General Apr 7, 2011 at 4:00 am

Advice on Opting Out of Phonebooks, Credit Card Offers, Oregonian's FOODday... and More—FOREVER.

Illustrations by Jess Ruliffson

Comments

1
DOB and SSN, according to optoutprescreen.com, are *not* required; without them, the system must confirm your identity in other ways, which may take longer.
2
Okay, but what about the constant deluge of Comcast mailers?
3
Please! I beg all of you! Stop using fucking facebook!!! Everyone has become so boring, it's like a world of fucking pothead girlfriends. We have so many great social spots in this city; why in the fuck do you want to look at pictures of your ex's kids rather than meet real people?
4
@nwspirit - thanks for the tip! Did you try opting without using your SSN? Did it work?
5
@Beer Batter good question! I'm not a Comcast customer, but I just tried it out. Call 1-800-COMCAST and navigate through their hellish phone system to get to a person. I pressed 4 for "discontinue service" and then 2 for "discontinue service" (uh, again). I was on hold for about five minutes and finally an operator answered and I told her that I wanted to be placed on their Do Not Mail list. After checking my name and address and being on hold for five more minutes, the operator said I was now on the list but mail might continue to arrive for 30 days. Maybe it'll actually work? Good luck.
6
"Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and other big banks have a track record of screwing over customers whenever possible. "

Silly talk. Absolutely no substantiation here. A few hundred complaints? This is absolutely screwing over customers? Article dev'd and definitely null'd. WTF Mirk?

The facebook advice was given out by us netsec geeks years ago, it started with AOL, continued with myspace, Facebook is just another link in the fucked up chain of privatization of the Internet.

Phone books: I toss them in the street. I figure if enough people do this the city will start to give a shit.

Just write return to sender for CC applications.

If you want to get rid of Food Day after you've asked them to stop contact the Better Business Bureau with a formal complaint process. Once it's in writing they make damn sure they won't deliver it to your house again.
7
What about the big wad of grocery ads and pizza coupons in my mailbox courtesy of redplum?

The opt out is linked from their contact page -> http://www.redplum.com/info/contact.aspx
8
Thanks for the Redplum link Gregory - I hate getting those paper-zombies that I have to walk an extra flight of stairs to instantly recycle in my building's stinky trash room when I get home & check my mail. Just opted out and making my life a little bit more hate-free - whoo!
9
I have called The Oregonian no less than three times to ask them to discontinue FOODday delivery. I continue to receive it, as does everyone in my complex. I have started a facebook group geared towards getting the Oregonian to discontinue the entire "free FOODday" program- we are planning to dump a truckbed full of unwanted FOODday copies at Oregonian HQ. Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_196729400366257&ap=1
10
Oops- the group is called "Stop The Oregonian's Food Day Delivery!"
11
What I don't understand is why aren't these companies prosecuted for littering/trespass? I ask the same about smokers, the collective shrug is all I need to know that the world is filled with maligned power-struggles in the paper industry.
12
Well banks are fucking bullshit, that much is for sure! My old bank - U.S. Bank - totally fucked me over acouple of months ago. I had been a loyal solicitor of theirs since moving to OR nearly six years ago. Needly to say, i no longer do buisness with they & have since started an account with Advantis Credit Union.

As far as that "FOODay" paper - never heard of them. Good thing i suppose, since the Oregonian sucks anyways.
13
Thank you Sarah for writing this article! Much needed! I'm passing it along to all my friends and family!
14
" 'Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and other big banks have a track record of screwing over customers whenever possible.'

"Silly talk. Absolutely no substantiation here. A few hundred complaints? This is absolutely screwing over customers? Article dev'd and definitely null'd. WTF Mirk?"

No substantiation that Bank of America screws people over on a regular basis? Who are you and where have you been burying your head in the sand over the last few years? I thought that was common knowledge at this point. Not common enough, apparently. People don't complain nearly as often as they should because, at this point, they expect shitty service and crappy, underhanded dealings from national banks. Sad truth; one I've heard from many people in my acquaintance.

They are currently battling a class-action lawsuit for their handling of mortgages, and have been uncooperative in handing over information to the SEC, to whom they paid $140 million in settlement for lying to shareholders. They also shelled out $410 million last month to settle accusations of deceptive practices with their overdraft fees, and had to change their overdraft policies for small purchases. They also, by the way, made record profits on overdraft fees in 2008, when they were getting a bunch of bailout money from the feds.

Don't believe me? See:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-05/b…

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/on…

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/23/bu…
15
Thanks, Sarah. People can sign this petition to move us to an opt-in system for phonebooks in Oregon. http://www.change.org/petitions/please-sto…

Also, we have a Facebook group called After the Phonebook - http://facebook.com/afterthephonebook
16
Lisa Balick @ KOIN-TV is looking to talk with anyone who hates junk mail or receiving unwanted telephone books. Please call her at if you're interested in talking about this issue on camera : 503-464-0614
17
hey, cancelled the RedPlum garbage, thanks! http://www.redplum.com/info/contact.aspx
18
I got a Red Plum coupon circular in the mail today, which inspired me to just scroll through your article and opt out of everything. Feels good! I didn't delete Facebook... I'm still coming around to the idea. But I did cancel Netflix today as well. Awesome. Thanks for doing the research and making this easy.

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