Please, For The Love Of All Things, Stop The Junk Mail!
This post originally appeared on The Good Human in September of 2006. Thanks for your patience while I recover from my surgery.
Please, oh please Mr. Postman….stop stuffing all that useless crap in my mailbox! Every day you trudge up the driveway with your arms full of ads for satellite TV, mattresses, credit cards, loan consolidation, new and used cars and of course, the bonus piece, The Penny Saver.
I don’t need to save a penny, kind sir, at least not by spending much more than that to buy some stuff I don’t need..besides, didn’t it cost them much more than a penny to fill my mailbox with this paperwork? Is it actually made for those people that don’t get much mail to give them something to read? I don’t know. I have never seen anything worthwhile in this stuff…ever. It all goes straight from the mailbox into the recycling bin. If I could get it there without touching it, I would. But alas, I cannot. The mailman must carry around 1,000 of them every day to deliver, we all have to carry it into the house, then to the bin out back, then the trash guys have to come get it, then some other people sort it at the trash facility, and then…well, you get the picture. All for no reason.
Imagine the amount of junk mail you get per day, and multiply that times 124 MILLION households (2005)…thats a lot of trash.
If you are like me and you are tired of receiving this junk mail day in and day out, there is something you can do about it. I am not saying that it works, but you can at least pretend it does. I have filled out forms, called numbers, written letters…and yes, the bulk of the junk has stopped coming, but that damn Penny Saver and all the extra crap with it is still in the mailbox everyday. Here are some ways to try to stem the tide of junk mail:
OptOutPrescreen
DMA Consumers
Oh…and if anyone knows how to stop the Penny Saver, let me know. Please?
From the Pennysaverusa.com web site:
CALIFORNIA & SOUTH FLORIDA:
Phone: (800) 422-4116
Please Mail Requests To Be Removed From Our Mailing List To
Circulation
C/O Pennysaver
2830 Orbiter Street
Brea, CA 92821
TAMPA BAY AREA:
Phone: (813) 622-SELL
Please Mail Requests To Be Removed From Our Mailing List To
Circulation
C/O Flyer
201 Kelsey Lane
Tampa, FL 33619
You can also sign do not mail petition ( like Do Not Call National Petition)
I did some search online and this is the best resource so far available online ( correct me if I am wrong). I have done this 5 months ago and my mailbox is literally empty ( I have paperless billing and also opted out from various mail lists) I check my mail twice a month now. It is beautiful. ( What a freedom).
I even took the letter from samples provided and wrote it to a local Chinese restaurant that keeps putting fliers in my door. They stopped too in the whole subdivision.
Save the time for yourself.
I even opted out from the yellow book. What do I need it for, since the internet is right here.
Great tips Maxym, thanks!
You are welcome. Did you do Robert?
If, not, please take time, it takes about 7 minutes.
PenySaver USA are very frustrating. If you call their offices all you get is a recording saying why direct marketing is all goodness and that you need to send a postcard or use their web form. Their web site form to get off their mailing lists has been broken for a while and it is well hidden (see bottom of http://www.pennysaverusa.com/feedback). Currently when you click on that Web link and it just takes you to their website home page.
The best I have found is to call the corporate phone number for Harte-Hankes at 1(800)456-9748 and ask to be taken off all their lists (not just PennySaver USA). Harte-Hankes is the publicly traded company (NYSE:HHS) that owns PennySaver USA.
If that does not work go back to corporate again. PennySaver USA is a waste of time to deal and untrustworthy.
As a computer industry marketing/strategy consultant I would not do business with Harte-Hanks or any other marketing company who is willing to trash their own name jamming our mail boxed with this low/no value junk.
They now have an online opt-out:
http://ecom.pennysaverusa.com/mailinglist/removalform.aspx