Royal Mail's Door-to-Door Opt-Out is supposed to stop all unaddressed mail items delivered by the postman. But does it? Stop Junk Mail has asked 100 people how effective they think Royal Mail's opt-out scheme is.

Registering with Royal Mail's Door-to-Door Opt-Out is supposed to stop all unaddressed mail items distributed by the company. However, the survey found that all too often Royal Mail fails not to deliver. Less than one in three people find that the opt-out service stops all unaddressed leaflets delivered by the postman.

Of the 100 people who took part in the survey, 15 said they had not registered with the opt-out service because they either never received an opt-out form or because they were put off by Royal Mail's warning that householders who sign up to the service "may miss information from local and national government".

Another 13% of respondents did opt-out but continued to receive just as much junk mail from their postman as before. One in four people said they did now receive less door-drops, and a meagre one in three people could confirm that the opt-out did what it says on the label.

Robert Rijkhoff, founder of Stop Junk Mail and a former postman himself, said he was disappointed but not surprised with the outcome of the research: "Over the years we have received many hundreds of complaints about the door-to-door opt-out. The most common complaint is that opt-out requests are being ignored, often repeatedly. This survey confirms that the opt-out service needs some drastic improvements."

One of the improvements suggested by Mr Rijkhoff is for Royal Mail to send a reminder to householders who have not returned their opt-out confirmation form within two weeks time: "Sending people a follow up letter would ensure that people are not being ignored. If you request information from a company you are bound to get a follow up letter if you don't respond within a couple of weeks time. Why would people wanting to reduce unsolicited mail not be entitled to the same level of service?"

Links

• Door-to-Door Opt-Out Survey (Features)
• Door-to-Door Opt-Out (Guide)