31 August 2006 - Following the case of postman Roger Annies, who was suspended after he informed people on his round that they had the opportunity to opt-out of receiving junk mail, Royal Mail advised postmen should ignore 'no junk mail' stickers.
Knowing that a simple 'No junk mail' notice is not always enough to ward off unwanted items, Mr Annies, from Barry, South Wales, began delivering his own leaflets on his round, informing residents how they could evade unaddressed letters and flyers, officially known as door to door items.
Mr Annies is now suspended, on full pay, "pending further investigations following an alleged misconduct issue." Although Royal Mail does not want to make further comments about the case, it is no secret that junk mail is a lucrative source of income for the state owned company and it is safe to assume that the company does not want other Postmen to follow Mr Annies' example.
In the same statement the Royal Mail advised that its postmen should ignore 'No junk mail' stickers when they deliver door to door items. A Spokesman said: "Customers can choose to opt out of Royal Mail's door to door service by contacting the Post Office. A note on the door saying 'No junk mail' or an unauthorised letter is not part of that process."
To Stop Junk Mail this is another example of how Royal Mail, or the direct mailing industry in general, is not really concerned about the daily nuisance junk mail is for many people. Few people know that so-called door to door mailings cannot be stopped through registering with the Mailing Preference Service and Royal Mail provides a poor service to its customers by making it difficult for people to stop receiving door to door junk. Mr Annies told his customers what Royal Mail should told them in the first place.
Stop Junk Mail argues that the direct mailing industry should make it easier for people to opt-out and questions how serious the industry's commitment to reducing the amount of unwanted junk is. The Mailing Preference Service has not reduced the amount of junk mail people receive - on the contrary, the industry has nearly doubled in size in the past five years. door to door mailings account for a quarter of all unsolicited mail.
To stop door to door mailing you must either send an e-mail to optout@royalmail.com or write to: