The Global Association for Contact Center Best Practices & Networking

I wasn't surprised to get a financial seminar invitation in the mail one day until I opened it – and saw my 2 year old daughter's name on it.

Needless to say, I called the company the moment I found their phone number.

"I need to have the name Renee Wilhite taken off your mailing list."

"Can I ask why?"

"We just received an invitation to the seminar you have at the Mansion at Turtle Creek" – one of the most upscale restraints in Dallas, TX.

I would have felt out of place as an engineer who prefers jeans over jet set suits.

"We need to be taken off the list."

"We sent out invitations to new investors who have put significant amounts of money into new accounts."

We'd opened a 529 plan and put in significant funds, including gifts from relatives. So this had been the trigger for the financial mailing list …

"We're not interested. Please take her name off the account."

"Are you not Renee Wilhite?"

"I'm her mother."

"Only the account holder can request to be taken off the list."

"She's a minor."

"Adolescents could learn quite a bit about the market. You could come as well if you paid an entrance fee –"

"I'm sure other investors will be quite thrilled if I brought a two year old to your investment seminar with her very own invitation. Will it help the mood if she runs around with half the food on the floor and the other half on her bib? You're serving pasta. I'll let her dump the plate on her head and run around with the sauce in her hair. Will that impress your other clients?"

"She's two years old?"

"Yes."

"I'll remove her name from the invitation list."

"I want her name removed from all of your mailing lists."

"You could benefit from –"

"And a financial services mailing list is shared with how many people? What happens when she gets credit card applications in the mail in her own name? What happens if someone fills out a credit card application in her name and mails it back? There's enough identity theft to worry us, and we're not checking our toddler's credit report. If the information is abused, we will sue – you"

"Please verify the information we are about to remove from our database."

On Another Note...
I called up another financial firm for information on their 529 plan. After giving them my address so they could mail me the information, they asked for my phone number. I refused to give it, stating that I didn't want solicitations.

The salesman said, "But, ma'am, I can't mail you the prospectus until we have your phone number."