Unsolicited Mail with request to pay

I used to get these, but one year I decided that I would keep them and pay what I thought they were worth, instead of their ridiculous amount, so I sent £5. I have never heard from them again.
I buy charity cards direct from the charities.

I write 'Return to sender, unsolicited goods' on the envelope and put it back in the letter box. The organisation that sent the goods can deal with the unpaid postage when they receive it.

I have done this for years.

I regularly get begging letters/money demands from various charities, and I don't even bother opening them; no matter what they contain, they just go straight into the bin!

The only ones I take any notice of are for the animals - PDSA etc., but anything else is binned.

Sadgrandma

Chocolatelovinggran

Can anyone answer me - is it possible to put in a post box with " return to sender" on them?

This is exactly what was going to suggest that NanaTuesday does .

I can't see why not.

I remember this was a common tactic for returning junk mail to sender - to tell them off about having sent junk mail in the first place and so they knocked you off a junk mail list (eg because you'd attached a heavy brick to their junk mail before you sent it back).

Chocolatelovinggran

Can anyone answer me - is it possible to put in a post box with " return to sender" on them?

This is exactly what was going to suggest that NanaTuesday does .

Must be 20 years now since we had any posted to us.

Cabbie21

I used to get these. I neither paid nor returned them. I object to unsolicited goods with request for money. I choose my charities.

Way back I found out the legal position re unsolicited goods sent through the post - from memory (ie we're talking about 35-40 years back now) one doesn't have to pay for goods one hasn't ordered. The law - as I read it then - was the sending company had up to 3 months (if my memory serves me aright) to claim their goods back and if they didn't = they became yours.

I found that little gem out because of a pair of awful lodgers that were friends with each other that I had in. At the time one could send off for goods to some firms and they wouldnt expect payment until after you'd had the goods. So the two "little darlings (not)" were in the habit of stealing goods for themselves by doing that (unbeknown to me). After they left under a cloud they decided to be nasty and order some goods under my name and I got 2 or 3 lots of goods I'd not ordered coming through in my name - one of which would have cost a noticeable amount of postage to send back to the firm (ie it was a box of books). I told each of these firms what had happened and requested them to send me postage money to return their goods to them - and none of them did so. So - after three months the goods became legally mine and I just hung onto them for that length of time to see if the firms did arrange to get them back - and I disposed of the goods once that 3 months were up.

It was annoying to have had them do that - and it included some porn with comments written on it!! All I was able to do was tell a firm they had made an order from for themselves what address in Hong Kong the little darling had given me at one point and wish them luck in chasing her. I was very thankful they had Chinese names - so were obviously nothing to do with me with my English name.

We used to get them from a number of charities, most of them just went in the bin. We still have a couple of coasters that we received - not sure why they never made it to the bin at the time and for some reason I never get around to throwing them out. Probably because they are under ornaments, so out of sight and out of mind.

I'm sure some people do pay for them but I have noticed that we don't receive them anymore so maybe we've been struck off.

Mouth and foot painters have done this for many decades.

You could put them back in the envelope with a note inside instructing the sender to delete your name and adress from their data base. Make sure their address is on the envelope, write "return to sender" and post it. With no stamp.

I do this to all unwanted mailshots. They will be charged for the missing postage on delivery. It works.

I'm afraid I plead guilty to receiving, keeping and using them too.... Not had any for years though.

I either put them straight into the recycling bin or, if I can be bothered, return them - without paying return postage. I'm perhaps going to be told off for that but obtaining donations by stealth, which this is, is just wrong and does whatever charity it is no favours.

Chocolatelovinggran

Can anyone answer me - is it possible to put in a post box with " return to sender" on them?

That’s what I do. I also write a note on the back requesting to be removed from their mailing list.I still get some unsolicited mail though.
I haven’t been chased by the PO for payment (yet!)

Well, I keep the cards and calendar, use them, and send them a cheque.

Have done for years.

Expensive, yes.

But I feel very grateful I have the use of my hands and feet, and admire the talent of these painters who haven’t.

BTW, the accompanying literature states quite clearly you are under no obligation to purchase.

We've been getting those for years. Sometimes we pay for them, sometimes we don't.

I have to say that I'm quite in awe sometimes at what some of the painters achieve. though some are a bit naff. I suppose if they didn't do this very few people will have heard of them.

It must be worth their while to do else they wouldn't continue to send them. It might be cheaper way to reach people than the cost of advertising.

I light the fire with those unsolicited things. Last one we had had three raffle ticket books included. No thank you.

Lixy ,
That’s the thing isn’t it you feel ‘ guilt tripped’ exactly .

I do also ,always without fail buy Charity Christmas cards every year .

I’m glad that it isn’t only me that feels this way , reading through the responses.

Can anyone answer me - is it possible to put in a post box with " return to sender" on them?

This, along with the raffle tickets and the address stickers that I do not want, drives me potty. I really mind being guilt tripped like this. I put the whole lot back into the post box, unopened, with ‘please return to sender’ on the envelope.

I do buy charity cards, and I choose which charities with family significance in mind.

Yes, this charity is well-known for doing this. Like others I have sometimes kept them but never sent them...if I get one this year I'll put it in my recyling...

I used to get these. I neither paid nor returned them. I object to unsolicited goods with request for money. I choose my charities.

We used to get these year after year but not for a long time.
I just ignored them.

I've had them in the past but not yet this year.

I did get, the other day, some raffle tickets and address labels from another charity. I disposed of them because, as is frequently the case, my title (less important) and address (very important) were incorrect and so they were unusable.

I get these twice a year. Never sent a payment but they still keep coming. I keep them and often use them. Haven't had any yet in the lead up to Christmas but I usually receive 10-12 cards, a small and larger calendar and a few notelets.

I have had these sent to many years ago, I did not pay or return them, I think I may have kept them for while in case there was any follow up but there wasnt. I binned them after about 6 months as they were not to my taste.

Correction - named charity