Although the companies responsible for sending solicitations to the work mailboxes of Ohio State employees admit they obtain the addresses from “list brokers,” students, faculty and staff still cannot get a straight answer as to who is giving out their personal information to marketing agencies.
One OSU graduate student decided to take action against the solicitors who were sending mail to his work mailbox on campus, instead of tossing the “junk mail” in the trash.
Joseph Sawdy, a graduate student in animal science who holds a research appointment at OSU, contacted three different companies he had received solicitations from.
In letters Sawdy sent to the various companies, he told them how offended he was about the solicitations he had received at work, citing it was highly inappropriate to be mailed a solicitation for Playboy in a professional environment.
“It’s embarrassing to me when the only thing in my mailbox is a Playboy solicitation, and I know that the office’s secretary or students sorted the mail,” Sawdy said. He said his character could be judged because of this.
Sawdy said he was concerned with how the marketers had gained his work address since he has never used it. The address is published only on the OSU Web site. A spokeswoman for First National Bank of Omaha – who identified herself as “Lisa” – said they purchase compiled listings from marketing companies.
“The lists are compiled of different people… who might have subscribed to a newspaper, magazine or a phone book,” Lisa said.
However, Sawdy maintains the company was not giving him the answer he needed because they could not have obtained his work address from any other marketers.
“I do not use my work address anywhere,” Sawdy said. His personal magazines and newspaper are sent to his home address.
Sawdy searched for an answer from Citibank as to how they obtained his work address, but he was continually “stonewalled” by customer service.
An account supervisor for Citibank, South Dakota, said they receive mailing lists from outside agencies just like other companies do.
In response to his complaint about the company’s marketing practices, Playboy e-mailed him saying they could not tell him where the list came from.
“Supervisors and service associates know exactly where the names come from,” Sawdy said.
Sawdy, who has worked in catalog sales in the past, would not settle for that answer and e-mailed them again. Instead of sending him a direct answer, Playboy only sent him an apology and told him his name was removed.
Playboy did not wish to comment for this story.
Though various marketers or “list brokers” could obtain the mailing information of students and staff from OSU’s Web site, Sawdy said he has a hard time believing that marketers take the time to search for the information via the Internet.
If individuals want their information removed from the solicitation lists, they should call each solicitor, or contact the Direct Marketing Association at www.the-dma.org.
