Kind of annoying

I visited Catalog Choice today to enter some new catalogs into my database of "refused catalogs." For those of you who don't know, Catalog Choice is an organization that works with retailers to reduce the amount of needless catalogs sent through the mail, thereby reducing waste, carbon emissions, etc. The other great thing about the organization is that it gives consumers an easy way to opt-out of catalogs they never wished to receive in the first place, and keep track of their requests.

I've been trying to get off Harry and David's mailing list for more than a year. Today I visited my choices on Catalog Choice and saw that the company has now officially refused to honor opt-out requests processed by Catalog Choice. I found this rather insulting. I previously had nothing against Harry and David, besides the ridiculous amount of catalogs I receive from them. But I find this idiotic. I e-mailed Harry and David's customer service to ask them to remove my name, and added a little "consumer note."

Hello,
I somehow got on your mailing list and through Catalog Choice, the organization devoted to reducing catalog waste and helping the environment, I requested that my name be removed. Today I learn that Harry and David refuses to work with Catalog Choice.

Please remove my name from your list at once. I would also like you to know that because you refuse to honor requests for name removal through Catalog Choice, I will never even consider ordering from your company again. In fact, I would hazard a guess that I will not be the only one, dismayed by your company's refusal to honor requests from people who do not want to be on your mailing list for environmental reasons, who will choose not to patronize your company ever again.

Ashley Shelby

I'm working on gathering a list of companies that refuse to honor opt-out requests from Catalog Choice. In the meantime, here is a short list of companies that have honored my requests through Catalog Choice--i.e. they told Catalog Choice they'd honor and I've actually stopped receiving catalogs. I am more likely to buy from them knowing that they honor consumer requests to opt-out:

Williams-Sonoma
Bliss
L.L. Bean
Land of Nod
Pottery Barn
Tiffany