# Persecuting Ms. Cleo **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2001, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975 "2001-10-12T04:01:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/1 "2001-10-12T04:01:38Z")
Lately Ms. Cleo has a new ad out in which she goes off on a semi-paranoid statement about how she will not be stopped or persecuted for her beliefs. (For those who don’t know who Ms. Cleo is, she runs ads for a Tarot card 900 number.) Anyway, knowing that her “service” is absolute BS, is there any reason for these ads other than the 9-11 attack? Is she being sued or attacked on other legal grounds or is this her bent and twisted try to be patriotic?(#1) Thanks, Eric #1. It’s late and I don’t feel like running spell check so if I misspelled something sue me. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/2 "2001-10-12T04:21:50Z")
I know that the state of Missouri was planning to file a law suit against the _company_ that advertises “Miss Cleo.” The idea was that it was false advertising because the “first 3 minutes free” were usually spent on hold or giving personal information. Missouri also has a “no call” list, and if you put your name on the list you aren’t supposed to receive any calls. I guess Miss Cleo’s company violated this. This [link](http://www.ago.state.mo.us/080801.htm) says that “Miss Cleo” had to pay Missourians $75,000. ---
**Author:** ![Philosophocles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Philosophocles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philosophocles)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/3 "2001-10-12T07:55:26Z")
You would’ve thought that Miss Cleo or one of her gifted psychics would’ve foresaw the potential legal trouble in Missouri and acted to avoid getting in hot water. Somehow they also didn’t foresee the catastrophe of September 11th either. And why doesn’t Miss Cleo and her psychics just play the lottery? They could donate the winnings to disaster relief. When Miss Cleo gives you advice on romance, please don’t forget: 1. If her advice helps you hook up with your soulmate, she is a gifted spiritual adviser. 2. If you take her advice and end up in a relationship with an abusive sociopath, your call was for entertainment purposes only and Miss Cleo is not responsible at all. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/4 "2001-10-12T08:06:05Z")
Okay, while I don’t have a cite, about a month ago, one of the neighborhood weeklies here in my city, had a blurb about this. Basically (going off memory) they stated that the BBB (aka Better Business Bureau) was giving out consumer warnings about her service. It is highly possible that I also heard that she was being sued but I may be thinking wrong. So there you have it. I particularly noticed her recent ads after having read that article. If they had a link (they don’t even have a website that I know of) I would post it. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/5 "2001-10-12T08:58:33Z")
I think part of the reason she is getting in trouble is that her advertisers make unsolicited AUTOMATED calls to people. There was a time when I got awakened 3 or 4 times a week only to pick up the phone and hear Ms. Cleo’s recorded voice. This really pissed me off because it was often hard for me to go back to sleep days and I couldn’t request to be put on the Do Not Call List because there was nobody there to talk to. I can have trouble falling asleep when the room is brightly lit, so I tried to get in bed as soon as I got off work, before the sun was up. I’d get up to answer the Ms. Cleo’s call three hours after going to bed and lay in bed an hour and a half before I could get back to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/6 "2001-10-12T13:31:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Philosophocles \* > \*\*You would’ve thought that Miss Cleo or one of her gifted psychics would’ve foresaw \*\* Would’ve fore_seen_. ---
**Author:** ![RainbowDragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@RainbowDragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RainbowDragon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/7 "2001-10-12T13:51:31Z")
The “persecuted for her beliefs” advertisement came way before 9-11. I would assume since there are many religious groups against sorcerers, fortunetellers, and the like that somehow she could claim persecution. I would be curious to know if Ms. Cleo took (or is taking) calls from victims’ families who wanted help in locating their loved ones. Ms. Cleo also has not made a comment about the disaster of 9-11. “The cards they never lie”… perhaps she was not reading them closely enough that day? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/8 "2001-10-12T14:00:58Z")
Well, huh. Google, “Miss Cleo Better Business”. [http://www.csicop.org/list/listarchive/msg00174.html](http://www.csicop.org/list/listarchive/msg00174.html) > [@](#): > > Psychic Hotline Notice from Better Business Bureau > > From: Barry Karr \<[SkeptInq@aol.com](mailto:SkeptInq@aol.com)\> > Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2001 16:54:51 EST > > Better Business Bureau Reports on Florida Psychic Hotline > > The Buffalo, NY, Better Business Bureau (a US consumer advocacy > organization) issued the following press release on February 27 regarding > more than a thousand complaints of bogus phone charges from “Miss Cleo’s” > Florida-based psychic hotline–which has become moderately famous through a > series of evening and latenight infomercials broadcast nationwide: > > [Buffalo, NY] February 27, 2001 - The Better Business Bureau is receiving > calls from area consumers regarding Miss Cleo from “Mind & Spirit”, a dba > for Access Resource Services, 1007 N Federal Highway, # 272, Ft. Lauderdale, > Florida. Miss Cleo is offering “free” psychic readings by calling one of > several 800 numbers. Each number then refers callers to a 900 number. > > According to information supplied by nearly 1200 consumer complaints filed > at the Florida BBB, the consumer alleges that Access Resource Services is > sending past due notices for services rendered for calls made to a 900 > number for psychic information. Consumers are informing us that either they > did not make the calls or hung up before charges should have been incurred. So apparently enough people complained last winter that the Buffalo BBB felt they had to issue an official warning. I always thought of them as more passive, so huh. Maybe she _is_ being persecuted, poor baby. :rolleyes: But it’s not because of her religion, it’s because of her illegal business practices. But of course, it would be stupid for her to rant that she’s being persecuted for her illegal business practices, and say what you will about Miss Cleo–she is not stupid. Greedy, maybe, manipulative and conscienceless, yes, but not stupid. So she rants about its being for her religion. Hot button topic. Dunno if this is the same lawsuit that she and her company already lost in Missouri (see Dignan’s link). > [@](#): > > ”… perhaps she was not reading them closely enough that day? I’m 100% sure that if you brought this up, she’d say that it was because no one had happened to ask her to ask the cards, on September 10, whether two jets full of Islamic hijackers were going to crash into the WTC. Now, see, if they had only _asked_… ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/9 "2001-10-12T14:48:40Z")
Well, yes, she could have told everybody it was going to happen, but if I could see the future, I’d certainly do everything I could to dodge Cassandra’s gig. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/10 "2001-10-12T16:34:59Z")
Does she actually own and operate the psychic hotline? I was under the impression that she was just an actress that was hired to give the hotline an image. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Philosophocles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Philosophocles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philosophocles)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/persecuting-ms-cleo/86975/11 "2001-10-12T23:27:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Philosophocles \* > > \*\*You would’ve thought that Miss Cleo or one of her gifted psychics would’ve foresaw \*\* > > Would’ve fore_seen_. \*\* That’s 3AM grammar on my part. 😉