October 18, 2008
Examining Your Delivery Problems
It's something that's been a Washingtonian issue since way back in 2005, but one which has never gotten resolved: if you don't want the Examiner delivered to your home, how do you stop it? Recently, members from the Cleveland Park listserv have taken up the task of trying to figure out exactly how to cease the unwanted circulation of the ubiquitous free daily, claiming that the paper is overly wasteful and an easy indicator of who is on extended vacations in the neighborhood.
They provide some simple schemes, but most fall short.
Calling the Examiner directly to complain? Best of luck. (The number's 703-839-8320, if you've got some time on your hands you're just looking to kill.)
Attempting to get the Mayor's office involved? Trust us, they already know. In fact, Gilberto Solano, the Community Outreach and Services Coordinator for the Mayor's Office of Community Relations and Services told listserv recipients that the Mayor's Office wants you to keep forwarding those concerns to him. (Although what they're doing with that big collection of angry emails is anyone's guess.)
But if you really want to get a taste of some good ol' fashioned consumer protest, one listserv respondent had some modicum of triumph with this idea:
I had some success last year in calling the Examiner's circulation department and telling them I would contact their advertisers to inform them I would NOT patronize them because of the Examiner's obnoxious insistence in delivering where it's not wanted.
But of course, even with his hit-them-in-the-pocketbook strategy, this unwilling subscriber was once again unwillingly subscribing to the Examiner within a few months. If you're looking for a more minimalist approach, you might be better off taking a cue from the above photo by sophiagrrl and exercising a bit of well-placed repetition. Feel free to enlighten us in the comments if you've got any success stories of your own.
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I had success filing a complaint with the DC Better Business Bureau.
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I called the number and they stopped showing up for a while. Later when they began to reappear I waited for the delivery guy to show up and stopped his car.
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yeah, i think you have to get in touch with the delivery person, and raise a stink directly with them.
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Gee, I'd love to have the Examiner delivered to me.
But the Examiner has redlined my predominately Black area. No delivery. The very few street boxes around never have copies. No copies at the nearest Metro station.
With so many newspapers whining about losing readers and money, you'd think they would deliver papers to the people who want them, rather than the people who don't want the paper. Not the Examiner, however.
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Ironically, I'm outside the Examiner delivery area as well. The photo is from Georgetown... Have they ever explained clearly their redlining strategy?
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pretty ironic that a paper is hated by those in the area it targets, and is wanted by some in the area it shuns.
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Yes I called about getting it delivered, and they said sorry- not a white enough neighborhood.
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I lived in Cleveland Park and actually had pretty good success with leaving a milk crate at the end of my sidewalk. I'd throw the paper in there every day. "Yes, I see you delivered this. No, its not coming into my house." The delivery man started putting them in the bin for me, and eventually stopped even leaving one. So for the price of keeping a box of Examiners on my lawn, I stopped getting any more.