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Update from Catalog Choice

The following message was sent via email to all Catalog Choice members. It is reprinted here for your convenience.

Dear Catalog Choice Members,

Thank you for making Catalog Choice extremely popular! Within three months we’ve become a community of nearly 400,000 strong, opting out of more than five million unwanted catalogs – that’s about 60 million catalogs in a year.

You’ve done your job and we’re doing ours. Catalog Choice is working every day on your behalf to ensure that catalog mailers respect and honor your opt-out requests. But there is more work to do. Here’s where we stand:

We are delivering your mail preferences to every company in our system on a regular basis. We have invited all catalog mailers to participate in Catalog Choice’s free service for merchants.

More than 100 merchants are participating in Catalog Choice’ Merchant program, including some of the largest mailers in the industry. The number of participating merchants is growing every day. You can view a list of merchant account holders here.

Today we introduced a color-coded system in “My Choices” to let you view the status of your requests. Here’s how it works:

- PENDING (Yellow). Until you have activated your Catalog Choice account, by clicking on the link in the activation email you received when signing up, all of your opt-outs will be marked “Pending”. (If you need a new activation email, request one on your My Profile page.)

- PROCESSING (Gray). Opt-outs labeled “Processing” are in the process of being delivered to the merchants.

- CONFIRMED (Green). Opt-outs labeled “Confirmed” have been transmitted to the merchant, who has confirmed its receipt.

- UNCONFIRMED (Yellow). Opt-outs labeled “Unconfirmed” have been delivered to the merchant; however, we are still awaiting confirmation of receipt. Our team will continue to contact these mailers to ensure they activate their Catalog Choice accounts and honor your opt-out requests.

- REFUSED (Red). Opt-outs labeled “Refused” relate to merchants that have refused to honor Catalog Choice opt-out requests. But we are not giving up! We continue to deliver your request to these companies, and we will continue to urge them to honor your mail preferences.  If you wish, you can call these companies directly to request that they both remove your name from their mailing lists and participate in Catalog Choice. For your convenience, we’ve included the customer service number of each non-participating merchant in the status page - just click the red “Refused” label to access this page.

Please let us know if you are still receiving catalogs labeled “Unconfirmed” or “Confirmed” by selecting the “Still Receiving” link in My Choices.Our collective voice is loud and clear, and a growing community of support from individuals like you and leading organizations is our greatest strength. The mailing systems in place throughout the direct marketing industry have been developed over many years. We ask for your patience and appreciate your continued support as we work with merchants to implement new practices to honor your requests.

Sincerely,

The Catalog Choice Team

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 9:46 pm and is filed under Featured, Fulfillment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

39 Responses to “Update from Catalog Choice”

  1. I have high speed and this site is as slow as dial up. Can these lists not be populated more quickly??

    Jo Ann on January 24th, 2008 at 6:48 am

  2. your site is very slow and cumbersome; after having unsubscribed from a title is there a way to return directly to the last place in the alphabetical directory

    catherine fink on January 24th, 2008 at 7:02 am

  3. I agree with JoAnn and Catherine … this is a great concept and maybe it is running slow because of being featured on the Today Show … but the site is SLOW and I, too, could not go Back to choose another.

    Yvette on January 24th, 2008 at 7:07 am

  4. Jo Ann and Catherine,

    The site usually runs very, very fast. The wonderful Today Show story that just aired is probably bringing so many people to the site that it is moving slower than normal. We’ll be back to full speed shortly.

    Daniel on January 24th, 2008 at 7:10 am

  5. I am so impressed by the idea and the breadth and scope of this endeavor. What government here has refused to do so far, to curtail the damage to our planet, on so many levels,is being addressed by citizens. School children on their computers, saving trees and reducing greenhouse gases is simply exhilarating.I applaud every one involved.I am ready to stand with you in every way possible.

    roberta l jones on January 24th, 2008 at 7:12 am

  6. this is great !! thank you

    sandra s Novajovsky on January 24th, 2008 at 7:13 am

  7. Can this site opt out free magazines as well? I have been recycling them ALOT!

    marie j on January 24th, 2008 at 7:26 am

  8. I just registered but need to change my e-mail address and cannot figure out how. Can you please tell me how to change my e-mail address?

    Dianne Dawson on January 24th, 2008 at 7:26 am

  9. I cannot thank you enough for this. This is one of the great reasons for having the internet. Yesterday was my first day and the site ran fine. Today, after TODAY’s story it is very slow but worth the wait. I too applaud all of you.

    Bob Diamond on January 24th, 2008 at 7:29 am

  10. i cannot sign up, because you say my e mail address is already being used. how can that be?

    sanford gutentag on January 24th, 2008 at 7:41 am

  11. i have this e mail address no one else can have it

    sanford gutentag on January 24th, 2008 at 7:41 am

  12. what can i do?

    sanford gutentag on January 24th, 2008 at 7:42 am

  13. Terrific idea, but I’m also experiencing VERY SLOW navigation. I finally gave up and will come back later. Made it all the way to “S”, but it took about 45 minutes!

    Barbara on January 24th, 2008 at 7:42 am

  14. Another smart idea! love it.
    Thanks

    Manijeh Mazinani 13314 Marceline Sanantonio TX 78232 on January 24th, 2008 at 7:42 am

  15. Several of the companies from which I receive catalogs include special offers via those publications. It would be nice if I could, while opting “out” of a company’s catalog, opt “into” the same offers via email, so as not to miss any savings opportunities offered by those merchants from which I regularly shop.

    Janice on January 24th, 2008 at 7:43 am

  16. I tried to sign up but what came back was that my email address was already taken. I tried to sign up on another catalog removal site, but it was more complicated but my email was on the form, and now I cannot get on this one. what should I do to remove all these unwanted catalogs now that catalogchoice won’t take my email???

    Carole w. Stuenkel on January 24th, 2008 at 7:49 am

  17. Sanford, the site is VERY slow right now due to a massive spike in traffic from the Today Show airing. In your case, you successfully signed up (which is why the system is reporting your email address in use.) So, you should be able to go ahead and login with that email address (and the password you used when signing up.)

    Matt Henderson on January 24th, 2008 at 7:51 am

  18. I would urge everyone who is experiencing slow response right now to give it a day or two, maybe even a week. As mentioned before by others, it could just be that the site is becoming known due to the report today on the Today Show. This is a very good concept and well worth the wait. Besides, what’s another couple days to a week gonna hurt? It beats the alternative of continuing to get all the catalogs or calling each company yourself.

    Robin Hitzel on January 24th, 2008 at 7:52 am

  19. Thanks, Robin. We’re trying to bring on additional servers to cope with this traffic. Under normal circumstances, the site is very snappy and responsive. Thanks for your patience.

    Matt Henderson on January 24th, 2008 at 8:00 am

  20. This site is just great! It’s a dream come true to have a team working with you to help make the environment a little better. I love the convenience, and I’m telling all my friends.

    Lisa Greenberg on January 24th, 2008 at 8:06 am

  21. HOORAY ! …. now the magazines please.
    Sending your site to friends & family.

    Pam Keniry on January 24th, 2008 at 8:07 am

  22. I have not even gotten my confirmation email yet, and while I have not been able to take advantage of the site yet due to the response time,I too have already used the “Invite Friends” option to notify others.

    Robin Hitzel on January 24th, 2008 at 8:09 am

  23. Hope you’re advising “Today” about the huge response! I thought that might be why it’s taking so long — but hey! Talk about Simple Green Solutions!

    Maureen Allen on January 24th, 2008 at 8:21 am

  24. I heard about this site on NPR a while back. I’m amazed at the number of catalogs that I have cancelled. I just go right from the mail pick up to my computer. The site has always worked very quickly, so perhaps the slowness experienced by new joiners is related to the Today show. Congratulations on helping us all to participate in ecologically sound behavior. Thank you.

    Nancy Burkhardt on January 24th, 2008 at 8:28 am

  25. Be patient folks~

    Mary on January 24th, 2008 at 8:50 am

  26. I can’t get through to receive the services…stopping unsolicited catalogs.

    Paul W. Ingram on January 24th, 2008 at 8:54 am

  27. I applaud & support your organization for all of your efforts in paring down the unwanted catalogs that enter the mail stream every day. It should be noted that The Direct Marketing Association has an opt-out system (and has had it for many, many years) for this purpose and nearly all catalogers use this list as a suppression file when they mail. Companies DO NOT want to mail unwanted catalogs for simple, economic reasons: it costs upwards of $.50-$1 to mail each catalog, and it’s a waste of money & resources. All of that being said, and in support of catalog shopping, I urge all of your members to consider the energy required to travel to malls and outlets. Not to mention air polluting traffic & time. As a busy mother, business owner and an aging woman who is looking for more time to take care of my physical and emotional well being, I find catalog shopping to be a very efficient way of making purchases for all of my needs. I urge all of your non-catalog shoppers to consider catalog shopping as an alternative and to learn more about what catalogers are doing to make their companies to make their organizations ‘green’. For instance, many catalog companies are committed to planting trees and are actively exploring alternate materials and communication channels. The industry is very responsible when it comes to environmental issues. I would like to see organizations like yours do more to learn about what direct marketers are doing to be more environmentally efficient and promote them as such!

    Terry Hudock on January 24th, 2008 at 9:07 am

  28. Terry, you’re right, but it seems that the DMA is trying to make their list inconvenient to use (requiring a credit card or $1 and postage, allowing only 6 names). I don’t think Catalog Choice is trying to kill catalogs, just help make them more efficient as you suggest. I do most of my shopping online and have received unneeded catalogs from several of those merchants. But I will definitely try to find other vendors if I see any of them go “red” in my opt-out list. And, conversely, I will continue to shop where I see green.

    Dave Brown on January 24th, 2008 at 9:24 am

  29. Terry, remember that the only alternative to catalog shopping isn’t driving to the mall. We’d encourage people instead to take advantage of online shopping.

    Matt Henderson on January 24th, 2008 at 9:34 am

  30. Thank you for the Today Show segment. I signed on early this morning Eastern Time and experienced slow response. I waited several hours and response time has improved greatly. I have now canceled a dozen catalogs. All the catalogs I have received can be viewed online and usually the online site contains many more items and options than the printed catalog. Hurray for this site!!

    Teresa Heede on January 24th, 2008 at 11:51 am

  31. I love this service!

    Processing the mail has become much more interesting now.

    Your new labeling for the feature is appreciated and a bit disheartening. I have declined 81 catalogs so far but only ten have been “confirmed.” The five that have been “refused” I will call very soon! That leaves 66 “unconfirmed”! Is this the passive way to say refused?

    I am now keeping a envelope with just the address labels of each catalog received and notes of the day received as well as whether the “decline” was accepted or the catalog was already declined or I suggested it for the service.

    Observation…I order a lot online now and when the products arrive there is always a paper catalog included. I’m not yet sure but it seems that the process of ordering puts me back on the mailing list even though I have already previously refused it.

    Needing additional servers is a great sign of success.

    One more thing. The DMA must keep data on the circulation of its members catalogs. Greater circulation numbers, especially for something like Pennysaver, means higher advetising rates (just like newspapers and magazines).

    Keep up the good, planet-saving work!

    RICK VIERHUS on January 25th, 2008 at 4:08 pm

  32. I checked out the new coding system. For my 5 declined catalogs I have a combination of three different responses - it’s great to get that quick snapshot showing me that my participation here is having a benefit for me and the planet.

    Dale on January 26th, 2008 at 2:39 pm

  33. [...] mail and catalogs—an effective “do not mail” list. As recently stated on the Catalog Choice blog, “Within three months we’ve become a community of nearly 400,000 strong, opting out of [...]

    Prosecutor: Trader Facing Charges at Best News & Media on January 28th, 2008 at 6:36 am

  34. Thanks for the “coding” of catalog status. I have contacted all the companies coded “refused” via email and sent them the following:

    To Who it May Concern:

    Last week I signed up for a web site called “Catalog Choice”, which provides a clearing house for those people wishing to stop receiving paper catalogs from companies they frequent.
    I elected to decline the “insert company name” catalog, as we are well aware of your website and are comfortable ordering from it. I chose to save the trees and energy that are used to produce this catalog. The request to decline the catalog was not intended as a refusal of business. However, Catalog Choice has informed me that “insert company name” has refused my request to decline the catalog.

    I find it hard to believe that “insert company name” as a company is refusing to comply with my choice. To do so is only assuring that I will no longer purchase ANYTHING from your company. “Insert Company Name” should reconsider it’s poor business choices and comply with my request.

    Thank you,
    Debbie Mirek

    Can’t wait to see what comes of those emails! Keep up the great work!

    Debra Mirek on January 28th, 2008 at 7:57 am

  35. [...] mail and catalogs—an effective “do not mail” list. As recently stated on the Catalog Choice blog, “Within three months we’ve become a community of nearly 400,000 strong, opting out of [...]

    : 44.7 - 62% at Best News & Media on February 2nd, 2008 at 3:47 am

  36. I love the new ‘My Choices’ format, but was disappointed today to find that the ‘Still Receiving’ option that looked as if it would allow me to enter another customer # (catalog company simply gave me a new customer # & started sending again) didn’t actually allow me to, because my name still matches the name previously used to decline. :(

    LMcC on February 6th, 2008 at 4:05 pm

  37. LMcC:

    Tomorrow we roll out a new feature that will let you add a new customer number with the same name-address combination.

    CC.org

    Chuck on February 6th, 2008 at 7:19 pm

  38. I had a surprise as a result of “opting out” on CatalogChoice. Three catalogs are now sending me e-mail versions rather than the paper. One thanked me for choosing to get the electronic version instead of paper! Instead of getting 6 catalogs a year, I am getting 2 e-mails a week. Please see if you can keep my e-mail private and not forwarded to the catalogs.
    I will definitely be updateing my preferences using the “no interest” response in your new rating system.

    Lena McCubbin on February 7th, 2008 at 5:41 am

  39. Lena:

    We do not forward your email to the merchant. They must have had your email from another source. The bottom of the email should have an opt-out link. Click it and the emails should stop. If they do not stop, there is a a fine that the federal government can impose based on the CAN-SPAM legislation Read more about CAN SPAM here

    Chuck on February 7th, 2008 at 8:54 am
 

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