Is there any way to stop junk mail?

[Igloo]

I’ll do my best to nutshell-ize my situation/question…

My husband and I are recently married. I moved into his house. Before he met me, he got his ex-girlfriend a credit card on his account (long story) and used her name on the card but his mailing address (they did not live together).

Basically, we receive a lot of junk mail with her name on it. To him, it’s just junk mail, but to be honest, it’s a lot of junk mail (at least 2-3 solicitations a week) and it irks me to constantly receive stuff with his ex’s name on it.

I realize it would be futile to contact every solicitor but does the post office pre-toss junk mail if I contact them and tell them this person is no longer at this address and we want to stop receiving mail with her name on it?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[Kamandi]

Welcome to the SDMB, Igloo!

Junkbusters has some great advice on how to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive.

The Direct Marketing Association is a trade group of junk mail senders. They maintain a list of people who don’t want junk mail. To get your name (or the ex-girlfriend’s name, may she rot in hell) added to the list, send a letter with the ex-girlfriend’s name and your address to:

Direct Marketing Association
Preference Service
P.O. Box 9008
Farmingdale NY 11735-9008

This won’t get it all, but it should drastically reduce the amount of junk you receive. It should certainly stop anything sent from credit card companies. It may take a few months for your name to make it onto the list, so be patient.

[Igloo]

Thanks, Kamandi. I especially liked your wishes for her actual place of residence

[Kamandi]

You’re welcome! My wife has the same wish for one of my ex girlfriends.

[postcards]

…that I know of only works if they enclose postage-paid return envelopes with their crap.

Remove said postage-paid envelope. Take all the crap that was originally sent to you, including the outer envelope, and cram it into the paid return envelope. Circle your (pre-printed) name and address on whatever piece of the crap was showing through the cellophane window.

Write: Remove this name, else heavier objects will follow!

See, they pay, what 8 3/4 cents to mail it to you, but first class rates on the return envelope. (34 cents 1st ounce, 22 each additional.) They’re not stupid, they’ll see what the first return costs them, and leave you alone.

And I wouldn’t worry if they should threaten legal action; it’s unsolicited, you can do with it what you want.

I have done this with every piece of junk mail with paid return envelopes (save for charitable oranizations) that I get; I rarely get a second piece, and have never been threatened by them.

I’m not so sure about the Direct Marketers Association, I think writing to them is like clicking on ‘unsubscribe’ when you get spam…

[Kamandi]

*Originally posted by postcards *
**I’m not so sure about the Direct Marketers Association, I think writing to them is like clicking on ‘unsubscribe’ when you get spam… **

Naww, they’re legit. Here’s their privacy policy. I sent my name and address to them, and my junk mail volume dropped by 90%.

Here’s their Mail Preference Service (MPS)

**Will registration with MPS end all advertising mail?

No.** You will continue to receive mail from companies with which you do business and from charitable or commercial organizations which do not choose to use MPS. In addition, you may continue to receive mail from many local merchants, professional and alumni associations, political candidates and mail addressed to “occupant” or “resident.”

Here’s their Telephone Preference Service (TPS), for cutting down telemarketing calls.

**Does registration with TPS mean an end to all advertising calls?

No.** Although registration with TPS will help reduce the number of telemarketing calls you receive, it will not stop all telemarketing calls. You may continue to receive calls from local merchants, religious and charitable organizations, professional and alumni associations, and political candidates and office holders.

I did that too, and it cut the telemarketing calls way down. I only get calls from charities now (which, as noted above, are exempt from the service).

[Cheesesteak]

Can you fill out a change of address form with her name on it, with her real address? Or maybe have a chat with your friendly postal carrier?

I assume that the USPS is not supposed to deliver mail to you if you tell them that the person doesn’t live there anymore. Any USPS workers out there?

[Ferret_Herder]

IANALC (letter carrier), but my husband is. I asked this question of him once before, and his advice was to talk to your letter carrier - either in person, or call the post office in the morning when they’ll still be there sorting mail and ask to speak to the regular letter carrier for your route. (Note that not all routes have a regular carrier, but if yours does, you want the regular carrier and not the guy who fills in on days off.) Tell them the name of this person, and say that they moved and - if this is the case - left no forwarding address, and that you don’t want to get her mail any longer. The carrier should then put a note in their case stating this, and returnable mail should be returned with a “moved and left no forward” notation on it. If you do know the new address, tell the carrier this.