Important Message about Mailing from Good Sam

[Madame Boomer]

South Central Members..........

be aware!!!!!

In this thread (http://www.irv2.com/forums/newreply....ote=1&p=976441) posted this morning in the
General Discussion area on www.iRV2.com - a marketing strategy by Good Sam Club is being discussed.

Good Sam Club members are being sent a DVD in the mail called the ABC's of RVs which is the first DVD in a series of essential rv maintenance dvds that you can opt to join for the cost of $12.95 per dvd.

do not throw the dvd away
if you decide not to participate in the offer!

Upon closer reading of the material, you will see that you MUST return the dvd in the enclosed return postage paid envelope........OR YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THE DVD!

Sandy

[Clifftall]

I would think that they would have a tough time trying to collect, from me at least.

Thanks for the warning.

[RJay]

Below is the content of a PDF file I found as a result of a google search on the matter. Unfortunately I don't know where this BBB is located but it's a starting point.


Unordered/Unsolicited Items Received by Mail
By way of general information, consumers or businesses that receive merchandise by mail which they do not believe they ordered, should first double check to be sure it was not ordered by a relative or co-worker. If it was not in fact ordered, the following are included in Federal Trade Commission Rules relating to mail order: Generally it is only permissible to send unsolicited items which are clearly marked free samples or sent in conjunction with a charitable solicitation. And, recipients of unsolicited merchandise are under no obligation to pay for items received. In addition, the recipient is not obligated to pay to return items if they were in fact not ordered.


The BBB suggests that a proper course of action is to write the sender and ask for verification that the merchandise was ordered. Also notify the sender that unless the sender verifies that it was ordered or makes arrangements to have the merchandise returned at their expense, you will consider it as an unconditional gift.

[dlovitt]

The last I checked, you are under no obligation to pay for or even return unsolicited materials sent via USPS.

[RustyJC]

I think their "out" regarding the BBB statement above was the inclusion of the prepaid return envelope. In this manner, the recipient is not required to pay for the return since GS makes provision to have the DVD returned at their expense.

Still don't make it right!!!

Rusty

[Wayne M]

Rusty may be right based on the google search provided by RJAY, but then the Google search does not list the USPS as the authority. If someone is near a major post office, they may want to go in and ask about this and report back here.

As a note, in 1979 we received a Vacuum cleaner from JCP while stationed in Okinawa. It was clearly addressed to us. We did not order it. The post office confirmed we did not have to take any action, not even notifying JCP. The product was now ours. I wonder how many times companies do this inadvertently.

Was there a time limit on the GS offer? What do the people who are away for a while do when the mail catches up and they have not responded by the indicated time?

[Perry White]

How could they even prove you received it? If they had you sign for it MAYBE. I threw mine away. Lets go to court.

[Madame Boomer]

reprinted from my post in the General Discussion area..........

Since my original post on this thread, I've gone back and REALLY read all the material that came with the dvd and it says............

QUOTE:

"Now I know you didn't ask for this dvd. You can consider it a free gift.....or return it at no risk by using the handy return label and envelope...."
Bob Livingston, Executive Producer "The ABC's of RV's

so legally, I don't think you can be charged for not returning it.....but it's the principle of the thing. IF they didn't care one way or the other about it being returned, WHY would they enclose a pre-paid return envelope and pay the return postage.

It's just another marketing tactic, but a frustrating one!


Sandy

[Elkhartjim]

Stick a bad dvd in the return envelope and drop it in the mail. When I'm really bored I put all the return envelopes we receive in the mail; at least they have to pay the return postage.

I doubt GS will even open the return envelopes to verify the correct dvd was returned...and they probably don't care.

[TXiceman]

I am like Jim, I stuff all sorts of junk mail in a prepaid envelope and sent if back to anyone. I wish more people would do this....but more companies are not sending a prepaid envelope.



Ken

[frankdamp]

Note that the DVD is not copy protected. If you think it would be useful, you could copy it and record ot to your own disk, then send theirs back in the pre-paid envelope.

Personally, as a retired Boeing engineer, I didn't see anything in it that I wasn't already familiar with, so I just sent it back.

[Mr_D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankdamp Note that the DVD is not copy protected. If you think it would be useful, you could copy it and record ot to your own disk, then send theirs back in the pre-paid envelope. Personally, as a retired Boeing engineer, I didn't see anything in it that I wasn't already familiar with, so I just sent it back.

Which puts you in violation of copywrite laws!

[TexasPSDX]

Prepaid envelopes always go back to sender with junk mail in them from our house.

[Doug Sage]

They cannot charge you if you did not order the disk. It is against the law. Don't worry about it! You could be cranky however and scratch the bottom of the disk and mail it back. That way they have to pay the postage but don't get a useable disk back.