Question: Vulnerable senior citizens are being inundated with unsolicited sweepstakes mailings. Is it legal to mark envelopes “return to sender,” with the hopes that a barrage of “postage due” notices to the sender will stop these unsolicited mailings?
Answer: You can reject unsolicited junk mail you haven’t opened, but you should mark it “refused,” not “return to sender.” Whether it will be returned depends on how it was mailed to you. Here’s more from Duke Gonzales, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, including tips to get off some mailing lists:
“Customers who wish to decline the delivery of unsolicited mail can mark the declined mail piece (assuming it is unopened) ‘refused’ and return it within a reasonable time to their letter carrier, if it was delivered to their homes, or to their local post office, if it was delivered to their P.O. Box. Some limitations of this process are explained on our USPS.com website.
“The disposition of ‘refused’ mail is dependent on the type of postage paid by the sender. The refused mail piece will be returned to the sender only if the postage paid by the mailer (including postage for Express Mail, Priority Mail, First Class Mail, etc.) allows us to return the item to them.
“Customers who would like to reduce the amount of prospect marketing mail they receive may register for a mail suppression service called DMAchoice, which is provided by the Association of National Advertisers and not affiliated with the U.S. Postal Service.”
The DMAchoice website (dmachoice.org) says the service can reduce “prospect promotional mail” — such as retail promotions, donation requests and catalogs and magazines — from companies and organizations with which you don’t already do business. The DMAchoice registration fee is $4 (online) or $5 (by mail) and lasts for 10 years.
It doesn’t apply to prescreened offers for credit or insurance, which you can opt out of for free at optoutprescreen.com. It also won’t stop political mailings, which are exempt.
Q: What if I opened the junk mail?
A: “If a mail piece has been opened, even if it has been resealed, it cannot be marked ‘refused’ and returned. If someone wants to return that mail piece to the sender, they have to put it in a new envelope or wrapper with a correct address and new postage,” according to the USPS website.
Gonzales had mentioned there are limitations on mail refusal, which also apply to pieces sent as Registered Mail, Insured, Certified Mail and Collect on Delivery. “Postage must be paid by the customer for this mail to be returned,” the website says.
E kala mai
E kala mai to the man in the white car at the Straub Medical Center parking lot on Friday at about 11:30 a.m. I apologize for inconveniencing you when I backed up to try to grab a parking place. You were right, I should have just moved on. — Embarrassed driver
Mahalo
A heartfelt mahalo to the woman who helped me on Saturday after my knee gave out and I fell heavily outside Longs Pearlridge. She made certain that I was OK and knew how to pick me up correctly after I told her I couldn’t get myself off the ground. In my discomfort and mild shock, I didn’t ask for her name. — Grateful senior
Thanksgiving notes
Kokua Line is collecting expressions of gratitude to publish in our traditional Thanksgiving Day column. Please email your mahalo to kokualine@staradvertiser.com. Please keep your item brief — one of two sentences is usually plenty — so that we may run as many as possible in the holiday column.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
