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Would you steal someone else’s post? Poll Results...
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Would you steal someone else’s post? Poll Results/Discussion
Poll between 4-11 Mar 08. Would you steal someone elses post?
Imagine a magazine you love arrives in a transparent envelope addressed to someone who used to live at your address. You have no forwarding address and no way to get in touch with them. Which of these is closest to what you’d do.
A. Return it to sender. It's not yours, taking it is theft. 35% (3077 votes) B. Put it in the (recycling) bin. 9% (774 votes) C. Open it and read it. 57% (5058 votes)
Voting has now closed, but you can still click 'post reply' to discuss below.
If I had no forwarding address and knew the person wouldnt be likely to come back I would open it and read it.
Its not like you are opening a gas bill or stealing money out of someones birthday card, its not even that important a thing in life isnt a magazine. If it came again the next issue I would send it back then, but I wouldnt put it in the recycling bin (without having read it first!)
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
The order is important. It's much better to reuse something than recycle it. So C is better than B.
A is unlikely to benefit anyone.
I would return it not least as the person may have paid a subscription. When I moved a few years ago despite having my post forwarded some of it went to my old address and I would have been really angry if the new occupant had kept it. Even junk mail should always be returned if the recipient has moved.
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I have lived here for 11 years - the previous occupants died of old age (before I moved in!) and I occassionally still get post for them.....
The silliest ones were Christmas cards every year with a letter in asking how they were and what not, but no return address! The best I had was 4 years ago a parcel arrived from Mills and Boon with books and wine glasses in it addressed to the lady who had died over 10 years previously. I kept those!
I've been in my house for nearly a year, and i'm still getting letters for the last tenant.
I usually open them so i can get the phone number of the latest bailiff looking for her and contacting them.
I get stuff for the bloke that was here before her too!
I'm really glad that I moved from my previous flat, because we were constantly getting bailiff demands for parking fines and loan default letters from previous residents.
It's not particularly nice to get these threatening letters through your door, even if they are not directed at you. After that I had no qualms about opening every piece of mail addressed to previous residents, including bills, so that I could sort it all out.
My new house seems to be largely free of this problem, although I am getting very sick of forwarding on credit card statements. How people can be so foolish as to not change their address for these important accounts is beyond me!
i had a neighbour (who i don't know personally) who kept a whole years subscription of a magazine which was a present from a relative.
they were adressed to me and refused to give them back even though he still had all of them.
i only found out when the renewal notice came. if he had returned to sender maybe the magazine company would have written to the original purchaser. or maybe the mailman who knows us would have twigged...
it's not quite the same if someone moves away. i had post from the last occupier for 4 years. didn't bother me though, just popped in the mailbox- adressee not at this adress.
Once more we have a poll with not enough options - eg. it depends on what it was, would the nosey individuals on here still open it if the envelope was marked private and confidential. If the previous occupant were deceased would they then open it? (how can a dead person provide a forwarding address or set up redirection to the pearly gates (or the local cemetery)? What a prying collection of people we are becoming?
If it were a magazine, as mentioned at the start, then maybe yes, I would have a look, if it interested me, then throw it.
Having lived in The Congo for many years I can quite categorically state they do not drink Um Bongo.
I would return it not least as the person may have paid a subscription. When I moved a few years ago despite having my post forwarded some of it went to my old address and I would have been really angry if the new occupant had kept it. Even junk mail should always be returned if the recipient has moved.
Junk mail should always be returned to sender. Just put "Return to Sender" on it and pop it in the letterbox.
That way, the sender will have to pay for it twice, thus supporting our wonderful Royal Mail
Junk mail should always be returned to sender. Just put "Return to Sender" on it and pop it in the letterbox.
That way, the sender will have to pay for it twice, thus supporting our wonderful Royal Mail
I do this for our block - I'd say about 60% of our post is for people who haven't lived there for at least a couple of years, sometimes 10 years or more. How many companies take notice though and remove people from their mailing lists? There are companies who I've sent post back to at least 10 times, and still they send their damn brochures!
Whilst I don't open post as a general rule, there are some circumstances where I do. There was a woman getting M+S online parcels (clothes, all paid for on cc) sent to my address but no-one in my block or neighbours had ever heard of her. I opened it to get the details and phoned M+S to say I would be sending it back. This happened a further 5 times over the next 6 months! (You would think they would make a note or something ) On the last parcel I phoned M+S and told them that I would not be wasting my time on another trip to the post office. I gave them a date and told them to collect it and that if they didn't, I would give the items to charity, which I did (although admittedly I might have kept them if they were my size!).
I have also opened letters addressed to my flat which are not for me. I've lived there for 8 years and I know the previous owners name, so I'm suspicious when bank statements or mobile phone bills for someone else suddenly come to my home - in these cases I've opened the post and phoned up the company to tell them someone is either mistakenly or fraudulently using my address. This happened quite a few times when we had builders working on our communal areas who had access to the post in the hallway .
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My new house seems to be largely free of this problem, although I am getting very sick of forwarding on credit card statements. How people can be so foolish as to not change their address for these important accounts is beyond me!
The previous owners of our house left a forwarding address with a neighbour but didn't arrange redirection. We had dozens of items of mail - the neighbour patiently readdressed and posted them at first, then rang asking them to set up a redirection. The phone number wasn't valid so she got the hint and after that everything went back in the post marked "no longer at this address".
A couple of months later, I "accidentally" opened a credit card statement and understood why they didn't want to be found.
When I first moved into my home I sent all post back as 'no longer at this address' but after living at the address for 2 years I am now bored and tend to bin the post which is now rare.
But I do believe the previous owners solicitors who helped them do all the legal part of the move are stupid as I am still receiving post for the previous owners from the solicitors (solicitors have their name branded on the envelope) so I just throw it away.
I don't tend to open people's post but if what is inside is obvious than yes I would but as I think someone else said if it happened twice I would send the magazine back and contact the company to inform them of the error.
The lady who we bought our house from turned up a year later asking if there was any mail for her. During that time we received about 300 letters and just returned them to the sender. However the lady was annoyed we did not keep them. B....DY CHEEK.
Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps. Take care over copyright. Use excerpts and links rather than copying long text. This site asserts copyright on all comments posted on the board.
Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps.
Would you steal someone else’s post? Poll Results/Discussion
FB 
How many companies take notice though and remove people from their mailing lists? There are companies who I've sent post back to at least 10 times, and still they send their damn brochures! 
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