How to stop junk mail

[Bigtallfatbloke]

It's become more than a little unfunny...each day we are swamped with rubbish. My pet hate is th ethree or four local papers we get every week. I 've spoken to the papers office and asked the paper boys (not their fault) to skip us out of their round but still it goes on.

I am tempted to place a big wheely bin on th edoorstop with a notice stating "Local papers here please"

 

[Kirstie]

Put a notice in your front door 'no circulars or free papers, thanks'.
Works for me.

 

[PatrickPending]

Hi, Don't know about local papers - a note in the window is probably best as suggested by Kirstie, but for junk mail registering with the preference service

http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/


will cut out a lot, not all thought you still get some from the royal mail (specially delivered by hand unaddressed stuff) - there is a way to stop that too but I haven't investigated that yet.

Oh there's also a telephone preference service

http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/

for those nuisance phonecalls from double glazing salesfolk....

Hope this helps!

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

Thankyou..I have jus tregistered with that mps lot. Ta.

 

[Fnaar]

Thankyou..I have jus tregistered with that mps lot. Ta.

They'll send you a few "confirmation of registration" forms etc over the next few weeks...

 

[alecstilleyedye]

if they are from credit card companies, fill in the form with obviously bogus details (eg name = michael mouse etc) and send it back in the envelope provided. they'll get the message as it costs them money to process the thing.

or simply write "unknown at this address, return to sender", post it, and the junk mail can go in their bin instead of yours.

 

[bof]

Its takes a while for the telephone preference service to become effective as it takes a while for your info to spread around the junk call community, but persevere as it works really well in the end.

If we get any sales calls we just say we're registered and they stop dead. Of course it does'n't stop people from outside the UK calling. If I work out it is one, I put the phone down without hanging up.

 

[TVC]

A good trick whenever you answer the phone is to not give your name, just say hello. They will then ask can I speak to... or, is this... Your reply is then "Who's calling please?" Now you have control of the conversation and are asking the questions, so you can decide to continue with the call, hang up or as bof suggests leave the receiver with "I'll just get him".

 

[Jaded]

Or you can just play a game with them.

Like the ones that offer to upgrade your mobile. You can say "Oh, but that is the one I already have!" or "Surely if you are calling me about my mobile you know what my contract is and what handset I have!" etc.

 

[Graham O]

I've found that the telephone and mail preference services work very well.

What really got to me was when someone phoned up wanting to speak to my wife. They said that she had invited the call by filling in a form about 2 months ago. I said unlikely, but they were very insistent and almost demanded that she be put on the phone. Eventually I told them that since she had been dead for 5 years, it was unlikely that she had filled a form in 2 months ago. I could almost hear the guy at the other end wishing the world would swallow him up!

 

[killiekosmos]

I've registered with MPS and TPS and both work reasonably well. I was also going to ask Royal Mail to stop the unaddressed mail too but Royal Mail indicated:

The main areas to be considered are:

· This service only relates to unaddressed mail. Mail bearing your address and “To the Occupier” or any other generic recipient information, Royal Mail is still legally obliged to deliver.

· It is not possible for us to separate advertising material and information that you may want, such as leaflets from Central and Local Government and other public bodies. Opting out from Royal Mail Door to Door stops all unaddressed items.

· Opting out means no one at the Delivery point will receive mail of this nature, is this acceptable to everyone inhabiting the property?

When I get calls I always ask for the company's details, then I tell them I'm listed with TPS. They always hang up. If it sounds like a foreign call centre I let them rabbit on but say nothing..............

I had a colleague who used to tease them. He would ask them for letters 3 and 5 of their password to prove who they were. Or he might ask what underwear they had on....

 

[bof]

I used to work with a guy who'd started his career cold calling on the phone. He told me that they went out and got tanked up Friday lunchtimes and then called all the people who were rude to them that week on Friday afternoon.

 

[KitsuneAndy]

It's become more than a little unfunny...each day we are swamped with rubbish. My pet hate is th ethree or four local papers we get every week. I 've spoken to the papers office and asked the paper boys (not their fault) to skip us out of their round but still it goes on.

I am tempted to place a big wheely bin on th edoorstop with a notice stating "Local papers here please"

Landmines.

 

[starseven]

Royal Mail is now reduced to making its money from junk mail.

Its a shame, the postman who aren't students don’t like it, but that’s the way it is.

You know its a sad part of my job, dealing with the people who want banks and such to stop sending letters to their deceased kin.


The only people who benefit are Porsche drivers , that might sound sweeping but I reckon its as close to the mark as possible.

Don’t try to convince them though , it would be like telling Sun readers theirs a world past football, or a a chav to slow down, you'll just get a strange look!!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Junk mail: collect any rubbish you have around the house (the heavier the better), stuff it into the freepost envelope and post it back to them. Tape the envelope to a brick if necessary, they still have to pay the postage.
Cold callers: answer the door looking flustered and say something like "oh, thank goodness you've arrived! Do you have any experience in restraining people?"
Telephone salespeople: After they've introduced themselves, say "are you selling something?" When they hasten to reassure you they're not, say "oh, what a pity. I was just in the mood for buying something over the phone, whatever the cost. However, I fear the moment has now passed. Goodbye."

(Thanks to Lynne Truss for the last two.)