Keep Your Data Up to Date or I'm Gone

Over the past few weeks, I've been getting a lot of direct mail from a top bed and bath retailer. Well, actually, it's not coming to me, but it is showing up in my mailbox nonetheless.

I've been living in my coop apartment for almost seven years. I bought the apartment from the daughter of a woman who died about two years earlier. Her husband predeceased her by a few years, so he's probably been dead for about 15 years. But that hasn't stopped this rather large and successful retailer from offering him coupons at least once a month.

Each time one such piece of mail arrives, I tag it with a "Return to Sender" and a one-word note to let the company know that the man is deceased and then drop it back in the mailbox. 

To say that the retailer has been notofied dozens of times that the person is dead would be an understatement by now, but it has failed to update its mailing list. That is inexcusable.

At first, I didn't mind it so much. It wasn't that big of an inconvenience. After all, the mailbox is right downstairs, just outside the front door of my building. But, with each passing month, and each additional piece of mail, my frustration continues to grow.

It might not be so bad if I could at least use the coupons myself, but they have his name on them. 

I got the retailer's November catalog and coupon on Saturday. I added a little note in no uncertain terms to let the retailer know that it should stop sending it. At this point, my frustration has mounted so much that I have vowed never to shop from this retailer. It could offer me all the coupons in the world and it wouldn't change my mind.

Do you need any more reason to make sure that your customer data is up to date?