How I stopped getting unwanted post and made £100
By: Alex Lane
Tags: Lifehacks, Debt

3 Give them notice. Seven months ago I ordered a stamp from Vistaprint that reads:

RETURN TO SENDER Not known at this address. Repeat returns will be invoiced. Please amend your records.

It cost me £11.10, plus £13.21 VAT and P&P.

I stamp each returned letter, and under this I write “3rd RTS” and so on (I’m up to 12 on the outstanding offender).

It had an immediate effect, with one debt collector — Jacobs Enforcement — sending a form to “The Current Occupier” which allowed me to send them a proof of residence (copy of my tenancy agreement, Council Tax bill, etc). They even have an online form. Problem solved.

A few other companies stopped sending letters, but you’ll need to be patient.

4 Set out your charges in a formal letter. The stamp had reduced the flow of unwanted mail, but after a few months it was time to raise the stakes. I started with loan provider Amigo, which was trying to contact David Ursachi, Farcas Ionel and Rodica Adafinei. Amigo’s postal spam made up about half of my unwanted mail.

My template letter uses the same kind of language they use. I give them a further month to update their records. After that, they’ll be subject to a £10 administration charge for returning for each letter received during the following month. Beyond that, there’s an additional £25 penalty charge, with 3% interest after 30 days, plus undisclosed further costs if I have to take legal action.

It also includes phone and email contact details so that we can open a dialogue. I don’t want to end up in small claims court, although I’m reasonably confident I wouldn’t be out of pocket. Alternatively, I could employ debt collectors against debt collectors, but I’m worried that would get out of control and bring about the apocalypse.

Most of all, it’s formal, clear and polite. The cost to me? A4 paper, printer ink, windowed envelopes and a 1st class stamp. Less than £1.

I addressed my letters to the CEO, CFO or head of consumer relations, just to be sure I had their attention. Google, Companies House and LinkedIn can all help with this.

I’ve since had successful results with EE (phoned me within a couple of weeks), Halifax (no response but no more letters), and Barclaycard. I’m a Barclaycard customer, and they sent several letters apologising for not being able to resolve the problem while it was being investigated.

You can see my template below.

5 Be polite. Accept no bullshit. Amigo responded in a few weeks, apologising for my inconvenience but claiming that Data Protection Rules were preventing them from changing the details of their wayward clients. Now in possession of a contact number, I called to explain that several other companies had managed this, and an email discussion ensued. They’ve refused to accept any error, but the letters have stopped, so I’m happy.

Barclaycard finally called to apologise that they couldn’t change their missing customers’ details, and they couldn’t accept my charges because their letters had been sent out correctly. Fortunately, “new information” had appeared and they were now able to change the details for Christian Dragomir. As a gesture of goodwill, could they offer me £100?

I accepted.