Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › RANT: Leaving “advertisements” in my driveway
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June 12, 2009 at 11:20 pm #591210
BogieParticipantA few minutes ago, I came home and found what I thought to be litter in my driveway. Not the first time it’s happened, however when I picked it up, I noticed it was a baggie with rocks and a folded piece of paper in it. At first I just threw it away, then I looked down the street… every driveway had the same thing in it: A baggie with a piece of paper and rocks, about a foot from the street.
I couldn’t believe it! Since when does littering our neighborhood pass for advertising. I’m not a fan of door hangers, but at least people see those and throw them away. I bet half of the people who receive these won’t even realize it is an advertisement.
I grabbed my baggie from the trash and called the company and left them a admittedly rude message expressing my feelings about their advertising ways and informing them that I will never allow anyone I know to use their service.
The details: I live on 18th Ave near SSCC. The compnay is Crystal Bright Cleaning Service.
Did anyone else receive these?
June 12, 2009 at 11:22 pm #669665
MargLMemberlol – at least they didn’t throw the rock thru your window then offer to clean it up :-)
June 13, 2009 at 2:03 am #669666
MargLMemberOh – I just walked down to the end of my drive and found one, too. My husband must have drove over it when he left for work this morning ’cause it’s kinda chewed up. Their number goes straight to voice mail. The headline on my ‘ad’ was “Perfect Cleaning Servise” Must say with the care and attention to detail they apply to promoting themselves makes me hesitant to ask them to come into my home and provide ‘servise’.
June 13, 2009 at 2:25 am #669667
StringCheeseParticipantThey littered up 12th Ave as well. I also called and left a very “blunt” message. My guess is they hired people to distribute fliers. Not wanting to leave the comfort of their car, they simply tossed these rock filled baggies on the sidewalks, streets, driveways..
I’ve never seen anything like it.
June 13, 2009 at 5:36 am #669668
ellenaterMemberYa they were all over in Gatewood this morning. I went for a very long walk and they were on every street. That is just crass business at this point.
June 13, 2009 at 6:21 am #669669
WSBKeymasterFunny – the only time I’ve ever heard of that flyer-delivering modus operandi was in connection with distribution of racist literature in several Western Washington areas outside King County – we did news stories on this kind of thing years ago.
June 13, 2009 at 6:41 am #669670
MargLMemberI Googled “flyers in bags with rocks” just for fun. Apparently this is not new! There’s also a website that details the math (investment vs. return) of marketing your business this way! :-O
June 13, 2009 at 6:57 am #669671
lazybeardParticipantGrowing up outside of Sacramento, we’d get random fliers this way. I don’t think I ever once looked at it though, always went directly into the trash.
June 13, 2009 at 8:03 am #669672
KevinParticipantSame thing happened in the Arbor Heights area. Same company. I think I’m going to give them a “call” and ask them to come out and do an estimate.
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If enough folks “waste” their time, they will get the message.
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I used to get marketing calls from a local home improvement company for about a 10 year period. They would call about 3 or 4 times per year, and each time I would politely ask them to take my number off of their list.
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Finally, I had enough and when they asked if I needed vinyl siding, I told them I would love to have an estimate. The owner himself came out and I walked him all around the house while he wrote up an estimate.
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A week later, the same company calls me again and wants to know if I need new windows. I said of course I do, and the owner came out a second time. He was surprised that his people had not asked me about windows when they called me the first time, but was still happy to write an estimate.
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A week later the company calls me again and wanted to know if I needed a new roof. Of course I need a new roof, I told them.
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So here comes the owner / salesman out for a THIRD visit. This time I asked him if he didn’t think it was kind of strange that here he was, coming out for a third visit?
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He told me “not at all.” He said he figured I was finally ready to buy, and that is why he came out again. I politely told him about the 10 years of calling and the failure of his people to take my number off their list.
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As the saying goes – “third times a charm.” I have not heard from them in several years now :)
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June 13, 2009 at 8:44 am #669673
JoBParticipantJune 13, 2009 at 11:17 am #669674
aunteesocialParticipantI thought it was illegal to distribute plastic baggies with crystalline white rocks(?), yet they were all over the neighborhood. And yes, the rocks were white- I was lucky too to receive a baggie in my driveway. Wonder what the street value is??
June 13, 2009 at 9:07 pm #669675
BogieParticipantGlad to hear I’m not the only person offended by this advertising method.
MargL – I think I ran mine over pulling into the driveway. I would think the cost of the rocks and baggies would be more than the profit from business!
Kevin – Very awesome method. I wish I had the time to make them come out! The number was 425, so not likely they are local.
June 15, 2009 at 6:22 am #669676
ellenaterMemberI sold mine in the Junction to some high school kids.
June 16, 2009 at 6:02 pm #669677
HammertreeMemberCould not help but to confront the advertiser/litterer- large baby boomer in an SUV with Oregon plates. Explained to him that the word is out that this sort of advertising is not appreciated. He did not care at all and continued on. I tryed!
June 16, 2009 at 6:28 pm #669678
CMParticipantI called and asked for an extimate for them to clean up the mess they left all over West Seattle. They did not seem interested.
June 16, 2009 at 8:14 pm #669679
CroweMemberYou all could pool all the baggies full of rocks and deliver them to the business that is doing this. :O)
June 16, 2009 at 8:26 pm #669680
MargLMemberOddly enough there are 2 businesses in Renton licensed with the same name – so I’m not sure which address we should deliver them to! ;-)
June 16, 2009 at 8:46 pm #669681
CroweMemberDivide and conquer!!
June 17, 2009 at 6:04 am #669682
KBearParticipant…and now they have littered up driveways in the Junction area.
June 17, 2009 at 7:55 am #669683
ws4everMemberSeems that bags still in driveways day after day might encourage thieves to think someone is on vacation. Don’t know where I read this, but is there a connection between litter and crime? I pick up trash on my dog walks, figuring it makes the neighborhood safer!
June 17, 2009 at 2:37 pm #669684
MrJTMember1-866-Litter1…..Get the plates turn em in.
June 17, 2009 at 9:46 pm #669685
carrieannMemberI was going to chime in with a complaint that we’d gotten some (42nd & Andover — one in our front parking strip area and another in our back alley parking area) as well, but I noticed they used some lovely white rocks, which I tore open the bag to get, tossed the fliers without looking at them and gave my daughter the rocks to add to her rock garden. :D
June 17, 2009 at 10:41 pm #669686
KBearParticipantOverheard at the Crystal Bright Cleaning Service management team strategy session…
General Manager: “With the high price of gas this summer, it just won’t be profitable for us to take on jobs outside the Renton metro area. How can we make sure we don’t end up working in far-flung places like West Seattle?”
Marketing Director: “I think I have a solution…”
June 17, 2009 at 11:50 pm #669687
carlsweetlandMemberHi,
They are here on the 3200 block of 51st. Police are only inerested if there is a large volume…since they are all over West Seattle, I think we’ve hit that.
My wife called them and got a voice mail. I like the above strategy of wasting their time. For those that need their number: Crystal Bright Cleaning Service: 425-228-0446
Now they need to brighten West Seattle.
June 18, 2009 at 2:58 am #669688
MargLMemberOh interesting! The flyer I got was for “Perfect Cleaning Servise” (seriously, ‘Servise’) different phone number – but it is in the 425 area code.
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