Just got 2 indentical pieces of mail marked in huge letters "TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL. DO NOT DISCARD. On the back “TIME SENSITIVE. OPEN IMMEDIATELY.”
Just how time-sensitive were these urgent missives?
Well, they were both addressed to my father.
Who died in 2006.
I’m somewhat skeptical about the urgency of this mail.
Generally, any mail that says something like that, or “Important Document Inside”, or similar can be immediately discarded.
It’s like drunks in a bar: if they feel the need to proclaim that they are important … they aren’t.
I got something in the mail a while back from our health insurance company. The envelope said IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED! When I opened it, it was just a confirmation letter for some form we had already submitted, and the letter said “You do not need to do anything at this time.” So I was a little confused…
When ever I get something that looks like what the OP said, usually in bright bold RED and YELLOW, it usually turns out to be some offer to reduce my mortgage from some no name mortgage company.
I remember hearing (here) once that the more important a letter looks, the less important in usually is. I try to keep that in mind and when they look like that, I just toss them out without even opening them.
Yup. This is a classic example of the ‘if you have to tell people that you’re sexy, you’re not sexy’ principle.
My favorite is: “Post master: Please deliver on or before xx/xx/xx”, as if the post office delivers mail faster if you just ask them.
Just recently, I got something addressed to me in a Hallmark envelope in what looked like silver, cursive handwriting. It looked like something you could have sworn your Grandma put together. Inside: an offer for DirecTV.
My wife was not amused. I thought it was hilarious.
I routinely get “URGENT” notifications asking me to call to see if I qualify for a lower insurance rate. Meanwhile, I nearly threw away what was apparently the second notification from Ohio BMV informing me that I was randomly selected to prove that I had auto insurance, and that if I didn’t comply by x date, they’d suspend my driver’s license. :eek:
At first glance, I thought that the return address said “BMW.” We sold that car years ago, but still occasionally get junkmail re it. Thank goodness I looked closer. It would have helped if they put “WE’LL SUSPEND YOUR DRIVER’S LICENSE IF YOU DON’T OPEN THIS. SERIOUSLY!” on the envelope.
Got one recently. Just like the OP:
TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL. DO NOT DISCARD. " OPEN IMMEDIATELY."
In red: TO BE OPENED BY RECIPIENT ONLY!
Attn Postmaster-CRITICAL DOCUMENTS ENCLOSED
Logo on the envelope was an eagle and the return address was from the Department of Revenue.
Local car dealership was having a sale the upcoming weekend.
These letters are the ones I carefully (not so much) rip out the “urgent” language from the envelope, cram it into the return envelope and mail it back to the company.
Sounds like the campaign where they mailed anonymous, stalker-sounding letters to women.
Between our own junk mail and the previous owners’ shit I miss important letters all the time. :mad: I’ve started throwing away all the prior occupant mail; it’s been 5 years since we bought the house. If they want to hear from you, they’ll call.
We get those all the time. I immediately throw it in the trash.
Regards,
Shodan
Every time I get one of those, it’s a very urgent notice telling me that my car warranty is about to expire and I should really sign up with these folks for my protection. I open them all anyway, because I know I’ll get burned one of these days if I don’t.
My wife’s father died in 1992. We still get these addressed to him.
These mailings are LYING. They are saying things with the intent to mislead or deceive the recipient. Loads of advertising does this. We learn to accept this.
And yet, I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t doing us some kind of harm. We get these daily lessons that people are lying and we should not trust them, and we accept it. Isn’t this kind of weird?
My favorite is when they declare in big letters that it’s a federal offense for anyone but the intended recipient to open this letter.
Yeah, it’s true…of ANY letter. The specific piece of junk mail in question is no more a matter of concern for the feds than anything else. But of course, they want you to think “this is so important that no one but you can read it under penalty of law.”
Mass mailers, what wacky misplaced sense of urgency won’t they think of next?
