Don't be fooled if you receive a postcard that looks almost exactly like the green card the Postal Service leaves in your mailbox when a package or letter is being held for you to pick up. Such cards are sometimes left when a letter or parcel requires your signature before it can be delivered. But that is not the case with this postcard, which says it is from "Mail Center, P. O. Box 413019, Naples, FL 34101." The senders want you to call a toll-free telephone number in order to claim a "parcel" that the card falsely says is being held "in your name." On the front, the card is even stamped with a message saying, "Unclaimed Article -- Reply Required within 7 Days."
The message below the toll-free telephone number advises you to "Have Your Credit Card Information Ready When You Telephone." That's enough to tell the BBB that this card is nothing more than a deceptive marketing gimmick. Cards left in your mailbox by the Postal Service never tell you to "have your credit card information ready" when you call about the "article number" being held for you.
Here is a picture of the postcard:
According to Better Business Bureau files, the P O Box in Naples, FL which is listed on this postcard is the same mailing address used by three other businesses that have generated complaints to the Better Business Bureau. These businesses are named "
Free Medicine Direct," "
Class Action Watchdog," and "
Emerson Direct, Inc." Free Medicine Direct has an unsatisfactory record with the BBB due to a pattern of complaints and failure to correct the underlying reason for the complaints. Most complaints have concerned selling practices and refund issues. In addition, the president of Free Medicine Direct operates Emerson Direct, Inc., in Naples, FL, which also has an unsatisfactory record with the BBB due to a pattern of complaints and unanswered complaints.
Recipients of this postcard should be aware that neither the U. S. Postal Service nor any other delivery business is "holding a shipment in your name," as this postcard says. Instead, this business is trying to convince you to call so that they can sell you an item of jewelry.
The BBB's advice: don't fall for this marketing gimmick or trickery. The terms used on this postcard, including "holding a shipment," "unclaimed article," "parcel", "Article Number," and "/storage release fee," are intended to convince you to call the company's toll-free number so that can sell you low-value jewelry product.