Door-to-Door Marketing: Dropping Charges

Public complaints about door-drops are nothing new, but with more of them turning into lawsuits the industry needs to act. David Reed reports

My dog's got no nose. How does it smell? Like a nice, juicy compensation claim. Consumers may no longer be joking when they believe they have suffered harm as a result of marketing activity. Instead, they may pursue personal injury claims and look for compensation from brand-owners and their agents.

Signs of this growing litigious nature could be found late last year when a couple entered a claim against Safeway over an injury to their pet dachshund. As most marketers will be aware, there is already a steady trickle of such complaints, some of which turn into lawsuits. But, encouraged by 'no win, no fee' lawyers, could this be about to turn into a flood?

Andrew Higgs, operations director at Tri-Direct, says: "Compensation claims are all part of the 'tripped on the pavement' society."

Local councils have seen a dramatic rise in the number of claims for injuries supposedly caused by tripping on broken paving stones. But Graham Dodd, managing director of The Letterbox Consultancy, says: "You get a flurry of things, then they go away again."

Door-to-door (D2D) distribution companies have every reason to hope this is the case, since they are the most public face of the marketing chain. It is their distributors putting items through the letterbox that could be the focus of further complaints.

And it is one such leaflet that could be the trigger for further actions. Last year, a Devon-based couple, Gordon and Susan Musselwhite, made a case in the small-claims court that their pet dog, Muffin, had been partially paralysed after jumping up to grab a Safeway leaflet from the letterbox.

The couple clearly had concerns about the behaviour of their two dogs – and an apparent enmity towards marketing. They had placed a postbox at the end of their drive, installed an alarm that sounded when anybody set foot on the drive, and posted warnings about dogs being loose.

The leaflet was described by the claimants as "junk mail" which had been left half in, half out of the letterbox. They were looking for #2,826.65 compensation for the injuries suffered by their dog.

In court this January the case was dismissed by the judge, who said it was not reasonably foreseeable that a dog could jump up and injure itself as a result of the leaflet being put through the door. Safeway was not found responsible for any negligence (PM January 23).

But the failed case raises a number of important issues. The first is that the couple pursued Safeway, although the leaflet was distributed by The National Leaflet Company. The second is the clear hostility towards marketing demonstrated by the couple. With opt-out levels already rising, this is a potentially explosive combination for brand- owners undertaking D2D distribution.

At the main distribution companies, there is a wry acknowledgement that some consumers will try to get compensation for real – or imagined – damage they have suffered. But there is also a serious recognition that D2D deliveries have to be executed to the highest possible standard.

"There is an enormous amount of care and education, particularly by free newspapers, in terms of training," says Mark Young, managing director of The Leaflet Company.

Great emphasis is placed on ensuring items are pushed through the letterbox fully, since a half-in, half-out delivery could encourage burglary if the items remain in that position for several days.

"This is a rare incident. If you count up every solus distributor, Royal Mail, and the free newspapers, there are 100,000-plus distributors at work. You couldn't expect everybody in the industry to guarantee it wouldn't happen. But it's one of the most important points made during induction," he says.

His company has had its share of damage claims. In one case, an antique shop said that a Ming vase had been broken as a result of a leaflet being pushed through the letterbox. The Leaflet Company employed its own insurance investigator, who concluded that the item would have had to have been shot through the letterbox at an impossible angle to result in the alleged accident.

"We do get very few complaints, but the most common is about sampling," says Young. Any sample has to be packaged in accordance with the industry's code of practice, and is also rigorously tested to ensure it is safe.

"We haven't had any complaints on samples for over two years. But now we won't touch anything with a trace of nuts in it. We couldn't take the risk if one person died, so we made the grown-up decision not to handle them," he says. This resulted directly in a loss of business, not least from Jordan's. But the liability was seen as too great.

Circular Distributors managing director Nick Wells says: "We have not had any increase in claims over the past five years. We often have chancers trying it on. There are also going to be genuine claims, such as a broken letterbox – then we cough up."

Occasional attempts to claim for imaginary accidents are described by Wells as "a minor nuisance which doesn't cause us a huge problem. It is easy to spot spurious claims".

To reduce the risk, distributors are told to ensure items have been pushed fully through the letterbox and to never to leave anything on the doorstep.

Circular Distributors has pioneered mechanisms to deliver what could be the most perilous of samples: razor blades and light-bulbs. These involve leaving an empty bag on day one, which the householder then has to leave hanging outside the door on day two to get the sample. "We didn't get a single complaint from millions of samples of razor blades," says Wells.

In most cases, samples are so well packaged even adults find them hard to open, let alone children or pets. And even claims for supposed damage to property or letterboxes are at a very low level. "I am not lying awake at night worrying about this issue," says Wells.

Link Direct handles the distribution of many bulky items, such as Yellow Pages, and potentially difficult samples like Kallo petfood. The experience of working on these kind of projects helps to ensure that all items are delivered to a high standard.

"We have to be very careful. We wouldn't put anything through the letterbox that a child could open," says marketing director Edward Fulbrook.

With directories, items are never left in plain view. They are either put in a hidden place, with a card telling the householder where to find them, left with a neighbour, or a card is dropped off with a number to call to arrange re-delivery.

Fulbrook points out that his company's standard terms and conditions mean the distribution firm takes on any liability. "They have contracted to us, as a responsible company, that the job will be done in accordance with UK law," he says.

He also points out that the old agency agreement, which meant agencies were not acting as principals, so liability was left with the client, is no longer valid.

In many respects, the quality of distribution is rising. Despite the increasing volumes of items being delivered, the number of complaints is steady or falling. An important driver is the nature of the workforce being employed.

"The number of adults doing the job has gone up since the advent of the minimum wage. They can work 16 hours and earn #79 per week without paying national insurance or tax. So older people in early retirement or redundancy have been drawn in," says Fulbrook.

He estimates that 55 per cent of distributors are adults.

These types of shifts are important to the growth and maturity of the D2D industry. The past decade has seen a substantial increase in volumes as clients from outside the traditional user base of retailers and consumer goods have adopted the channel. Brand owners expect high- quality and efficient delivery.

In some respects, Safeway is unusual in its approach to door-drops. The company's marketing strategy has focused on a Wednesday leaflet delivery to drive store traffic. As this does not match the schedule of most solus and free newspaper distribution, it has deployed its own store staff to carry out drops. Third-party companies have only been deployed to help complete coverage.

Dodd has been involved with D2D for 32 years, and has seen his share of consumer complaints. When delivering toothpaste samples many years ago, there was an example of a dog chewing the package and its owners believing it had contracted rabies because it was foaming at the mouth. Kellogg's Variety Pack samples routinely led to a dozen claims for broken letterboxes.

"You are never sure if it is a con or the distributors really damaged it," he says.

Despite these problems, he does not believe the industry faces a crisis. "In terms of client confidence in the medium, I don't see this having any major impact."

At Tri-Direct, Higgs makes the point that the letterbox is still effectively a public domain. "The issue is, do you have a right to stop anyone putting things through your letterbox? It could be anybody – a solus operator, a free newspaper, or even a political party."

Opt-out schemes are in operation at a local level, with most distributors respecting signs requesting no free newspapers or circulars. The next significant development for the industry will be the introduction of a national scheme, currently under discussion. Until this very public demonstration that D2D means no harm, there is still a chance for every dog to have its day.