Top

Brought to you by Catalog Choice

Have You Tried Catalog Choice?

You can opt out of unwanted mail and phone books for free online or by taking pictures with your iPhone.

Visit Catalog Choice

Getting an error when you sign the letter? Try to submit one more time. 

STILL HAVE A PROBLEM? SEND US AN EMAIL

Press Links: 

Time

Blog Index
The journal that this archive was targeting has been deleted. Please update your configuration.
Navigation

Send The Letter  (by email)

Dear Postmaster General Donahoe:

I am writing to request that the U.S. Postal Service allow me to opt out of unaddressed advertising mail. I understand that the USPS is encouraging businesses to send more mail through the Every Door Direct program. I only want to receive mail from companies of my choice. I make the effort to send opt-out requests to companies I don't want to hear from. I am asking the USPS to:

  • Allow citizens to opt out of Every Door Direct Mail.
  • Train USPS staff about Every Door Direct Mail opt-out policies and procedures.
  • Provide clear information to businesses about how to honor opt-outs with Every Door Direct Mail. 
  • Penalize companies that fail to honor opt-outs with Every Door Direct Mail. 

Sincerely,

<Fill out form below to send>

This form does not yet contain any fields.

    The Issue

    The United States Postal Service is encouraging businesses to send more unaddressed advertising. You know, the mail that comes to "current resident." USPS President Paul Vogel hopes businesses will send five times more advertising mail as a result of the Every Door Direct Mail program.

    Imagine getting five times the amount of unaddressed advertising mail you currently receive.

    In theory, the USPS allows citizens to opt out of advertising mail by telling companies that use the USPS service. But the system doesn't work! Here are just a few of company responses to citizen attempts to opt out of unaddressed mail:

    A grocery store: "We wanted to explain that (we do) not have a postal mailing list. The only thing that (we have) mailed out are our weekly fliers and occasional coupons and those items are sent by an advertising agency that sends them out strictly by postal zip codes to target areas. We recommend that you contact your local post office and request that they do not deliver any advertisements to your address."

    A major phone/internet provider: "We’ve received an online request to stop annual door to door hand delivery of (our) phone book to your home address.  Our records indicate this directory is delivered via the US Postal Service and as of this moment we are unable to stop delivery of this directory in your area."

    A community college: "We may not be able to prevent you from receiving the college’s course schedules due to the main method of mailing we use...To maximize cost efficiencies and mailing effectiveness, we utilize saturation mailing which us allows us to select the zip codes and carrier routes that generate the most students. Rather than being addressed to specific people and addresses, this type of mail is delivered by letter carriers to every address within the selected routes at a very low postage rate...If you live within one of those carrier routes, you will continue to receive the schedule because many of your neighbors are likely to become students..."

     

    Sign our letter and send a message to the USPS: "Let me opt out of unaddressed advertising mail!"