From April 2005 til April 2007 to do 5 trips @ 2 weeks & fly cross country when my mother in law passed. Boy, is was a journey. When we got back, I cringed at the “Towers” of catalogs left in our living room by my son who took care of our house. Hundreds of catalogs and junk mailings. Had some that there was no tie to our interests or hobbies.

This past Christmas, we received not only catalogs with mother’s name but her husband’s name and he passed over a decade before that and they had never resided at our address. How responsible is that?

Wow Tracy, you got a vacation! I retired last fall (was very lucky) hoping for that deserved 3 weeks of fun, but I have this “job” of catagomics and the two ladies that are 11 mos and sometimes the “Terrible Two Tot” he’s ok. They are probably the only ones that really listen to my ramblings of catalogs. Food is the only thing that gets thrown at me now.

Tracy, you are a spearhead, the corner must be a big corner and growing significantly. Sorry about your losses and the unfeeling that catalogs have shown you. Still believe our laws need to be changed so catalogchoice can make a difference.

DMA ignored me and maybe a couple of others out there that are deserving of an official reply and apology. I will not pay to clean up the mess or support a bill that allows you to continue to blatantly hurt the consumer. Laws need to be changed to protect us from this as Tracy puts it, “whack a mole”-the consumers.

By the way, talk to your postal service most of the catalogs and mailings you receive have to be delivered whether you refuse them or not and you do not want them to fall into unknown hands.

Chuck: The hype I get from catalog companies and USPS (yes, I know a few postal workers) is that we as consumers will have to put up with recycling unwanted mailings and not get a choice. I’m on your side. Mail Preference Services (suppliers of mail info) do not work.

It’s good to see you, too, Yvonne. If I sound even more peeved than usual this evening, it’s because I’ve just returned from vacation to find these catalogs in the mailbox, when the situation had been going pretty well. In April, we went a record nine days here without receiving a single one. If the most recent catalogs are Mother’s Day mailings, they really needn’t bother. I’m not a mom, and my own mom passed nearly two decades ago. It was a sad process asking that her name be removed. Geesh, I hope no one ever has to do that for me.

I had been gradually gearing up to file complaints at DMA regarding their members who are clearly ignoring their own guidelines. I’m now reexamining that decision once again. What’d be the point, really? If I understand correctly, Pat Kachura is ultimately in charge of resolving those. But her “myth #1″ pretty strongly implies that in this milieu, I’m worth only what I spend. If I spend nothing, I’m surely insignificant. Although it seems logical that merchants would be “happy” to cease their mailings to me, in actual practice, I’m often too insignificant for my insignificant little preferences to shake them out of their inertia. But if I spend even once, that makes me magically significant, maybe “too significant” to risk dropping my name. What kind of Catch-22 is that?

News flash: catalogs are different from, say, a letter from a friend, someone who knows my real significance and genuinely appreciates it. Receiving catalogs does not make me feel special. My personal sense of worth is not based on mailings I receive from people I don’t know, people who only want me to buy something. My personal sense of worth, in fact, rests largely on my efforts to make my little corner of the world a better place. And it rests on my relationships with others who are similarly engaged. People who continue sending catalogs when I’ve asked otherwise are not my friends. They are contributing to the problem, not the solution. I will continue to treat the situation accordingly.

No word on Senator Collins from ME. Funny, her state sends one of the least catalogs. She can have my Linens and Things coupons mainly they come from the newspaper anyway.

My state senators are next to request a support for a better consumer protection law that says we are allowed to say no to unwanted mailings. That forestethics.org (hope I got the correct title)sounds good to me.

A blog I did this past weekend resulted in my neighbor USPS guy, (by the way a nice guy) bringing over DMA info that I already had. The “Consumer pamphlet” USPS is outdated - 1998 and posts the Farmington NY address a waste of postage because DMA has not had that address for a long time. Hello DMA, MPS does that give me a lot of faith in you as a consumer to pay or subscribe for a 3 yr membership? Especially when you participated in the catalog mess. As one blogger mentioned before, it’s a shell game of name.

DMA: delete by address. Please.

Chuck, (DMA) is my biggest soapbox, why invite the fox into the henhouse of consumers to help us? They are not the only mail suppliers - catalogs do it among themselves too. DMA has one individual in DC that can send out the forms and they have never, never responded directly to me with my requests when I have written the Carmel address because I will not pay their “handling costs” (for what 3 years) when I wrote their Carmel NY address. Why join them? Lack of public faith and blatant irresponsibility .

I miss many catalogs as well but the “we occasionally exchange” and “Or Current Resident” has to go. Catalog companies got too greedy and guess what, we’re paying the cost in increased postage to give catalogs a better postage rate and continue to pay with wasted paper, and recyling it to boot and the best, to pay companies that do the exchanging, sharing or renting to get us off mailings.

I am truly disappointed that some of the Bravo Merchants continue to mail you. Thanks for reporting those infractions here.

It is has been almost 7 months since our launch. Some progress has been made. But much more is needed. With your help, we will prevail.

That was me, commenting on March 23.

I spoke too soon. VivaTerra just sent me another catalog. So that deal is off.

Title Nine just sent me another catalog, too. I tried to opt out directly on February 3 via e-mail, which is that company’s preferred method.

I assume the good folks here at Catalog Choice have seen the recent “Debunking Do-Not-Mail Myths” report at MultichannelMerchant.com. Pat Kachura of the DMA accuses Catalog Choice and several others of deceptive marketing. She also claims:

(1) Mailers would be happy to remove “insignificant” recipients from their lists. (Quotes are mine—I’m indicating the exact phrasing used in the article.)

(2) Only 3 to 4 percent of identity theft arises from direct mailing.

(3) Catalogs are recycled, and trees that are used to produce paper are grown as a crop.

To which I say:

(1) I’ve seen little evidence that mailers are happy to honor my opt-outs. I don’t know what it takes for me to be “insignificant.” I haven’t ordered from Title Nine for years. I’ve ordered exactly once from VivaTerra. I suppose that makes me “significant” in those two cases, but I’ve also had to invest considerable time and energy to rid myself of prospecting catalogs from a number of companies whose merchandise interests me not one whit. It’s been a struggle. I still have hope only because of Catalog Choice’s help.

(2) I don’t know where the 3 to 4 percent figure comes from. Even if it’s true, that’s cold comfort to the people in the 3 to 4 percent group. But of course, the DMA would never be careless with our data, noooo…. well, except for that one teensy li’l breach this past January, huh? Nothing remotely like that could ever happen again, right?

(3) Tree farms are not anything like the beautiful, biodiverse, old-growth forests that have been clearcut for the benefit of the industry. Equating the two is an insult to the consumer’s intelligence. Further, the recycling service in my town wouldn’t take catalogs until relatively recently. Only matte office paper was accepted, not glossy items like magazines or catalogs. I’m happy to say that’s improved, but I still have to pay for the service. I hate paying for this trash that continues to be dumped at my door against my express wishes.

I recognize disingenuous pap when I smell it. Don’t even try to feed it to me anymore. I’m done. I’m off the hedonic treadmill, way off. Give it up, DMA. You can no longer sell me crap, either figuratively or literally.

The other little ladies are still glaring at me atleast they’re not throwing catalogs at me-or their food!. Got another Stauer and Charles Keith - after my 4th written request. Charles Keith CSR was very apologetic. Stauer had a wait of 5 mins that went into 10+ and I could not wait. They really do not want to see or hear the wrath of those little ladies it’s not something I wish my enemies to experience. I’m teaching them catalogomic skills for later and they are learning fast. Delete by address not by name!

Tracy, you’re doing good too. (I’m a geekette and still learning) the recent crowd I am hangin’ with - two little ladies that are 10 months old- act their age! I discuss mailing issues with them when I feed them and they just glare at me. I hope they will understand to not let things become a run away train! And loudly speak their minds. By the way, I like your “Whack A Mole” phrase. Somehow I feel like the mole but I’m learning to duck flying toys and catalogs. (that’s in preparing for the 24 month old booger wanting to pitch his toys and whatever at me)- wait till he gets my pitch on cataloging. And I’m not funning….Education at that young age about cataloging should be a prerequiset if only to teach his parents and grandparents!
My favorite subject in colleges was economincs so I guess catalogomics is going to be my minor.

Today is a landmark day at the Glom Shelter. One cataloger has just sent a conciliatory e-mail disclosing the source of my name for their most recent mailing. I had just about given up hope that this would ever happen. The response came from a prospecting Cornerstone Brand who is not currently accepting Catalog Choice opt-outs. I hope they eventually change their minds about that, but I’ve personally forgiven ‘em now that they’ve given me the information I needed.

Here’s a bit o’ trivia: I reviewed my credit card statements for the past 12 months and discovered that I’d shopped seven times altogether with five different multichannel merchants. The average size of my orders, including shipping, was $65.77. The company who provided my name to the aforementioned Cornerstone merchant is not among the places I’ve patronized within the past year. That company has been sharing relatively old data with a cataloger who sells marginally similar but more upscale goods. The DMA considers their lists to be highly correlated—they both appeal mainly to women in their early 40s (sounds almost like me) who spend an average of $170-$185 per order (not typical of me at all).