Comments on: Postal Regulartory Vice Chairman Nancy Langley on Catalog Choice

By: Catalog Choice - Paperless Blog » Blog Archive » Update on Patagonia

Catalog Choice - Paperless Blog » Blog Archive » Update on Patagonia — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:31:25 +0000

[...] readers (Fred B, Jim Wiggin, and Al) have commented about the fact that Patagonia was not participating in Catalog [...]

By: Fred B

Fred B — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 05:45:34 +0000

Nancy Langley’s position is encouraging. This is going to be a long haul to get the more unfuriating companies like Patagonia and Harry and David to give in, but so far with some other stubborn ones, Catalog Choice has finally tipped the balance for me. Some companies that just refused to listen are finally realizing that some people are reallllllly unhappy with them (duh!). I will no longer shop at any company that has a red flag on the catalogchoice.org website as not willing to honor requests. That’s one important way that catalogchoice is helping me: helping me to identify companies I do not wish to patronize.

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:15:49 +0000

Most of the catalogs that I have opted out of have indeed stopped—but I have started receiving a slew of others that I had never even heard of. I know that many of them are the result of my subscription to a particular magazine. I can tell because I never received catalogs of this genre before I started reading the magazine, which appeals to a niche group of people. I’m still plodding away at getting rid of every catalog that I can, and I appreciate any help that I get through using Catalog Choice.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:26:56 +0000

Hi Beth:
we are approaching 15 million opt-out requests. We took it off the home page because it was a daunting number that was scarring away some merchants. In fact, since Members set their preference title-by-title, any given catalog typically has tens of thousands of requests. I will look into putting it back. Thanks for the support.

By: Beth Clodfelter

Beth Clodfelter — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:44:12 +0000

Catalog Choice Folks,
Would it be possible to put the total of canceled catalogs back on the welcome page? That number used to be very impressive and I thought it was an excellent sign of the (at least potential) impact of your hard work.

By: Barbara Karcher

Barbara Karcher — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:30:49 +0000

I am surprised to hear that others are not getting good results from Catalog Choice. Although it is disappointing that Harry and David have refused to honor my request (and they are wasting their money with 7 or 8 different customer numbers being sent to me), I am sure that I receive fewer catalogs than I used to. Thanks, Catalog Choice.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:36:40 +0000

While I appreciate Catalog Choice’s effort and I don’t blame them, I too have found using CC frustrating as many catalogs do not participate or honor requests (even if they say they participate). I’ve taken to calling each company directly to request removal from mailing lists. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I’ve also been told I can get back on a mailing list if a company purchases a new list with my name. Isn’t there any way to get them to screen new lists to cull out anyone who has requested not to be mailed to? It seems computers should be able to handle this easily.

By: Jane Hall

Jane Hall — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:46:50 +0000

I suppose it’s been a year since I first started with C C. Yesterday, I had the strange feeling that declining catalogs was akin to stirring up a hive of killer bees. I had twenty (20) catalogs in the mail. Today it was only ten (10). Not a day goes by without at least 10 or more.
I may see some reduction thanks to your publishing their web addresses. I am using the link to search for their contact and I request that they cease sending catalogs. Incidentally, not all companies display a contact link. Those that I have contacted generally reply, saying that my name will be removed, but that it could take 12 weeks, blah, blah. Well, we’ll see, won’t we. Sadly, I now make two trips per week to the recycle bins at our town hall. Such a waste.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue with C C. Thank you for your amzing effort.

By: Richard E. Savoy

Richard E. Savoy — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:46:03 +0000

Junk. Let’s face it…consumer products are for the most part just plain junk not worth a third of the prices retailers want for them. We are broke as a people and as a nation because we buy junk we neither really want nor need. We are in the financial crisis now threatening and likely to bring on the deepest and longest lasting recession since the Great Depression not because we spend too little but because we spend too much. Spending on consumer junk, whether it be the crappy jewelry sold on the internet or in Tiffany’s (Yes, their’s is junk too, and they know it. They laugh behind your back just as soon as you buy it and walk out of the store), the “designer” clothes you overpay 10:1 to obtain, the $1,500 handbangs that keep retail moguls ensconced in Palm Beach and you in credit card debt at 20%, the overpriced kitchen gadgets and appliances you think you need because you think someone else will think that you should have them, the cars you buy over and over again, paying hefty sales and excise taxes to keep on the road, and much, much more. Think of the money you’ve spent on consumer electronics over the years and the tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars you’ve left in restaurants and bar rooms. If you’d invested 10 or 15 percent of that money in top quality companies such as Johnson & Johnson, AFLAC (the insurance company with the duck), Medtronic (the pacemaker company) or William Wrigley (the chewing gum manufactuer Buffett just bought) during the 1980’s, you’d be wealthy today, stockmarket decline or no. It’s not just the catalogs…it’s everything. Think of all of the money you’ve earned, maybe $1 or $2 million over the years, and how mch of it you have left. I submit 90% has gone on junk. Keep spending as you have and at age 67 you’ll have the net worth of a high school kid and you may end up working for one. Resolve today that the financial industry disaster now occurring will be the event that made you stop wasting all of your income. Stop buying consumer goods and stop useing credit cards. You have no patriotic duty to be broke.

By: Yvonne Camesi

Yvonne Camesi — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:02:02 +0000

Ron, Sorry for your loss. Hubby and I, in recent months have been receiving mailings for his folks and they passed on years ago. We thought we did the proper thing with USPS for his mom 3 1/2 yrs ago. Since these recent mailings, I’ve written and called. When I write to catalogs, I basically stress: “How insensitive and irreponsible you are because you failed to cross reference your listings” I also indicate that they contact the mail supplier and request they update their info as well.
I strongly feel it’s the mail supplier not doing their job but making money on providing numbers of mail info whether it is correct or not. But we as consumers can go back and forth with finger pointing and get nowhere. I’ll continue on with CC.org for catalogs.
Best wishes.