MGM APS Window and Gutter Cleaning MGM Professional Window Cleaners, Ross Manning; also uses phone number (205) 253-7766; also uses address P O Box 381061, Birmingham, AL 35238 Refuses to Stop Illegal Ad Placement on Mailboxes in Birmingham, Alabama

Mr. Manning's business (and sometimes Mr. Manning, himself) has routinely placed ads on the doors and/or exteriors of our neighborhood mailboxes, which are all located at the curb of the street, over the last three years, usually about three to four times yearly.  These ads usually are placed on around 2,000 boxes in our sizable development.  The last time he or his company did this was on 10-13-2010.  I counted nearly 2,500 ads. 

This is a violation of the Federal Domestic Mail Statutes (Section 508, Subsection 30, paragraphis 3.1.3 and 3.2.5), which provide that ". . . no part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle [emphasis mine]" and "any advertising on a mailbox or its support is prohibited."  The rules provide for the Postal Service to bill violators the value of the postage that would have been paid, plus fines of up to $300 per offense.  In addition to the violation, such flyers tend to accumulate on the boxes when someone is away.  This makes that residence a very vulnerable target for burglary since it becomes obvious that the house is unoccupied when ads the owner knows nothing about aren't removed.

I have confronted Mr. Manning about this behavior, both face-to-face when I caught him illegally affixing his flyers to our mailboxes, and by phone.  On one occasion, he left what I took to be a very threatening voice-mail message where he stated he "knew where I lived".  I also confronted people he hired to place the flyers and compelled them to go back and remove them.  Sometimes they did -- mostly they did not.  I have repeatedly requested that the Postal Inspector follow up and come after Mr. Manning, and they always promise to contact me afterward, but never do.  This may be because Mr. Manning does not list his business anywhere, and he seems to move frequently.  I have included all his known addresses in this entry.

I have checked Mr. Manning's Better Business Bureau rating, and it is an F for failing to respond to complaints by consumers (including mine) against his company.  It currently shows two, but when I first checked there were five for shoddy or incomplete work, and he did not respond to any of them according to the BBB web site.

Mr. Manning seems to put his flyers out in October, February or March, and July.  If you are reading this and live in this area, I hope you will confront him or his delivery personnel and request that they remove the flyers.  If they don't, I hope you will contact your mail carrier (do not remove the flyers yourself -- the carrier must see them in person in order to make a report) and request that the matter be turned over to the Postal Inspector for prosecution.  Mr. Manning is ripping of postal customers by placing industrial quantities of ads on our mailboxes and not paying for the postage.  Those he attached to maiboxes yesterday amounted to $1,100 of free postage (assuming 44 cents per flyer).  A legitimate business with any integrity pays for its postage.