Painisbetter

I had the same problem with Dell so I decided to X out my address & info and put to foward it to their corporate HQ. I've done that with a few other annoying catalogs and voila, haven't gotten any more catalogs from said companies after that.

painfullyblunt

luz

Mish

iaintgoingthere

They'll happily send catalogs to people who died years ago, to companies that have long gone bankrupt, or to companies that have moved (yes, they've deliberately chosen to ignore the change of address forms people can fill out). The most amazing thing about this is that the notes that explain why we're returning the piece of mail as undeliverable are *invariably* ripped off, and they'll just try to mail the same catalogs to the same recipients a few days later. We tend to bin the catalogs at this point, as it's obvious that Dell's mailing department is a bunch of nitwits - if we've already told you the entire neighbourhood has been demolished, chances are we still won't be able to deliver it a few days later!!

Daan

Even better, check out [whocalled.us] for a list of possible phone numbers to give when a retailer "requires" one.

MisterE

chocxtc

richtaur

DellHell

That said, Bryant, email me and I'll give you my address and together we can make my catalog-stopping dream a reality.

And then in true Consumerist fashion, you'll publish this Dell dude's email address and phone number here for the unwashed masses to use.

scoosdad

sam123boo

if I miss 2 months i start getting catalog's.

It's not rocket science Ben. Just buy more computers.

Note that I usually buy to resale to customers that need me to do it for them.
your circumstances may vary...

Blackneto

Comeaja

snowpuff

Atomu

sam1am

It's my hope that this series of beautiful and seemingly childish gestures will prompt Dell to investigate the matter. If it results people's unsubscribe requests actually get honored, then I will have saved more trees by burning this catalog then if I recycled it.

Ben Popken

That you had to meet your post count? That you for some reason can't handle 2 extra pieces of mail a month? That you are hoping to go on television again but are sad you haven't in a while? That you hate the earth and thus declined to recycle?

billybastion

Once again, Thanks for the overtime!

wideawake

Ben Popken

Glad your retard ass doesn't live in my neighborhood.

"I know how to play with fire." Then you should know not to burn things on a gas stove, numbnuts.

balls187

toridactyl

Trust me the boy scouts would appreciate the "kindling"

I know this scout will :)

david_consumerist

jmschn

forgottenpassword

MotherFury

Oface

Oface

How 'bout you just include a pre-paid envelope with those catalogs?

You're completely missing the point.
No ONE should have to jump through these many hoops just to stop receiving solicitations.

The impact DELL leaves is not only enviromental but insures I won't buy DELL products.

Is that so hard to understand ?

AMetamorphosis

The Direct Marketing Association manages "do-not-mail" lists -- if you go to www.the-dma.org - there is a blue box for consumers in the lower left corner. Full disclosure - DMA is a trade association that companies which use direct mail belong to - but any reliable marketer (including Dell) will scrub lists against the DMA do not mail lists regularly.

Or - there are some non-profits that can help you reduce junk mail -- one I've talked to before is called 41 pounds (www.41pounds.org )(estimates are that the average American adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail a year hence the name). This group will contact direct marketers on your behalf once you join. there is a cost -a 5 year membership costs $41, but they will donate 1/3 of that to the environmental non-profit of your choice (and of course do the work for you of getting off lists).

one other thought -more about excess direct mail in general than Dell catalogues - personally I've tried writing to magazines with which I have a subscription asking them not to share my contact info and that seems to help cut extra mail. Often the magazines will let you do it online.

BryantatDell

but any company stupid enough to solicit me with a pre-paid return envelope... gets the entire contents of their mailing sent back to them (and sometimes a bit of extra trash) . i've been doing this for 20 years.

fuzzymuffins

I've also recycled many a Dell catalog in my day but that didn't seem to stop them either. Not sending them to me in the first place is probably the most environmentally-friendly solution.

That said, Bryant, email me and I'll give you my address and together we can make my catalog-stopping dream a reality.

Ben Popken

@BryantatDell:
Muchos gracias for the assistance. Certainly takes initiative to post in the enemies cave. Wish more companies would actually try and stamp out the fire from the source! (no pun intended of course :P )

Phishy

1. WOW, you can identify your own marketing materials ... whoopie ...

2. Nice to see you will privately help Ben ... wish your company had this same sentiment for all Consumerist readers ...

3. Never had a "My Account" @ Dell ... never will.

4. Why would any of us go to a DELL website an voluntarily give you any further information ?

5. How about a phone number with a HUMAN ?

No, your post didn't help ... it sounds like the canned responses every other marketing "team" tells me ...

grrrrrrr

AMetamorphosis

First to Ben - can tell you have been through the wringer already - if you can reach out to me privately with details on address and such, I'll be happy to reach out to our small business marketing team to see if I can help (from the photos looks like those are the catalogues you are receiving).

And to everyone -- best way to get removed from the mailing lists is online -- -if you have a My Account at Dell.com and log in - on the left column there is a link to "subscriptions" under "my account preferences" where you can set your preferences for mail and email.

alternatively, you can go to dell.com/privacy - and there is a link in the left column to set your contact preferences for mail and email.

And yes, frustrating as it can be, would recommend recycling unwanted mail vs. burning it.

I hope that helps

BryantatDell

...And they still send them.

Anjow

framitz

alynnk

alynnk

"Dell Won't Stop Sending Me Catalogs So I'm Burning Them" Faaaacinating.

uberbucket

greensmurf

The catalog now goes to the local post office.

arcticJKL

pibbsman0

bsalamon

strife1012

-- I've called them and asked for my free computer. When the person on the phone doesn't know what I'm talking about, I explain that for the past few months I've been asking Dell to remove me from their mailing list but Dell keeps sending me catalogs, so I can only assume that it means Dell wants to give me a gift of a free computer in exchange for all the junk mail. One time I had this going on for nearly two weeks, including one phone call (on Dell's dime) that was nearly an hour and a half long. Ultimately I didn't get the computer, but the catalogs stopped - for a couple of months, anyway.

-- I made up a bunch of labels that had the same look and feel of the Dell catalog. I addressed them to various Dell CEOs, carefully stuck them to the catalog over my address, and put them back in the mailbox.

-- I once collected no fewer than 24 Dell catalogs, all addressed to me, in the space of one month. I gift wrapped them, put them in a box (along with a note telling them to remove me from their list), then called Dell and pretended to be an extremely irate customer who wanted his Dell laptop fixed NOW. After some heated argument Dell sent me a postage-paid laptop mailer. I put their gift box inside of it and shipped it back to Dell. That one was good for almost a solid Dell-free year.

These days just about all I do when I get a Dell catalog -- about twice a month -- is stamp it "RETURN TO SENDER" (yes, I have a rubber stamp for this) and drop it back in the mailbox. My mailman tells me that he often delivers as many as seven Dell catalogs to the same person at the same time, and it really pisses him off.

sgodun

WV.Hillbilly

prameta1

If the post office will not do their job, then take both the PO and Dell to court after you sent certified letters to both businesses.

Jinx

jumbobrave

Take prepaid mailers and stuff them with every other piece of junk mail you can find and mail them back.

For further fun, DON'T remove your name or address and wait till they contact you.

I've gotten off of several junk mail lists this way.

AMetamorphosis

Deivion

AMetamorphosis

cashmerewhore

Moosehawk

LET THE MAILING OF TWO CATALOGS MAKE YOU RICH!

SomeoneGNU

linedpaper

linedpaper

If you can force just one person to shop else where that's money they will never recoup from sending you mailers.

Do an EECB and include a picture of someones new non-Dell PC purchase.

warf0x0r

Milstar

Ben Popken

seriously though - i think this is really funny in an absurdist way. nice.

yesteryear

wring

Hickory Farms won't take my email address off their mailing list, despite 7 requests through various channels, so I wrote a (snail mail) letter to them explaining that they are quite rude and will never get my business again. I didn't want to burn my computer, though, so I just route the messages straight to delete :)

erica.blog

Ben Popken

Feb. 27, 2007
Yesterday, a new organization called The Green Grid announced the completion of the consortium's formation and issued a call for members. The Green Grid is a global consortium dedicated to developing and promoting energy efficiency for data centers and information services. ......We're proud to be among the founding members of the organization and I wanted to share this news in because we know how important the issue of energy-efficiency has become in the IT industry.

From: [direct2dell.com]

SkokieGuy

KenSPT

Uh, thanks dad.

consumersaur

DomZ

magus_melchior

Nissan288

arch05

Be sure to rip the back page of the catalog off, though. You know, the part with your name and address.

lincolnparadox

Rufdawg

Landru

Rectilinear Propagation

opticnrv

Ben Popken

And ditto on mailing back the shredded credit card offers.

chemmy

Anyway,
When you burned them, did demons come flying, screeching out of the flames in pain and agony? Have you tried just pouring holy water on the catalogs?

Moosehawk

RandoX

Beerad

crabbyman6

Adposs

LatherRinseRepeat

EmperorOfCanada

I get these all the time too even though i never buy anything. I just use it as a rough price estimate when new products/features hit the market.

bravo369

Why not fill a whole (metal) trash can with dell catalogs, then burn them all at once? (be sure to do this where it's not illegal to burn trash). Film the whole thing. Put it on youtube or some other video sharing site. EECB Dell execs with a link to the video in the message.

Buran

stephenjames716

Ben Popken

clayfree

DeeJayQueue

Dibbler

ivanthemute

B

Kat@Work