# U.S. English vocabulary question \[Edited: How to prevent delivery of flyers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2019, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272 "2019-02-27T03:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/21 "2019-02-27T13:29:16Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Even if you request that the post office stop/hold your mail? I think that would work for anything specifically addressed to me. The problem is with unaddressed junk. They told me that they are obliged to deliver it, and that the only way to stop it is to remove my mailbox. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/22 "2019-02-27T13:35:40Z")
Coming at this from a different angle, why not put your box back in but also submit a [Hold Mail](https://holdmail.usps.com/holdmail/) request to the USPS every time you are away from home for at least 3 days? The USPS will still end up delivering your junk mail but not until you are back home. It also leaves a place for the random passers-by to leave their flyers. ETA: ninja’d. But seriously, it is not just for mail addressed to you but for all mail to that address, no matter the recipient. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/23 "2019-02-27T14:41:16Z")
You can put your mail on hold on the USPS website. I’ve done this many times. They hold all mail, including junk mail, until your hold ends. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/24 "2019-02-27T14:43:41Z")
Since this has gone beyond a vocabulary question to advice on how to deal with the problem, let’s move this to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/25 "2019-02-27T14:46:41Z")
It is not legal for those distributors to put flyers in a mailbox – a call to the Post Office will put a quick stop to that. Mailboxes are only for items on which postage has been paid. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/26 "2019-02-27T15:22:49Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > You can put your mail on hold on the USPS website. I’ve done this many times. They hold all mail, including junk mail, until your hold ends. They can only hold mail that has been sent through the mail. That doesn’t include things that individual businesses get someone to walk up to your house and stuff flyers in your gate or storm door. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/27 "2019-02-27T15:45:54Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > It is not legal for those distributors to put flyers in a mailbox – a call to the Post Office will put a quick stop to that. Mailboxes are only for items on which postage has been paid. I doubt the OP would be unhappy if the flyers were in the mailbox, because at least they wouldn’t be visible. But what is a problem is they leave them at the door, or hanging from the doorknob or in a bag on the driveway. And the fact that you haven’t removed them is a sign that you’re out of town. That’s what the OP wants to avoid. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/28 "2019-02-28T16:53:16Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I think that would work for anything specifically addressed to me. The problem is with unaddressed junk. They told me that they are obliged to deliver it, and that the only way to stop it is to remove my mailbox. I assume that by “unaddressed junk” you mean items that are addressed to “occupant”, “resident” or " Our neighbors at (address)" The “hold mail” request stops delivery of all mail to a particular address whether it’s addressed to you or not. I’m actually surprised that removing your mailbox stops delivery- it wouldn’t where I live. They’d find some way to leave the mail even without a mailbox/slot either by putting it in the handrails of the steps or between the door and the storm door. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/29 "2019-02-28T18:39:34Z")
Sign: “Bill Stickers Will Be Prosecuted” Graffito: “Let Bill Stickers Go Free!” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/30 "2019-03-10T02:27:11Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > It is not legal for those distributors to put flyers in a mailbox – a call to the Post Office will put a quick stop to that. Mailboxes are only for items on which postage has been paid. Yep. Drive down a rural road past a few farmhouses some day. Mounted next to the mailbox you’ll often find a second mailbox-like structure for newspaper delivery. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/31 "2019-03-10T11:44:10Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I guess it’s not quite such a problem here, where we have letterboxes in the front door. Provided that it is a ‘friendly’ one - ie, one that is big enough and doesn’t have a super-strong, finger-trapping spring on the flap, most of the junk ends up on the floor inside. Free newspapers are the exception, but the postie will push those through the next time they deliver. If you live in a house… I live in a flat, we have the world’s least secure postboxes on the wall by the front door (I no longer bother with the key, the lock’s so close to the slot and easy to turn, putting a letter in will sometimes open it). Flat 1 is empty, the previous owner died not long before I moved in, and I think his heirs are still sorting things out. Not only is it very obvious that there’s no-one there, I reckon they’re also missing important letters; the letterbox gets so stuffed with junkmail and flyers within a few weeks that the postie can’t get legit letters in, which then sometimes wind up in a soggy pile under the boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/32 "2019-03-10T15:52:32Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I assume that by “unaddressed junk” you mean items that are addressed to “occupant”, “resident” or " Our neighbors at (address)" The “hold mail” request stops delivery of all mail to a particular address whether it’s addressed to you or not. > > I’m actually surprised that removing your mailbox stops delivery- it wouldn’t where I live. They’d find some way to leave the mail even without a mailbox/slot either by putting it in the handrails of the steps or between the door and the storm door. There have been a couple of times that the Postal Service has threatened to stop delivering my mail because my mailbox wasn’t properly mounted or failed to clear a path through the snow. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272/33 "2019-03-10T15:58:36Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m actually surprised that removing your mailbox stops delivery- it wouldn’t where I live. They’d find some way to leave the mail even without a mailbox/slot either by putting it in the handrails of the steps or between the door and the storm door. I went to the Santa Fe post office and asked how I could stop getting USPS-delivered junk mail, and they _told_ me the only way is to remove my mailbox. Perhaps they are more inclined to find a place to put stuff if it has your specific name and address on it (I don’t have any mail sent there, obviously), but removing the box certainly stopped the junk. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-english-vocabulary-question-edited-how-to-prevent-delivery-of-flyers/830272.md?page=1)