Kleenze, Betterware catalogues etc...

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DotNetWebs

  • #1
    What are your thoughts on people putting unsolicited catalogues through your front door?

    This thread on my Horsham Forum site amused me.

    Kleeneze, Betterware etc...

    Ernie works nights and is fed up of getting catalogues thorough his door because the agents persist in knocking on the door, waking him up and asking for them back. He has put them in the bin because he is fed up of asking for them to stop.

    Mr Kleenze accuse Ernie of being Victor Meldrew for doing this. He also says that the sign on Ernies door that says "Door To Door Sales - Please Don't Ring" does not apply to him

    Who is right, should you be expected to return a catalogue that you have not asked for?

    Would you / have you run a Kleeneze business?
     
    Rachael

    Rachael

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    Jun 6, 2004
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  • #2
    I think it's a complete waste of time. Half the books we get shoved through the door the people don't even bother coming back to collect the books and orders anyway - you can just tell that they've spent the whole day walking around and realised just what hard work it is so give up!!
     
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    L

    Let it ride!

  • #3
    As always there are two sides to every coin - If someone takes the time to learn their area, the people in it, who wants a catalogue and who doesnt they could develop a very efficient business. However people with those skills could be engaged in something that produced far more for their hard work.

    I wouldn't throw someones catalogue away - although if it is unsolicited then I would deem the item as mine to do with what I will - I always leave them on the doorstep.

    Unfortunately the person who suffers will always be the agent who delivers and collects and who ultimately supports these types of business.

    Ian

    [email protected]
    www.smeeuro.com
     
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    M

    mattk

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    Dec 5, 2005
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  • #8
    Mine goes straight in the recycle bin, as it is, of course, junk.

    However, it's a little more serious with Ernie, who obviously is being woken up by these people. I'd put the catalogue in an envelope, writing RETURN TO SENDER on it and addressing it to:

    Kleeneze
    Farepak House
    Westmead Drive
    Westlea
    Swindon
    SN5 7YZ

    SPAM THE SPAMMERS!
     
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    DotNetWebs

  • #9
    Good idea Matt but as kleeneze agents have to buy their catalogues from Kleeneze they would probably just be sold back to the agents again!

    Have a read of the link Ernie posted about being a Kleeneze agent. Apparently it is not unusual for rival agents to go around picking up other agents catalogues to avoid buying some more.
     
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    mattk

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  • #10
    That thread on your site is excellent. Fair play to Ernie! My record is three Kleeneze catalogues in one week from three different agents.

    And my theory is that Kleeneze the parent company, actually make more money form selling catalogues to the agents than they do from selling cleaning products to customers!
     
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    SillyJokes

    SillyJokes

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    Jul 26, 2004
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  • #12
    I think that if something delivered to you insolicited it's yours - this is to prevent companies sending you goods and charging in retrospect if you kept them.

    Therefore the catalogue is yours to do with as you wish and you can't be charged for it.

    Happily for me I live so much out of the way that no door to door reps ever find my house.

    You could save them all up and give them to the next Jehovah's Witnesses that come round.
     
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    DotNetWebs

  • #13
    mattk said:
    And my theory is that Kleeneze the parent company, actually make more money form selling catalogues to the agents than they do from selling cleaning products to customers!
    Click to expand...

    I think you have hit the nail on the head.

    Let It Ride also makes a very good point. If someone is clever enough to make money out off Kleenze they would surely be better of truly working for themselves rather than making commission for their 'sponsors', however many there may be in the chain.
     
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    mattk

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  • #14
    This "letter" appeared in my local rag yesterday, and it amde me laugh. If this person genuinely thinks that Kleeneze will be their pension then they are sorely deluded.

    "It's time to work out a pension alternative

    I AM replying to an article in the Advertiser (SA, July 12) regarding Your Thoughts, in which a survey was done about those approaching retirement age planning to continue working.

    Well I decided to go with the Kleeneze plan, rather than stick with the 45-year plan in which a rather large amount of people are on.

    They leave school at 15, and retire at 65, but as we know employers are extending this retirement gap, so you have to work longer.

    continued...
    Kleeneze is a catalogue distribution company, where you invest into purchasing these catalogues, distributing yourself and earning money straight away. You are running your own business from home.

    Combine this with network marketing, and teach others to put catalogues out and build a customer base on part-time hours. But can you go on to earn a full-time wage, have more spare time, and escape the rat race of modern life?

    This is the best pension plan. I have been doing Kleeneze for eight months now, and I have already noticed a difference in my life.

    I am more positive, and I know this cannot fail if I work at this business for two to five years. I am currently working my way out of my full-time job.

    So if anybody wishes to know more of how this fantastic opportunity can help anyone looking for extra money, or a better lifestyle, then please contact me, Andy, on 01793 471934, and I will gladly send them some info or speak to them directly. Thank you.

    A POWELL Stratton Swindon"

    http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/...ts_time_to_work_out_a_pension_alternative.php
     
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    M

    martinj

  • #15
    Nice of you to quote his telephone number though :) Hope he picked up some extra business as a result. I'm a Swindon local too, and I hate these catalogs. Have never bought from them, after years of receiving and leaving out the catalogs. You'd think that they distributors would realise that the cost in lost catalogs and the extra legwork up and down driveways for zero sales from a customer over a 3 or 4 year period wasn't worth the effort.
     
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  • #17
    Sadly I did Betterware when I was studying at University. I made around £30-£40 profit a week and did it for 3 months. It was a hard slog and a pain in the backside asking for catalogues back. The Betterware ones are supplied foc to you but the Kleeneze ones you have to buy.
    I wouldn't buy anything from them as personally the stuff is way over priced.
     
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    T

    Toon

    Free Member
    Jul 18, 2004
    905
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    NE England
  • #18
    I've done betterware before and you soon learn who wants them and who doesn't but as mentioned above, turnover of staff is high and the list of people who don't want them is not passed over to the new people. Once I knew who the regular customers were I would tend to just post to them and leave the ones who always said they had lost their catalogue etc. With Betterware, the books were free so I didn't mind losing them but I believe Kleeneze charges the distributor about 50p per book.
     
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    DotNetWebs

  • #20
    Toon said:
    Plus, how hard is it for someone just to put the book on their doorstep to avoid being disturbed?
    Click to expand...

    There a couple of points here.

    1.Why should someone have to leave junk mail cluttering up their doorstep for days on end in the vain hope that someone may collect it?

    2.Why should someone have to even consider putting these catalogues out at all if they have repeatedly asked for them to stop?
     
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    rivendell design

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    Jul 24, 2006
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  • #21
    Oh My God! I thought I was the only person in the world who hated this - my other half could not believe the lengths I would go to in order to wind these post box infiltraters up :)
    I find them a complete invasion of your privacy. We don't ask for them, but they keep coming back. They are worse than Jehovas witnesses!

    All the ones I receive go straight into the bin!

    I'm happy now, as I know there are others out there just like me :)

    Steve
     
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  • #22
    As a former agent of kleeneze/current betterware I would advise the following ,from my experience people still order from catalogues even though they have no door to door sales signs so 1.Display a sign saying no kleeneze/betterware catalogues.In regard to disturbing your sleep in theory anyone could do this so 2.Display a sign saying night worker do not disturb. Problem solved!!! Yippee!!!!!!!! and if they still disturb you after that ,then they can't read!!.
     
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    DotNetWebs

  • #23
    Lol the thread on the Horsham Forum has just been revived by Borat! :D

    http://www.horshamforum.com/Topic335-21-4.aspx#bm2196

    Regards

    Dotty

    Ps Empathy people should not have to display a sign saying they are a night worker. You may as well display a sign saying you may break in to my house tonight and rob me blind because I am not at home.

    Pps Empathy as you only ever made one post you wouldn't happen to be a current Kleeneze / Betterware agent would you?
     
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    M

    Morgan

  • #24
    I haven't read the link but we did have a discussion about this on another (non business) forum. I am really suprised that seeing as this is a business forum the amount of people who bin the books/don't give them back. I think it's a bit tight of you to be perfectly honest - they are only trying to make a living like the rest of us. As someone else said how hard is it to leave the book on yourstep the day of collection. As to why should you, why shouldn't you? Give them a break I say!!

    PS - before anyone one asks no I've never done this myself lol!
     
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    DotNetWebs

  • #25
    Because they rarlely come back on the supposed day of collection.

    We are swamped with catalogues around here. Why should we have to leave (usually several) catalogues cluttering up the doormat for days on end?

    Also we ask the agents not to leave them but there is such a high turnover that a new agent comes along every few weeks and starts the whole cycle again.

    Using your analogy I should be free to spam you with unsolicited emails. How hard is it to delete them if you don't want them? ;)

    Regards

    Dotty
     
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    M

    Morgan

  • #26
    No Dotty, I don't think thats the same at all. Its hard work and time consuming to go out in all weathers and deliver the books. It costs them money to buy the books and I think they deliver them in good faith. Fair enough if you have a sign up saying no unsolictored mail/free newspapers/catalouges etc then they shouldn't put them through. I have to say round here they are always picked up on the day they state and I've never been in a position where we've had several cluttering up the doormat.
     
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    DotNetWebs

  • #27
    If you read the all the posts you will see that the OP has a sign that says "no door to door sales" Empathy (Kleeneze agent) says they do not think this applies to them.

    Just because it's hard work and time consuming does not make something right (especially if it is something that they have repeatedly been asked not to do)

    Did you know Kleeneze do not limit the amount of catalogues delivered in each area to a single operator? It is not unusual to have 2 or more agents working the same patch

    If these agents continue to put catalogues through they door, after they have been requested not to, it is fair game to put them in the bin.

    Regards

    Dotty
     
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    S

    .Spiralling.

  • #31
    We had a couple who were running the business together and we generally gave the catalogues back when they asked (unless it had been binned by accident first).

    Then after a few months we got a catalogue from a different couple and there was something we wanted so we placed an order.

    A couple of days later, the same catalogue arrived from the original couple. All hell broke loose when they found out we'd ordered already. They told us off because "they" were our distributors.

    As it happened we sent back what we ordered because it was crap, and I can't remember seeing a catalogue come through the door this year, from either couple.
     
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    Briar

    Free Member
    Aug 5, 2007
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    Devon
  • #32
    Myself and my daughter did Kleeneze for about 1 1/2 years. During that time we made approx £900 net profit. We gave it up because it was extremely hard work, very time consuming and practically impossible to recruit distributors. We were both in full-time jobs at the time and already time starved, we did about 25 hours per week (conservative estimate) of Kleeneze on top of our day jobs. Personally, I went through hundreds of leads at huge cost both in terms of money and time. We decided to bail out before it cost us any more money. There are people who make a reasonable living from it (unfortunately not us!) and I agree that there is a heavy reliance on external motivation to encourage new members. Reention is a big problem, possibly due to the factors mentioned above! We're still in network marketing and we learnt a lot from our Kleeneze experience. One of the big differences now is that we only have to work about one day per week to get better results and it's on-going, residual income.
     
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    H

    Hailey

  • #36
    Hi

    I am a full time Mum and Kleeneze has allowed me to both work (as opposed to sponging from the government) and be at home to take care of the children I chose to have (as opposed to the Government paying someone to look after them).

    I have built up a customer base of 350 customers in my spare time over about 4 months and all households that have requested no further catalogues have not had any hassle from myself. I have people phoning me requesting these catalogues. I sell over £700 a week of stock. I keep good records of the houses that DO and the houses that DONT require further isssues and stick by this religiously. Ironically some of my best customers have "no sales persons" stickers on their doors.

    Kleeneze agents are self employed and unconnected from one another, Kleeneze has no territories so agents can drop where ever they like. Therefore if you keep receiving a catalogue after requesting no further catalogues then other agents have started in your area. The best thing to do would be to stick a no catalogues sign on your door.

    True most agents do not stick it, but those who are not afraid of hard work and stick it out, it pays off in the end. The network marketing side of the industry is far more profitable and exciting than the retail side of things.
     
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    DotNetWebs

  • #37
    Hailey said:
    ..Therefore if you keep receiving a catalogue after requesting no further catalogues then other agents have started in your area.
    Click to expand...

    This happens every couple of months. Probably just enough time for the new agent to find out what it can be like to work for Kleeneze in a saturated area:

    Kleeneze Catalogue Review

    Hailey said:
    The best thing to do would be to stick a no catalogues sign on your door.
    Click to expand...

    Why should we have to out ANOTHER sign on the door :mad:

    Regards

    Dotty
     
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    S

    .Spiralling.

  • #38
    Hailey said:
    Hi

    I am a full time Mum and Kleeneze has allowed me to both work (as opposed to sponging from the government) and be at home to take care of the children I chose to have (as opposed to the Government paying someone to look after them).
    Click to expand...

    You know what, I'm a Mum too, and I neither sponge off the Government, nor receive any help from the Government to pay for the childcare I need for the child I chose to have. Nor do I put unwanted catalogues through people's door.

    Hailey said:
    The best thing to do would be to stick a no catalogues sign on your door.

    True most agents do not stick it,
    Click to expand...

    Then what's the point if by your own admission, Kleeneze agents do not have the courtesy to adhere to a homeowner's wishes? A sign saying "no catalogues" means no catalogues, or are we expected to list by name every catalogue we do not wish to receive?
     
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    DotNetWebs

  • #39
    As much as I despise doorstep catalogue companies, to be fair to Hailey, I think the "do not stick it" comment meant that the agents do not stick at Kleeneze very long (rather than ignoring the catalogues).

    The fact that they "do not stick it" very long is the main problem. You tell one agent that you don't want a catalogue but shortly after they realise that a Kleeneze round is not worth the effort and give up. They do pass on your request and very soon you are receiving unwanted catalogues again.

    Hailey has admitted that the marketing side is more interesting than being an agent itself. By the amount of Pro-Kleeneze comments she has already made on this forum she is clearly on a recruiting drive. The problem, as with any pyramid - sorry, MLM scheme is that the people at the bottom are being exploited to pay for those further up the pyramid - sorry line. This leads to a high turnover at the bottom and hence the difficulty in stopping the catalogues.

    In the 21st century we can legally stop unwanted mail, telephone calls and (in theory at least) emails. Why can we not stop these catalogues. Kleeneze agents admit that they ignore the standard "no door to door sales" sticker. Why should be have to pepper our doors with multiple stickers just to stop this junk and help those at the top of the pyramid - sorry line, get rich at the expense of those beneath them? :mad:

    Regards

    Dotty
     
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    H

    Hailey

  • #40
    Lol I am not stupid enough to go on a recruiting drive on this forum. Most are obviously anti Kleeneze and mlm. This is the response to this business 99% of the time. I am just trying to get across that there are genuine Kleeneze distributors out there that are running a proper business, provide a good service and do not go around pestering everyone. I have a small team built up and all have approached me via advertising on search engines, shop windows ect.

    I have posted pro Kleeneze comments on here because this is a forum and I thought a balanced view would be appreciated. Many of my customers are elderly and cannot get out of their homes in order to get the products I deliver free to their doors. Short of knocking on every door and annoying you further, how else do I determine who wants to buy from my catalogue? I have streets with 5 to 10 houses in a row that all order regularly from me. If people are going to order then I am going to go after the business. I do not bother anyone who has requested no further catalogues.
     
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