Since Stamps.com advertises on the Rush Limbaugh Show, I decided to write the company in protest (and to close my account with them).
The response I got was — ah — informative as to the mores of the company.
More below the orange postmark.
The original E-mail I wrote was:
I wish to close my account with Stamps.com
As long as Stamps.com continues to advertise on the Rush Limbaugh Show and his particular brand of hatred, I will not give a dime of my money to your company.
It says a great deal about your business ethics that your company advertises on a show that disparages disabled veterans, women, minorities, &c.
When your company categorically states publicly it will no longer advertise on the show I will return. (Publicly as in publicly distance your corporation from the sort of hate speech Mr. Limbaugh represents, sewing divisiveness in our nation.)
A bit firmer than I usually write, but I was somewhat miffed about their advertising.
The E-mail I got in response was:
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Stamps.com Customer Care.
We are sorry to hear that you wish to close your Stamps.com account. To close your account, please call the Customer Care team toll-free at 1-888-434-0055 Monday through Friday, 6 AM to 6 PM Pacific Time and Saturday 6 AM to 3 PM Pacific Time.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts about Stamps.com's ads on the Rush Limbaugh Show.
Our marketing efforts are designed to reach as many people as possible who we believe would benefit from the Stamps.com service.
That's the reason you see or hear our advertising on media channels representing audiences from all walks of life and all political views from conservative to moderate to progressive to liberal.
We appreciate the opportunity to offer you Stamps.com's complete mailing solution.
Sincerely,
Carmen L
Customer Care Representative
Stamps.com Customer Care
All political views? My response:
As I wrote in my initial E-mail:
It says a great deal about your business ethics that your company advertises on a show that disparages disabled veterans, women, minorities, &c.
These are not “conservative, moderate, progressive, or liberal views” as you claim in your response. That your company would claim that it wishes only to reach those of all political persuasions shows how tone-deaf your company really is. Do you also support child soldiers and paedophilia? One can argue those are “political views.”
A person is defined by the company he keeps; so is a corporation.
Your company can reach listeners in other ways. Your advertising department chooses to support the radio show of a bigot. That is your “political view.”
Paying a bigot to spout bigotry places your company firmly in the bigot column. I do not do business with bigots, and neither do my friends or family.
Before, I was only interested in closing my account. Now, I will tell everyone I know why I am doing so.
By all means though, carry on. Perhaps your company finds bigotry profitable.
I then called the company to close my account. After going through several menu selections and a brief hold, I reached technical support.
They claimed they could not find my account information. A review of the E-mail advertising sent indicates it did indeed come from them; it was not a phishing attack or some such, and I have purchased photostamps from the company before.
Twenty minutes after I started the call, I ended it frustrated. Since I get my E-mail through one of my wife's Websites, she will block the domain stamps.com so I receive no more adverts from them.
If you are looking to close your account, good luck. You can only do it by calling them, and you can see where that got me.
2:20 PM MT: Update: Stamps.com wrote again:
Dear James,
Thank you for contacting Stamps.com Customer Care.
We appreciate your concerns regarding Stamps.com's radio advertisements.
We have taken the necessary steps to see that your comments are heard by the appropriate departments.
We appreciate the opportunity to offer you Stamps.com's complete mailing solution.
Sincerely,
Nancy N
Customer Care Representative
Stamps.com Customer Care
I am not hopeful they will do anything but round-file the message. They need a bit of exposure, and a lot of complaints.