more on An American Express story

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ted Dolotta <Ted () Dolotta ORG>
Date: January 30, 2006 6:47:36 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Cc: "'Brad Malin'" <malin () andrew cmu edu>
Subject: RE: [IP] An American Express story
Reply-To: Ted () Dolotta ORG

I would do three things:

1.  As you suggest, write a (form) letter to all these folks
    explaining what happened, as you suggest;

2.  Mail all the 34 cards and a copy of the above form letter, as well
    as a cover letter briefly explaining the problem, and the opened
    envelopes -- via certified mail or FedEx, to prove you mailed them
    -- to the CEO of American Express; I am sure you can find his name
    and the AmEx corporate address on the Web; and

3.  Mail a copy of all the items in item 2 above -- except for the  
cards,
    although copies of the cards might add to the impact -- to Warren
    Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha; he is a BIG investor in  
AmEx
    and, I believe, a member of the AmEx board of directors.

This might get some attention.  Keep copies of everything.

Ted Dolotta

P.S.  And if you happen to be a stockholder of AmEx, mention this as  
well.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
> Sent: Monday, January 30, 2006 5:02 PM
> To: ip () v2 listbox com
> Subject: [IP] An American Express story
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Bradley Malin <malin () cs cmu edu>
> Date: January 30, 2006 4:49:06 PM EST
> To: Multiple recipients of list talk <talk () LAB privacy cs cmu edu>
> Subject: PRIVACY:: An American Express story
> Reply-To: talk () LAB privacy cs cmu edu
>
> (from a friend looking for advice)
>
> [Part 1]
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: American Express
> Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 13:40:38 +0100
> To: Brad Malin <malin () andrew cmu edu>
>
> Dear Brad- I thought that you might find this little story
> amusing so I
> am passing it on to you. Somehow, I think that this is going to be a
> "continuing saga"- we'll see.
>
> While trying to make airplane reservations last week I
> realized that my
> AE card expired on Jan. 30th. I called AE to see what was the deal. I
> was told by a human that my card had been shipped to
> Switzerland, but it
> had been returned- they didn't know why!? However, they would
> send me a
> new card by DHL and I would receive it on Tuesday of the next
> week.  On
> Monday DHL indeed delivered my card along with 34 other cards that had
> been returned to AE the same day as my card. The 35 cards
> along with AE
> info and explanations, opened envelopes that had printed on them the
> post offices stamp saying that the mail could not be delivered as
> addressed, and a notice from a company to another company
> explaining why
> these cards were rejected by the post office. (The
> explanation was that
> the addresses needed to have the country name printed out in full and
> all these envelopes used initials for the countries.....)
> So- here I am with 34 AE cards in my possession- I looked at a few and
> realized that the ones I looked at were actually "ready to go" and
> didn't even need activation....WOW! American Express can thank me for
> being honest!
>
> I have called them twice at my expense and both times they have said
> that they would call me back.......so, we'll see. There
> doesn't seem to
> be any way to contact them through the Internet as they have very
> cleverly
> designed a site that is similar to Wonderland- and I don't
> have a white
> rabbit!
>
> My next move may be to contact all the people that I have their credit
> cards and tell them that they need to contact AE- maybe then someone
> will pay attention to me!
>
> So much for confidentiality!
>
>
> [Part 2]
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: The rest of the story-
> Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 09:49:22 +0100
> To: Brad Malin <malin () andrew cmu edu>
>
> I am totally  amazed at how this is being handled by American
> Express. I
> called them on the number that is listed on the back of the
> credit card
> on Jan. 23, 25 and 27th. The first two times the operators where
> concerned and promised to have someone call me back. No
> calls. The third
> time the woman couldn't have cared less- she said . "just cut up the
> cards and don't worry about it...". When I asked to talk to her
> supervisor she refused and said that they would tell me the
> same thing.
> I still have the cards and I don't know what to do with them- I am not
> sure who to send them back to, I am not really interested in
> having the
> responsibility of having them in my possession and I don't
> want to spend
> an hour cutting them up.
>
> Just to give you more information for your acquaintance-They came in a
> DHL envelope inside a large white legal sized envelope
> (already opened)
> with the address of: MGR Information Systems, PO Box 247018, Omaha,
> Nebraska, 68124-7018. This envelope had a First Class postage Permit
> G-10 stamp on the upper right hand corner. Disturbingly
> enough the left
> hand corner where the return address should have been listed had:
>
> Research-Unable to deliver
> Next action: 2/24/2006
> American Express
> (my credit card number!!!!)
> (Name Obscured)
>
> Inside the white envelope besides my and 34 other opened and
> returned AE
> credit cards was a form routing slip from : J.T. Weeker International
> Service
> Center
>                            514 Express Center Dr.
>                            Chicago, Illinois, 60688-9998
> Stating as I said that the letter could not be delivered because the
> country names were abbreviated and needed to be written out
> completely.
>
> I think that I will write all these people today and let them
> know that
> I have their 34 cards and what should I do with them! If you have any
> other advice, let me know.
>
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