Junk mail revenge: send back envelope with junk in it?

[teddymines]

Someone I worked with said that when they get those pre-approved credit card applications, they send back the prepaid envelope stuffed with some of the accompanying offer material. I guess the theory is that the credit card company would have to pay for return postage as well as opening and discarding the returned stuff.

I got a credit card app the other day and was thinking of doing that, and noticed something on the back flap of the return envelope. There was a phony looking barcode and text that read something like "Customer Tracking Code. Illegal use of this envelope is forbidden." The barcode was a 20 dpi image, obviously not able to be read, most of the lines mushed together.

Is sending back junk illegal, or are they trying to intimidate people? I am guessing the latter.

 

[Ulfwald]

I always send it back regardless of what is on the back.

I have sent them coupons for free pizzas, advertisements for lawn maintenance, I even sent one of them an add from the yellowpages for a female escort service.

 

[snooker]

I usually send back the return envelope with a little letter stating I have reviewed the enclosed material and to please send $10 for my time in reading it

So far noone has sent me any money though, but I do not get another offer from the same company

 

[Nemesis77]

I have solved my junk-mail problem with this easy solution: I have a sign on my door that says "no advertisments please. Thank you." I haven't received any ads in months

 

[Vette73]

Take the envolpe and tape it to a box full of bricks and leave it at the post office.

See how they like those apples

Ewww, instead of bricks send them fruit, or old veggies

 

[Spamela]

i shred the page with my name on it, then tear up the rest & send it back to them.

i used to do the "tape the envelope to a big rock wrapped in newspaper" trick & send it to them, but now i'm lazier.

 

[ggavinmoss]

Of all the things to get revenge for...


Just shred anything with your name on it (e.g. credit card applications) and either trash or recycle the rest. You're not teaching anyone a lesson or making a difference by mailing them back coupons or trash.

-geoff

 

[smp]

Originally posted by: ggavinmoss
Of all the things to get revenge for... Just shred anything with your name on it (e.g. credit card applications) and either trash or recycle the rest. You're not teaching anyone a lesson or making a difference by mailing them back coupons or trash. -geoff

Yes you are.

 

[pac1085]

Originally posted by: ggavinmoss
Of all the things to get revenge for...


Just shred anything with your name on it (e.g. credit card applications) and either trash or recycle the rest. You're not teaching anyone a lesson or making a difference by mailing them back coupons or trash.

-geoff

Who cares if you make any difference...as long as you get satisfied by sending back a bunch of crap

 

[Amused]

I remember reading about a guy who, instead of trying to minimize junk mail, made sure he got as much junk mail as he could. (Pictures showed he got pounds of it daily)

He then bought a machine that turned paper into tight, long burning logs and used them to heat his home in the winter.

Not a bad idea, if you ask me.

 

[damiano]

Originally posted by: Ulfwald
I always send it back regardless of what is on the back.

I have sent them coupons for free pizzas, advertisements for lawn maintenance, I even sent one of them an add from the yellowpages for a female escort service.

lol

 

[damiano]

Originally posted by: Vortex

Originally posted by: ggavinmoss
Of all the things to get revenge for...


Just shred anything with your name on it (e.g. credit card applications) and either trash or recycle the rest. You're not teaching anyone a lesson or making a difference by mailing them back coupons or trash.

-geoff

Who cares if you make any difference...as long as you get satisfied by sending back a bunch of crap

you are teaching them a lesson...
they have to pay for this letter you send back to them...
plus pay someone to open it and realize it's junk...
punishment (double) !!!!!!

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Why not send them poop?

 

[Pepsei]

i do this all the time.

just doing my part to help out usps... perhaps keep the postage price down a bit longer...

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Amused
I remember reading about a guy who, instead of trying to minimize junk mail, made sure he got as much junk mail as he could. (Pictures showed he got pounds of it daily)

He then bought a machine that turned paper into tight, long burning logs and used them to heat his home in the winter.

Not a bad idea, if you ask me.

Now that is cool!

 

[teddymines]

Back to the original question: is it illegal to send back something other than the application? The phony barcode and warning may just be a response to trying to curb the return of trash.

 

[NetworkDad]

Originally posted by: Jellomancer
Why not send them poop?

Some chick here in Portland, OR did that recently with a traffic ticket she had to mail back in - She apparently was pissed off about it, and but some dung in with her check & ticket. The police then charged her with illegally sending 'hazardous' materials in the mail.

Of course, her defense was that a 'friend' mailed it for her and she had no knowledge of it..

 

[Yzzim]

I remember reading this discussion a long time ago on here. I think the conclusion was that you're not ripping off the credit card companies (or other junk mailers) but rather the post office itself. Since the junk mailers and the post office usually have a set price/piece of mail that gets sent back it doesn't matter what you send back, the junk mailers still pay the same amount.

Example:
Mastercard and the Post Office agree that 500,000 envelopes will be returned to Mastercard every year. The post office will then charge them $.20/envelope. Mastercard pays USPS 100,000$ to cover the next year.
You get a Mastercard "pre-approval" letter in the mail. You're pissed because it was your only piece of mail and you have no life so you decide to send back a transmission from a car. USPS has to go through the work of getting that tranny to Mastercard, while Mastercard is still paying $.20 for shipping that envelope. Mastercard gets the tranny, gives the USPS guy a dumb look, throws the tranny in the garbage and you have just waited both your time and USPS's time.

Nothing good has come from it. Just a waste of time.

Oh well, everyone needs a hobby.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Take the envolpe and tape it to a box full of bricks......

I remember my father doing that when I was a kid.

 

[crypticlogin]

But once you send the envelope back with bricks, stones, poop, etc., what's to stop them from marking "Return to Sender" (assuming you mailed the letter legally with a return address) and having all of that returned to you?

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Amused
I remember reading about a guy who, instead of trying to minimize junk mail, made sure he got as much junk mail as he could. (Pictures showed he got pounds of it daily)

He then bought a machine that turned paper into tight, long burning logs and used them to heat his home in the winter.

Not a bad idea, if you ask me.

Cool idea; free 'firewood' delivered for free.

 

[Harvey]

If you really have reason to be pissed at the source, you could glue the card or envelope to a brick with the postage paid information showing and drop it in a mailbox.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: tenchim
But once you send the envelope back with bricks, stones, poop, etc., what's to stop them from marking "Return to Sender" (assuming you mailed the letter legally with a return address) and having all of that returned to you?

It is not illegal if you don't put a return address on it.
I never put return addresses on my bills, I never fill in account numbers on my checks and in 26 years I have never had a bill lost or late because of it.

 

[tk149]

Glue the application/order materials together and send them back. Don't make it obvious; let some lackey spend 5 minutes trying to open it.

 

[AvesPKS]

Originally posted by: Amused
I remember reading about a guy who, instead of trying to minimize junk mail, made sure he got as much junk mail as he could. (Pictures showed he got pounds of it daily)

He then bought a machine that turned paper into tight, long burning logs and used them to heat his home in the winter.

Not a bad idea, if you ask me.

That doesn't sound healthy. Do you know how many chemicals are in paper? Especially when you have inks and such. Maybe if he burned it in a stove or something...but still, that can't be healthy.