As a recent business school graduate, I have received countless phone calls from companies offering to consolidate my student loans and (allegedly) save me a lot of money. After the first few calls, they all began to blend together and fell entirely off my radar. This past weekend, however, I received an interesting piece of mail.
It was a letter claiming I qualified for a $200 gift card for simply filling out a customer satisfaction survey. It even included a physical gift card complete with my name and an account number. Needless to say, I was both eccstatic and skeptical at the same time. Two-hundred dollars in the mail is anyone’s dream, but nothing is ever free.
I read through the letter several times, trying to figure out who ACM Enterprises was and what program I needed to provide feedback for. Since I received the letter on Saturday, I couldn’t call for more details – In fact, I tried but got a wonderful automated “please call back during regular business hours message.”
The content of the letter held absolutely zero clues. The front held the message:
Dear Eric,
Congratulations, we would like to reward you with a free gift card. There is no cost to you to enjoy the use of this reward. This is our way of showing our appreciation for a testimonial from you regarding your experience with our free service. You will be able to use your gift card at any retail establishment where gift cards are accepted.
Sincerely,
ACM Enterprises, Inc.
There was information on how to opt-out of “prescreened” offers at the bottom of the letter. This made me a bit wary of the deal, as did the disclaimer on the reverse side:
PRESCREEN & OPT OUT NOTICE: This offer is based on information in your credit report indicating that you meet certain criteria and is not guaranteed if you do not meet our requirements (including eligibility for consolidation). If you do not want to receive pre-screened offers from this and other companies visit www.optoutprescreen.com; or write to Opt Out Request PO Box 505, Woodlyn, PA 19094-0505. In lieu of card, we reserve the right to send bank check. Your testimonial will be a completed customer satisfaction survey based on use of our free service, not consolidation.
This morning, once I was sure the office would be open, I called and spoke to Doug at their office. He informed me that the gift card deal was legitimate, but only if I were to consolidate my student loans through this particular company. The card in my letter only had an identification number on it and had no real value. The point of the letter is to get students to call the consolidation company, rather than operate the other way around.
Whether or not this is a successful marketing strategy remains to be seen. However, it definitely cuts through the fog of all the 1-800 phone calls students receive at dinner time.
