Re: controlling your expenses and your mail
managing mail..not only do u get a handle on the mess but also help the environment.
first get e-bills for credit cards, car, phone etc, less mail, less chance of it being stolen
here is some info on getting out of mailign lists.
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs4-junk.htm#getofflist
You may also sign up online at the DMA’s website for a $1 fee charged to your credit card at: www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist. DMA says this option is quicker than by postal mail
flyers and advertising..
ADVO, Inc. You can remove your name and address from ADVO three ways:
Call ADVO’s Consumer Assistance line: (888) 241-6760
Fill out and submit the form at ADVO’s website: www.advo.com/consumersupport.html
Send a letter to:
ADVO, Inc.
Customer Assistance
P.O. Box 249
Windsor, CT 06095
PennySaver in California or The Flyer in Florida, (Harte-Hanks). You can remove your name and address from these mailings two ways:
By phone :
PennySaver at: (800) 422-4116
The Flyer at: (813) 626-SELL
By mail:
Circulation
C/O Pennysaver
2830 Orbiter Street
Brea, CA 92821
Circulation
C/O Flyer
201 Kelsey Lane
Tampa, FL 33619
Val-Pak Savings Coupons. Val-Pak maintains regional lists, not a central one. Send your request to the address printed on the envelope you receive. If you receive the blue envelope you can also remove your address from their website at: www.coxtarget.com/mailsuppression/s/DisplayMailSuppressionForm
Junk Mail: How Did They All Get My Address?
How did I get on these lists in the first place?
How can I get off?
Mailing lists of major national marketers
DMA’s Mail Preference Service
Flyers and advertising supplements
Catalog, mail order lists and magazines
Pre-approved offers of credit
Phone books and reverse directories
U.S. Postal Service and change of address data file
Charities and nonprofits
Sweepstakes and prizes
The elderly and sweepstakes
Product registration cards and consumer surveys
Supermarket loyalty cards
Public records
Data compilers and mailing list companies
What if I only want to stop part of my “junk” mail?
Final note
For more information
Junk mail is advertising of one sort or another that arrives in your postal mailbox along with the mail you really want or need. It’s impossible to eliminate all of it, but you can substantially reduce the amount of junk mail you receive.
How did I get on these lists in the first place?
What we call junk mail is actually the result of direct marketing campaigns designed to get you to buy a product or service. It’s called direct marketing because it attempts to match you and your buying preferences with offers that are likely to make you buy a product or service.
When you purchase a product or service and give the company your name and address, the chances are you are being added to one or more mailing lists used for direct marketing. This is true when you buy a car or a house, use a shopping card, sign up for a credit card, subscribe to a magazine, buy something from a catalog, give money to a charity, or fill out a product registration form.
Your name, address, and other contact information, as well as the type of product or service, is entered into a computer data base. The business that collected the information will use it to solicit more business from you. They might also rent their list to other businesses so they can send you advertisements. Lists are valuable, and renting lists is big business.
How can I get off these lists?
There are a variety of strategies you can use to get off direct marketing lists:
- Mailing lists of the major national marketers
If you want off as many national mailing lists as possible, your first step is to contact the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Mail Preference Service (MPS). You must re-register after five years.
Register for the Mail Preference Service by mail. Send a letter plus a $1 check or money order to:
Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
PO Box 282
Carmel, NY 10512
Click here for our simple mail-in form, www.privacyrights.org/Letters/jm1a.htm.
When you register, your name and address are placed in a “do not mail” file which is updated monthly and distributed to DMA members quarterly. DMA members are required to update their lists at least quarterly, and some do it monthly. Businesses who are not members of the DMA also take advantage of this “do not mail” list, so registering with the DMA will reduce much of your junk mail.
Register online. You may also sign up online at the DMA’s website for a $1 fee charged to your credit card at: www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist. DMA says this option is quicker than by postal mail.
Register names of deceased: The Direct Marketing Association also gives you the ability to register the names of deceased loved ones with their Deceased Do Not Contact list (DDNC) at: https://preference.the-dma.org/cgi/ddnc.php. Click on the Continue button at the button of the page to get to the form. There is a $1 credit card verification fee to complete the registration in order to record those who are entering the names as well as to prevent fraudulent entries.
2. Flyers and advertising supplements
Flyers are those ads stuffed in other advertisements and delivered to your mailbox by the handful. Envelopes containing an assortment of ads are another in this category, as are card decks which are a group of post-card sized bundles of advertising on card stock.
The ads are often from local merchants and may be for carpet cleaning, window replacement, restaurants, cheap electronics and any number of other products and services. They are usually addressed to “resident” or “occupant” at your address, and sometimes come with a postcard that has your address printed on it.
To reduce this kind of junk mail, do the following:
Look for the postcard that accompanies the flyers. It will have your address printed on it. Some postcards contain pictures of missing children.
If you cannot find a postcard, then look for a mailing label attached directly to the flyer. You may see the name of the distribution company near your mailing address.
If you don’t find a label, you may find a phone number printed on the edge of the flyer itself.
Contact the company as indicated below, and request that your address be taken off the mailing list. If you’re making a written request, send a copy of your mailing label along with the letter. If you call, chances are you’ll have to work through a telephone tree and leave your name and address on an answering machine. It usually takes at least four to eight weeks to be removed. In some cases, the companies have a website that will allow you to remove yourself from their lists.
These are the major “resident” or “occupant” mailers:
ADVO, Inc. You can remove your name and address from ADVO three ways:
Call ADVO’s Consumer Assistance line: (888) 241-6760
Fill out and submit the form at ADVO’s website: www.advo.com/consumersupport.html
Send a letter to:
ADVO, Inc.
Customer Assistance
P.O. Box 249
Windsor, CT 06095
PennySaver in California or The Flyer in Florida, (Harte-Hanks). You can remove your name and address from these mailings two ways:
By phone :
PennySaver at: (800) 422-4116
The Flyer at: (813) 626-SELL
By mail:
Circulation
C/O Pennysaver
2830 Orbiter Street
Brea, CA 92821
Circulation
C/O Flyer
201 Kelsey Lane
Tampa, FL 33619
Val-Pak Savings Coupons. Val-Pak maintains regional lists, not a central one. Send your request to the address printed on the envelope you receive. If you receive the blue envelope you can also remove your address from their website at: www.coxtarget.com/mailsuppression/s/DisplayMailSuppressionForm
You may have to notify the distribution company more than once to make sure that your address has been removed from the mailing list. Once your name has been removed from the company’s mailing list, you are also likely to have to remind your postal carrier not to deliver the advertising flyers.
If the distribution company cannot or will not remove your address from its mailing list, please contact the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. We want to know which companies do not honor consumers’ requests. https://secure.privacyrights.org/inquiryform.html
- Catalogs, mail order lists and magazines
When you buy something from a mail order catalog, your transaction is likely to be reported to Abacus, owned by DoubleClick Digital Advertising. Members of the Abacus Alliance, mostly catalog companies and publishing companies, contribute and exchange information about their customers. Your name may also be sold to other catalog and publishing companies. One way or another, when you ask for one catalog, you’re like to get catalogs from other companies as well.
There are two ways to opt out of the Abacus database. You’ll need your name, including any middle initial, your current address, and if you’ve moved recently, your previous address.
By e-mail: [email protected]
By mail:
Abacus, Inc.
P.O. Box 1478
Broomfield, CO 80038
- Pre-approved offers of credit
Many of the companies you do business with provide data to credit bureaus about how much you owe and how promptly you pay your bills. The four credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and Innovis.
While the credit bureaus do rent lists, they do not disclose specific financial information to marketers like how much you make, what you owe or to whom. Instead, they compile lists based on consumer characteristics. For example, they might create a list of people with annual incomes over $40,000, who use credit cards and pay their bills on time. If you fall into a category such as this, you might receive “pre-approved” credit card offers in the mail. The insurance industry also uses these lists to solicit business. (For more information on credit reporting, see Fact Sheet 6, www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6-crdt.htm.)
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA, 15 USC 1681) and some states’ laws require credit reporting companies to delete any consumer’s name and address from mailing lists if the consumer so chooses. Call or write the major credit bureaus and ask to be removed from their mailing lists made available for credit pre-screening and marketing purposes.
(888) 5OPTOUT (888-567-8688) is a single number you can call to opt-out of Innovis and the three major credit bureaus. It is available in English and Spanish
For more information
U.S. Postal Service. If you have questions or complaints about mail fraud, theft, tampering, or obscene or pornographic mail, contact the Postal Inspector. To find the nearest office, call the U.S. Postal Service at (800) 275-8777, (800 ASK-USPS), or online at www.usps.gov.
Its Form 1500 enables you to notify sexually-explicit mailers to cease mailing you. Many consumers have used this form to notify other marketers when they repeatedly ignore their requests to be removed from their mailing lists. This form is available at the Post Office or online at: www.usps.com/forms/_pdf/ps1500.pdf
You can also submit information about mail fraud online at www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm
Order the informative 28-page “Stop Junk Mail Forever” by sending $4.50 to Good Advice Press, P.O. Box 78, Elizaville, NY 12523. This price includes postage and handling. Telephone: ( 800) 255-0899. Order online at: Good Advice Press: Stop Junk Mail Forever
Private Citizen offers a comprehensive junk mail reduction service for a fee: Box 233, Naperville, IL 60566. Telephone: (800) Cut-Junk. Web: www.private-citizen.com.
The Junkbusters web site has tips and sample letters, Junkbusters Shutdown.
Other online resources
New American Dream, www.newdream.org/junkmail/index.php
Native Forest, www.nativeforest.org/stop_junk_mail/nfn_junk_mail_guide.htm
National Waste Prevention Coalition, www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/nwpc/index.htm
EcoFuture, How to Get Rid of Junk Mail, Spam, and Telemarketers - EcoFuture resources