For the Week Ended Nov. 16th

DRIVING ME CRAZY
If you read my November 1st post (on my then-daily blog, http://www.intodaysmailbox.blogspot.com) I mentioned how my auto club had sent me an enticing offer to JOIN the club.

I wanted the benefits they were offering to enrolling members but worried that I wouldn't be able to enjoy them because I already belong. Worse, at that point, it looked like I had another year to go on my membership because the expiry date on my card reads, "December 07".

But this past week, before I could phone them, I received a Renewal Notice! It turns out that, on the membership card, they write the month and day of expiry, not the year. So when they write, "December 07", they mean December 7th, not December 2007.

I immediately phoned the club and asked to be renewed at the special price. But as I feared, the lady who took my call told me that the $67.78 price for my wife and myself (less a $10 voucher so it's really just $57.78) was only available to new members; I'd have to renew at $97.56.

I argued, debated and pointed out the folly of their policy, all to no avail.

Fortunately the timing is such that I've been able to pull the same kind of shenanigans with them as they're trying to play with me. I've joined like I'm a new member and am letting my original membership lapse. I'll only be paying for a week or two of double membership.

I should be pleased, but I'm not. I feel like my friend has let me down for some stupid reason of policy or avarice. What's with these companies that treat nobodies better than their loyal customers?!

WHAT WOULD MAL SAY?
If you're new to DM, Mal Warwick is one of North America's leading DM experts. He believes in treating people with respect and care. And as I learned this week, that's not just something that he preaches to his fundraising clientele.

In one of his recent newsletters, he said that he had a limited supply of a book he'd written in 1999, "The 10 Most Important Things About Direct Mail Fundraising". If you were among the first to request it, he'd send it to you for free.

I requested it but, with his agency operating out of California and your scribe being in Canada, I didn't think I had much of a chance of landing a copy. But trust Mal. The week's mail brought the book. I wish he worked at my auto club.

KNOW WHO ELSE IS GOOD?
In my daily blog a few weeks ago, I'd extended kudos to Help The Aged. Here are a couple more for them...

I got my receipt in less than 3 weeks, along with a newsletter, a thank you letter and a hand-written note of thanks from a volunteer. Now, these guys know how to run an operation!

HEY, WHERE'S THE CREATIVE CRITIQUE?
If you were one of my daily blog readers, you might have been expecting me, today, to go on about the creative aspects of packages that I'd received during the past week.

But there was nothing from a creative standpoint that stood out as being particularly good or particularly bad. It was all pretty mainstream. And I figure – why bore you any more than I already have?

But visit this site on Monday, November 27th. I'm confident that, in the coming days, there will be copious quantities of great and terrible packages filling the mailbox of...

Dr. Bob

P.S. I simply MUST get out a new issue of my newsletter, Rants 'n Raves. If you haven't signed up for it yet, better do it fast if you want to catch the next issue. Email me at: b_knight@telus.net