How to stop all junk mail and telemarketing calls for just $10
Jun 14 '01
The Bottom Line How to save your sanity and a few trees for $10
I posted this e-pinion under Credit Cards/Capital One this morning because I'd just read another e-pinion by poseidon complaining about the volume of junk mail he was getting from this company. A few people took exception to my choice of places to post it. I hope this section is more to their liking.
Right...on with the task at hand.
Pretty much every financial institution relies either completely or in some part in direct marketing to bring in new customers or market add on products to existing customers.
I work in the finance industry and have a pretty good understanding of how direct marketing works and an even better understanding of how to stop it!!! There are a number of sure fire ways to get your names off marketing lists and here are the best.
First you need to understand how the credit card bank got your name and address in the first place. Banks will have a set of criteria that define a profitable customer, eg. income, outstanding debt, number of current credit accounts etc. and they give this criteria to the credit reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, who in turn supply the banks with a huge list of people who fit those criteria. The banks do not get access to any protected information about you; they just know you fit their model as a good customer and they begin to mail to you and call you. They will keep on mailing and calling until either A. you find a way to stop them or B. you sign up for the card.
Phone Lists:
The worst way to stop receiving calls during dinner is to yell at a minimum wage telemarketer. That will not work. Neither will hanging up, your name will just go back into the automated dialler only to pop up on another callers screen the next night. You need to ask to speak to the caller's supervisor and ask to be placed on their "Do Not Call List". Every telemarketer is federally mandated to maintain a list of people who no longer wish to receive calls from them.
That is the first step. Next you need to go to www.the-dma.org (website of the Direct Marketing Association) and follow the instructions to have your name and number added to the national do not call list. It costs $5 per year. All major telemarketers use this list and do not call anyone on it. Also over a dozen states now have state run do not call lists where you can add your name as an additional safety measure. Check your state's website for information. If you receive a call from a telemarketer after having your name added to one of these lists the telemarketer will be fined and you may be eligible for a slice of the proceeds; but remember it does take the list managers time to add your name and distribute it to the telemarketers so there is usually a month or two implementation window during which you may still receive calls.
Mailing Lists
The only sure fire way to stop receiving junk mail is through the Direct Marketing Association's Do Not Mail List. Again this can be found at www.the-dma.org and costs $5 per year. Same thing for e-mail. If you receive mail or e-mail after having your name added keep it and get in touch with the DMA to have the offending institutions punished.
Contacting the Post Office will not work, nor will yelling at the mailman...he might shoot back!
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Epinions.com ID:
Mattog
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Member: Matt R.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Reviews written: 72
Trusted by: 37 members
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