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DMA Drops Mailing Preference List Fee
US-centric: You no longer have to pay to opt out of annoying unsolicited snail mail: the Direct Marketing Association has dropped their dollar fee to get your name on their mailing preferences list. The DMA's member companies honor this granddaddy of snail mail optout lists, which is supported by the U.S. Postal Service. I paid the buck way back when to get on the DMA list, and it's since reduced my unwanted postal mail a whole lot. This dropped fee is long-awaited, great news. See also five ways you can clean up your snail mail.
Tags: brief | mail | opt out | privacy | spam | spam killers
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Sanjiv
Posted January 16, 2008 6:19 AM
GreenDimes here,
Consider us as your full service solution to get rid of junk mail and unwanted catalogs. We just created a new catalog screener that gives you the flexiblity to manage the catalogs that you want stopped. In addition, we plant 10 trees with each sign up. We do charge a fee. I'm glad so many people are talking about this important issue.
Sarah Stokely
Posted January 16, 2008 9:31 AM
Your product would probably be a little more useful to us if it was offered outside the US - this is Lifehacker Australia. Good luck with it anyway - anything to reduce our paper waste. :)
gravitus
Posted 12:09 PM 14/1/08
I still get the fee page when I try to subscribe. Maybe I am failing @life here but it seems they made the announcement and never implemented the change on their website... now I need to cuddle with someone. :(
gravitus
robmcbell
Posted 11:52 AM 14/1/08
YAY!
robmcbell
CaptainRoin
Posted 1:11 PM 14/1/08
Hah, just found this on their own website:
"Identity thieves are clever, and have posed as representatives of banks, Internet service providers (ISPs), and even government agencies to get people to reveal their SSN, mother's maiden name, account numbers, and other personal information. Before you share any such information, confirm that you are dealing with a legitimate organization."
emphasis added
CaptainRoin
CaptainRoin
Posted 1:08 PM 14/1/08
"No-charge transaction" WTF?
I think not. I don't even give out my phone number. I'll take my chances with the paper shredder for now.
CaptainRoin
John David
Posted 1:05 PM 14/1/08
They want my credit card number to opt out of getting junk mail? No way. We are clearing dealing with insane people here.
John David
robdew
Posted 1:00 PM 14/1/08
Why do I need to create an account? I don't need to create an account if I do this via postal mail.
robdew
dognose
Posted 12:58 PM 14/1/08
You do have to use a credit card, but "Your credit card number will be used to authenticate and validate your identity through a no-charge transaction."
dognose
gravitus
Posted 8:50 PM 14/1/08
@dognose: I saw that verification page but I fail to understand why I should give out credit card information so that I don't receive junk mail.
Heres an idea, I'll mail my wallet to them and they can give me back how much they think I should have.
gravitus
Kin
Posted 4:19 AM 15/1/08
Failing to notice why is failing @life.
They don't want people to remove other people, because they want to keep people on the list. So you need to show identification for your address.
The only legit argument is that they might be idiots, and not delete it right away. The concept however should not be foreign to you guys..or gals..
Kin
dontera
Posted 7:04 AM 15/1/08
To add to the multitude of reasons Not to submit your personal information to this company..
I have discovered a massive personal information breach in the registration form. It exposes All information entered during the reg process (minus cc#) of everyone who has ever registered.
They have been notified, but have yet to respond or take action.
dontera
mwilsonemt
Posted 5:25 AM 15/1/08
I would be more willing to give my DL number then a credit card number for validation. Sorry, I'll take the junk (or as I found out the post office calls it, "Bulk") Mail.
mwilsonemt
gravitus
Posted 11:17 AM 15/1/08
@Kin:
No need to insult my intelligence. I simply stated that the company in question wants a CREDIT CARD still. Why? So they can verify my identity?
I seem to remember signing up on the national do not call list.. didn't give them a credit card to verify anything... calls stopped.
So again why do they want my credit card number...
gravitus
hnkelley
Posted 4:30 PM 18/1/08
I agree with the complaints about them requesting a CC number. No way! I understand Kin's argument about it, but I don't believe it's correct. As Gravitus stated, the National Do Not Call List doesn't need it. Neither does the opt-out (or in) for stopping the pre-approved garbage from CC and insurance companies. They really have no need of it here. Unless, of course, it's to discourage our signing up. My response? I'll go back to returning their junk mail in their own prepaid envelopes! Oh, and I do this with the junk that comes with my bills, too (well, the few bills that don't get paid online).
hnkelley