DEAR SUN SPOTS: From personal experience, I do not recommend using Mail Preference Service, as you suggested on June 5, to curtail unwanted junk mail.
All that does is give your name and address to many more junk mailers, and soon your mailbox is bursting at the seams with unwanted trash.
My advice is to remove any “free gifts,” including coins, then dump the junk in the Post Office recycle bin and walk away. Sooner or later the legitimate organizations will decide that they are spending more than they are receiving and remove your name from the list.
If “gifts” are of no use to recipient, donate them to charity (and be sure to obtain a receipt to use as a deduction on income tax as a “charitable contribution”).
— No name, Rumford
ANSWER: Mail Preference Service says it does not sell your name and address to others. It does take quite a bit of time, though, once you have told MPS to take you off mailing lists, for that to happen. So maybe that’s what you’ve experienced?
According to the Direct Marketing Association, once someone registers with MPS that person’s name is placed in a “delete” file. That file is made available to direct marketing companies four times a year — in January, April, July and in October. So, it takes time for companies to take you off their mailing lists, often longer than three months.
Even if you register, the mail may not stop because — according to the Direct Marketing Association, if you’ve ever ordered from a catalog, contributed to a charity, used a credit card or had a magazine subscription, your name appeared on a marketing list. That list may have been directly sold — or rented — to another company.
If that has happened, the company using that list may not even know about your request to MPS, and the mail keeps coming.
Another option is to write or call a company that is sending you unsolicited mail and ask them to stop.
DEAR SUN SPOTS: Here I turn to dear Sun Spots again.
Wondering if you might have a telephone number to call Social Security in Auburn.
I need to set up an appointment to get the process going and would prefer to not have to wait an hour-plus just to get an appointment date.
This is tremendously appreciated.
— A loyal reader in Lewiston.
ANSWER: Happy to help.
The Social Security office in Auburn is at 600 Center St., Suite 5. The “local” phone number is 1-866-627-6996.
If you can’t get there, though, you can call the national number and they’ll be able to transfer you to Auburn. That number is 1-800-772-1213.
When you call for your appointment, it might be helpful to know in advance that the Auburn office is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Wednesday, it’s open from 9 a.m. to noon, and it’s closed over the weekend.
Use the QR code to go to Sun Spots online for additional information and links. This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com, tweeted @SJ_SunSpots or posted on the Sun Spots Facebook page at facebook.com/SunJournalSunSpots. This column can also be read online at sunjournal.com/sunspots. We’ve joined Pinterest at pinterest.com/sj_sunspots.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
