• Ajen@sh.itjust.works
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      9 hours ago

      No, this is fake. You can put whatever you want in the envelope and send it back, but they won’t deliver a whole package. They only prepaid postage for a letter.

      Of course if you send something dangerous/threatening you might get arrested.

  • Delphia@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Friendly reminder.

    Make sure that you use a box with no identifying information. Scribbling out the barcodes isnt enough.

    Mailing restrictions still apply. Mailing them back rotting fish or potentially hazardous materials is a federal offence.

    Mailing any kind of threat is also against the law.

    • nickiwest@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      If you’re concerned about your anonymity, keep in mind that companies frequently put ID numbers on their return envelopes to help match the returned mail piece with your record in their database. Sometimes the number is invisible (UV ink) so it doesn’t look “mass produced” to the recipient.

    • Natanael@infosec.pub
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      11 hours ago

      Doesn’t help when you use a return postage slip. They have unique codes. Being “just annoying” is probably the safest bet.

    • TheColonel@reddthat.com
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      12 hours ago

      I know/hope this is a joke but people used to do this at an independent, third party, mail sorting place I worked at as a teenager.

      They’d mail all sorts of shit (both literal and figurative) and it was basically handled by one guy who seemed ok with it but was definitely not ok.

      Mail them lead, weights, whatever. But please, no matter how despicable the company, there’s likely some at very least mildly abused worker who is just trying to earn a wage and has to deal with the vile shit people try to punish companies with.

    • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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      13 hours ago

      I read this as you wrote it: “its farts”, like the envelope has farts, vs “it is farts”. Both are technically correct, but seems so much funnier that way.

  • kieron115@startrek.website
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    15 hours ago

    IF you’re going to do this, make sure use some sort of sealed package (like the box in the photo). You used to be able to slap these things on like a sheet of plywood and just send it as is but now if the package isn’t sealed and is obvious misuse the post office can just throw it in the dumpster. If its a sealed package then the post office has to deliver it and the permit holder has to pay the charges. https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2019/pb22525/html/updt_001.htm

  • sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz
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    11 hours ago

    USPS got so pissed at me for just leaving my junk mail in the box. I told them over and over I didn’t need trash delivered to my place. In the end, I just stopped all USPS deliveries. I had nothing of importance coming in through the mail.

    • anachrohack@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Postal Employee: “May I help you?”

      Kramer: “Yeah, I’d like to cancel my mail.”

      Postal Employee: “Certainly. How long would you like us to hold it?”

      Kramer: “Oh, no, no. I don’t think you get me. I want out, permanently.”

      • acchariya@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        You just have to move to a place where the post office is a disaster and you won’t get mail anymore. Northern new Mexico, for one.

      • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works
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        7 hours ago

        No, stopping all USPS deliveries is not an option. They can usually hold mail for up to 30 days if you apply for it, but I think this even varies by local office.

        You can, however, refuse some mail. This is a manual process. You can also apply to be removed from mailing lists, which is almost certainly what the other poster did.

      • sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz
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        7 hours ago

        Yeah, it got so bad I was worried I was going to rage on the delivery driver (for what it’s worth, I support the USPS and have not heard a legitimate argument about why it should be stopped. But fucking junk mail. I know it accounts for a chunk of their income, there has got to be a better way. Like making the price of every single piece of junk mail that is delivered to me is $10. Something. Cut out junk mail and only have delivery 4 days a week. Not consecutively.

        But yeah, to get back to your question. I talked to the Postmaster at the local Post Office and they had me write and sign a piece of paper saying,“I DON’T WANT THIS SHIT NO MORE!”. The trouble it caused in my life was absolutely dwarfed by the positive of not having to deal with that shit anymore.

    • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works
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      7 hours ago

      For putting some crap in a box, taping on a flyer, and then lying on the internet?

      You don’t actually think this happened, do you? Why would the post office ship a heavy package for free just because a no postage needed flyer is stuck to it?

  • 👍Maximum Derek👍@discuss.tchncs.de
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    17 hours ago

    When I was in college my roommates and I would open all those offers standing at the mailbox, seal the empty envelopes back up, then put then right back in the mailbox for the carrier to grab the next day (or maybe mail thieves, who knows). We figured just mailing them all back was going to cost something.

    • The_v@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      When I was first out of college I used to get 8-10 of pre-payed envelopes every week. I kept a PO box for my mail that I would check weekly.

      I would have maybe 1 or two pieces of real mail and a full box of junk.

      So I started folding up the junk mail I to the 8-10 prepared envelopes every week. This was all done at the counter next to my PO box and dropped mailed back right then.

      It was quite cathartic.

    • Jayb151@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      I did the same, wrote in the letter for them to suck my balls… They called me back lol

  • Matt3999@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    I once sent a thick telephone book with “Return to Sender - not at this address” on it after receiving mail addressed the previous house owner. This was after receiving their junk mail over several years and returning it with the same message scribbled on the envelope. This tactic finally worked and stopped the junk mail coming.

    • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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      12 hours ago

      This must’ve been a long time ago. Otherwise where would you find a phone book, let alone a thick one.

    • PaintedSnail@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      Nah. That would piss off the mailroom employees, but they don’t control who gets sent mail. The weight costing money does hurt the people who make the marketing decisions, though.

      • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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        9 hours ago

        nah doesnt just piss them off… it now confettis the mailroom which guarantees a janitors employment. this is how you generate low skill labor jobs! its a win win.

      • notabot@lemm.ee
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        12 hours ago

        That’s a fair observation, but I assume they’re trained to deal with suspicious packages safely, and that stuff will get transfered throughout the whole building and make everyone’s lives that bit more ‘special’. It’ll still hit the bottom line too.

      • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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        12 hours ago

        But they also work for the bad company, so my sympathy is limited. Not super limited, else I wouldn’t point out that they’re inevitably hourly employees, and a long day cleaning glitter creates an annoying backlog that creates even more overtime.
        Punishing the worker for working for spammers, but also putting money in their pocket at the cost of the people making choices.

        Biggest issue is the cost of glitter. Easier to get dirt or rocks.

    • ilovededyoupiggy@sh.itjust.works
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      13 hours ago

      Would take a little bit of doing, but rig the box flaps to a platform inside the box, then pour all the glitter on that, so that opening the box raises the platform and dumps all the glitter.

      • notabot@lemm.ee
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        12 hours ago

        Rather than a platform, I’ve been wondering if you could rig it so opening the box opens some holes on the bottom, so they think they dodged the worst of it, pick it up to dispose of it and get a desk full from underneath.