Direct Marketing Association Charges Fee To Remove Deceased From Mailing List

By Vic DaSilva
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

The Direct Marketing Association(DMA), the largest U.S. direct marketing group, will remove dead people from its telemarketing, e-mail and direct mail lists — for $1. This list, the Deceased Do-Not-Contact list, was created to help families dealing with the loss of a loved one. The DMA charges the $1 fee for credit card verification and to prevent fraud.

“We’re concerned people will abuse the list, putting the names of friends on it, that kind of thing,” Pat Kachura, the group’s senior vice president for ethics and consumer affairs said in a telephone interview. “So we’re very concerned that those who are on the list are those who should be on the list.”

As a special bonus,the DMA would also provide its list of the deceased to companies that are not members of the organization.

Dear Direct Marketing Association, what about performing this credit card check for free? When spam fills our inbox and our mail boxes are filled to the rim with junk mail, we never send you a bill for 1$.Source: AP via ABC