Complaint Review: GreenDimes.com - Nationwide

After looking into a company called GreenDimes.com I feel compelled to share my disappointments and thoughts. GreenDimes.com is a service that purports to reduce or eliminate your junkmail, which is the unwanted postal ad mail delivered by the United States Postal Service, USPS.

GreenDimes.com has been supported by some Hollywood celebrities including Matt Damon who happens to be on GreenDimes board of directors. They have even been shown on Oprah Winfreys website and on the Ellen Degeneres show. Because they claim to be acting on behalf of environmental interests, we all need to be aware of what is really happening. All of this information is dated and recorded on 07/01/07.

For instance, GreenDimes.com states the following on their website in the FAQ section:

"Are there other companies that do this? Yes. The only similarity is that we're all for-profit companies (some have a .org domain name but are not non-profits) that reduce junk mail. The difference is how much we do for you. Most one-time fee services are part time operations that charge $20-$41 to send some postcards for you to fill out and mail and that's it"

I joined GreenDimes.com understanding that they would get rid of my unwanted postal junk mail. I read many blogs that they were spreading about which claimed that they could do this for consumers, and they went so far as to defame other companies that require consumers to send in their own postcards to mass marketers. I am too busy and really don't want to do the work myself, so I enrolled in their services because I figured they had a better system.

Within 2 months of my membership, they sent me a bunch of postcards to fill out and mail in. They were no different than some of the other "stop junk mail" companies they were trying to separate themselves from. They even emailed me stating, "you will be receiving a small packet from us in the next couple of weeks. There are some companies that simply won't accept 3rd party submissions. So, we will send you pre-paid postcards (on 100% recycled paper, of course) that you will have to sign and mail. Next thing you know, I'm filling out a bunch of postcards just like most any other "stop junk mail" company, which claims to be helping the environment.

I have subsequently found other companies that do everything for you online who do not require filling out postcards, and some of them are even free. Now that's really helping the environment and not aiding some for profit company.

GreenDimes.com automatically billed my credit card on behalf of The Direct Marketing Association, an unrelated company. This raised a red flag for me, so I called the DMA. The DMA notifies their participating catalog companies, mailers, etc. through a database cross-reference tool of the consumers who want to stop receiving ad mail. GreenDimes.com never told me this. GreenDimes.com did state that I should expect a $1.00 fee from DMA; however, they did not state that they were going to automatically forward my personal information to a 3rd party database collector which could potentially compromise my privacy---hopefully not, but who knows? Did they actually upload my personal information to the DMA? Is there an alliance between the DMA and GreenDimes? When I contacted the DMA, they said: "We do not allow third party agents or organizations to represent individual consumers. Consumers must contact us directly." Given this fact, it seems inappropriate for GreenDimes.com to represent me to the DMA and charge my credit card on their behalf, unless the DMA gave them approval which seems not to coincide with DMA's own policies.

Also of concern with regards to GreenDimes.com is that they appear to continue some affiliation with the DMA in some nature. The DMA has an in general nature statement on their site. This means that they automatically notify all of their participating marketing companies of consumers who want to be removed from ad mail through a database cross-checking system. I could not pick and choose which catalogs to delete or keep. It's an all or nothing approach that can be a good thing for many people. The DMA clearly states this fact on their site, but GreenDimes.com does not direct a consumer to this relevant information. GreenDimes.com is taking away my personal right to pick and choose what mail I receive or do not receive.

GreenDimes.com states that we're all for-profit companies that reduce junk mail. This does not seem to square with the facts. There are a number of different non-profit organizations that help reduce unwanted postal junk mail for free. I definitely should have used a free not-for-profit company in the first place.

After doing some Google research on this company, I found the following startling message board statement with regards to Pankaj Shah, GreenDimes.com president:

How can you call Pankaj Shah a successful serial entreprenuer ?? Everything he's been involved in has been a financial failure. Covad - filed bankruptcy, millions lost Metrofi - has never made a profit, millions lost, 4info - has never made a profit, millions lost . If Pankaj has any actual money it has come from ripping off investors with idiotic dot-cons (as in con man) and profitless pie-in-the-sky BS. Pankaj is great at BS press releases, and conning idiot VCs into funding his hare-brained schemes. But an actual businessman, who has a proven track record of profitable business ventures, hes not. Any money coming from Pankaj for social good is a joke because all he has ever done is rip off investors and take his cut off the top for investments that never, ever made any actual profit. Think of all the millions of dollars investors have lost in his moronic schemes and you'll see just how much social good Pankaj Shah has been to the world.

I encourage any feedback. I along with other environmentally sound people will continue this matter to the appropriate full and final completion.

Sammy

Lansing, Michigan

U.S.A.