paul schreiber

A while back, Wachovia bought World Savings, a bank I use for CDs. I received a few letters in the mail describing the process and telling me what I had to do.

The first thing I had to do was register for an account with Wachovia’s online banking. I do.

Mistake #1: Only three of my six CDs appear in the account list.

I call Wachovia. They correct the error. Misplacing half my accounts is not a good way to make a first impression.

While I’m on the phone, I verify that I have opted out of all solicitations: phone calls, emails, postal mail and affiliate sharing.

Mistake #2: I had to opt out of solicitations.

Now I’m pretty sure I had already opted out with World Savings. I can’t guarantee this 100%, but I’m careful about these things. First, Wachovia failed to preserve my privacy preference. Second, they enabled junk mail by default. This should be opt-in, not opt-out.

A few days pass. Today, I received not one, but two letters in the mail. Yes, file this one under “I” for irony:

Mistake #3: They send me two letters to tell me they won’t send me any more letters.

Sigh.

First there was Evolution. Now, they’ve come up with Onslaught:

It’s not Bungie Spins Off From Microsoft, but rather “Microsoft cuts cord.”

Jon Stewart: “So in summation, the bill takes money from cigarettes and gives it to poor sick children.”

George Bush: “That’s why I’m going to veto the bill.”

To: Bureau of Accuracy/Public Editor
Janet Hurley, Entertainment Editor
Greg Quill, Entertainment columnist
Toronto Star

This letter is in regards to Mr. Quill’s article, “Shaye no longer a trio, except on TV,” originally published at thestar.com/article/259441. [1]

I was extremely disappointed with Mr. Quill’s sloppy and wildly inaccurate article. It listed an incorrect cause of death for Tara MacLean’s sister, an incorrect number of children for Ms. MacLean and made several false statements regarding Shaye’s relationship with their record company.

Poor “reporting” such as this would not have made it to print when I was the arts editor for my university paper, Imprint. I expected Canada’s largest newspaper to have higher standards. Clearly, I was wrong.

Tara MacLean has enumerated the errors on her blog.

Perhaps Mr. Quill should stick to performing music and refrain from writing about it.

Sincerely,
Paul Schreiber

[1] The article has been updated with some corrections since its publication. That does not excuse the shoddy work.

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800-727-9077 customer service
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