Selling health insurance to dead people is not a very profitable business, since they don’t need it. Yet because of bad information in marketing databases, plenty of dead people receive marketing mail… including Medicare supplemental insurance solicitations when they’re about to turn 65. Why do dead people keep getting mail, and is it possible to stop it before it sets off fresh grief? [More]
mailings
Here Is Every Piece Of Junk Mail AT&T U-Verse Sent Me In 2012
By 2.6.13
It takes a while, but eventually the universe catches up with you and punishes you for your misdeeds. Maybe. In a previous job, Kevin designed direct mail for AT&T. Now he just gets an awful lot of it. [More]
Watch Out, Dish Network: Comcast Can Send Misleading Mailers, Too
By 8.30.12
Reader Christopher is a Comcast customer, but had just signed a new one-year lease an has no plans to move. So the letter from Comcast he received in the mail that said “New home transfer service summary” in red letters caught his attention. Was there an error at Comcast and they thought he was moving? Was the the victim of identity theft? Better open it and find out. [More]
CA Residents: Watch Out For Fake LLC Registration Scams
By 10.5.09
California requires limited liability companies to register with the state every two years. You could do this yourself by filling out a form and paying $20, or you could pay this shady company $239 to do the same thing.
This Gym Membership Postcard Is Confusing And Full Of Lies
By 1.15.09
Aaron sent us this postcard he received from Work Out World. Amidst the grammatical landmines and asterisks to nowhere, it purports to offer membership for $9.99 per month with no enrollment fee and no commitment. Aaron even called to confirm that he had read the offer correctly, and was told he had. When he got to the gym, however, he ran into trouble.
AT&T Sends Bills To Collections Ten Days After They’re Mailed Out
By 4.1.08 — Updated: 10.25.12
Reader Tom wrote in to let us know that during a conversation with AT&T customer service, a representative told him that it is typical to send out collection notices ten days after the original bill is mailed. Factoring in two or three days for the bill to arrive, two or three days for the check to get back to AT&T, and a Sunday or two, that leaves three to five days for customers to pay their bills before the angry letters and phone calls begin.
Your Bill For Using Zero Gallons Of Water: $92.65
By 3.30.08
Among the “improvements” that have come with the rate increase has been new and improved water bills with return envelopes. I’m attaching a picture of the bill and the envelope. Look at it closely and think of what would happen if I put the bill in the return envelope, stamp it and send it off. I’ll give you a hint, I’d waste a stamp and it’d come right back to me!
Take Me Off Your Damn List, UNICEF!
By 5.16.06
Trixare4kids is one of those zen consumerists who can sit in the lotus position for hours, a telephone nuzzled into the crook of her neck, as she hypnotically murmurs chakras to herself and tries to get herself removed from mailing lists. She’s pleasant, perky and polite with CSRs, but she is adamant in getting her name off the labeled stickers a thousand companies a year slap on half a tree and smash through her mail slot.
