Mail Shredding 101

[Viin]

I know you are all bored, so I'm starting a new thread.

So, we bought this $50 shredder from OfficeMax - it *says* it can do up to 10 sheets at a time and does it in a diamond cut. But, it has a really hard time shredding mail that has even more than 1 or 2 pieces of paper in it. I'm *trying* to shred all the stupid credit card mail I get, but I have to take it out of the envelope and shred each page or it gets stuck.

Does anyone have a shredder that actually works and isn't over $100? Maybe something that's lasted a bit longer than a couple weeks?

The only thing this OfficeMax shredder is good for now is putting the cat's tail in it for a few laughs.

[Yegolev]

Pack of matches is free.  If you want more, you can get a box of fancy wooden ones at the grocery store.

[Viin]

Thought of that already, but it's illegal to burn trash in the city.

And we don't have a fireplace anymore (have a gas stove instead) so I can't sneak it in on some logs.

[Yegolev]

Our office shredders are actually contract ones, the kind where someone drives a truck up and the Confidential Refuse is dumped into some sort of doom machine that juts out the back.  So I really think you're up the creek here, unless you want to use some lawn-management tools, perhaps.  Or maybe just do two sheets at a time.

[Rasix]

The Fellowes one I have works pretty decent. P70CM. 

I think I bought it at Best Buy.  Handles multiple sheets quite well.

[Llava]

Not to reference the same movie two days in a row, but:

[Nevermore]

Our office shredders are actually contract ones, the kind where someone drives a truck up and the Confidential Refuse is dumped into some sort of doom machine that juts out the back.  So I really think you're up the creek here, unless you want to use some lawn-management tools, perhaps.  Or maybe just do two sheets at a time.

You have one of those to get rid of your stuff?  I'm jealous!

[WayAbvPar]

Tear off all your personal information and mail the CC stuff back to the assholes who sent it to you.

[Viin]

Tear off all your personal information and mail the CC stuff back to the assholes who sent it to you.

Good idear, but I don't really want to pay the postage. Though I bet I could get the password to the office stamp printing machine ....

[Furiously]

Credit card stuff will have a "business reply envelope" in it.

edit - with = will ? Gah.

[Koyasha]

I don't recall where I heard it, but if you take the application form(s) for one credit card company and stick them in the business reply envelopes for another, and send them back all mixed up (with your own info removed), it seems slightly funnier.

[bhodi]

here?

<wolf> 1. Save every Free Credit Card Offer you get, Put it in pile A
<wolf> 2. Save every Free Coupon You get, put that in pile B
<wolf> 3. Now open the credit card mail from pile A and find the Business
       Reply Mail Envelope.
<wolf> 4. Take the coupons from pile B and stuff them in the envelope you hold
       in your hand.
<wolf> 5. Drop the stuffed to the brim envelopes in your mail and walk away
       whistling.
<wolf> I have now received two phone calls from the credit card companies
       telling me that they received a stuffed envelope with coupons rather
       then my application. They informed me that it they are not pleased that
       they footed the bill for the crap I sent them. I reply with "It says
       Business Reply Mail" I'm suggesting coupons to you to ensure that your
       business is more successful. They promptly hang up on me.
<wolf> Now, I did this for about a month before it got boring, so I got an
       added idea! I added exactly 33 cents worth of pennies to the envelope
       so they paid EXTRA due to the weight. I got a call informing me about
       the money, I said it was a mistake and I demanded my change back. After
       yelling at the clerk and then to the supervisor they agreed to my
       demands and cut me a check for the money. I hold in my hand at this
       very moment a check from GTE Visa for exactly 33 cents.

yes, I have no life -- I was actually able to remember and search and grab that quote. I'm a bash.org junkie. :/

[Koyasha]

No...but that's even better.  Utterly hilarious.

[Evangolis]

After mom died, we had to shred her files from her legal practice.  Regular shredder was too slow.  We tried a wood chipper, but the paper tended to jam it every few minutes, unless we fed it very slowly indeed.  Finally we wound up taking a couple of pickup truck loads to a recycling place.

I'd suggest you keep the shredder by your mail box, along with a large garbage can, and just hit it everyday.  Also, there is a government law similar to the telemarketing do not call list for credit card offers, which prevents them for mailing the shit to you for five years.  You can sign up online.  That has worked pretty well for me.

[MuffinMan]

Since I used that opt-out for credit card offers about a year ago and switched all my bills to online statements, my shredder just gathers dust in the corner.

[Miguel]

I have now received two phone calls from the credit card companies telling me that they received a stuffed envelope with coupons rather then my application.

If you stuffed a business reply envelope with coupons, how would they know how to contact you?  Is each envelope printing with some kind of ID mark in the barcode or something?

[Signe]

What I hate the most are the bits you don't have to shred.  The bajillion newspapers, fliers, magazines, paper spam, etc. from local shops and grocery stores and the junk labeled "current resident."  It seems the more we empty our mail box, the more the postman stuffs it.  The other day we got 3 stacks of identical newspaper adverts and coupons.  It's happened before, too.  Sometimes our mailbox is packed full of dead trees.  I guess the postman doesn't want to bring them back to the post office.     Someday I will poke him in the eye.

[Yegolev]

I hate that too, but I love fire, so it's a wash.

[Viin]

I hate that we get the same catalog multiple times .. all on the same day. I mean, nice glossy 50 pagers from Crate and Barrel or some freakily expensive women's clothing designer - I'm glad they are spending the extra money, but what a waste of materials.