Judy,
The original complaints that prompted our investigation were that
telemarketers were calling about products and those same products were being
shipped even if the customer said no. Hence the telemarketing/unsolicited
shipment connection. Some of these complaints were directed exclusively to
CRIV, so they wouldn't be on law-lib. If you need more information, let me
know.
Chris Graesser
AALL Committee on Relations with Information Vendors (CRIV)
Brown Rudnick Freed & Gesmer
Hartford, CT cgraesser@brfg.com
860-509-6549
-----Original Message-----
From: Judith A. Flader [mailto:flade001@maroon.tc.umn.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 1999 5:37 PM
To: Graesser, Christine L.
Cc: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Re: CRIV Gram: Aspen Response to Law Lib Complaints
I looked for previous messages, but I've already deleted them all. My
question is, have I missed something in this thread? What do
telemarketers have to do with unsolicited shipments? A telemarketer is
a company person who calls you, generally cold-canvas, to try to sell
you something. An unsolicited shipment is something that just comes,
with no rhyme or reason.
Is it being suggested that law librarians should make note of every
telemarketing call we receive, so we can then if necessary document back
to the company that was bothering us in the first place that their
representative so-and-so called on such-and-such date about some
specific product and we said no, we don't want it? I hope someone tells
me I'm reading this wrong...
I think I'll go home now, so have a good evening folks,
Judy
Judith A. Flader
Washington County Law Library
Stillwater, MN
"The (weather is gorgeous, where was it last week for SLA) Birthplace of
Minnesota"
Graesser, Christine L. wrote:
>
> The following CRIVGram has been posted to several listervs to ensure wide
> distribution. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience.
>
> ________________________
>
> CRIV Gram - June 16, 1999 -
> CRIV has discussed a number of complaints about Aspen with their Director
of
> Customer Care, Judith McRee. Here is her response on behalf of Aspen.
>
> "1. Unsolicited Shipments: It is Aspen's policy NOT to telemarket Law
> Librarians. We do attempt to delete names of Law Librarians from any of
> our telemarketing lists, however, a name may occasionally slip through as
> a buyer. We would like to have any specific information about an
> unsolicited shipment (name of the product, when the call was received,
> etc.) in order to trace that particular order back to the associated
> telemarketing campaign so we can determine why this happened.
>
> 2. Problem with consolidating accounts, not being credited for payments.
> Statement follows:
>
> 'Dear Law Librarians:
>
> Aspen Publishers is pleased to announce a new direction in providing your
> special accounts with improved service. We have recently promoted one of
> our best Customer Care Representatives to the position of Library
> Administrator. Bradley Sheldon has been with our department for over two
> years, and has proven to be an asset to the Librarians. He has been
> focusing on researching duplicate accounts and creating packets for the
> Librarians that consists of their standing orders, open invoices and
> all their account numbers.
>
> We are currently in the process of cleaning up duplicate account records,
> in preparation for our new order fulfillment system. We plan
> implementation of this new system by the first quarter, 2000. What does
> this mean to you? Accessing accounts will be simpler for Aspen employees,
> with numerous search methods and we will better be able to avoid the
> duplication of accounts. How can you help us to avoid duplicate accounts?
> When a Law Librarian places an order with their Sales Representative or
> when they call Customer Care, they should always be sure to use the
account
> number that is assigned to their firm.
>
> Credit issues will be flagged so your standing orders will not be canceled
> without our being aware of it. The new system will allow us to keep you
> better informed on out of stock, out of print and not yet published
titles.
> These are just a few of the new features to our system that will directly
> affect you in a positive manner.
>
> Please know that we take you and your business very seriously, and these
> are just a few of the areas we are focusing on. There will be even more
> positive changes in the future, and you will be notified as these changes
> take place.
>
> Thank you for your past and continued business.'
>
> 3. Shipping and Handling Charges: The current policy has been in place
> since Aspen acquired Prentice Hall Law and Business, at the end of 1994.
> Aspen adopted the S/H policy at that time, and there has not been an
> increase since then. Please reference our new web page
> http://www.aspenpublishers.com for any additional information."
>
> Judith A. McRee
> Director of Customer Care
> Aspen Publishers, Inc.
> _________________________
>
> In the interests of accuracy, CRIV reprinted Aspen's statement as it was
> issued. CRIV neither denies nor endorses policies or statements of fact
by
> a publisher. The Committee recommends that in the case of shipping or
> other price issues, customers should express their opinions to the
marketing
> division of the publisher and make their subscription and purchase
decisions
> according to their research needs and budget considerations.
>
> Chris Graesser
> AALL Committee on Relations with Information Vendors (CRIV)
> Brown Rudnick Freed & Gesmer
> Hartford, CT cgraesser@brfg.com
> 860-509-6549
>
> CRIVGrams and CRIV Alerts are issued by the AALL Committee on Relations
> with Information Vendors (CRIV) and are intended to inform librarians
about
> issues concerning publishers. Questions about CRIVGrams and Alerts
> generally should be addressed to Frank Houdek, CRIV Chair. Questions
about
> matters presented in a specific message should be addressed to the
*contact*
> individual listed in the body of the announcement. An archive of
CRIVGrams
> and CRIV Alerts is available in CRIV Page, the committee's Web site at
> <http://www.aallnet.org/committee/criv>.
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