DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Sears seems to keep their customer lists forever. Move or die, they’ll still send catalogs to every place you’ve ever lived.

I just got three copies of the Spring ‘03 Fashion mailing. One was addressed to the people who sold us this house and moved out of state last Fall. Another was addressed to the people who sold the house to the people we bought it from, in 1997, and have since passed away. Both these copies contain revealing information about Sears’ disrespect for customers’ privacy, in a back-cover blurb that announces what seems to be a reversal of previous opt-outs:

According to our records, your household is not currently receiving promotional notices in the mail from Sears… We are updating our records… If you do not contact us at the above telephone number, you will be placed on our mailing list.

So, sell your Sears stock. Their sales projections are apparently so weak that they’ve decided to send catalogs to a bunch of people who have either previously opted out, or moved, or died. This is not exactly low-hanging fruit.

For the record, I find it despicable that any company would reverse its stance on privacy like this. What Sears is saying, as far as I can tell, is “even though you previously told us you don’t want to receive our junk mail, we’ll start sending it now unless you call us again to ask us not to.”

I bought appliances from Sears last Fall, and if I was given an opportunity to opt-out then I certainly would have. (I don’t remember.) If I was given an opportunity to opt in — that is, to request to be on the mailing list — I absolutely, without question, would not have, which is why I assume that the catalog victims in households “not currently receiving promotional notices” must have previously opted out, because clearly Sears never waited for an opt-in in the past.

It’s interesting that the catalog they sent in my name contained no opt-out information. In that sense I’m fortunate to have received the other two copies, because it gave me the opt-out telephone number, which I’ll share with you now.

To opt out of the Sears junkmail list, call 1-800-510-2396.

(If that number ends up getting cancelled, try 1-800-366-3125 or one of the numbers on Sears Catalog Contacts page.)

You may still run into a roadblock, although whether it’s due to Sears’ unwillingness to help customers leave the mailing list, or its inability to manage its database, is unknown at this time. The mailing with my name on it had no “sequence number”, so we had to search by name and ZIP. That search pulled up my old address, even though the catalog was sent to my new address. So it seems that I can’t be taken off the mailing list, because I’m not on it, never mind the Sears catalog in my hand that proves otherwise.