One of the last things you want to receive while you’re grieving the loss of a loved one is a letter from a company that acknowledges the death.
But that’s exactly what happened to grieving father Mike Seay, whose daughter was killed in a car crash.
Mike Seay Received a Letter from OfficeMax
Some people might receive a letter with their condolences, but when something like this comes from a company, it is completely out of the ordinary.
However, this wasn’t a letter of condolence and instead was a piece of junk mail that was a marketing ploy gone wrong.
The OfficeMax Letter Acknowledged Mike Seay’s Daughter’s Death
Upon receiving the letter from OfficeMax, it was addressed to “Mike Seay, Daughter Killed In Car Crash,” according to Gizmodo.
This led Seay to question how OfficeMax knew that his daughter had been killed in a car crash and, more importantly, why they would address a piece of junk mail to him acknowledging her death.
Mike Seay Barely Used OfficeMax
Not known for being a lifelong customer of OfficeMax, Mike Seay said it was unlikely that the company would know about his daughter’s death.
Talking to The Los Angeles Times, Seay said that he barely used the company and that he wouldn’t have gone into one of their stores and spoken about it because it’s “not their business.”
OfficeMax Uses a Third-Party Mailing List
Wanting answers as to how OfficeMax could have this information and why they would mention it in some junk mail, the result is apparently from a third-party mailing list.
OfficeMax stated they rent their mailing list from a third-party provider and that they were trying to gather information as to how that third party could have found out the information of Mike Seay’s daughter’s death.
OfficeMax Hasn’t Apologized to Mike Seay
When something as tragic as this happens, it would be automatically assumed that the company responsible would offer an apology to Mike Seay.
However, according to Seay, OfficeMax still hasn’t reached out to him personally to apologize, and he is still looking for answers.
OfficeMax Has Apologized in a Statement
Despite not apologizing to Mike Seay directly, OfficeMax has apologized in a statement.
According to The Daily Mail, in a statement released by OfficeMax, they said that they are “deeply sorry to Mr. Seay and his family” and that they want to “convey our sincerest apologies on this unfortunate matter.”
Mike Seay Wants Answers
With no apology in sight, Mike Seay focused on how OfficeMax could know this information or have it on their records.
According to NBC Chicago, Seay wants to know what the purpose would be of OfficeMax having this type of information and, if they know this, what other pieces of information they might have on him or any other customers.
Mike Seay Spoke to OfficeMax
Just like many people would, being completely disgusted by the mail he received, Mike Seay called OfficeMax wanting to know why this had happened.
However, the woman he spoke to at a call center for OfficeMax said that she refused to believe that this could happen, and still offered no apology to Seay.
OfficeMax Has Upgraded Its Systems
As a way to try and stop something like this from happening again, OfficeMax has upgraded its filters to flag any inappropriate information from being mailed to customers.
As reported by Forbes, OfficeMax spokesperson Karen Denning said that the company hadn’t been looking for personal information in this case and is still unaware as to how this could have happened.
There Are Many Theories as to How OfficeMax Used This Data
OfficeMax is still not giving out any information as to how they had the information of Mike Seay’s daughter dying in a car crash.
It is believed that a telemarketer could have spoken to Seay over the phone and found out about his daughter’s death. In this instance, they would have flagged what had happened and written down about being sympathetic to him and his family. However, as Seay maintains that he hasn’t spoken to anyone from OfficeMax, this is unlikely to have happened.
Mike Seay Doesn’t Want to Sue OfficeMax
This might be a careless accident by OfficeMax, however, nothing is known about how it happened yet, but Mike Seay doesn’t want to hurt the company.
Seay has said that he has no interest in suing the company and that all he wants is an apology, according to HuffPost.
The OfficeMax Letter Is an Example of Poor Data Protection
While there are still no answers as to how OfficeMax addressing Mike Seay’s daughter’s death could have possibly happened, it does teach a good lesson to all companies and consumers.
What it teaches us is that data protection laws need to be tighter and that companies need to ensure that no possible personal information like this should ever get out again.
