Royal Mail: you don't have the right to opt-out of junk mail

[AntiqueSocks]

Hello

I went to the great lengths of printing, signing and returning a Royal Mail Opt out of Junk Mail form. (They REALLY don't want to make it easy for you!)

I still come home to a mountain of crap most days. This is the response I got to my latest email.

I take exception to the idea that Royal Mail have the RIGHT to put whatever they like through my door/that I do not have any right to opt out.

Surely this can't be right given I don't even have to allow them access to my property?

And no, I don't see why I should have to dispose of a pile every day, it takes up half my recycling bin. No doubt at some point the Council will use "increased volumes of paper waste" to increase Council Tax. If Royal Mail's business model is unsustainable without junk mail, well, they'll just have to think of something else.

........................

Dear (NAME SPELLED INCORRECTLY)

Thank you for contacting Royal Mail.

I am sorry to learn you have been receiving our Door to Door mailings after you have opted out of this service.

Whilst neither the licence under which we operate nor the Postal Services Act 2011 require us to give individuals any right to request not to receive mail of any kind, we’ve put an opt out service in place as we recognise some consumers prefer not to receive Door to Door mailings.

This is a free service and you’ve every right to expect us to maintain it. I’ve confirmed your current agreement hasn’t expired and contacted your local Delivery Office’s Customer Operations Manager to ensure these instructions are followed, I sincerely believe that this action will rectify the issues.

The Royal Mail is not fit for purpose. Stamps are extortionate and the service provided is appalling. I posted a letter the other first class. It took a week to get there (20 miles away). I might have well walked there and delivered it myself. Birthday cards that were sent to me didn't arrive in time, something I sent my daughter never even arrived. It's a joke.

@BetternutSquish Royal Mail puts me in mind of the BBC. Resting on their laurels all these years thinking they had the market cornered. Definite attitude of entitlement - both at an institutional and individual level (not been to charm school most of them!).

And both have been embroiled in sex scandals! There was a spate of postmen attacking women not long ago. I mean I understand that as there are so many postmen that some will be bad eggs but given they attend people's homes, it's very troubling.

I wonder if Royal Mail's institutional lack of understand of consent (that people have the right to dictate who comes to their home and what is shoved through their letterboxes) and their gross sense of entitlement is relevant to their employees' offending.

Sex attack victim of postman Michael Stewart took her own life while on phone to Royal Mail | ITV News Tyne Tees

Renfrew rapist handed jail term after attacking woman on her birthday - Daily Record

Postman who murdered and beheaded girlfriend jailed for at least 23 years | UK News | Sky News

Give me a Tesco or Amazon delivery boy any day - always cheery, polite and helpful! Royal Mail, take note!

Then send it by courier and see how much that costs you.

The price of a stamp represents very good value.

You made a complaint and they apologised and said they will rectify the issue.

Sorry OP, I don't see your problem.

I'm waiting for a Parcel Farce delivery - between 9 and 3 today.
It's 4...🤷‍♀️

The parcel they delivered yesterday - I didn't get an email from them informing me of their imminent delivery until an hour AFTER they left it on my step.

Useless.

The issue is that RM think they have the right to put a load of crap through the letterbox of everyone in the UK without their consent.

It's not just about me and my letterbox. It's about RM's attitude as a whole.

HTH.

Indeed, they think that UK householders don't even have the RIGHT to withdraw consent to their letterboxes being used as a rubbish receptacle.

@AntiqueSocks I've written "unsolicited mail" on the front and dumped it in a post box in the past.

This is intriguingly thought provoking. What if you decided you never wanted any post at all and just got rid of your letter box? How would officialdom reach you? Is every dwelling required to have a letter box? Is there a way to just opt-out of all post entirely?

@JoshLymanSwagger One wonders - is it a misuse of the postbox (a statutory offence, no doubt) to rip stuff up and chuck it back in? I don't see why the same rules don't apply to the postbox as apparently apply to my letterbox.

@User8585 I read online somewhere (but can't currently find it again) that anyone, eg the women who have had a bad experience with postmen, can opt out of all deliveries and arrange for someone to uplift their items on a weekly etc basis from their local depot. Presumably you just wouldn't take away the mound of unwanted crap sitting alongside your 1 or 2 legitimate items.