h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Unwanted Magazine Subscriptions - A54760854
Author: Alex 'Tufty' Ashman [!] - U566116


My fifth Flea Market rescue - original entry is at A3979263.

Alex

Nice one, Alex.

Some of this applies to all unsolicited mail rather than just magazine subscriptions, and to be honest I only get junk - I can't remember when anyone last sent me anything vaguely readable.

I once had an idea to make a bit of money out of junk mail by setting myself up as a 'direct mail review service'. It would work like this. When I receive mail, I send them by return a standard form (use their prepaid envelope or freepost address). On the form I rate their junk mail out of ten in a number of categories: Layout, impact, intelligibility, etc. I say at the bottom of the form that this is their free sample and that if they want any further reviews then send more mail and I'll invoice them £50 for each one.

Do you think it would work?

Brilliant plan.

I wonder whether you could expand this to things other than magazines? My grandmother is constantly falling for a scam where they send her a "you may be a winner!" thing and then pretend she ordered expensive books she doesn't need...

Good idea, Icy

I've made some changes to include all direct mail - do you reckon it works as an entry?

Yes, that reads better. The only problem with mixing them is that junk mail is a far larger subject (scams etc).

UK only?

< No [] > I'd put a wider space within the square brackets.

Ok, I've made those minor changes, added a section on scams and some more detail about stopping junk mail.

I still think you're being too passive about finding "good" uses for junk you don't want or need but are paying for anyway.

What would you suggest?

Well, a lot of these scams are illegal or at least highly suspicious... They should be reported to the consumer advice centre or similar, who can also counsel you in how to deal with them.

And a lot of them have the "if you don't like it return it within X days or we'll assume you want it" clauses. In which case, send it back, not distribute it to friends!

This looks like a fun and useful entry. There's an odd morph from general junk to magazines, the reason for which became clear when I read this thread. I reckon it could do with more examples, such as free internet CDs (A273836), takeaway menus, pamphlets about amazing offers at Lidl and those newsletters that political parties send you that look periodical but only show up in the run up to an election.

As for uses, personally I find junk mail to be an inexpensive source of bookmarks.

By the way, there's an entry on those ticky boxes: A302950

I've added some more detail about scams and what to do about them, a paragraph about the source of unaddressed mail, and a list of alternative uses for junk mail that needs some suggestions.

I'd already included links to both "Free Internet CDs" and "Tick if You do Not Wish to Receive Further Information"

Looks good now. Still very UK-centric, but there's no way to make it applicable to everywhere without being too vague.

I've changed the title to "Unwanted Mail"

alternative use - big tomes such as freebie catelogues make good fire-starters while i've yet to try it I wonder if you can receive enough post each day to keep a fire going indefinetly - if you can then another use is having a good story to tell.

A well-written text. What about adding a footnote to

"We're going to share your details with other firms to make money. Tick this minuscule box to stop us:"
No [&#8194;]

to say 'and be prepared to prove it'

Just an idea, feel free to disregard.

However, i was very surprised by
"Their addresses end up being put in a big database that gets sold to all sorts of companies, who use the information to send them magazines and suchlike through the post.
"Alternatively, someone you know may have given a company your details in order to either amuse or spite you, not that it makes much difference. Beware of these, as you may end up getting a bill after the second or third issue of a magazine comes through."

I understood this to mean that a company can bill you for unsolicitated material. I'm not familiar with UK practices, but I'm surprised that you can be billed - and expected to pay - for magazines you didn't specifically order. Consumer protection laws in many places ensure that you don't have to pay for something you didn't order (tacit consent is not a receivable argument). Of course, if somebody has fraudulently used your signature that's a whole different case and that would certainly be a case for contacting the magazine (and perhaps the police as you might be expected to file a complaint to show your good faith).


To do whatever you like with

I've made some changes - guys

YAY
My first ever sucessful contribution (no one point out it was a single line )

Looks good, Alex



'In the UK, some of these are delivered by the Royal Mail'.



Does 'the elderly and individuals with poor credit histories' sound better?

Icy

Done