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What's your experience with Royal Mail's opt-out scheme?

1st September 2015

So, the Door-Drop Preference Service hasn't been killed off – it has merely been kicked into the very, very long grass. Either way, it means that Royal Mail's opt-out scheme for unaddressed mail won't be replaced any time soon.

Should we disgruntled about that?

It's not a rhetorical question. I'm genuinely curious. It seems there are lots of people with complaints about the opt-out scheme. In particular, it seems that many people find that their postie continues to deliver unaddressed, unsolicited mail after they've registered. Stories like these and these and these.

A complaint I got myself is that the opt-out scheme is hopelessly outdated. I mean, it's 2015 and you still can't register online – instead you have to request, complete and return a paper opt-out form. This was in fact one of the reasons why Defra wanted the scheme to be replaced with the Door-Drop Preference Service.

I'd like to know your experiences with the opt-out scheme. You can post them on the brand new forum, or, if you prefer, you can send me an e-mail. I'm hoping to get more of an idea of what sort of issues people encounter and how they're resolved (or not resolved). Suggestions for improvements to the scheme are equally welcome.

As an aside, the forum itself is a bit of an experiment. I've been toying with the idea for ages and when I recently redesigned the website I thought I give it a try. Please do use it (or loose it!).

Last updated: 
1st September 2015

Comments

Interesting, who told you that?

This is what Royal Mail's website states as at today:

We'll action your request within six weeks of receiving your completed form. Your opt out (sic) will last for a period of two years. During this time every effort will be made to prevent the delivery of Door to Door items by Royal Mail.

At the end of the two year period, in order to continue with your opt out (sic), you will simply need to repeat this process and complete a new application form to confirm that you are still resident at the address and wish to continue opting out of Door to Door deliveries.

Thinking about it, perhaps it was me who told you that :). I do recommend that households opt out roughly once a year. The reason is that your opt-out will never expire if you re-register well before the expiry date. If you wait until two years have lapsed you'll have a six week period in which you'll get all the rubbish distributed by Royal Mail again.

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