|
|
STOP JUNK MAIL!After much research and too much junk mail being thrown into the recycle bin, I decided to put together this website hoping to sorta meld all the information I got from researching the web, making calls, and asking questions. I hope these things will help you and guarantee that if you follow some simple steps, you can also reduce the amount of junk mail you receive establishing yourself as close as possible to becoming JUNK MAIL FREE!! In order to cut to the chase I will list some junk mail (direct marketing) companies that may include you in their databases and give their contact information so you can let them know you want no more junk mail! Really, contacting these people is the best thing you can do to reduce getting junk mail. There are companies that charge a small fee to do this for you, but its fairly easy to do and stops you from having to yet again, give out your infomation and put your trust in someone else not to sell it to other junk mail hounds. These junk mail companies get your information anytime you sign up for a sweepstakes, donate money, fill out product warranty cards, etc. Anytime you do anything that requires you give out your name and address, rest assured it is being sold to some junk mail company. Bummer, but true. So when filing out this information be sure to 1.) assert that it is necessary to give out your name, and 2.) clearly let them know you are not interested in receiving any junk mail from anyone. period. If you are already on many lists, like I was- here is a guide to getting off of them and who these junk mailcompanies are: (Just a note- forget about contacting the USPS- they promote direct marketing and will not help you unless you are getting unwanted sexually oriented garb- see the tips at the end of this page.) First contact DMA by sending a postcard requesting
that they stop sending junk mail from companies you have never ordered
anything from. include your name, address and request to "activate
the preference service". This will stop junk mail
from those companies which you have never contacted. This will stop
junk mail from these companies for up to five years. America on-line- what a total waste. This is the biggest junk mail offender in my opinin. call 1-800-827-6364 (6am-2am EST) and demand to be taken off of the list. Magazines - look up the 800 number and ask them to take you off of their list. Credit card offers- you can call all of these companies directly or call an opt-out number that generally takes care of most of them- but at any rate- stop the junk mail you receive from them by calling these numbers: *1-888-567-8688 or 1-888-5OPTOUT. This will remove you from junk mail sent by Trans Union, Equifax, innovis, Experian and. The individual contact information is: |
| TRANS UNION Attn: Name Removal PO Box 97328 Jackson, MS 39288-7328 |
EQUIFAX Attn: Opt Out PO Box 105873 Atlanta, GA 30348 |
INNOVIS Attn: Consumer Assistance P.O. Box 1358 Columbus, OH 43216-1358 |
EXPERIAN Attn: Opt Out 701 Experian Parkway Allen, TX 75013 888-633-4402 |
| Other companies that are members of trade associations that send junk mail, and qualify as direct marketing companies are: |
Acxiom CORP. Attn: Opt Out PO Box 2000 Conway, AR 72033-2000 1-800-922-9466 |
American Business information
inc. |
Publishing Clearinghouse Sweepstakes |
Donnelly Marketing, inc Attn: Data Base Operations PO Box 3502 Ames, iA 50010-3502 888-633-4402 |
American Family Sweetpstakes 1-800-237-2400 American Family Publishers PO Box 62000 Tampa, FL 33662 |
Readers Digest Sweepstakes Readers Digest Rd. Pleasantville NY 10570 800-678-2743 |
The Polk Company Attn: Opt Out 26955 Northwestern Hwy Southfield, MI 48034-8455 800-873-7655 |
ABACUS PO Box 1478 Broomfield, CO 80038 800-518-4453 |
Haines and Company, inc. Criss-Cross Directory Attn: Director of Data Processing 8050 Freedom Ave NW Canton, OH 44720 |
Dataquick 877-970-9171 |
ADVO INC. |
VAL-PAK Coupons- 1661 Worchester Rd Framingham, MA 01701 800-676-6878 |
Now, with all this said there is ONE thing you can do to stop junk mail by contacting the USPS. There is a form called 1500 which can be obtained from SOME Post Offices. If yours does not have it available, request that you receive one and they should oblige. You can also download it here OR you can check it out from our downloads page. This form allows you to request that a certain company not send any more mail to your address. The catch is that it should only be used to stop explicit or pornographic material, however- YOU are the deciding factor when labeling something as such. So theoretically, you can request that whatever company you want to obey your request as stated in this form and after it has been processed, you should not receive mail from them again. On form 1500 it is the option to issue "prohibitory order against sender of pandering advertisement in the mails." So, look for that, send it in- one step closer to being junk mail free! | Some general JUNK MAiL
FREE TIPS: Always when giving your information
request these companies do not give away or "rent" your name
to other companies. Almost always, companies will give your information
to other companies of the same interest for a small fee. Phone books are
a sure way for people to find you. If you are not interested in having
an unlisted number ask that your address not be published. this should
take care of some of the junk mail. Remember that any time you give out
your name, for charity or warranty cards or whatever- you are almost always
putting yourself on some list that will get sold over and over to companies
that send junk mail. Always politely ask that your information stay private
and not sold to junk mail lists. |