• JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Reminds me of a webcomic I used to read where the mad scientistesque physics student realized he could use the lead bricks he’d been using to prop open doors for exactly this purpose.

  • Brkdncr@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I used to get a ton of garbage mail at an apartment i lived at. I’d just take as many of the coupon booklets from my box, jam them into one of those return envelops, and stuff it back into the outgoing mail box.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      It wouldn’t surprise me if one slipped through, there are overrides on stuff that get rejected and USPS is a massive organization with millions of parcels moving at any given moment.

      This idea came from people mailing wooden shims back to the credit card companies because it would increase the postage cost over the normal weight… Please don’t do that though. Letters go through a Dr. Seuss Esque sorter system and the shims are too sturdy and sometimes get ripped out of the mail and shot across the facility…

        • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          Feel free to stuff as much paper as you can fit, it’s just wood, plastics and the like that are too rigid for the machines to handle sometimes. USPS gets money for return mailing, so it’s a benfit to them as long as shims or pieces of plastic arent flying around the facility like a bullet.

    • Ajen@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months 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.

  • 👍Maximum Derek👍@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 months 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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      2 months 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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      2 months ago

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

    • snooggums@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      If it wasn’t shitty towards the post office people O would support it.

      But under 10 lbs…

      • BigDaddySlim@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Sadly we have a weight and size limit on these, but if you can load a mini fridge and keep it under 70lbs it should be accepted.

        Legally this is not shipping advice and purely a shitpost

        • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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          2 months ago

          There is no way that those prepaid postage meant for a letter is gonna be good for 70lb.
          The postal service has to have lower cost options

          • MisanthropiCynic@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            That’s the business’ risk for sending those prepaid envelopes out. From the USPS site itself “[Moreover, when a BRM card or envelope is misused and affixed to a sealed item, the permit holder will be responsible for payment of the applicable Retail postage and per piece fee.]

            • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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              2 months ago

              But it also says

              DMM 505.1.4.8, “Labels,” states that in cases when a BRM card or envelope is misused as a BRM label, USPS® treats the item as waste.
              BRM cards and envelopes are designed to be mailed as a First-Class Mail card, letter, or flat only, and not as a BRM label to be attached to other items.

              So I’m still a but fuzzy

              • crabArms@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                So I’m still a butt fuzzy

                Weird self-deprecating thing to say, and not sure how it relates, but best wishes with that!

          • BigDaddySlim@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            They’re actually not prepaid, they’re counted as postage due at the destination office and either charged to their account automatically or paid at the time of pickup.

            There are lower cost options like nonprofit or third class postage, but that’s usually what they’re paying to send out the junk with these business reply envelopes in the first place. Business reply mail AFAIK is charged at the first class postage rates.

            • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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              2 months ago

              I know it’s not technically prepaid.

              But it’s wild that the postal service wouldn’t have an option here to only accept letters.

              • Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                2 months ago

                Probably one of those cases where it’s only allowed because there’s no rule specifically forbidding it, and some determined individual figured out it worked one day.

  • mvilain@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    I have long fantasized about doing this exact same thing, especially to MAGA-types who somehow got my address and are mailing me requests for donations. Someone in those groups as well as THE SALVATION ARMY have discovered that those postage guaranteed reply envelopes cost money and prompt this response. So now all that stuff requires a stamp if you want to reply. I hope that’s cut down on their fundraising efforts.

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz
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      2 months ago

      What is wrong with the salvation army? Sometimes go in there looking for board games when we check if any of the charity shops have any games beyond 50 versions of monopoly and trivia pursuit.

      • lime!@feddit.nu
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        2 months ago

        the christian holiness movement offshoot organized in actual army ranks under red banners emblazoned with their literal motto “blood and fire”? idk but i could pick out a few things that seem… off

        • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz
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          2 months ago

          Are we even thinking of the same organisation? Never seen that, but maybe they keep it hidden round the back as it would put off customers. I live in the UK, not sure if that makes a difference

          • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Salvation Army is more than just a thrift store. They use that to fund their other stuff.

      • Jessica@discuss.tchncs.de
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        2 months ago
        • In 1998, the Salvation Army refused to comply with San Francisco’s laws regarding domestic-partner benefits, costing it $3.5 million in city contracts and leading to the closure of certain programs for homeless people and the elderly.
        • In 2001, the organization tried to strike a deal with the Bush administration, which would have allowed religious charities that receive federal funding to circumvent local ordinances against anti-LGBTQ discrimination. (The organization also threatened to stop all of its New York City operations in 2004.)
        • In 2012, a Salvation Army branch in Vermont was accused of firing a case worker after learning she was bisexual.
        • Also in 2012, Salvation Army spokesperson George Hood said the organization views same-sex relationships as sinful. “A relationship between same-sex individuals is a personal choice that people have the right to make,” Hood said at the time. “But from a church viewpoint, we see that going against the will of God.”

        https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/16/21003560/salvation-army-anti-lgbtq-controversies-donations

      • Kaboom@reddthat.com
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        2 months ago

        They’re Christians and you know how bad Christians are, with all the volunteering and the charity and the do-gooders and all

        • Count042@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          Let me guess, all thre Christians except for the Palestinian ones, right?

          • Kaboom@reddthat.com
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            2 months ago

            There aren’t any Palestinian Christians left after what Hamas did. Do you not know the history of the area? It’s fucked up.

            I suggest you go research it yourself, I’m just a random commenter on the Internet and there’s way more credible sources out there

      • other_cat@lemmy.zip
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        2 months ago

        They are anti-LGBT. I don’t have a source handy for you at the moment so encourage you to search it up.

    • TheColonel@reddthat.com
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      2 months 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.

      • zurohki@aussie.zone
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        2 months ago

        This. Your mail isn’t going to be opened by the CEO. Hurt the business, not the worker. Mail them a box of rocks or something, the company will pay postage on it and the minimum wage guy opening packages will laugh.

    • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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      2 months 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.

      • notabot@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Steady on Satan, they’re only a credit card company! They’re bad, but not that bad!

    • ilovededyoupiggy@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months 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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        2 months 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.

    • PaintedSnail@lemmy.world
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      2 months 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.

      • notabot@lemm.ee
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        2 months 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.

      • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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        2 months 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.

      • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months 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.

          • ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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            2 months ago

            “these days”? I take it you weren’t paying attention during the whole “explorative credit” thing? We had to make the consumer financial protection bureau to, amongst other things, make them be a little less shitty? The bureau they’ve been desperately trying to get dismantled because it moderately limits their profits?

            Have they ever been better than “kinda bad” at best?

            Anyway, I didn’t specifically decry credit issuers. I implied that spammers are shitty, which I stand by and is far from a new sentiment.

    • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months 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?

        • Excrubulent@slrpnk.net
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          2 months ago

          Also weirdly accepts the premise of the story then calls it a lie. Like at least have some narrative cohesion in your snark, people, it’s not hard.

        • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          I’m sorry that it came off as condescending. Truly, that was not the intent. Tone is difficult over text, but I was more going for an incredulous sarcasm that beckoned critical thinking.

          • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            incredulous sarcasm that beckoned critical thinking.

            That would be where the condescending tone comes from. If you don’t want to come off as condescending, don’t do that.