decides to leave a print edition of the daily on every person's property, we can talk, but as it is, the Globe is antoganizing people with these, as evidenced by my cancellation of the paper over this.
When they were delivered by mail, things were better, but now they are being asshats about it.
My favorite part of late
My favorite part of late-stage capitalism is the enthusiastic advocacy that shows up in every discussion about advertising. Adblockers are theft! TiVo can't fast-forward through commercials! Globe Direct has a god-given right to make its way to your front porch!
I assume you're studiously reading every billboard you see on your drive to work, and you never turn off the little TVs in the back of every taxi? Those advertisers paid for your eyeballs, and if you're ignoring them, your inattention is driving those poor souls out of business.
Quality of the advertising in the packets could be improved.
Quality of the advertising in the packets could be improved. The packets would be welcome in more homes and would result in more sales.
Communicating information through advertising does serve a common good. How the artwork and writing are appreciated is the question. For example, the packets' coupon booklets include information about products.
see also
The Crazy Ones
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crazy_Ones#Cast
https://goo.gl/X8CV7j
https://www.google.com/search?q="The+Crazy+Ones"&ie=utf-8&tbm=vid
Edward Bernays. Joseph Goebbels
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays#Recognition_and_criticism
can somebody explain to me
How it isn't trespassing for them to do all this globe direct nonsense?
Trespassing, Littering, Lewdness — There Must Be Something
Two publications packets... "Savings Central" "Globe Direct"
Advocate for including more useful coupons and improving the advertising getting rid of bait and switch type come ons like for mattresses
http://www.globedirectmail.com/
There are separate Globe Media publications packets. One is "Savings Central".
Another packet is "Globe Direct"... paul.pelland at globe.com is one of the lead people to get in touch with when Globe Circulation call center mechanisms fail as usual
http://www.prc.gov/docs/83/83296/Response_NEMG%20to%20NOI%20No.%201.pdf
A different lead person at Globe Media for the "Savings Central" publications packet can be contacted... robert.saurer at globe.com or timothy.borton at globe.com or jason.kissell at globe.com
There are other lead people to contact at Globe Media that can take charge of sorting out concerns
http://www.bostonglobemedia.com/
see also cancel/signup
tel 888-694-5623
https://twitter.com/globedirect
https://services.bostonglobe.com/cs/sccancel.aspx
https://services.bostonglobe.com/cs/sczip.aspx
email
direct at globe.com
savingscentral at globe.com
rdempsey at globe.com
Any other results of note from web searches?...
Next. Stay tuned to take on radio advertising!...
Didn't the City Council
Didn't the City Council have a meeting about this? What was the result?
Searching Minutes. Boston City Council. Cambridge City Council.
Try
Boston City Council
http://www.cityofboston.gov/cityclerk/citycouncil/meetings.asp
Cambridge City Council
https://www.cambridgema.gov/cityclrk/citycouncilmeetingminutes
or
https://goo.gl/qmjnBi
https://www.google.com/search?q="globe+direct"+site%3Acityofboston.gov
https://goo.gl/f1o7AT
https://www.google.com/search?q="globe+direct"+site%3Acambridgema.gov
Request the more complete Stenograph Record by email and/or Full Text Transcript of Captions for the Deaf Community, for all folks on Webcasts/Cablecasts of Boston City Council, email
michelle.wu at boston.gov
Two different Stenographers record each Public Meeting for the Stenographic Record and for Captioning on Webcasts. Both budgeted with public funds, see page 359 at
http://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/14%20Non-Mayoral%20Departme...
I get Globe Direct along with the rest of my junk mail...
...in my mailbox, sans plastic bag.
you should contact the feds
about that offense, since presumably it isn't being carried via USPS
Not an offense
At least in my neighborhood: the USPS is the one with the key to my mailbox, so I'd bet that it is being carried by them.
And I suspect they hate it as much as I do based on how badly they shove it in with my regular mail. Or at least the mail deliverer doesn't have a technique for putting it in.
*shrug*
i would have to assume
That the people that are most upset by this are the ones that are just having them effectively discarded on their property? That is why I thought they weren't being delivered by USPS.
It turns out I have no idea what is going on
I don't get it either
I can't figure out where it's delivered and where it's tossed onto property by 3rd party companies. I'm in JP, but other parts of JP have it thrown onto property (I think).
I can only speak to my situation, in this situation. ;-)
Mine is delivered by USPS...
... but I don't live in Boston or Cambridge. I can see the "Postal Customer 02472" printed on the cover. If GlobeDirect shifts from paying the postage for Watertown, believe me, I'll be on that BBB site immediately -- since they'll likely throw two in the driveway and one on the front steps (and none on my neighbor's steps).
Like Jeff F, I use the grocery ads to check for sales, so that I'm not paying $5/12 Diet Pepsi. But most of the packet ends up in the recycling -- I don't have a pet, I don't eat at Dominos, yadda yadda yadda. And for the mailed version, it doesn't include a CVS or Walgreens flyer, just Rite Aid.
For the people saying "you'll kill the Globe", well, yes, that is ENTIRELY the point.
Valassis, Smart Source Magazine coupons, Redplum coupons.
Valassis coupons, Smart Source Magazine coupons, Redplum coupons included in Globe Media "Globe Direct" and "Savings Central" publications packets
http://www.prc.gov/docs/83/83296/Response_NEMG%20to%20NOI%20No.%201.pdf
see also
http://www.prc.gov/
Check out the very tiny print along the left edge of the outer page of the coupon booklets, the Smart Source Magazine coupons, the Redplum coupons included in Globe Media packets.
There are folks that save a buck going through the coupons. The advertising packet could be given a better presentation than an unreadable badly designed plastic sleeve.
Not in my zip code.
None of those three are included in my zip. Globe Direct seems to do a decent job of targeting the packet to the stores that are actually in my area (except for Christmas Tree Shops, which is over in Somerville, I think).
I tell ya
This is how I got Globe Direct to stop coming.
I went into Market Basket and filled out a form to have their flyer mailed to me. 3 weeks later I got an envelope addressed to ME with just their flyer (its the only one I really wanted anyways). And *poof* Globe Direct has stopped being delivered to my house... (yet is still being delivered everywhere else)
Here's the response from my BBB complaint:
And another contact. I've tried several times to get them to stop this.
the business provided the following information:
Apologies for the inconvenience. I will be sure that your addresses is added to our Do Not Deliver list if it is not on there already.
It does take a week or two to reconcile in our system. If deliveries continue please email me directly at [email protected]
How well does Globe Customer Services sort out things?...
How well does Globe Customer Services sort out things?
http://bostonglobe.custhelp.com/
Not well
I complained so often they eventually stopped replying to me. It was okay at first, when the baggies stopped coming, but then they started again.
You're better off griping to random people on the Red Line.
I got the exact same response
I just want to know why I should believe Pelland after 10 previous requests not to deliver.
Names of some of the carriers' companies?...
Names of some of the deliverers'/carriers' companies?, Names of companies that are delivery services vendors?, names of companies that are delivery services contractors? to Globe Media or Globe.
I emailed them and they stopped
I emailed [email protected] and asked them to stop delivering to my address, they stopped.
Gddelivery?
I think the G D might have multiple meanings.
"Savings Central"
The head of the Savings Central product is mary.kelly at globe.com
Questions or concerns in regarding delivery of the product, the head of Saving Central delivery is mark.tibbetts at globe.com
see also
http://acilastmile.com/about-us/keith-somers/
Advocate for better designed ads and more useful coupons!... get rid of the bait and switch advertising, for example mattresses.
>"globedirect Needs delivery Service Providers. Earn $100 or more working on Thursdays 1-888-665-2667 http://www.acidistribute.com
>"December 24, 2015 Globe direct In association with redplum Published by Globe Direct, LLC a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Boston Globe"
>"Globe direct. Which Includes Your Valuable Savings from redplum, sweeten the deal, Temporarily Back In The Mail.
>"Attention. To guarantee uninterrupted delivery of your weekly GlobeDirect package in the upcoming months, the United States Postal Service will temporarily begin GlobeDirect delivery to your home on December 31, 2015.
>"Your porch delivery will resume in the spring of 2016. To report delivery issues or to unsubscribe call 800-591-8802 or email direct at globe.com
>"GD111458"