"mm" wrote in message
...

I received two advanced notices on the same day that the form was
coming in the mail. Okay, I figure a waist of postage.

They didn't use to do that. But I think they found it increases the
percentage of returns, and saves them from sending people in person.

The Census Bureau said last time they used the warning letters and got six
percent more completed forms returned, and each one percent in the return
rate represents 85 million dollars they don't have to spend on door-to-door
census takers. It's the same method that advertisers and survey companies
use, and if you've ever been tagged for an Arbitron radio audience survey
you know what I mean (they mail and phone half a dozen times to make sure
you're really filling out the survey and returning it). Of course duplicate
letters and forms is obviously something else, a glitch in the database.

BTW, is a waist of postage a chubby mailman? ;~)