News flash...this just in...there is an attempt being made to establish a Do Not Mail Registry...Want to stop junk mail?...click here for details... www.donotmail.org

Beaumont...there already is a national do not mail registry. I just can't remember the exact name. Will research and get back to you.

In the meantime you can stop a LOT of junk mail just by contacting the three national credit bureaus. They are the biggest offenders!

http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/protect.shtm

This site lists the 3 credit bureaus and gives info on how to opt out.

One thing that you need to do is be sure and give all versions of your address. In other words, you might get solicitous mail to you w/your first name & middle initial as well as just your first name or just your initials. You might even get junk mail w/misspelled names &/or addresses.

Be sure to include ALL of these to get off your mailing list, as well as all members of your family who reside with you. When I did it, I turned in 25 versions (mostly wrong) of names &/or addresses.


Other companies that tend to "share" your info are car rentals and any company w/"sister" companies.

So every time you contact a company, if you give them your address or any other info, you need to tell them right then, that you want a privacy code on your information AND you do NOT want them to send you any type of mail except that which you ask for during that call.

Call every company you do business with and ask how to "opt out". They will either take your information right then or give you another number to call.

It takes some effort, but it is worth it.

Another thing I do when I do get occasional junk mail is I take everything that came in the envelope, including the envelope, and stuff it into their postage paid return envelope and mark on it
NO THANK YOU.

TAKE MY NAME OFF YOUR MAILING LIST AND DO NOT SELL, RENT, SHARE, GIVE OR IN ANY OTHER WAY RELEASE ANY INFO ABOUT ME TO ANYONE ELSE.

They have to pay the return postage.

http://www.privacyrights.org/Letters/jm1.htm

MAIL PREFERENCE SERVICE
DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION
P. O. BOX 643
CARMEL, NY 10512

So how do I make the monster under my bed go away, and how do I make the boogey man stop lurking in my closet,...

Stale chocolate kills monsters that live under your bed.

How about taking all those prepaid return envelops and stuffing offer forms in them, but mail them to OTHER COMPANIES! So mail the promo stuff for the Visa card (after removing all forms that identify you) to the company that wants to reface your kitchen cabinets and vice versa!

And put something really heavy in the envelope so that they have to pay the excess postage on it. Jennie

Does anyone know if there is anything equivalent to the Do Not Call List that is for tele market sales for charity donation or political donations?

My brother in law says that calls for charitable contributions can be reported to the do not call list.

I do not think this is true....I made the mistake of donating to an charitable organization that was in the obituary of a very old friend who had died. I was surprised to read her obituary and saddened by it. So I sent some money to "the family request donations be given to ???"

BOY WAS THAT A MISTAKE!!! It was a one time contribution in the memory of someone I knew in the past and liked....AFTER I MADE THAT DONATION THE HARRASSING CALLS TO CONTRIBUTE MORE WOULD NOT STOP.

As my sister recommended I should send a donation of 1 cents mailed postage due.

Multiple times I requested they stop. I requested they only call at the end of the year. I screened my calls to try to avoid them. The last one, knock on wood, I picked up the phone because my mom hafd called she had lost power in her house she was going to check thgings in the hose and call me right back...I was waiting for her to cakl back and this charitable organization from hell called. I picked the phone up because I was waiting for my mothers phone call and this voice starts the whole speal of why they need money & how they will use the money I donate. I BLEW UP!!! I said you have crossed the line. I will only donate money to find a way for people to die from this disease, that is the only way I think these calls are ever gonna stop when people DIE. Don't ever call back again! It's been two weeks now, I hope blowing up finally stopped them.

My advise is never to donate to what is listed in obituary's. I learned my lesson!

We have the Do Not Call registry here is Australia also, however charities are exempt. The thing that drives me batty is the fact the you can't implement the DNC registery on a business phone. The amount of wasted time at work, wasted on trying to serve customers, and run off to answer the phone, only to find out its a Indian telemarketer wanting me to change my phone or electric company.... grrr @#$%^^$#
I have learnt a new technique, and funnily enough, they don't ring so much anymore.
"Hello, can we please speak to the owner of the business?" they enquire, "Yes i say, I'll just go and get them". I then put the phone down, and walk off and do the vacuuming, or other work, and go back after 10 minutes and hang up.
Companies hate wasting their time, to get no where. Its not productive, and the long distance calls cost them. Time they have wasted not ringing someone else.
Yep, calls have definately decreased.

I mail back the envelopes empty too, but i like the idea of filling them with something, to make it heavier, thus costing more. Will try that next time. Watch out American Express!! lol....

Unfortunately, politicians in the U.S. are not covered by the Do Not Call Registry. As in most other matters, they make laws that cover everyone but exempt themselves, just like with the new health care legislation they are attempting to push through. Under 'Obama Care', politicians and government employees and union members (and believe it or not, illegal aliens from Mexico and the middle east) will have a health care plan that is superior to what other American citizens will be allowed to have - and under the new health care legislation, if we allow it to pass, the government will decide who lives and who dies based on their age and the cost of providing treatment. If you are over age 60, you will be considered ineligible for heart operations and will be given pain pills and told to go home, but abortions will be freely available. Even if you have the money to pay for your own heart operation, you will still not be allowed to have it done - you're not important like a politician or government employee or a union member - those people are important people - you are not. Only those in the political class, government employees, and union members will be allowed to have life-saving operations for cardiac conditions and other 'costly' conditions. Do we want the government to decide who lives and who dies, or should it be up to us? George Orwell's world is upon us. Sorry, I've strayed from the topic, but I had to get that out there. Just say no!