I have been receiving 2 magazines from Parents magazine. Both American Baby Magazine. One is in my married name (my second marriage) and the other is in my maiden name. I have not used my maiden name since I was 17 and have never used my maiden name as an adult. I am now 60. That is over 40 years ago.
I have been throwing them out since I do not have any children. My granddaughter is in her teens. When I received a notice inside both of the magazines I realized I should open it up. I found a renewal for my subscription (of which I have never had) at a discount but no phone number to call to tell them that I do not want these magazines. I do not subscribe to magazines.
I found a phone number for them on-line at Meredith Publishing, so I called. I asked to speak to a Manager. I wanted to know how they associated my maiden name with my current address and E-mail address. I was given to Allison. I explained to her then she had me wait for Shelly. I also explained this to Shelly. She stated that I must have at one point been subscribed to a magazine with one of the companies they are affiliated with. After I told her no, she looked it up under both names to find that neither names were on her list for any subscriptions. I asked her "How was it sent then and by whom?" and she replied "someone" had to have put in my information from their home - both my maiden name and my married name and subscribed to the magazine. I told her no one would do that and that only a handful of people knew my maiden name. It has not been used after all, for over 40 years. She replied that "someone" must have been playing a joke on me. I disagreed and told her that this was absurd. I tried to reason with her by explaining to her that it had to be a telemarketer and she said no it could not be, as they only sell by direct offer.
I told her the only time my maiden name has ever been linked to my current married name, my current address and E-mail address was on a genealogy site. That means the information was sold by the genealogy site or someone took the time to write down the information and sell it. She insisted that no one on their end would have done this and that they do not have telemarketers that use marketing lists. She did say she would forward my complaint on, of which I doubt she will. I am fed up with the unsolicited mail, email and constant phone calls of which now include my cell phone. At least a confirmation letter must be received from the E-mail address they receive to verify the actual person sent it. This is not done. I do not want to be billed for something I did not order. I contacted them to stop the magazines and to try to get information on who has been selling my name. What I got instead is an idiotic excuse of maybe someone is playing a joke on me. I would have given the woman much more respect if she had a sliver of concernment.
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