Tell the Big Banks What You Think (and Cost Them Money, Too!)

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The best way to do this is to include something fun, a comic strip or your favorite recipe. This way it costs the bank money for their junk mail and entertains the person they paying to open it (which would have to be a shitty job).

Little Red Ryan Hood on October 28, 2011 at 2:50 PM

Transferred what little money I have yesterday. That felt good.

very bad homo on October 28, 2011 at 2:57 PM

I've heard of attaching the cards to bricks and sending them back like that.

Bhamjason on October 28, 2011 at 2:58 PM

Good ideas. Also, cancel your cable. Protest the corporate bullshit machine FOX. Cable is starting to crumble. Finish it off!

Vince on October 28, 2011 at 3:09 PM

Little Red Ryan Hood has a good idea and a good reminder: The person actually opening the mail has a shitty job, send them something entertaining.

LMcGuff on October 28, 2011 at 3:13 PM

@1 for the win.

HDTV signals can burn thru your building. Just buy an antenna run to the outside or roof and the quality is epic. And free.

Also the on-air signal for KCTS 9.1 and 9.2 is way better at 1080p than the Comcast 1080i for that matter.

You can also d/l the free BloombergTV app for the iPad today or the Bloomberg radio app for the iPhone. And hear all the news they don't want Americans to hear about.

Will in Seattle on October 28, 2011 at 3:15 PM

I don't get credit card offers anymore, but the very last one I received before the economy implosion I tore up and sent back. But I get very testy about junk mail in general.

keshmeshi on October 28, 2011 at 3:21 PM

Bank Transfer day celebration in Seattle:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2…

SMWT on October 28, 2011 at 3:22 PM

@7:

If you watch the video all the way through, he suggests a novel way to get rid of all your OTHER junk mail, along with the credit card offers.

COMTE on October 28, 2011 at 3:24 PM

Let's try that agin:

Bank Transfer Day Celebration in Seattle 11/5, Westlake, 10 am

SMWT on October 28, 2011 at 3:24 PM

I love these ideas. What he doesn't mention is that doing these things also helps the cash-strapped USPS.

Knat on October 28, 2011 at 3:24 PM

Having worked at a facility that goes through this type of mail, I can tell you that 0% of messages will go to anyone, they'll go right into the trash. You may as well write your diatribe and throw it out yourself, it's much more efficient and eliminates the carbon footprint of shipping a letter to its destination.

I can also tell you that most of the messages you get inserted into these envelopes are religious in nature - mostly Chick Tracts. If there is a person most likely to be saved by Chick Tracts, it is the person who opens response envelopes. Very rarely, there is hand drawn pornography.

cosby on October 28, 2011 at 3:25 PM

Beautiful.

OuterCow on October 28, 2011 at 3:26 PM

This was totally one of the anarchist suggestions in Steal This Book.

Chip on October 28, 2011 at 3:33 PM

Meh. I did that for years and finally just got tired of it. The "satisfaction" of mailing their junk back to them wore off after a while and it's not like they stop sending it.

Urgutha Forka on October 28, 2011 at 4:35 PM

My idea was to actually send in applications for the credit cards and then max the things out. Then send a letter to the credit card company informing them that you're never going to pay them back. Yes, I realize this would completely screw you, but if you could organize a couple million people to do this simultaneously it would be a pretty cool thing.

ScruffyBallardMan on October 28, 2011 at 4:42 PM

@15 actually, it worked fairly well.

If you get thousands of people to do it on one day in many locations, it is very effective.

Will in Seattle on October 28, 2011 at 4:43 PM

@16

I've always wanted to go on a crazed weekend spending spree, max out everything and then call them on Monday and let them know I lost my wallet and none of those charges are mine. You aren't liable for fraud after all.

I figure you only get to do this once. So you'll never want to lose your wallet, they might not be so kind about it the second time.

SeattleSeven on October 28, 2011 at 4:51 PM

@12: true, and maybe slightly raises the crap meter for the people that have the crappy job of processing this stuff. But the fact remains that it costs financial institutions money. Not a lot, but real dollars nonetheless. It also keeps postal workers employed if you're into supporting that kind of union thing.

The only downside I can see at all is less junk mail for my worm-bin.

Mr. Happy Sunshine on October 28, 2011 at 4:53 PM

The joke will be on the credit unions when they millions of customers barely able to keep a hundred bucks in their accounts. Then they'll start with the fees.

on October 28, 2011 at 6:09 PM

"but if you could organize a couple million people to do this simultaneously it would be a pretty cool thing."

Are you kidding, there's plenty of Americans who live beyond their means and don't pay their bills already. I believe they've worked the deadbeats into their cost structure. It's why I have 4 free flights again this year morons.

on October 28, 2011 at 6:13 PM

"I've always wanted to go on a crazed weekend spending spree, max out everything and then call them on Monday and let them know I lost my wallet and none of those charges are mine. You aren't liable for fraud after all."

Until the surveillance video comes it and you get a 6 month sentence and $10,000 fine for fraud.

Man, you people are dumb. But if u lived within your means my bank wouldn't be giving me free flights every year.

on October 28, 2011 at 6:18 PM

SaccharinMoobs @ 20-22: purports to be gleeful but is really just a sad shill pathetic mileage hoarder going nowhere interesting. :(

pissy mcslogbot on October 28, 2011 at 7:33 PM

@23 Did you get that name because of your reaction to your credit card bill every month?

20 yrs with one bank, never paid credit card interest, perfect credit score, just closed on a no cost 3.9%, 30 year fixed, bought house in 2003 and have 60% equity, student loans paid off with one bonus 5 years after graduating.

In a word, the banks love me.

on October 28, 2011 at 7:45 PM

I send mine back filled with the junk they sent with it. Why should I have to throw away their garbage?

suddenlyorcas on October 28, 2011 at 8:06 PM

@24: aaand... somehow all that makes you less of a tool (and fool ass sucka slog troll) again, how?

pissy mcslogbot on October 28, 2011 at 8:15 PM

Tool? I'm not the one camping in the cold rain, shitting in a bucket, wondering how to pay my bills. It's like Nicklesville for white college kids.

on October 28, 2011 at 10:06 PM

@18 All the stores have cameras. You'll be photographed doing your dirty work.

Vince on October 29, 2011 at 7:22 AM

I started calling the phone numbers and asked to be removed from the list. Between that and Catalog Choice, my junk mail delivery was greatly reduced. At least it was before the election mail started coming in....

squiffalicious on October 31, 2011 at 12:11 AM

@28 I dunno, wear a big hat? Have a friend buy the stuff for you?

thecheesegirl on October 31, 2011 at 5:07 AM

@30, rope a friend into a credit card fraud scheme? How about just not doing it?

clashfan on October 31, 2011 at 9:57 AM

@18: "I figure you only get to do this once."

Well, yeah. You'll get less of them as a felon.

undead ayn rand on October 31, 2011 at 12:51 PM

Tell the Big Banks What You Think (and Cost Them Money, Too!)

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