Re: Did I Opt Out correctly?

Posted by Tonto (217.172.183.142) on March 12, 2004 at 01:25:45:

In Reply to: Did I Opt Out correctly? posted by Lone Ranger on March 11, 2004 at 21:02:23:

This newspaper article on opting out describes how they are making it unnecessarily complicated. If you haven’t received the form yet, it is probably because they mailed it to an old address they had on file for you. If you are using a pay phone, presumably you don’t want them to have your current address either. Try the temporary two year opt out which you can do over the phone.

'Opting out' – acting to cut off credit card solicitations, spam and the like – is easier said than done.
By ANURADHA RAGHUNATHAN / The Dallas Morning News Feb 25, 2004
From junk mail to telemarketing calls to spam, "opting out" has become the law of the land. That's baffling to many consumers who wonder why they should have to go out of their way to tell someone they don't want something so obviously onerous. But what's really aggravating many people is how difficult and time-consuming it can be to opt out. "There are two issues here – how do you find out about an opt-out, and how do you do it," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group in Washington. "Opt-outs are often very hard to find out about, and they're also very difficult to do."

Consider 1-888-5-OPTOUT, which lets consumers opt out of credit card solicitations by telephone, mail and e-mail. It's neither easy to find out about, nor easy to do. Currently the number is buried somewhere in the fine print of credit card solicitations. The new Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act requires financial services companies to print the opt-out number more prominently, to promote consumer awareness of it.

However, when more consumers call 1-888-5-OPTOUT, they may not have a good experience, according to callers who have found it confusing. First, there's no clear identification of who runs the number or what it's intended for. It says it's the "credit reporting industry's prescreening opt-out number" – there's no mention of stopping credit card offers. The recording says your name will be removed from "lists of names prescreened by the following credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax, Innovus and TransUnion. This call will remove your name from all four lists."
"Does that mean I'd have no credit rating?" asked Kathy Smith, a Dallas resident who tried the number recently. "It wasn't clear to me if I'd be removed from pre-approved credit offers or from credit reporting itself." "It seems unnecessarily vague and anonymous," said Brad Scriber, a researcher at the Consumer Federation of America. "The population that's most likely to call is the population that is most likely to be deterred by anonymity."

If you're still hanging in there at 1-888-5-OPTOUT, there are more hoops. The phone message asks for your Social Security number. Consumers say it's ironic that they have to share their Social Security number in an attempt to protect their privacy. "The government is constantly telling us that the Social Security number shouldn't be used for identification purposes," said Janet Long, a Bedford resident who recently tried to opt out. She said she hung up when she realized she would have to give out her number.

The Consumer Data Industry Association, a trade group for credit reporting agencies, says there's no way around using the Social Security number as a unique identifier. On the call, you have a choice of being taken off the list for two years or permanently. If you decide to go ahead and enter your information, a message explains that you still may get credit card offers that emanate from agencies other than the big four.

Finally, if you selected the permanent option, at the end of the message you're told that nothing will take effect until they send you an opt-out form. Richard Winningham, 75, of Plano said the form he received didn't clearly explain who it was from. "I don't want to send my Social Security number to some Opt-Out Department. There's no street address and no telephone number," he said.

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