Rude

I try hard not to let people get the better of me. And as long as I don't raise my voice or use any profanity, I count myself successful. But apparently that doesn't mean you're not rude.

Here's the situation. We rely heavily on direct mail to advertise our business. Some might call it "junk mail". They can call it whatever they like but as long as I've put the appropriate amount of postage on it, the post office has to deliver it. No one is forced to open it. I toss all kinds of junk mail on a daily basis. I suspect that about 85% of the stuff that ends up in my mailbox goes straight into the bin without being opened. But our mail pieces are sent with first class postage. It costs more, but it doesn't identify the mail as "junk" when the recipient gets it.

Also, this is highly targeted. We only send it to people who bought their "new build" home 10 to 11 months ago. We send the same letter out three times between month 10 and 11. There you have it. The secret to our success. But it seems that some people take real exception to getting unsolicited mail with a first class stamp. Probably because they thought it was a letter telling them their great aunt Bertha died and left her fortune to them and it turned out it was only someone trying to get them to have a home inspection. Drat!

So the woman who told me I was rude called up and told me that she was tired of getting mail from me. She was not interested in having a home inspection and the mail went straight from her mailbox into the trash. She wanted to point out to me that I was wasting my money, envelopes, and stamps by sending these to her. She went on for a while, and I listened. I wanted to ask her if she had ever considered the fact that a letter that notifies you that your home warranty is about to expire probably has a time value to it. (Seriously, we are NOT going to waste money sending you a letter once your warranty has expired.) But I suspect that she does not think things through at that level. What I did ask was whether she called everyone who sent her junk mail. (I didn't even add the part about demanding to be removed from the mailing list.)

And that's when she told me I was rude. I thought she had been rude but rather than point that out I agreed with her. "Perhaps I am rude. Sorry, I haven't been feeling well for the past couple of days but if you give me your address, I'll do my best to remove you from the list." (The list that you're actually not even on anymore, anyway.) Truth is, I probably get one or two calls a month from someone wanting to be removed from the mailing list and I've always wanted to ask them if they called everyone who sent them unsolicited mail. I rather suspect they don't. On the other hand, if calling to disparage someone who has "annoyed" you by sending you mail is the highlight of your day...nuff said!