Something needs to be done about all of these companies abusing the elderly.

[iamwhatiseem]

My father passed in January 2017, leaving my mother alone.
Physically, even today at 83, she is in great shape. After Dad died her mental health... not so much.
Not quite 2 years after his death, Bonzi and I agreed to take her in. She lives in our basement (it's a walk out basement complete with picture windows, regular windows all on one side. She has her own kitchen, full bath, 2 bedrooms, dining room and large living room.
Anyway... Jesus Christ the sheer volume of bullshit mail this woman gets. Not the usual advertising junk mail, like restaurant coupons etc. etc.
No.
Fake mail. Is what I would call it. Mail from bogus insurance plans trying to look like it is from the government. 3/4 of her mail is fake mailings trying to look like government mail. And then you have Publishers Clearing House. Before I started getting her mail and seeing her bank activity - she was buying worthless crap from them to "win prizes". Then I found out they were sending her a "monthly gift" that was "FREE!!" - well except for shipping and handling that averaged $30. For a some plastic crap worth maybe $1.
Then you get suspicious charities asking for donations for 1000 different things. My mother was donating to some of them.
I stopped all that cold. It was a REALLY hard thing for me to do, to put my name on all of her accounts, and get power of attorney so I could watch and control her assets if need be. She was going through well in excess of $10,000 a year "donating" to these charities I never heard of. buying useless crap from PCH who damn well know there business is built on ripping off our elderly.

Every frigging day I throw out this garbage mail. All of these people were ripping her off.

 

[okfine]

My father passed in January 2017, leaving my mother alone.
Physically, even today at 83, she is in great shape. After Dad died her mental health... not so much.
Not quite 2 years after his death, Bonzi and I agreed to take her in. She lives in our basement (it's a walk out basement complete with picture windows, regular windows all on one side. She has her own kitchen, full bath, 2 bedrooms, dining room and large living room.
Anyway... Jesus Christ the sheer volume of bullshit mail this woman gets. Not the usual advertising junk mail, like restaurant coupons etc. etc.
No.
Fake mail. Is what I would call it. Mail from bogus insurance plans trying to look like it is from the government. 3/4 of her mail is fake mailings trying to look like government mail. And then you have Publishers Clearing House. Before I started getting her mail and seeing her bank activity - she was buying worthless crap from them to "win prizes". Then I found out they were sending her a "monthly gift" that was "FREE!!" - well except for shipping and handling that averaged $30. For a some plastic crap worth maybe $1.
Then you get suspicious charities asking for donations for 1000 different things. My mother was donating to some of them.
I stopped all that cold. It was a REALLY hard thing for me to do, to put my name on all of her accounts, and get power of attorney so I could watch and control her assets if need be. She was going through well in excess of $10,000 a year "donating" to these charities I never heard of. buying useless crap from PCH who damn well know there business is built on ripping off our elderly.

Every frigging day I throw out this garbage mail. All of these people were ripping her off.

Talk to the mailman and put a First Class Only sign on the mailbox. That might help.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Talk to the mailman and put a First Class Only sign on the mailbox. That might help.

You can't do that.
Such service would be a nightmare for any postal carrier. They would have to inspect each piece of mail, and take the mail back with them and dispose of it themselves.
Contrary to popular belief - you cannot "block" unspecific unwanted mail.
You can request a company from sending you mail, but they are not required to do so.
I sent PCH two emails to their published email account that is setup for that purpose.
Didn't do a thing.

 

[okfine]

You can't do that.
Such service would be a nightmare for any postal carrier. They would have to inspect each piece of mail, and take the mail back with them and dispose of it themselves.
Contrary to popular belief - you cannot "block" unspecific unwanted mail.
You can request a company from sending you mail, but they are not required to do so.
I sent PCH two emails to their published email account that is setup for that purpose.
Didn't do a thing.

I do it.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

I do it.

and you still get junk mail, they are not even allowed to not deliver mail someone has paid them to mail unless it is something illegal.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

I had the same problem with my mother 20+ years ago. She'd subscribe to magazines thru PCH, and they (magazines) kept sending renewal notices even before the subscription was up, and she kept renewing them then wondered why she was broke all the time. I had to call every one of them to put a stop to it. Some magazines subscriptions were paid for like 3 or 4 years in advance.

Plus the phone calls, 'We're from the Armed Forces or Police/Firefighters looking for your support' and of course she would. She & I had a long hard talk about those solicitors.

Then later it was her regular bills.....either paying too much or not at all. Unfortunately, it's a common problem with elderly.

Also beware of funeral homes........after my dad passed, my mother & I had went to a home to make arrangements for his cremation. As my dad had requested, just a simple cremation and inexpensive urn with instructions to dispose of his ashes. Plain & simple, right? Well, we had signed the contract for just that and paid the cost and a couple days later (before we even got his ashes back), they had called my mother and had her come back in (unknown to me) and had talked her into a pre-paid arrangement for herself, plus a shelf for her & dads ashes on a wall they hadn't even built yet in the cemetary. When I found this out, I came unglued. I called to set them straight, plus called a friend that was an attorney secretary. She wrote them a scathing letter threatening legal action.


Atleast you are now in charge of her finances, but be forewarned that one day it will be you and/or Bonzi doing the same or similar.


This is how companies can stay in business, because they prey on the elderly, knowing they are vulnerable and can easily be swindled.

 

[strollingbones]

same with my mom ....donating to any charity that claimed to help veterans....she had plaques etc...

its good yall took her in