Why is it so hard to opt out of Virgin Media's junk mail juggernaut?

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The media firm seems incapable of controlling its mailing service, to the dismay of householders across the country. So what next?

I don’t have Virgin Media chief executive Tom Mockridge’s home address, but I’d very much like it. I know I’m not the only person hugely fed up with the endless letters I get from the company – or its inability to let me opt out of them – and I am starting to wonder if the only way to get things to change might be if bag loads of these letters started appearing at his home every day.

Sounds a bit extreme? Let me explain. For years Guardian readers have complained of being deluged with letters flogging Virgin’s phone, broadband and TV bundles. Anyone who lives in a Virgin area will know what I’m talking about – the thick letters mostly addressed “To the Householder”. They arrive so often that some people have described feeling harassed by them.

A few months ago I was prompted into action after several readers wrote to complain. They quite reasonably pointed out the exercise is a huge waste of paper, petrol, recycling resources etc. They wanted the right to get them stopped. So I asked the press office at Virgin Media how people (myself included) could stop this waste of paper.

Virgin pointed us to the Royal Mail’s opt out service, saying that anyone who didn’t want to receive its letters should sign up there. Thinking Virgin knew what it was talking about, I duly reported to readers that this was the way to stop the letters.

Of course, it was too good to be true. In fact, signing up to that service doesn’t stop letters addressed “To the Householder”, because this is classed as addressed mail and the opt out only covers unaddressed letters and leaflets.

Why, I asked, could Virgin not stop them? Back they came with an opt out. People should email optout@virginmedia.co.uk with their full name and address (including postcode); or they could call Virgin on 0345 454 2222 and ask to be removed from the mailing list. We were told the request would be processed within a couple of days, but that readers could still receive mail for up to six weeks “due to when we process our data for the next month’s mail”.

Fair enough. But, of course, as soon as people started ringing the supplied number, staff had no idea what readers were talking about. Virgin later said it had sorted this out.

I sent the email and sat back and waited. And sure enough the letters continued to turn up on my doorstep. I’ll wait the six weeks, I thought, but following the deadline sure enough another letter arrived this week. Once again I put it unopened in the recycling. Other readers have reported the same.

In 2013, Virgin Media published an environmental policy statement in which it committed to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. It has made similar noises, but continues to send out thousands of unwanted letters every week.

The company told me it takes its customer communication “very seriously”, and apologises to those that have been left frustrated when receiving mail.

“We are reviewing the operation of the opt-out system to ensure it is robust,” it says.

Will this review stop the letters? That remains to be seen. In the meantime I think I will start looking for Mockridge’s home address … unless you’ve a better idea?