How to stop junk mail.

[Wild-Woman]

I think most weeks, my recycling sack consists of mainly junk mail that comes through the letter box.
Question- How do you stop it apart from sealing the letter box up!?
I would like to stop everything that comes through the door from local newspapers, takeaway ads, double glazing, tree surgeons, driveway specialists and even charity sacks.
Don't get me wrong on the charity sacks- I'm perfectly happy to donate things directly to their door (mainly to save the clothes etc being nicked by unscrupulous folk who take advantage!) but I think they waste money giving out sacks that end up being recycled too.

I'm sick of the junk- if we weighed it annually then times it by households in this country- I think we'd all be staggered at the utter waste, including the petrol miles put in delivering the stuff.
If I want something, I will seek it. And in any case- reputable outlets for things don't need to advertise themselves eg a local plumber that did my mums central heating and about a dozen other folks in the same road. There wasn't anything posted- it was all recommendation and word of mouth.

Rant over!

[The Woodman]

Save each weeks junk mail and using the prepaid envelopes within, return the contents of another companies junk mail.

If the opening letter has your name and address on it, include it and you might find your details get removed from a database.

There's always the mainstream route of using the mail preference service or the recycle bin.

I feel for the postman who has to carry this junk. I asked my postie one day about this and he told me it brings massive revenue to Royal Mail who, in turn, pay him!

[Lancashire Lad]

I wholeheartedly agree with you on this. The problem is rife.

I signed up for both mailing and (telephone preference services) some years back - and it made no difference whatsoever. (Even the Royal Mail themselves still deliver this junk mail here).

I think that the biggest problem is the number of "flyers" for fast foods/fashion/hand car washing/general building services etc. etc. being delivered. I usually have two or three lots each day - and all of which invariably go straight into the recycle bin.

Regards,
Mike.

[artdemole]

Give up trying is the best thing.A quick read then head for the recycle bin.Tried sending gone away and some for the departed but still it comes.After all it is a job for someone.

[Your Rights]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

I think most weeks, my recycling sack consists of mainly junk mail that comes through the letter box.
Question- How do you stop it apart from sealing the letter box up!?
I would like to stop everything that comes through the door from local newspapers, takeaway ads, double glazing, tree surgeons, driveway specialists and even charity sacks.
Don't get me wrong on the charity sacks- I'm perfectly happy to donate things directly to their door (mainly to save the clothes etc being nicked by unscrupulous folk who take advantage!) but I think they waste money giving out sacks that end up being recycled too.

I'm sick of the junk- if we weighed it annually then times it by households in this country- I think we'd all be staggered at the utter waste, including the petrol miles put in delivering the stuff.
If I want something, I will seek it. And in any case- reputable outlets for things don't need to advertise themselves eg a local plumber that did my mums central heating and about a dozen other folks in the same road. There wasn't anything posted- it was all recommendation and word of mouth.

Rant over!

We are registered with the telephone and postal preference services which make a big difference.

See: Mail Preference Service

Also: see - How to complain

If you still receive unsolicited mailings despite your registration with the Mailing Preference Service you may like to take advantage of our complaint handling service.

We would need a full copy of the mailing in question including the envelope. The envelope is important as it often has a code on it which helps the mailer identify the source of your name and address.

We will write to the company concerned and ask for an explanation as to why the mailing was sent. If it is a breach of the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion we pass the complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority for action.

The address to send your complaints to is:

Mailing Preference Service
MPS Freepost LON20771
London
W1E 0ZT

We however give all our paper to the local school who make a small fortune from it every year! Hope this helps.

[artdemole]

Action taken.Already registered on Tps. -telephone preference service.

[earthdragon64]

As well as the Mail Preference Service, you can also register with Royal Mail to stop receiving all the unaddressed mail that is delivered by them, for example the "Dear occupier" stuff and leaflets. See the link below;

Royal Mail ? Mailing products and services for you at home

This obviously doesn't cover leaflets delivered directly by companies, or those using other distributors, but it can help a lot. Royal Mail don't advertise this service because it means the posties have to remember who has opted out. I found that handing it back to posty once or twice and politely reminding him I have opted out did the trick.

I use this and the Mail Preference Service and get very little junk mail. If I see charities etc delivering the charity sacks, I hand them back and ask them not to deliver to me.

Something like 33% of houses in this area are holiday homes, most occupied for no more than 4 weeks per year. I've seen the people at one of the holiday homes near me just chucking loads of leaflets and junk mail straight into the bin, that's a heck of a lot of waste.

Regards, Audrey.

[Your Rights]

Originally Posted by earthdragon64

As well as the Mail Preference Service, you can also register with Royal Mail to stop receiving all the unaddressed mail that is delivered by them, for example the "Dear occupier" stuff and leaflets. See the link below;

Royal Mail ? Mailing products and services for you at home

This obviously doesn't cover leaflets delivered directly by companies, or those using other distributors, but it can help a lot. Royal Mail don't advertise this service because it means the posties have to remember who has opted out. I found that handing it back to posty once or twice and politely reminding him I have opted out did the trick.

I use this and the Mail Preference Service and get very little junk mail. If I see charities etc delivering the charity sacks, I hand them back and ask them not to deliver to me.

Something like 33% of houses in this area are holiday homes, most occupied for no more than 4 weeks per year. I've seen the people at one of the holiday homes near me just chucking loads of leaflets and junk mail straight into the bin, that's a heck of a lot of waste.

Regards, Audrey.

That is really useful, I did not know that! I will ring Royal Mail tommorrow! Thanks

[solus]

You need to be aware that the "opt out" for Royal Mail's Household Delivery (Postman-delivered junk) needs to be renewed every so often. We recently started receiving this rubbish again after not having done so for some time (I can't remember, but it may be as long as 5 years?) and when I mentioned it to the post lady she told me it doesn't go on for ever and we would need to request the opt out again.

The Mail Preference scheme has worked very well for us for many years but of course you will still receive mailings from companies you have purchased goods from - the lastest catalogues and offers for example.

The charity bags I keep and use for rubbish - saves on buying bin bags for sweepings from the garden etc!

The almost daily leaflets pushed through the door on behalf of assorted trades and fast-food outlets just have to go in the recycling as there seems to be no way to stop them.

Oh - and we stopped the free newspapers by contacting the publishers and informing them that we didn't want them and if they persisted in delivering them we would bill them for a certain amount each time, to be paid to a charity of our choice! I don't even know if the things still exist in our area but by stating (in writing) something to the effect that if they delivered the papers after receipt of our letter it would mean they accepted our terms, we stopped 'em dead!!

We also have a small notice above our letterbox "No Free Newspapers or Magazines" - to which we need to add "Catalogues" as we still regularly find Betterware(?) and Kleeneze stuff coming through the door (on its way to the recycling box!) When we contacted Kleeneze we were told that we needed to tell the indivdual agents we didn't want their catalogues - which only works if there isn't someone different every time! However, by not returning their catalogues most agents soon stop delivering.

Sorted!!

[Wild-Woman]

Thanks for this. I shall be acting today! Even if it doesn't stop everything, some of it would be a blessed relief.
Hopefully I can look forward to a lighter recycling sack.