Unsolicited mail

[Monika]

At this time of the year, almost every day some item of unsolicited mail drops through the letter box, some are pleas from charities but most are sales catalogues from companies we have never bought anything from. We already support the charities of our choice and the goods offered in the sales catalogue are of no interest whatsoever. So what do I do with them? I have now taken to writing "Return to Sender" on the envelope or on a sticker, if it is covered in plastic, and hope that this will be the end of this.

I did register with www.mpsonline.org.uk to stop unsolicited mail, but it still comes and comes and comes .......

Any advice?

[Colin2016]

I used to have this problem until I moved now hardly get any.

Whenever I am asked my address & phone number I want to know what they are going to do with it, regardless of their reply I tell them not to put me on any mailing list.

On online forms that want a phone number I use 01000000000 this gets through the automated system.

Another thing I used to do is put all the junk mail in there reply paid envelope.

[tigerburnie]

I either light the fire with it, shred into the compost bin or put it in the recycling bin after removing my name and address.

[Westi]

I can't understand why at Xmas these charities send us pens, coasters, wee note books, xmas cards etc. in the mass envelope drop. What does this cost them out of our donation to the charities we do support? Most people (including me), just take the freebie out and throw the rest, but I do moan a bit when it's my charities that I want them to support the individuals or animals that I send my monthly direct debit to, not give everyone in the country a pen!

Any clever clogs out there who has any info on whether this does help more than it costs?

[robo]

What is worse than unsolicited mail is unsolicited phone calls lately I've been getting them on my mobile which turns the air blue with in a twenty yard radius of me after the call I can block them unlike our home phone which blocks them when they try to ring, most of the time

[peter]

Just tell them to hang on a moment, put the phone down and leave it till they get bored and hang up.

[robo]

Peter my wife did that once only problem was it was the specialist I was getting ready to go and see ringing to tell me not to bother ,luckily he rang back just as I was on my way out of the door

[Monika]

Westie, exactly. When we recently received a thick letter with Christmas cards, stickers and a pen, I could not bear to use them without making a donation, neither did I want to throw them away, so I posted them back (because I had opened the envelope), paying the postage myself which is of no use to the charity! That is when I decided from now on I will just write "Return to Sender".

[Primrose]

We also seem to be receiving an increasing amount of unsolicited mail despite signing up to the mailing preference service. We donate regularly to charities of our choice - most local ones with whom we are involved who consist mainly of volunteers because that way you know a large chunk of your money isn't being swallowed up in salaries and other administrative expenses. I have a sideboard full of free cardboard drink coasters! I think the point has now come when I'm going to have to do the same as others, ie just write "Return to sender" on the envelope and post it back in the pillar box.

[Shallot Man]

I support a dogs trust. Reading recently how much some of the top brass earn. I now drop in large bags of dog food instead of money.

[Geoff]

I believe there is a dog charity near us where the owners always wanted to run a kennels but couldn't raise the capital. They opened a charity shop, now have three shops, kennels that do some dog rescue and a bigger house.
The whole situation could be solved by abolishing the Charity Commission, stopping Gift Aid and abolishing the tax advantages of charities. Large numbers of these charities are just middle class job creation schemes. It would make the high streets have even more empty shops but at least we would only be supporting the charities we select not all these dubious ones that are effectively increasing our taxes, I particularly object to public schools managing to have charitable status. Any tax paid by the organisations that stay in business could be ring fenced for the NHS.

[Shallot Man]

Geoff. Agree with you completely. Too easy to set up a charity.

[Pa Snip]

We get junk mail through the post, we get leaflets and 'charity' collection bags through the letterbox.

The 'Charity' bags, which are in the most part commercial business operations with only a small percentage going to the named charity.
We use those bags as kitchen bin liners, saves us a few pennies.

Our local council is one of a number around the country that has joined a recycling redemption scheme.

We are supplied with a specific recycling bin into which we can place cardboard, tins, glass, foil AND those pesky letterbox leaflets and junk mail.
Each week, yes we still have weekly collections, the bin is weighed automatically as soon as it is located on the lorry. Each bin is chipped with the relevant house address and subject to that weight we are notified by email how many recycling points we have achieved that week.

We save the points up and can use them to buy participating companies gift vouchers or discounts at local and national stores.
We can also donate the points to small local charities.
We can also use the points for a monthly draw for goods or evenings out.

Consequently our junk mail hits the mat, gets picked up and goes straight in the recycling bin. We are therefore able to support local charities at no cost to ourselves.

[robo]

Our bins are emptied once every two weeks the green bin the council want £30 a year to empty it ours is now down the plot I'm using it for a compost bin I will not pay for something I pay for in the rates

[Pa Snip]

Green bins here are only supplied by request for garden waste only and collection of them is fortnightly and has to be paid for at the rate of £35 per annum, not for general recycling use of unsolicited mail.

If I had a less suitable vehicle I don't think that's a bad price to pay given how often we take 'green' waste to the tip that isn't sensibly compostable