3 ms·

Do European countries subsidize the residential mail service with commercial bulk mail (aka junk mail) and overnight services?

• Jiejeing 5y ago
  Speaking for France as I am not too familiar with other countries, no, commercial mail here is distributed manually by people living in poverty who get stacks of junk to distribute every morning. The post office here is a public service that is getting increasingly privatized, losing a bit more of service quality and goodwill every time (if your only KPI is "distribute your stash of mail the fastest way possible", some things like leaving a receipt for a package and fixing off-by one addresses get lost in the race). You can opt-out of the junk with a sticker on your mailbox anyway.
  • soco 5y ago
    Exactly the same goes in Switzerland. I suppose all those people suggesting privatizing the postal services either live in a digital bubble or never sent a postcard to their grandmas.
  • andrewlgood 5y ago
    Wish that were possible in the US. Given the amount of junk mail that goes straight to the trash can, I am surprised there has not been more of an uproar from the environmentalists.
    • Jiejeing 5y ago
      On the other hand companies can still mail you junk through the postal system, but they need your address for that (and also now your GDPR consent for processing and using PII, which they mostly will not risk to fake).
• withinboredom 5y ago
  Since moving to the NL, I've never received junk mail.