Letter to Vancouver Sun re: Phone Books

The following letter in response to this gushing advertorial (on page 3 of the April 9th edition) in the Vancouver Sun was never published. Gee, I wonder why.

Dear Editor,

Re: One big phone book makes a comeback, April 9

Let me ask the obvious question of your readers. When was the last time YOU used a paper phone directory?

Yellow Pages trots out this spurious stat, “50 per cent of people who look for numbers online will also look at the printed directory.” Does that mean they’ll glance at the heap of paper and ink collecting dust, or actually pick it up and read it?

At least 2 companies are outsourced for phone directories (Yellow Page and Can Pages) and each year both brag about how they’re improving their books to meet customer needs. Someone supposedly told them they want the books to be even bigger.

The amount of waste created and numbers of trees felled for this “product enhancement” boggles the mind.

It is time to put the brakes on leaving directories on our doorsteps without our permission first. A phone book “opt-in” requirement should have been put in place years ago. Just stick a survey question in my next phone bill.

But since they insist on dropping off copies at my door, do me a favour and put it right into my Blue Box, which is where they go as soon as they arrive anyway.

Yours,

Mike Klassen