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Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Publisher's Clearinghouse is majorly annoying

Back when it was done all hardcopy, I enjoyed receiving the mailing from Publisher's Clearinghouse concerning their big annual sweepstakes drawing for a million bucks.  I would take some time and look through the several pages of little stickers for potential magazine subscriptions.  The subscription prices usually looked pretty good compared to regular nondiscounted subscription rates.  And more often than not I would choose some new magazine to take for a year.  I normally balanced this out by dropping one of the subscriptions I had for some magazine that didn't get read cover to cover when it arrived in the mail each month.  And each year when they had the TV show where they showed the Grand Prize winner I made like the Cubs and said to myself, "Wait until next year!"

But now, in 2014, I am annoyed with Publisher's Clearinghouse.  They may still have the hardcopy version  I've paid no attention.  But I know that they have gone mostly to online entries and communication.  And the way they have done this leads me to scream, "No mas"!  The first time I signed up on their website for the drawing they took me through some 15 or 20 screens of having to tell them "No' on selecting products and services to purchase as part of the entry process.  And while they did have the obligatory disclaimer that no purchase was required for  valid entry, they then overrode that with multiple guilt-laden suggestions that I was a fool for not spending a bunch of money with them.

But that was not enough.  No!  They then proceeded some 5 days a week after that to send special cryptic messages mandating that I reconfirm my entry or risk having a "winning entry" disqualified or cancelled.  And every one of these followup messages also involved paging through many screens of goods and services that I would obviously want to purchase. 

I have now gotten to the point where I definitely will not watch the nationally televised award presentation the end of August.  And I no longer even open any of the daily messages I get from PCH.  I have entered the sweepstakes for the last time.   Is this the result they were intending?

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