2009-12-29

Not why we send freepost envelopes

So someone decides to send a couple of charity collection bags in one of our freepost envelopes.

WTF!

From now on they will all carry a barcode that allows us to work out who we sent it to.

9 comments:

  1. LOL. It is not unlike I have done with junk mail I have received. I take out anything that can identify me and use the envelopes of one 'junk mailer' to send them the crap from another. Maybe someone does the same and thought you were sending them junk mail.
    Do you use a freepost address or pre-paid/franked envelopes? If freepost any envelope can be used to mail you. I seem to remember reading recently about a company who has stopped using their freepost address for this (or a similar reason).
    BTW, it was not me ;)

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  2. We send freepost envelopes pre-printed for sending back DD forms. However, from now on they have a 2D barcode that looks like it is all part of the business reply stuff.

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  3. OK thanks. FWIW it was the BNP who recently gave up their freepost address following a campaign of abuse (which I think was one of those 'Facebook' campaigns).
    http://sim-o.me.uk/2009/12/bnp-close-freepost-address/

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  4. /me makes a note to send RevK something interesting next time a reply paid envelope arrives. ;-)

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  5. Now had it contained cider, I'm sure there would not have been a complaint...!

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  6. I do that with the charity bags too, but only for particularly deserving cases like Domain Registry of America (omitting to add a stamp of course).

    Back in maybe the early 90s when you might get one spam a week, possibly the first UK originated spam was a film processing company who gave a freepost address for you to send your films for processing, and telephone directories, bricks...

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  7. One wonders whether the cost of programming the 2D barcode was less than the cost of any abuses in the first place.

    However, I have yet to find a problem for which 'more technology' is not the answer!!

    Actually, why use post for DD mandates anyway? I've set up loads on-line, why can't you just do that?

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  8. A matter of seconds of my time over the holidays. We use 2D barcodes and have all the tools to generate them.

    We do on-line DDIs, obviously.
    And over the phone.

    But some people like paper, so we send them by paper if they want. We also have better protection against claw-back when we have paper. Also where multiple signatory it has to be paper under DD rules.

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