Seriously Sears!

Twelve years ago, I bought an air conditioner from Sears.

(yes, like Sears &Roebuck...the Craftsman tools company).

It was for a house, that I no longer own and haven't owned for most of the time since that purchase.

I have not purchased anything else from Sears since then.

(Let's just say that it wasn't a great experience...resulting in them blowing the furnace wiring during the coldest part of the year, which resulted in me having to manually the furnace on and off so that the house didn't freeze)

ANYWAY,

Today, I received a letter from Sears telling me that the warranty on that air condition has experience.

o_O

Now, like I said, I am not at that address any more.  I haven't made any purchases from them since....

HOW DID THEY KNOW WHERE I LIVE!?!

Evidently, they purchase updates to their customers from those unethical personal information marketers, like Intelius, and they track you and your information in their database.

The best part of about this whole experience is this:  It's completely legal.  It's legal because I bought something from them and the US government has guaranteed them the right to keep track of me, my information, where I live, my phones, my purchases, my education, etc as a previous customer so that they can market to me.

The moral of this story is this:

If you are going to buy something big on a credit card from a retail company, be sure to open the junk mail from that company and read it occasionally.  You might find out some interesting rights that you forfeit just by shredding it unopened.

Now, if you had made a purchase from Sears and you don't want them to market to you (or keep track of your life), call this number and ask them to remove you from the database.  Of course, I'd wait until your warranties have expired, but you can still insist on your privacy.

Sears warranties and management of your private information:  
1-800-366-2320.  
Then press option 4 to be removed/update your information.