

Archive-name: junk-mail

          How to Get Less Junk Mail

Are you getting unsolicited mail that's more trouble than it's worth?
Here are some things you can do that will give you more control of
what comes into your home.  I don't know of anything you can do that
will stop the influx immediately, short of moving and not telling
anyone (including creditors, employer, insurers, old friends, and
especially the Post Office).  If you're willing to start slow and
spend some time on it, you can slowly cut down the amount of junk
mail you get.

Contents
 Introduction
 Some simple actions that may help a lot
 Handling companies that sell lists
 How to track the spread of your name
 Asking to be removed from a list
 Actions that won't help

    Questions and Answers
Q1.  How do I contact the big companies that sell lists?
Q2.  Who else can I get to help me stop the junk mail?
Q3.  How do I stop the loose unaddressed flyers I get twice a week?

     Dealing with specific types of organizations
  mail-order catalogues
  Memberships in organizations
  phone book listing
  warranties/product registration cards
  800/900 number services
  contests (You may already be a winner!)
  credit cards
  Change of Address notices


The first thing to realize is that there are several different sources
of junk mail, and there are different things you have to do for each
of them.  There are some broad-band tools you can use to stop a lot of
junk mail at once, but these miss some important categories.  For the
rest, until you figure out why you got a particular piece of mail, you
can't take the action that will prevent its recurrence.  It's
important to realize that some companies maintain their own lists,
while other companies buy the lists they mail to.  In the first case,
you have to talk to the company that is sending the mail, and in the
second, you have to talk to whoever they bought your name from.

 Some simple actions that may help a lot

One approach attempts to stop all the unsolicited mail at once.  The
good part of this approach is that it's not much work, the drawback is
that you may stop receiving some mail that you wanted, but were only
getting as a side-effect of something else.  There are several
different organizations you can contact, including the Direct
Marketing Association, an organization of direct mailers. [see Q1.]
and a few companies that charge a fee for individually contacting
companies that are sending you mail.  [See Q2.]

Among the companies that have their own lists are local merchants who
like to send out periodic reminders, and the national firms that send
out twice weekly piles of advertising to all postal patrons, The two
big companies in this latter business are ADVO ("Mailbox Values") and
Harte Hanks ("Potpourri").  [See Q3 for how to deal with these two.]
You won't be able to tell which pieces are coming from mailers who
have you directly on their lists until you've reduced your junk mail
to a level that makes it worthwhile to individually call the sources
of the mail you get.


 Companies that sell lists

Dealing with re-sold lists is a long process.  You have to find out
who's selling your name, and ask them to stop.  There are two possible
approaches to tracking down the companies that are selling your name.
You can either ask the companies that are sending you the mail, or you
can track the spread of your name and address.

If you're not getting much junk mail, you can easily call the
companies that sent you something and ask where they got your name.
As long as you're polite, the people in the direct mail department
are quite willing to tell you this.  Often they will tell you the
names of the two or three places from whom they bought lists in the
last month, and you can figure out which one knows about you.  Other
times if you read them the codes on the mailing label, they can tell
you exactly who it was.

You can also head off the problem entirely by always telling
organizations which you deal with through the mail that you don't
want them selling your name.  You can do this with a note when you
order something or send your dues, or you can send them a separate
note or call their national office on the phone.


       How to track the spread of your name

If you're getting a fair amount of junk mail, it's probably easier
to start by adding markers to the address used by correspondants you
want to continue to receive mail from.  A simple trick you can use
is to modify your name in some way that you keep track of.  When you
receive something unsolicited in the mail, you check your list and
see where they got your address.

I use different middle initials with different organizations, but
you could also change how you spell your first or last name, or add
an apartment number to your address (or add a superfluous letter to
your already-numbered apartment).  If you are dealing with a
professional organization, you might add a title, or a department
name.


 Asking to be removed from a list

Once you've identified a particular company and want them to remove
you from their list, (either the one they mail to directly, or the
one they sell) there are a few common steps to take.  Start by calling
customer service and tell them you want to stop getting mail.  Then
follow up by keeping track of mail you get from them, or mail
addressed to the name you only use with them.

When you call again in a few weeks or a month (depending on how long
they said it would take), you want to be able to tell them what in
particular you received, and when, so they can figure out which list
they missed the first time.  In all cases, be polite, don't refer to
"junk mail" unless the clerk wants to know why you care, and be
persistent.  If the person you are talking to doesn't know what to do,
ask to speak to their supervisor, and be willing to patiently explain
your predicament again.


 Tactics that won't help

I assume that your objective is to receive less mail.  You might also
be interested in encouraging mailers to send junk mail less often.
The following are tactics that won't succeed at either of these
goals, but (if you're vindictive) might make you feel better.

Using Business Reply Envelopes to complain will usually not get the
attention of the mailing company.  If you attach them to a brick or
overfill the envelope, the post office will discard them.  If you
send them back empty, or with a complaint about the catalogue you
didn't want, they'll be discarded by the people who open the
envelopes.  The mail is usually opened by people who only get paid
for actual orders they pass on to the company, so they don't often
bother to relay complaints or count the number of replies that didn't
contain orders.

Your use of the BRE will cost them money, but they'll never notice
it, so this won't cause them to change the way they do business.
(Unless the number of people sending empty BRE's becomes a
substantial fraction of the number sending orders.  This might lower
the effectiveness enough that they'd stop doing mail order.  Not
likely.)

If you want the company to pay attention, get in touch with their
customer service people.  Most of the time, the company never even
saw your name, so they can't do much to keep you from getting future
ads.  They buy lists from other companies, and those other companies
are the ones you need to get in touch with.  They might be interested
if you were offended by their ad, but otherwise they'll just point
out that many people order merchandise from them in response to the
mailing.  If you want to stop getting the mail, find out who they
buy names from, and get those people to stop selling your name.



Q1.  How do I contact the big companies that sell lists?

A1.  The best place to start is the Direct Marketing Association.
Their member organizations are some of the direct mailers who send the
stuff.  Call their Mail Preference Service at their unlisted number
(212)768-7277 and ask to be added to their Suppression File.  Tell
them you'll wait while they type in your address (so they don't lose
the piece of paper with your address.)  Call again in a week and ask
if your name is listed.  Their mailing address (11 West 42nd Street,
New York, NY 10163-3861) also provides effective service.

Other big list resellers include:

        R. L. Polk & Company
        List Compilation and Development
        6400 Monroe Boulevard
        Taylor, MI 48180-1814

        Donnelley Marketing Inc.
        Data Base operations
        1235 N Avenue
        Nevada, IA 50201-1419;

        Metromail Corp.
        List Maintenance
        901 W. Bond
        Lincoln, NB 68521;

        Database America
        Compilation Department
        100 Paragon Drive
        Montvale, NJ 07645-0419

        Dunn & Bradstreet
        Customer Service
        899 Eaton Avenue
        Bethlehem, PA 18025

Q2.  Who else can help me stop getting junk mail?

A2.     Stop Junk Mail Association
        3020 Bridgeway #150
        Sausalito, CA 94965
        (800)827-5549

[There are others, but I haven't found their addresses.  I haven't
dealt with any of them, so buyer beware!]

Q3.  How do I stop the loose unaddressed flyers I get twice a week?

A3.  There are two different companies:  ADVO ("Mailbox Values") and
Harte Hanks ("Potpourri") that send these out in different areas
around the US. The advertising is sent as a "supplement" to an
address card which has the postage-paid notice on it.

These bundles are sent to every address in the affected areas, and
it takes two separate actions to stop it.  First you have to get ADVO
or Hart Hanks to stop printing the address card, and only then can
you get your mail carrier to stop delivering the advertising.

Both ADVO and Harte Hanks have local offices scattered around the
country, and the best way to get off their list is to talk to the
local office.  The cards usually have the local phone number on them,
or at least an address (call directory assistance.)  Ask for the
circulation department, and call back in a week to check that they
really did remove your address.  Be prepared to wait 8 weeks for the
mail to stop.  They'll occasionally "accidentally" send out another
card, but it's easier to stop them the second time.

Your postal carrier "knows" that everyone on the route is supposed
to get one, so she'll keep delivering them even if it looks like the
address card is lost.  It's against the law for them to deliver
unaddressed mail, so it only takes a phone call to the supervisor at
the local post office to convince the carrier to stop.  There will
occasionally be a mistake after that (when there's a substitute or
new carrier) but it doesn't take very many calls to convince the
supervisor you really mean it.

There's no need to threaten lawsuits or anything, just tell them you
received unaddressed mail.  With ADVO and Potpourri, you may have to
point out that you found out how to get off the lists before they
understand, but the postal supervisors do know what the law says.


 Dealing with specific types of organizations

Here's a list of some of the kinds of organizations that direct
marketers buy names from and what you can do about each.

  Mail-Order Catalogues
Use a distinct address with each catalogue you order from.  Your name
will occasionally be sold to someone you don't want to hear from, and
you have to know where they got your name to make it stop.  When you
find that a catalogue resells your name to places you don't like, ask
them to add your name to their suppression list.  Most don't have any
trouble with this request.

One thing to be careful about: many will "correct" your name and
address from your checks, so you have to continually make sure that
they're using the name/address you chose for them.  I have my checks
printed without name or address so I can choose what each organization
sees.  You're always supposed to write down the account number anyway.

  Memberships In Organizations
     (charitable, political, religious, professional, etc.)
Just like mail-order catalogues; use a distinct address for each.
Many will sell your name without warning.

  Phone Book Listing
Many organizations build their address lists from telephone
directories.  In addition, these lists can be cross-matched with
others and occasionally they'll make inferences based on your listing.
(sex from first name, ethnicity from last name, profession from title,
etc.)  You can get an unlisted number, but there are directories that
include those listings, they just cost more.  A cheaper way to have an
unlisted number is to pick a fake name for the directory.  Any phone
calls or mail for that name you can be sure are junk.

  Warranties/Product Registration Cards
You are seldom required to send in registration cards in order to be
covered by a warranty.  Most of these cards are send to the National
Demographics and Lifestyles Company which compiles direct mail lists
of people based on the life-style, family income, and buying habits
that people describe on the cards.  Write to them at:

            National Demographics and Lifestyles Company
            List Order Department
            1621 18th St.
            Suite 300
            Denver, CO 80202

  800/900 Number Services
800 and 900 number services can easily find out you name and address
when you call (they use reverse directories indexed by your phone
number.)  Many of them compile and sell lists of people who are
interested in their product or watch their TV show.  Make your
800-number phone calls during a break at work.  Don't call 900-number
services unless you don't mind your name appearing on lists of people
who use the particular service.

  Contests (You May Already Be A Winner!)
There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!  There are some real
contests that give out real money, but not many, and the odds are
never very good.  Many things advertised as contests these days are
just fishing expeditions for names to add to mailing lists.  Others
are serious fraud.  Never give out credit card numbers over the phone
unless you're positive the company you're calling is reputable.

  Credit Cards
Some credit card companies sell lists of customers to direct mailers.
They know a lot about your lifestyle: what you buy, where you travel,
and how much you spend.  Banks don't seem to use the same information
from your checks, so if you're looking for a little more privacy...

  Birth Certificates, Marriage Licenses, Property Records
You can't do much about these except use a variant spelling and track
down each use of the name.  Most of the list compilers are willing to
drop your name if you ask.

  Credit Bureaus
Two of the major credit bureaus still sell lists based on their
databases.  You can contact them at:

            Trans Union
            555 W. Adams St.
            8th Floor
            Chicago, IL 60661

            TRW
            Target Marketing Services Division
            Mail Preference Service
            901 N. International Parkway
            Suite 191
            Richardson TX 75081


  Change of Address notices

The post office sells the names and addresses from its Change of
Address cards.  They even encourage bulk mailers to use the data so
there will be fewer miss-addressed letters.  If you;re having trouble
dealing with the junk and want to stop getting it, contact all your
correspondents individually and don't fill out the Post office's form.
--
Chris Hibbert                 protecting privacy in the computer age is
hibbert@netcom.com            like trying to change a tire on a moving car.



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