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I'm hoping that pretty soon, it will be too expensive for companies to send out this junk mail and have to resort to electronically sending all their junk. At least the spam filters would do all the work.
I'm hoping that pretty soon, it will be too expensive for companies to send out this junk mail and have to resort to electronically sending all their junk. At least the spam filters would do all the work.
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mandarynn: Sorry, but that won't happen. I work in the ad industry and the ROI is too large for direct-mail to go away, unless-- and I've said this before-- enough people opt-out of receiving direct-mail. It costs a buck (U.S.) on the DMA website to register your junk mail to be stopped.
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I've recieved the same credit card offer twice a week for like 5 years now. At some point you'd think they'd give up. I could probably opt out of it, but it's become a constant in my life. Just like the sun rises every morning, Citibank will send me a credit card application every Tuesday.
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From the Washington Post 8/29/06:
When Margaret Reynolds worked as a technical editor, she learned an important lesson: Numbers count.
Data. Statistics. Proof . That's how you get your message across.
So last year, disgusted by the amount of unwanted catalogues she received in the mail and worried that the planet was sinking under the sheer weight of them, she decided to do something.
\"I thought, 'Well let's just find out what we're dealing with here,' \" said Margaret, 66.
She started a routine: saving the catalogues as they came in each day, piling them in boxes and then lugging the boxes to her bathroom at the end of each month. She weighed them on the bathroom scale, photographed them, noted the poundage and then put them into the recycling.
The bottom line: 165 pounds of catalogues in 2005.
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Perhaps I'm naive, but why should I have to pay (any amount) to have this incessant annoyance stop? From the DMA site: \"Members of the DMA are required to use our name-removal service, and other marketers are encouraged to use it.\" My $1 won't even make it stop those who are merely \"encouraged\"...argh. The question is, would it be beneficial to print a form letter if needed, or make a phone call to each company to request name removal?
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For reference, here's the direct link to the DMA website page which tells how to register to be removed from mailing lists: http://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist
If you'd like to cut down on the unsolicited credit card offers you need to register here
http://www.optoutprescreen.com
You can find more info about this program on the ftc's website
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/prescreen.htm
I did this about a year ago and now I hardly every receive credit applications, my wife on the other hand never registered and still receives an average of 2 applications a day! It takes a few months (2 to 4 I'd estimate) to really see an impact since many of the companies may have you on file already as having good credit so may still send them out until their next prescreen cycle.
...why should I have to pay (any amount) to have this incessant annoyance stop?
Let me point out this is the only advertising medium that allows the target consumer to opt-out. You can't get out of being exposed to ads on TV (and trust me, agencies are already working around Tivo) or radio, in magazines and newspapers, or on the internet (or on buses, signage in various stadia, product placement, etc, etc.) For a dollar you can cut almost all direct-mail out-- I've done it, it works and was well worth the time.
Also note that direct-mail advertising may still come to you from businesses you already have accounts with; the listing helps prevent most \"cold\" offers from reaching you.
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I'm not sure if they have this at your locale, but in California, they send people to drop leaflets, fliers, etc. on your door, your door knob, your mailbox out tray, your car door, your car windshield...
Even better are the fliers on windshield that melt when it rains, so you need to take a razor blade to get rid of the ad before you can drive.
These companies litter every square inch of available space they can get, then leave it to us to clean up. Yeah it's a bit but it's incremental harrassment. My purpose in life isn't to run cleanup patrol for these low-rent fools littering the neighborhood.
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I signed up for the \"opt-out of pre-screened credit card apps\" program. Which is great, my applications dropped from 5 or 6 a week. But Citi/AA and United both keep sending me crap. I called them both up, and told them I wanted it to stop, and it stopped from United. Citi just kept sending them. I finally talked to a manager there, and opened a case with their \"investigations\" dept, and haven't seen one since!
Ack! Don't put it in the trash! RECYCLE!