It’s that time of year, when I receive the unwanted, unordered DVD from Trains Magazine. Being a good sport, I took the DVD out, read the directions, and went to put it in the return envelope to mail (postage prepaid of course) unwanted, unordered DVD back to the sender.
Trouble is, I dropped it. It rolled across the dining room floor, and, unfortunately, went down between the narrow slot in the heat vent. Now, I don’t want to pay for this DVD. That’s why I didn’t order it. But- were I to send back just an empty envelope, someone would want $12.95 plus postage and handling, and would probably hound me for the rest of my natural life if I didn’t pay it.
I figured that the letter opener people would only be looking to see if there was something round and shiny in the return envelope, not whether it was the correct train DVD. Being resourceful, I found something round and shiny to put in the envelope that no one in my house would miss- a Barry Manilow CD. Now, I can’t recall if it was a greatest hits CD, or just an ordinary Barry Manilow CD. I guess you’d have to be a Barry Manilow fan to care about that sort of thing anyway. I just hope the letter opener folks like Barry Manilow.
My understanding of the USPS Rules regarding unsolicited items by mail. Those items are the recipients property, on arrival at their delivery address. The return of such items is strictly by the good graces of the recipient.[bow] That return action is just facilitated by the enclosure of the postage-paid, return envelope, by the shipper.[swg]
[ I would hazard a guess, that their rate of return/purchases on these DVDs is pretty high; otherwise, they would have disappeared after a lack of success, or the losses of the previous batches.] [:-^]
In that case, I am allowing the letter openers to keep the Barry Manilow CD free of charge. However, if they want to send me $12.95 plus postage and handling…[:-^]
On the plus side, we have one less Barry Manilow CD at our house. [{(-_-)}]
At the Copa, Copacabana- the hottest spot north of Atlanta (I know). Now you’ll have THAT tune stuck in your head. [:-,]
The good news, Norris, is that you can keep the CD/DVD according to your federal rules down there. The bad news…you also get to keep U-No-Who, unless it’s in the mail already.
BTW, he really does make the girls cry and the whole world sing. I just wish they wouldn’t.
Murphy - upgrade your heating system and put those vents just above the baseboards or under the "coveted on House Hunters" **crown molding - anyway - then you won’t lose these valuable items and worry about having to replace them, leaving you more time to worry about how you are going to pay for the new upgraded heating system!
** I have never heard someone walk into a house and say - "I LOVE the crown molding"…[:o)]
Then you have never been in a house when I have walked in and seen some outstanding crown molding! [wow] Although my comments of appreciation are usually reserved for crown molding that was installed by a real craftsman and not a wood butcher like me.
As for the supposedly “un-ordered” DVD/CD/drinks coaster… You should be sure to read the “contract” you enter into when you join some organizations or become a subscriber to some magazines (I have not read any of Kalmbach’s contracts so I cannot say this is true of theirs)… Some contain a clause that says they can send you products “on approval” and thus YOU DO owe for them if you keep them.
If they were sent via some method other than the United States Postal Service, you could also be subject to “claims” that YOU DO OWE for them… the USPS code only applies to USPS delivered items!
I got one of those unordered DVDs from Kalmbach a year or so ago. Read the fine print which did state that since I hadn’t ordered it, I could choose to keep it as a gift. So I did. They of course sent reminders that they wanted me to pay for it or return it and after several of those reminders, I made note on the response form that I was keeping their free gift, according to their printed terms and had no intention of paying for it, ever. They haven’t sent me any DVDs since.
How about those accursed blow-in cards that the magazines (including Trains) seem so willing to have fall on the floor every time you pick up the magazine. Send them back with no information - just to make the sender pay for the return mail.
Same thing as returning postage paid mailings with no intent to communicate… illegal.
Reasoning is the undue burden on the postal service and the cost to the company that pays the postage when they get no chance at profit from the mailing.
I’ll see if I can find the postal regulation that says so…