Isn't the ultimate slap in the face from retailers that offer rebates on their products but cover themselves with a disclaimer that "only one rebate per household" will be paid?
So, I buy a questionably effective product at a higher price than nearby brands just because I get the impression that some scientific genius has come up with a superior formula for, say, napthalene gas additive. I then notice no positive change, but I feel ridiculous about the idea of changing brands just to save a buck. Drat! I get nothing for this but a couple bucks back for purchase #1.
One way to serve my needs and have the kickback I feel I deserve is to simply relist my home address as:
Where Ilive Myhousenumber [and this is the fun part] A, B, C, or D or #2, #3, #4, or #5 Thislittletown, etc. . .Zip
I doubt if anyone ever checks those A .. D or #2 .. #5 designated apartment code for veracity, so go ahead and collect all the rebates you want--you deserve them.
One great impetus for this idea was realizing the number of times I've responded to a solicitor's question, "Do you live in a house, apartment, or condo?"-- reensure, Aug 21 2001 (?) Who zones? http://real-estate-.../zoning_control.htmfor lewisgirl [reensure, Dec 06 2001] yeah, man. We wouldn't want you taking up any more than your share of our perfectly good junk mail.-- absterge, Aug 21 2001 "One great impetus for this idea was realizing the number of times I've responded to a solicitor's question, "Do you live in a house, apartment, or condo?""
'Yes.'
I once kept a siding salesrat on the phone for 45 minutes...kept asking questions and so on, and finally told him I'd take the most expensive stuff, blah blah blah. Could nearly hear him spooge on his phone, then the crash when I answered 'What's your address' with '...apartment 2210'. A long pause, then he asked why I hadn't told him..."Not my job to do your homework."-- StarChaser, Aug 25 2001 I was riding in a glass elevator when I got the 2nd telemarketing call in an elevator phone I ever received - this was also for siding - Picked it up and gave him the address and told him to send a rep out - "Exactly what I was hoping for" was what I told him. I rode that elevator up and down a couple of times - and it was well worth it - busy as I was. Spooge Demon.-- thumbwax, Aug 25 2001 thumbwax: what? spooge demon being that graphics guy ,yes? what are you talking about?-- technobadger, Aug 25 2001 Despite the lack of an actual separate mailbox for residents, what's keeping any member of a household from specifying "apartment 2B" on rebate forms? I can't imagine the post office would deliver your check any different. This seems to be a complete nonissue to me...-- djanaba, Aug 26 2001 djanba - hey, yeah. You're right.
StarChaser - Haw! Nothing like giving telemarketers hell...-- snarfyguy, Aug 26 2001 [djanaba] One issue that can keep anyone from listing multiple addresses is local ordinances. We are forbidden by city code from having more than three unrelated people residing at a single family home. It takes very little juice to beat this rap if one is called on it, but your area may differ from mine.-- reensure, Aug 26 2001 um, how can you be "forbidden from having more than three unrelated people residing at a single family home"? What's the definition of a family home, does this only apply in certain places, what happens if you do have too many unrelated people, what about lodgers...? In my suburb of Birmingham, UK, way more than half the residences (I would estimate) are houses with 4 to 7 students sharing. [We get a lot of junk mail but our combined credit rating is immense!]-- lewisgirl, Dec 06 2001 Zoning codes define an area as single-family, multiple occupancy (townhouses, quads), residential-commercial (read 'condo'), commercial, or industrial. There are probably variances in place to deal with mail forwarding sites, call centers, and temporary vendors. Its not a good idea to operate outside of your zone without the appropriate business license or certificate of occupancy.
Is there such a thing as cavæt ostentor (let the showy beware)? That is, most turnings-out occur when the residence becomes an acknowleged nuisance to the semi-permanent residents. BTW, Birmingham sounds cool! If I had my choice…
[pottedstu] I don't know about your question. Seems it vanished, anyway. My guess is that the law existed, and never was repealed. Landlords generally favor real estate restrictive covenants.-- reensure, Dec 06 2001 but that's awful - seriously. Who proscribes these zones of landuse? Presumably there's some system like you have to have a licence to rent out accommodation, and if you rent out your large house in the single-family zone for a purpose of multiple occupancy, you lose your licence? This is what creates ghettos - e.g. only families can live in area X, families won't want to live in area Y because it's multiple occupancy in other words rented accomm. full of itinerant workers and students... In a way it's reasonably sensible but that sort of compartmentalisation happens organically, so I find it astonishing that it can be enforced. Is that constitutional?! (oh no, I said the c word...)-- lewisgirl, Dec 06 2001 Not unc. Twenty years ago, during the introduction of referendums, voters approved the right of the state to draw up a unified plan for development. To that end, local ordinances are agreed upon to reflect the local development ordinances which in turn adhere to limits in the state plan. Local councils are permitted to issue variances to suit changing business culture (recently, adult books, shops of the occult, and licensed care facilities for the aged or infirm). Mostly the meetings are dull and decisions are routine, but the plans for comprehensive development are intended to prevent the exploitation of low cost acreage without regard to community, ecology, or forecasted need for infrastructure. In my home state of West Virginia (USA) it is easier to become an incorporated suburb of an existing town than to found a new town--a process that requires you obtain approval from all adjoining towns.-- reensure, Dec 06 2001 random, halfbakery