Get back at evil Junk-Mailers 2

[Gooser]

Whenver I get junkmail, I open it all up, remove anything with my name (or some other identifier) on it, switch the offers around (Discover gets AmEx offers and vice versa), add some ValPak coupons, and send them back via Business Reply Mail. That way, not only do they get to pay for the postage on the return route, but they have to pay some lackey to open it and throw it away.

JOIN ME! ...in my quest to fight back against junkmail.

--Gooser

 

[nicksims]

I also send back their junkmail in their postage paid envelopes.

I also end up with less in my recycling bin.

 

[traingamer]

I only mail back selected items (to those places that have particularly p*ssed me off). I'd be mailing 30 items a week if I sent all the credit card offers back.

If it's from a questionable 'charitable' foundation, tape some loose change to a piece of cardstock and include it in the return mail; they'll pay more postage than the value of the coins and will waste postage by mailing you stuff forever! (You're now a valued contributor).

Greg
"Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught." - Winston Churchill

 

[edfair]

And for a return address add STRAPPE. The "Society To Return All Postage Paid Envelopes".
Power to the masses.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Can I send this junk-thread back?

--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[jebenson]

In keeping with the season, can you folks think of any way do do this with political mailers?

****************************************************************

Back in the seventies, when "they" still sent out mailers which were actually punch-cards, my junior high math teacher would put some clear tape over a few of the holes before sending them back. He said he always got a kick out of picturing the punch-card reader spewing out thousands of cards while lab-coated technicians ran hither and yon in a panic.

I used to rock and roll every night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I'm lucky if I can find 30 minutes a week in which to get funky. - Homer Simpson

Arrrr, mateys! Ye needs ta be preparin' yerselves fer Talk Like a Pirate Day! Ye has a choice: talk like a pira

 

[edfair]

There were no lab-coated technicians. The machines would reject the suspect cards and the tape would be found quickly. If the tape was on the front of the card and the card was repunched on a standard keypunch the tape that was the chad would stick to the punch, and after 6 to 10 cards like that the holes would start getting curved sides and the die would start jamming.
What was more interesting was punching a new hole or two and using chads to fill up the legitimate hole. That took more work. The totals of the printed amounts wouldn't add up.
Or juicing the 9 edge column 40 and spreading the card edge so it would jam attempting to feed through the throat. That would force them to manually punch a replacement.
I used this last to train BellSouth clerks who had made my life hell for 3 years because they were too lazy to clear their own jams.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[tsdragon]

I read somewhere that soaking the card in water and carefully drying it out caused it to change size just enough to totally hose their card readers. Never tried it though.

These days you can look for machine-readable marks on the return card (upc-type bar codes, for example). Take a black pen and change the length, width, or whatever of the parts of the code.

I too like to restuff their postage-paid return envelopes and send them back.

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[Tarwn]

I had a friend who couldn't get a company to stop sending him mailers. He called month after month, they agreed each time to stop, and each time he would continue to receive the mailer. These mailers were also the type that included a postage paid on delivery postcard to reply with.

Well, it just so happened that a new apartment complex was under construction a couple blocks down the road. So one day he wandered down there before driving over to the local post office. The post office employees were a little skeptical when he tried to mail back the card, but decided that it was covered, being a postage paid on delivery card.

After sending the card, he actually stopped receiving mail from the company. To be more precise, after receiving the card, the note attached to the card explaining that he didn't want more junk mail, and the cinderblock scotch taped to the card, the company decided to stop mailing him junk.

 

[edfair]

In a dispute resolution with American Express a long time ago, when they were dragging their heels, they ended up with somewhere between 6 and 8 payment envelopes with rocks in them. Turns out it wasn't their problem but they were the first step to get it resolved and they ignored me.

At some point after that they quit sending PPOD mailers but I was long gone from their credit cards and won't consider them ever again.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[rjoubert]

A friend suggested that I shred the offer letters, promo material, etc. and stuff the shredded material into the postage paid envelope. I'll have to try that sometime.

 

[2ffat]

Tarwn,

[tab]I had a friend who did something similar. He kept getting X-rated materials from some company. He returned the letters, sent them letters, and even called them. If anything, he got more of them.

[tab]Finally, he got a small box, filled it with fresh horse manure, taped their latest package to the box, and wrote, "Return to sender." He felt is was rather appropriate. They were sending him material he thought was horse manure so he returned the favor.

[tab]Their junk mail stopped.


James P. Cottingham
-----------------------------------------
[sup]I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229![/sup]

 

[IknowMe]

Or if you have any spare tires you wnat to get rid of

http://www.vertical-Visions.com/_temp/postagepaid/index2.html

Wow, I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
I think I've forgotten this before.

 

[Gooser]

MrMilson - that's sweet!

 

[nicksims]

I admit it- I'm looking forward to my next visit to the post office.

I'm trying to figure out the heaviest small items that will still fit in the envelope. The greatest bang for their buck?

Nick

 

[jrbarnett]

I find that low denomination coins (UK 1p and 2p) are good.

John

 

[Dagon]

Preferably if loaded into a sawn-off shutgun which goes off when the envelope is opened.

 

[gbaughma]

Hmmm.... you know, the *best* items are the ones that must be recycled... such as monitors and old motherboards.



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Lunatic]

Don't those also usually bring with it a disposal fee? ;p

I know where I used to live that they would have 'free' days at the local transfer stations, if you didn't go then you had to pay to have them recycle your old computer parts or get fined for throwing them away.

 

[gbaughma]

Lunatic:

Exactly!

Ship them something back that they would have to PAY to get rid of! Hehehe... <evil chuckle>

Ooooh... I was *SO* ticked the other night...

I keep getting mortage calls on my BUSINESS LINE at home.

So I waited, until it said "press 1 to talk to a lending consultant"... and I did, and I got a human!

I told them "This is a business line, remove me from your list."

He said "Next time you get a call from us, just press 3" and HUNG UP.

I sat there slack-jawed for a second, and realized that I had just made a request to be removed from a call list, AND WAS DENIED!



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com