It's funny that the letter states, "The U.S. Postal Service wants to make service to its customers as consistent, accurate, and timely as possible." Dad's been dead for over 30 years now. I don't know when was the last time I saw a piece of mail addressed to him.
The letter appears to be genuine. It mentions IBM is doing the purported study, but the reporting site, http://www.reportez.com/, is owned by the West Corporation, http://www.west.com/, not IBM. There's little else about this on the net other than a smattering of negative references to similar letters received elsewhere, and more numerous negative references to reportez.com.
I assume that once you start reporting for them, they have their hooks in you one way or another, at least with worthless points or discounts good only at stores selling their overpriced goods.
The notation at the bottom of the letter, CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL - NOT FOR REPRODUCTION OR GENERAL DISCLOSURE, gave me momentary pause. What if it really is from the Postal Service? Is blogging about it breaking a federal law?
If it is, I'm blaming dad.
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6 comments:
Delores is real...
USPS Biography
The irony of the letter is spectacular.. in a timely fashion. hahahaha
My mom has been gone for four months and every day she still gets more pieces of mail than I do.
I'd be afraid...VERY, VERY afraid! LOL
I know a postal inspector, I'm curious to get her take on it
Maybe everyone has figured all of this out, but I wanted to post exerptsfrom reportez.com. I believe it is totally legit, and am signing up!
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IBM is currently under contract with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to conduct independent studies using participant panels, to measure how the USPS performs from the customers point of view.
IBM provides the USPS with daily and weekly updates on the performance of the mail we track. You can find news releases about the studies' results by visiting www.usps.com and entering the search term, "EXFC".
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is critical to the success of our studies. We ask you not to inform your Postal Carrier or any other USPS employee of your participation in any of our studies. In order for the data we provide to the USPS to remain free from any bias, we must ensure that your mail is treated in the same manner as all other USPS customers. If you have any questions about your confidentiality as it relates to a study, please contact our IBM Call Center at 1-800-770-2974 and one of our representatives would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
You will be able to identify test mail from other mail after opening it upon which you will find a test mail insert inside, with directions on how to report your test mailpiece to us. To report for the External First-Class Mail Panel, you can report your test mail either over the phone or over the internet. As a token of our appreciation for the time you spend reporting your mail to us, we will send you gifts of stamps.
Scanner Panel
If you qualify to participate in the Scanner Panel, all of your reporting will be done over the internet. You will be sent a handheld scanner that plugs directly into your personal computer. You will use this scanner to scan certain barcodes on the mail which you want to report onto our website. There will be two types of mail we will ask you to report to us when you receive them: 1) test mail, 2) your personal mail with an Intelligent Mail® barcode on it.
Test mail is described in more detail above in the section: External First-Class Mail Panel. The second kind of mail you will report is any piece of personal mail with an Intelligent Mail® barcode on it. An Intelligent Mail® barcode is a barcode that some businesses place on their mail in order to track where it is in the mail stream and when the piece of mail arrives at its destination. Because participants in the Scanner Panel must report every day, as a token appreciation for the time you spend reporting, you will accrue points each month which can be redeemed at retailers across the nation via our reward redemption website.
Contact Us
By participating in our study, you are helping the USPS by allowing us to deliver information to them about the kind and quality of service they are providing. We would love for you to join our team! If you are interested, joining is simple. Just follow the steps below:
Click on the "Join Our Team" button on this page.
Complete the questionnaire to see if you are eligible to participate in one of our Panels.
If you are eligible to join, you'll be mailed additional information within a few days.
If you have any questions, we are always happy to speak to prospective Reporters. Click on the "Contact Us" button on this page to send us an email or call the IBM Call Center at 1-800-770-2974, from Monday through Friday, 6:30 AM to 8:00 PM and Saturday from 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM. If you happen to call when we are closed, you may also leave a voicemail and we will get back to you within one business day.
We look forward to hearing from you!
I just got this today. After opening the envelope, reading the letter, but then looking at the envelope again (the address the letter's coming from is NOT from USPS!), this seems very fishy to me.
They ask that I don't ask the USPS about this. Another red flag. :( Oh, I will. I WILL.
I am a reporter for years. It is legit and takes about 20 seconds a day 6 days a week. Yes, I get money to spend online. Really, do you think they could afford to do anything else? USPS? And if you google "EXFC study" you will find anything you want to know about the program.
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