How useful are Yellow Pages?

[Coldicote]

It's the time of year when Yellow Pages are appearing on people's doorsteps all over the place - whether they want them or not. They are bigger and heavier than other kinds of directory advertising; recycling people don't want them and probably tons go to landfill. Mine go straight in the bin. There are plenty of other sources of information about businesses and services. What do ABERs think?

[Jenufa]

I think you are absolutely right. My biggest bugbear is that I can't recycle them and I HATE putting them in the bin, given that I recycle everything from junk mail to can/bottle labels. Surely the advertisers in Yellow Pages can't change that much from year to year so if anyone wants one then why not do it by way of subscription then those that want them can have them and those that don't can not have the worry of disposing of them.

[Whickerman]

I think it's a bloody priceless reference.

Why can't you recycle them btw? You can here.

[gucciman]

we advertise our gas services in the yellow pages and get most of our work from it, its priceless to us, beats all other sources of advertising

[theonlyone]

I never use yellow pages and they dump it on the step
some places have a y/p bin and they shred it for animal bedding .This must be part of the BT rip off and upset the customer regime..

[Coldicote]

There are obviously two points of view here - business for advertisers on the one hand and annoyance to people who don't want YPs on the other. I wouldn't mind if we had an option whether to receive them or not. Does anyone know where to make representation about it? Personally, if I couldn't find a service I wanted locally I'd look to my County Council's Approved Trader list.

[lou 26]

i never use mine. it gets thrown in the drawer, old one gets thrown out. I always look on the internet for phone numbers. Its only in the drawer in case i have a dodgy internet connection, lol. The recycling guys wont take them here either, its always a battle with them *sigh*

[meglet]

Thing is, don't companies have to pay more to get their advert online as well? I only ask as whenever I do an online search there's never that many results.

Having said that, maybe the YP should stop printing them and spend the resultant cost savings on putting everyone online!

[Ice.Maiden]

I always throw mine straight in the bin.

[mrs_overall]

Have a look at www.yellow-woods.co.uk.
All the schools I know take part each year - there is a prize for the school that collects the most yellow pages, and they are recycled for a good cause.

[Hermia]

I hate the blooming things. I live in a tiny studio flat and the YP and the phone book just take up much needed room and I never open them. I just use the online versions and I don't use them often. If I want a tradesman I usually try and find a trade association or other website that can actually recommend someone.