Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Data in the modern world

Just because your name is on a list, doesn't mean they remember who you are. This is not a rant, nor a rave, but rather an observation of irony.

Not to get to much into a past experience on this post, I have to say I had a negative experience with purchasing a used car. This used Toyota Land Cruiser was nice and the price was right! Too right it turns out. The car was stolen. Mind you, I bought this car from a dealership too (not a relatively large dealer obviously). Well, bottom line was the police confiscated the auto, and the bank still wanted me to honor the note (which is a story for another blog entry). Well to make a long story short, I had to get lawyered up, and eventually they let me out of the note and I got some money for the aggravation (not much and the lawyers costs took care of most of it). All and all, I got lucky. I have talked to blokes in the UK where the laws are different. There, I would have been boned.

Anyway, today I get a credit card offer from that very same bank! I almost could not believe it. The even funnier part is that I had moved 4 years ago, out of state and they did not really have my address. That means perhaps some listing service aggregated my two known addresses and sold it to the bank.

I am tempted to apply for the card, just to see if I get it, but I suspect they just take a cut and card is managed by some other entity (it was small local bank). Meaning, they wouldn't really know who I was. I still find it humorous. Can you spell irony?

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