# Credit card companies, he's not just merely dead, he's really most sincerely dead! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 6, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107 "2011-07-06T23:28:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/21 "2011-07-07T17:00:06Z")
> [@justrob](#): > > I can understand someone still being on mailing lists but this would concern me. So the insurance company can just put whoever they want on your insrance as a secondary driver? I would be having a heart to heart with my agent about what needed to be done to prevent me from switching insurance providers. He’s got a \*great \*driving record :rolleyes: - it’s not dinging me in any way. But yeah. After about 10 years of me harassing them every year, them promising to take him off, and even sitting in their office while they manually deleted the name from my files, and then him showing back up again when the next bill came out… I just gave up. At this point, I’d have to hire a hacker to take care of it, because obviously their system does not give up on people’s names. ---
**Author:** ![Shecky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shecky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shecky)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/22 "2011-07-07T17:55:06Z")
Not dead, but I’m getting mail from Travelers Insurance addressed to my ex-wife. Who’s never lived at this address. I changed ONE item in my entire paper trail to my current address. I don’t want to mention who it is, but let’s just say it’s not a Bank of A Foreign Land, it’s a Bank of America-n origin, they sold my info without me being opted in. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/23 "2011-07-07T18:47:16Z")
The last time I pronounced the standard-by-now line “hope you have a good medium on the payroll, he died February 25th, 2000!” was this past January. Yep, we’re reasonably sure Dad’s dead. I understand Abuelita was still getting stuff addressed to Abuelito when I was in college. He died when I was three! ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/24 "2011-07-07T19:13:57Z")
No death stories (thankfully), but my brother got a summons for me to do jury duty in his mail… where I’ve never lived. My brother called me and told me and asked me if I’d ever used his address… I hadn’t. I asked him to take it to work and explain (he works at the courthouse). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/25 "2011-07-07T19:26:06Z")
It goes the other way, too. Our very young son once got a credit card offer, in his specific name, with a guaranteed initial $10,000 credit limit. We had him write, in crayon, “No thanks, I’m just six years old” on the letter and send it back in the handy enclosed postage-paid envelope. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/26 "2011-07-07T19:33:27Z")
My father and mother handled the mail for my aunt and uncle, who passed away within a few months of each other. It’s been seven years and they still get the occasional catalog. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/27 "2011-07-07T22:18:59Z")
We bought our house 3 years ago. Before that it was owned by a church and used as the parsonage and the church offices. Now I’m not surprised that I still get mail addressed to the church, but until this winter, I was still getting mail addressed to the church, sent by the same church, with my address as both the mailing address and the return address. If they don’t know they aren’t in this house any more, how can I expect anyone else to? ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/28 "2011-07-08T02:09:12Z")
This wasn’t years and year, only a few months, but I was helping out with my elderly Granny after my 90+ year old grandfather died. I went out and got the mail, and there was a letter from Spain! I opened it up and it was one of the funniest things I’ve read in my life. It was from a psychic who was writing to my grandfather telling him that “your guardian angel is having trouble finding your spirit” or some such nonsense. So the guardian angel had gotten in touch with the psychic for help!! (Which, of course, he needed, since Pappaw was dead and, apparently beyond the angel’s reach.) It was an interesting letter in that it had a lot of Christian terminology like the guardian angel thing, talking about his spirit and soul, and comparing him to a saint, as well as a lot of more new-agey type wording like the psychic stuff and his aura. His aura, by the way, was a color that the psychic had never seen before, because only saints have that particular hue! It did a great job of trying to reel the reader in too, mentioning “that incident in 1994” and how the angel knew something about the relationship with your mother. I think there was even something like “once when you were sick, the angel was there taking care of you…” Of course, the letter ended with something about “for just $35 we can help your guardian angel get in touch with you!” ---
**Author:** ![CoffinMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@CoffinMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoffinMan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/29 "2011-07-08T02:32:59Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > Mom started sending Dad’s mail back marked “return to sender” with his new address as the cemetary on the envelope. I don’t know if I’d do that with credit card checks though. That is just classic!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/30 "2011-07-08T03:24:30Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > It goes the other way, too. Our very young son once got a credit card offer, in his specific name, with a guaranteed initial $10,000 credit limit. We had him write, in crayon, “No thanks, I’m just six years old” on the letter and send it back in the handy enclosed postage-paid envelope. I’ve been tempted to send the credit card offers my dachshund’s gotten back with his paw print on them. Back when I was a kid I managed to register my dog (not this one) to register to vote in the next state over. ---
**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/31 "2011-07-08T04:30:05Z")
Not only do I get phone calls for my parents, both departed, but the sales people always manage to mangle the pronunciation of their last name. I have to believe I am speaking to someone in India when this happens, because the name is not that difficult to sound out. Some days this really annoys me, other times I just say things like “I’ll let you talk to my dead parents if I can talk to yours”. Just depends on the mood I’m in. And if they are interrupting my programs… ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/32 "2011-07-08T17:20:29Z")
Sign up at [optout.com](http://optout.com) – all the checks should stop, as well as offers for new cards. It works, and it works fast. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/33 "2011-07-08T19:34:05Z")
My father died in 1985. My mom got a credit card offer for him last week. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/34 "2011-07-08T21:16:24Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > It gets worse, when I tried to cancel my, just deceased, MIL’s phone service, I had to work my way through several layers of idiots who insisted, ‘Only the person on the account, can cancel the service!’ While comparing dead parent stories, a buddy of mine shared the following story. His wife’s family had the same problem when his aunt-in-law died. None of the customer service reps knew how to close the account of someone who was deceased. His wife and cousins were getting too enraged by the frustration of escalating the issue to supervisors who were too stupid to fix it, so my buddy was the one who got on the phone because he was the only one who was still calm enough not to smash the phone. At one point after being told yet again, “Only the account holder can close the account”, he answered, “Oh, just one moment then…” waited a minute and then spoke in a silly falsetto: “Hallooooooo, thiiiis is the ghoooooost of dear, dead Auuuuuuntie…” While his wife’s family thought it was hilarious, it still didn’t get them anywhere. What did work was telling them that the ghost of dear dead Auntie sent him a message via ouija board. She was refusing to pay any more bills, so they might want to suspend her service and expedite the collections process. From there he got contact information for the collections department, talked to some idiot who escalated his call to a supervisor, and _then_ he was able to get instructions for how to close out a decedent’s account. As for Grandma’ getting stuff addressed to Grandpas: well into the 1970s, some credit card companies still required a married woman’s account to be in her husband’s name. Sometimes they were nice enough to put it as _Mrs_. John Smith. My grandma got mail for “John Smith” because that name was still on active accounts that were hers. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/35 "2011-07-08T21:50:47Z")
A couple of years ago, a collection agency called my mother, looking for my father. He’s been dead since 1971. My mother gave them the address and phone number of the cemetery where he is buried and told them to contact him there. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/36 "2011-07-08T21:58:49Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I am still receiving credit card checks–you know, the things where you can get a cash advance for your card–for my late husband’s accounts. Two different banks. Accounts that I notified the CC companies about within days of his death _over two years ago_ and again last year. > > It’s most frustrating since I’m assuming that if someone took said checks and cashed one, I’d be the one the companies would try to pursue for the money. I’ve had two new addresses since then, too, and they always put the new addresses on. But he hasn’t just moved, Citi! He’s not just not into you, BofA! It’s worse than that–he’s dead, Jim! > > Now I’m curious just how long they will continue to send these things. So? Get on the phone, & tell them to\*\* stop it\*\*. **I’m** alive, & I got them to stop sending **me** checks that way. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/37 "2011-07-09T00:56:30Z")
My grandfather died in 1998 and still gets his monthly Union newsletter. When my father died in 2005 I wrote to his various online accounts to let them know I was closing them due to his death. (He had given me his password so it was a simple matter to unsubscribe.) One company actually read the note I sent and wrote me a reply, which included my favorite quote ever, “We realize that you are grieving but do remember that _time heals all wombs_.” How can you not get a giggle out of that? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/38 "2011-07-09T01:06:05Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I got mail for my dad fairly regularly for several years after his death. It dropped off after six or seven years. I always wondered what would happen if I entered him into the PCH contests we kept getting the mailings for (do they still do that?) and Ed McMahon showed up on our doorstep – “No, he’s been dead since 1993, but I’m his daughter, isn’t that close enough?” > [@postcards](#): > > If Ed McMahon showed up at your door it’d be pretty freaky-he’s been dead two years now. (June 23, 2009) **whiterabbit:** “He’s been dead for years!” **Zombie Ed McMahon:** _" I…know…come…to…ussssss"_ ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/39 "2011-07-09T07:38:01Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > **whiterabbit:** “He’s been dead for years!” > > **Zombie Ed McMahon:** _" I…know…come…to…ussssss"_ YOU ARE BRAAAAINS, SIR! HOH! HOH! HOH! HOH! (I think I just creeped myself out.) ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107/40 "2011-07-09T15:58:04Z")
Same blessed thing when my mom tried to close my dad’s cellphone account after he died in 2003. Nobody at the company seemed to be able to grasp the concept that _human beings die, following which they no longer require cell phone service, but become unavailable to cancel the service themselves._ She went around in circles for a while before finding someone with two brain cells to rub together. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-companies-hes-not-just-merely-dead-hes-really-most-sincerely-dead/588107.md?page=3)