I’m not exactly sure how it works when businesses get addresses for the purpose of sending ads to potential customers, and neither is the person who shared this story.

That’s the problem.

It was supposed to be a simple form of advertising, but one homeowner got really angry about it.

Keep reading for all the details.

“Take me off your mailing list.”

Context explanation time.

I work for a landscape supply store as the secretary, cashier, everything person.

We sell mulch in bulk by the cubic yard and we do deliver it in our own trucks. We charge a delivery fee on top of the material cost which ranges from $40.00 to $125.00 depending on how far away the delivery has to go.

They tried to advertise via postcards.

My boss, who is also the owner, wanted to send out postcards advertising our products this year. He also wanted it to serve as a sort of coupon for no delivery fee.

So, this past winter I designed a postcard, got it printed, and bought postage and labels.

To get people’s addresses, I went through a third party website and bought pre-printed labels of local residents’ addresses who live in single family homes.

I think this is usual practice, but I’m not very experienced in advertising. I just know that I searched the Internet on how to proceed with this and followed the advice I read. Whether or not I was wrong in my execution, I do not know but I did the best I could with the little knowledge I gathered.

Most people were happy about the deal on the postcards.

So, I took care of everything and sent out the five thousand postcards my boss asked for.

Aside from the clarifications I have to give on a normal basis, many people really liked the deal and many regular customers are thrilled to not pay their usual delivery fee.

However. Today, I came in to work and listened to our messages on the answering machine. One of them was from a very irate man who demanded that we remove him from our mailing list and how rude it was to send him a solicitation to his private residence and how it violates his rights as a homeowner and how angry he is about the entire situation.

He wanted a callback as confirmation that he had been removed so I dutifully dialed his number.

Here’s how the conversation went.

Angry Homeowner: “Hello?”

Me: “Hi, this is [my name] from [company I work for]. I received your message –”

Angry Homeowner: “Yeah, I got your solicitation at my house and I want to know how you got my address.”

Me: “Yes, I’m sorry for the issue. We used a third party company for the mailing information.”

The homeowner was furious.

Angry Homeowner: “Well, how unprofessional. Don’t you know that there are approved mailing lists companies are supposed to use?!”

Me: “No, I wasn’t aware –”

Angry Homeowner: “And I am NOT ON ANY OF THEM. You know why? BECAUSE IT’S A VIOLATION OF MY RIGHTS TO BE SOLICITED. And I BETTER NOT EVER GET ANYTHING FROM [company I work for] EVER AGAIN.”

Me: “I’m sorry that the postcard offends you. I am calling to let you know –“

There’s only one way to make sure he doesn’t get more mail from them.

Angry Homeowner: “YOU KNOW I LIVE IN A PRIVATE HOME AND NO ONE SHOULD HAVE MY PERSONAL ADDRESS.”

Me: “I can assure you that it won’t happen again.”

Angry Homeowner: “YEAH, BE SURE THAT IT DOESN’T.”

And he hung up.

So, in order to make sure nothing ever gets sent to him again, I am keeping a record of his name and personal information.

How ironic.

That is ironic!

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story and the angry homeowner.

This is a good point.

The homeowner might be confused about his rights.

Here’s another person who thinks the homeowner doesn’t really know his rights.

It’s crazy how upset the homeowner got!

Is one postcard really that big of a deal?

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.