Mail
arrived.
Nothing
unusual there, since the mail arrives six days a week. But every
so often, mail causes me to swear under my breath. And, in a way,
that swearing in the past few days may have brought about the
realization of why I hate some of this telemarketing stupidity
so much.
It’s
the work.
I
don’t want the special only for me cable television offer. I don’t
want the custom designed life insurance offer. But there they
were. Two pieces of mail from yesterday and today and I’m swearing.
Inside
the envelopes were letters and materials outlining each offer.
But more importantly, showing names and addresses and more. Stuff
with enough detail that it really feels like it should be shredded
and not just tossed. They haven’t given me an offer. They’ve given
me a chore.
When
the no-name involved, current resident label offers arrive for
a local food establishment it’s not that big a deal. I either
go there and possibly save the coupons, or I don’t and can safely
toss them in the trash. No need to worry about the label, since
it’s a fairly safe assumption that there’s a current resident
using any address.
But
this isn’t a blank no-name involved offer or two. And depending
on the company involved and the pitch presented, there are certain
details that aren’t that difficult to figure out.
It
doesn’t take much for a marketing department to make educated
guesses on things. Rather than being too scattershot, let’s not
suggest that assuming a home has a Netflix subscriber could garner
you a match in one out of four homes. We won’t explore how offers
only need to make a handful of connections to get a few inquiries
in response. Let’s go this route…
*
Open a search engine of your choice
*
Type in your home address
Even
if you live in an apartment, I would wager that a ton of results
came back. Most of the leading ones will be from real estate sites,
such as Zillow and Trulia and so on. If you head over to some
of those sites, chances are really good you will find some lovely
photos of the place. (Seriously, even if you didn’t post them,
there they are. Did the previous owners have an on-line listing?
Then enjoy the slideshow of your home. And even if it’s been some
time since the home was last on the market, and the interior shots
aren’t there, chances are that some Google image from the street
is (along with link to a map).)
With
just a small… really small… amount of research and you can see
the number of bedrooms in the house. A bit more, and you could
see what type of heating and cooling systems the home uses.
Do
you have an oil tank in your basement? A propane tank in your
yard? Do you use electricity for everything? Even for a location
where I have never been within 500 miles, give me an address and
I can dramatically improve my odds of answering questions like
these correctly.
On
the surface, small details and not massively important information.
But how many fake psychics start out a successful show by only
guessing that someone in your life has a name that begins with
the letter M?
The
information is out there. And while it might not confirm the most
personal of details, it could be enough to have you biting your
lip, raising an eyebrow and taking a deep breath.
Which
brings me back to my driveway, emptying the mailbox, and swearing.
A
phone company doesn’t need to be brilliant to assume that you
and I use AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile as a cellular service
provider. And that authorization number in the offer seems to
indicate they’re keeping records of my information.
Technology
has reached a point where more information than ever is available,
easily stored, and quickly obtained. Even more will be available
and stored tomorrow. I could shred forever and never scrub it
clean.
But
that won’t stop me from trying. One unrequested, unwanted and
frustrating piece of junk mail at a time.