# How to stop Credit Card mailings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408 "2004-07-22T20:53:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SoulSearching](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@SoulSearching](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulSearching)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/1 "2004-07-22T20:53:56Z")
I am fed up with what seems to be an average of 3-5 credit card offers in the mail each day. The same company, Providian, will sometimes send 10 different mailings to me in one day. I absolutely do not need any more cards and this is wasting so much of my time and energy. It doesn’t sound so bad but when you consider the surge of identity fraud these days, I have to tear up each envelope and properly dispose of the contents. Is there anyway I can tell these companies to stop sending me offers and will they agree to do so? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/2 "2004-07-22T21:37:56Z")
Have you tried tearing the reply cards in half and writing “I don’t want your credit card - stop sending me these offers” on them? Do this with each one they send you as it costs them something to receive that business reply mail. (Assuming they’re providing post-paid envelopes) Eventually, they should get the hint. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/3 "2004-07-22T21:53:03Z")
You can write to the big three credit companies (TransUnion, Equifax and…ummm…that other one. :D) and tell them not to release your information to credit card companies who query marketing profiles. That should stop the unsolicited offers. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/4 "2004-07-22T22:02:20Z")
[Equifax’s contact info, including a toll-free number you can call to opt out of mailing lists](https://www.econsumer.equifax.com/consumer/forward.ehtml?forward=contact_us) [TransUnion’s info on opting out of mailng lists](http://www.transunion.com/content/page.jsp?id=/personalsolutions/general/data/OptOut.xml) [Experian (the one I forgot 😉 ) has opt-out info also](http://www.experian.com/preapproved_credit/opting_out.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/5 "2004-07-22T22:36:56Z")
If it comes with a pre-paid envelope, bundle up your old phone books and a brick or two and use the evelope to mail it to the company. They only have to pay for the postage once the envelope is used. ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/6 "2004-07-22T22:43:04Z")
This reminds me of a story my brother told me. A friend of his at university hated junk mail and ate a lot of bananas. He used prepaid envelopes to dispose of his banana skins. Seemed reasonable to me. ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/7 "2004-07-22T22:50:40Z")
There’s a phone # that you can call that will stop most of these - I’ll try and find it later. I still get these from time to time, and I get a little satisfaction from stuffing the prepaid envelope that they send with the offer with whatever junk I can find - leaving out anything that has my name or address. Not only does the company have to pay the postage, but they have to pay someone to open the envelope full of junk… ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/8 "2004-07-22T23:14:43Z")
[From Consumer Action](http://www.consumer-action.org/English/library/privacy_rights/2003_Rose_CredPrivacy/index.php) > [@](#): > > How to Stop Credit Offers > > Many people receive pre-approved credit offers in the mail but not everyone is aware of how sensitive they are. Crooks can steal credit offers and use them to get a credit card with your name on it sent to another address. Dispose of all offers carefully or “opt out” completely to cut the risk of identity theft. To opt out (stop receiving) pre-approved credit offers, call (888) 567-8688. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/9 "2004-07-22T23:28:54Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > If it comes with a pre-paid envelope, bundle up your old phone books and a brick or two and use the evelope to mail it to the company. They only have to pay for the postage once the envelope is used. Actually, it just makes a hassle for the post office – part of business reply mail is the ability to call non-responsive returns, umm, non-responsive. That means you don’t have to pay for them. Not really an annoyance to the credit card company, as they have mailing firms doing all the grunt work. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/10 "2004-07-22T23:33:15Z")
> [@Fritz](#): > > [From Consumer Action](http://www.consumer-action.org/English/library/privacy_rights/2003_Rose_CredPrivacy/index.php) Hey, thanks. I didn’t even know that thing existed. I called to ban my info from them for eternity. I’ll let you know how it works out. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/11 "2004-07-23T00:04:36Z")
I did the toll-free number the supposedly stops this, as well as contacted all three agencies to put a stop to it (at the same time I put a fraud alert on, due to being a victim). I seem to no longer get “truly” unsolicited offers anymore, so it kind of works. But I do get offers every time I get new financing or a company buys a company I use for financing. Like Chase recently (new mortgage). Or many, many, many times from whover the heck it is that bought PeopleFirst (awesome car loan company, and I should be loyal to my employer’s car loan company). And my bank, of course. But my wife gets unsolicited offers, too! So far they seem to be from the same companies that send me offers. But they’re always “pre-approved” and they’re always Molybdenum or something. Thing is, she has no credit history. None, not even bad – completely non-existant. ---
**Author:** ![Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bag_of_mostly_water/32/1029_2.png) [@Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bag_of_Mostly_Water)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-stop-credit-card-mailings/256408/12 "2004-07-23T00:23:31Z")
My daughther has been getting credit card offers since she was about five. They started just after we signed her up to get a frequent flyer number with United Airlines. (Don’t laugh. We were flying fairly frequently to visit family. She had enough miles for a free ticket some time ago.) One would think these folks would be smart enough not to send a credit card application to someone too young to sign their name.