So not to hijack the telemarketer thread...

Take a look at this!!!

http://www.vertical-visions.com/_temp/postagepaid/index2.html

This one's for you, Rick!

That is fricken awsome, and I'm just the kinda guy to go thru with it.

I get so much crap in the mail, it's not even funny TILL NOW!!!

thanks for the post

Hahaha. That is amazing!

This is a perfect example of punishing the message CARRIER for the message he carries.

If anyone else has ever had a "Postage Paid by Sender" account, then they can chime in and verify this as well.

The post office does not BILL you for the individual pieces of mail you receive via your PPBS account, they charge you ONE flat rate based on your declaration of expected mail volume. The rate is paid for and charged by at the post office you use for the address. It is a one time yearly rate.

Sending junk, etc. via the method shown is a fine way of punishing the POST OFFICE for something they're not responsible for. The claim that it is "legal" is more than likely plain old B.S..

In fact, I'd bet the originator of that web-page would have a HUGE and INSTANT case of diarrhea if someone were to forward that page to the Postmaster General and the FBI. Bet his e-mail address disappears shortly after this gets mentioned.

But then again, it may be that Jason Bell at (revenge@vertical-visions.com) is already behind bars.

The only thing this type of BS does is cause the Post Office to lose money transporting crap. The Post Office is the one that's eventually blocking you, and is the only one trying to save itself some lost revenue.

E

If that is true, why do so many of the organizations that I deal with include a Business reply mail envelope but tell me that I can save them money by putting a stamp on my reply?

Are they just trying to justify a lower rate for the following year?

He never says that this is intended to cause the Junk mail sender extra postage charges. He's just sending them junk, which they will have to dispose of, just like they send him.

Everyone hates spam, be it e-mail or snail-mail.

If that is true, why do so many of the organizations that I deal with include a Business reply mail envelope but tell me that I can save them money by putting a stamp on my reply?

Are they just trying to justify a lower rate for the following year?

I've received these as well, if you look carefully, you'll note that there is NO Prepaid Postage number in the space for it. Since the post office WILL deliver postage..."Postage Due", then it WOULD save them money...by not having to pay for your response's return.

E

He never says that this is intended to cause the Junk mail sender extra postage charges. He's just sending them junk, which they will have to dispose of, just like they send him.

Everyone hates spam, be it e-mail or snail-mail.

Au contraire....quoting from the website mentioned:

Step 3 - You'll be mailing your postage-paid packages via the United States Postal Service (USPS). The USPS says that you can use a postage-paid envelope attached to any object or package (no dead animals, bombs, etc.) as long as it weighs no more than 72 lbs. Be sure to maximize the weight of your package, within limits, for the ultimate effect and cost to the spammer.

While everyone hates unwanted and unsolicited mail the answer is not to bollix the whole mail system up for everyone. This not only raises costs and reduces the efficiency of a system that is slowly being choked to death, but it also places the onus of punishment on a system that is not responsible for the way it has been misused.

If you want to really cost the spammer money, just place the card you are requested to mail back in the envelope provided, after ensuring your personal information is removed, or not if you so wish, and put it in the mail. For THAT they will pay the proper charge. They won't know it's not a valid response until the actual spammer has to open it and check it.

The filled box? That probably won't make it out of the city it's being mailed out of, although it could possibly do so. But since it does NOT meet the guidelines that the business declares for that type of mail, it probably will not get very far.

But regardless of whether the box makes it to the business or not, this is just another stupid prank that really should be stopped.

E

Cost could mean the cost incurred disposing of the returned waste. They would have to chuck it into there skip bin, which costs them to get it emptied. That how I interpreted it.

What there should be a law against is them sending you the unsolicited mail in the first place. Imagine the savings to the USPS is they didn't have to deliver all that crap.

Theres laws against email spam, now how about some laws against real-mail spam.

Thanks for that one Mat.

I certainly wouldn't consider going THAT far though.

Rick.

:devious: :devious:

I can't remember where I read it, but some guy recieved spam mail from a credit card company, took the postage paid envelope, stuffed a miscellaneous amount of pennies - 32 cents or so - in the envelope, and mailed it back to the sender. When the credit card company recieved the letter, he called them back, and demanded his 32 cents back. Needless to say, he recieved a check for 32 cents.

What there should be a law against is them sending you the unsolicited mail in the first place. Imagine the savings to the USPS is they didn't have to deliver all that crap.

Theres laws against email spam, now how about some laws against real-mail spam.

I once spoke to the Postmaster here about the horrid amount of junk mail I was getting, and asked if there were some way to get my name off the list, or if the Post Office could stop dealing with the Bulk Mailers. Unfortunatly for me, the response was "no" on all counts. Apparently, it's the Bulk Spammy Mailers that are keeping the postal system afloat, or so I was told. Without their accounts, we would be paying far more for postage than we currently are.

I do wish, however, that there were a "Do Not Mail" list similar to the "Do Not Call" lists we have here. Imagine not having to deal with the junk, just like not having to deal with the telemarketers...