very annoying 2

[rokcrawlin]

have you all noticed how much junkmail has increased since the telephone preference service has been offered, I had 62 leaflets yesterday and no mail,   I feel sorry for the postman ................or has he got rid of as much as he can at his first drop   there appears to be no way to stop this deluge apart from refilling any prepaid return envelopes with all the junkmail and letting them have the chance to win £25,000 or buy a shower, not only does the post contain junkmail but all the paper media is loading it into their magazines and newspapers is there no end to it

[Bob696]

What I dont understand is that it must be effective advertising otherwise they wouldnt do it yet I dont kow of anybody that actualy reads the damn stuff.

The only junk mail I read is the Netto one that comes with the free local paper and then it is only the hardware on the back page. If I do get some special offer thats all I get when I go into the store.

[Bush Tucker Man]

If it comes with a pre-paid response envelope I'll tear it up & send it back.
Eventually the message gets through & that particular company knocks our address off the list

[muddyweb]

In the same way you can register with the TPS, you can also register with the Mailing Preference service, that will have an effect on the amount of addressed mailshots you receive.  

You can also request that the postman doesn't deliver unsolicited mail to your door, and they have to respect that and not deliver 'anonymous' post to you.

I registered with the TPS, MPS and FPS (Fax) some time ago, and I can wholeheartedly recommed it to anyone who gets sales calls and junk mail...

http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/
http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/fps/

and one for parents who get 'baby-junk' (yes, really)

http://mpsonline.org.uk/bmpsr/

[muddyweb]

It can be very effective.  It is also a comparitvely low cost advertising media.   On a mailshot, returns of 1 or 2 percent are considered a success.

[Paul]

If it comes with a pre-paid response envelope I'll tear it up & send it back.

I do the same. :)

[jnoshea]

I can also recommend the mail preference service (MPS), used to get loads of addressed junk but that's all stopped now.

[thermidorthelobster]

I echo the above - registered for both TPS and MPS, in my name and in that of the previous occupants, and I re-register every year or so - very little junk mail, apart from the hand-delivered pizza leaflets etc.

What *does* annoy me is when I get a call from somebody trying to sell me something, although I'm ex-directory and *never* give out my home number to companies.  As soon as I argued the toss with them they just hung up.

I also registered for something or other with my home address, ticking the box marked "no junk mail please", but I put down house # 33A instead of 33, so I could track any junk mail I did get sent.  Surprise surprise, I start getting junk mail to 33A, so they've broken the Data Protection Act, but annoyingly I can't remember who it was now!

[LandRoger]

Whats this mps all about i get more junk than real mail ! :?

[muddyweb]

http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/
http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/fps/

and one for parents who get 'baby-junk' (yes, really)

http://mpsonline.org.uk/bmpsr/

;-)

[muddyweb]

What *does* annoy me is when I get a call from somebody trying to sell me something, although I'm ex-directory and *never* give out my home number to companies.  As soon as I argued the toss with them they just hung up.

I've had that a couple of times..    My solution was to sound interested and get as much information as possible about the company.   Once you have that, ask them for the name of their Data Controller.....   wait for the confused silence on the end of the phone.... then ask again.  They are obliged to tell you....  you can then either write to the data controller demanding copies of all information they hold about you. (They have to provide this), or (if they hang up) you can report the company for a breach of data protection policy for not providing you with the name.

It's amazing how quickly I got removed from a certain window sales company's list when I started down this route with them.

Thing is, most of the people who call have *NO CLUE* about DPA or about the source of the data.  One of the people I spoke to was genuinely shocked to hear that she was breaking the law ;-)

[Bob696]

I got a call about an hour ago from a "Steve Simpson" wanting to know if I wanted to change my mobile phone package.
I am xdirectory and this guy had a very heavy indian acsent. Not its not impossable that an indian guy has changed his name or it might be an english guy who has lived all his life in india but I dont think those are likely.

In responce I pointed out that his accent didnt fit the name, hit the secrecy button and left the phone off the hook. Its still there. Use that line again ya bu**ers. If anybody needs to call me they can use my mobile number  :lol:

[rokcrawlin]

What *does* annoy me is when I get a call from somebody trying to sell me something, although I'm ex-directory and *never* give out my home number to companies.  As soon as I argued the toss with them they just hung up.

I've had that a couple of times..    My solution was to sound interested and get as much information as possible about the company.   Once you have that, ask them for the name of their Data Controller.....   wait for the confused silence on the end of the phone.... then ask again.  They are obliged to tell you....  you can then either write to the data controller demanding copies of all information they hold about you. (They have to provide this), or (if they hang up) you can report the company for a breach of data protection policy for not providing you with the name.

It's amazing how quickly I got removed from a certain window sales company's list when I started down this route with them.

Thing is, most of the people who call have *NO CLUE* about DPA or about the source of the data.  One of the people I spoke to was genuinely shocked to hear that she was breaking the law ;-)

cheers guys this is the sort of thing i needed to know as i will put a stop to it now