Unlike telemarketers,
direct marketers do not have a legal obligation to purge you from their
lists when asked. However,
they do so because
it saves money and generates good public relations.
To reduce the
quantity of unwanted junk mail deliveries to your home, contact the Direct
Marketing Association's (DMA)
Mail Preference
Service. Tell them you would like to stop receiving mail advertisements.
Write to P.O. Box 9008,
Farmingdale,
New York 11735 with your name and address. The DMA's members, many
of which are national direct-mail
companies, will
purge your name and address from their lists.
Direct marketing
companies often get your name from credit bureaus. To ask the major
credit bureaus to stop sharing your
name and
address, call 888-567-8688. Other tips:
· Since
many local retailers are not members of the DMA, it might be necessary
for you to send a postcard to the most
prolific junk
mailers, asking them to delete your name from their lists.
· Ask your bank, any associations or trade groups you join, and magazines you subscribe to not to share your name.
If you have already
notified the Mail Preference Service and individual companies of your desire
not to be contacted, but
continue to
receive solicitations, contact the DMA's Mail Order Action Line, c/o
DMA, 111 19th St., NW, Suite 1100,
Washington,
DC 20036. The Action Line will provide additional assistance to those
consumers who have completed all of
the above steps
but continue to receive unwanted solicitations.