March 16, 2008 in Business

Mailings perpetuate urban legends in business world

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Just a couple of weeks ago, the Better Business Bureau received a letter in the mail from a well-known Spokane company. The letter was actually a chain letter of sorts with a long history of being circulated throughout the business world over the years.

The truth is, the letter being circulated by the company repeats the stuff of urban legend. It is called the “Craig Shergold (Sheppard, Sherold, Sherwood, Shirgold, Shefford or Sherford) Letter,” and it asks you to send a letter just like the one you are receiving to seven other businesses encouraging them to send your business cards to an ailing English lad named Craig Shergold (or one of the variants of his name above). Why? According to the letter, young Craig is battling cancer and one of his wishes is to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the number of business cards collected by an individual.

Here is the truth behind that letter: Craig is a real person. He is no longer a “lad” – he’s close to 30 – and he survived cancer. Was this story ever true? At one time, did Craig actually want to break the world record? Yes, he did, and yes, he was successful. But that was years ago.

As you can see, this is the stuff of urban legends – one of those things that won’t go away. It is based on a concept that will mystify you to no end, and morphs through the grapevine until it is very different from what it started as.

The disturbing part is that somewhere in Atlanta sits a questionable drop box supposedly registered by a “Make-a-Wish Foundation” receiving business cards, supposedly on behalf of Craig. What gives? Where are these business cards going if not to the cause the letter refers to?

There is a theory that an unscrupulous group is intercepting all the cards to build and maintain a database to generate third-party business distribution lists and sell these lists to, well, whomever.

At first, the cards were going to a legitimate foundation that had to move to escape the bombardment of mail. Now the Postal Service intercepts that mail, amounting to more than 100 million pieces a year.

809 area code scam

Another favorite urban legend e-mail is the “809 area code collect call scam warning.” The e-mail warns that these collect calls will cost you thousands of dollars – it’s an exaggeration that grows as the e-mail continues to be circulated.

And for other reasons, Target stores often are the target (sorry) of vicious e-mails about their hatred of all sorts of disenfranchised populations. There are e-mails that allege Target’s dislike of veterans and the Salvation Army. While it is true that Target doesn’t allow Christmastime bell-ringers, that’s because of its corporate “no solicitation” policy, not a hidden plot to weaken the Salvation Army’s mission.

When you forward these things to others, the myths spread like weeds.

I continue to be amazed at what people believe and tout as truth just because they get it in their in box or saw someone claim it as fact in a blog.

It is easy to sway and deceive if you fail to confirm the stories with other sources before believing them. This is the key to “starting with trust” and making that phrase work for you. This does not mean you automatically trust and leave yourself in the open for anything coming your way. This means engaging in the process of trusting, and someone on the other end delivering trust. It is a two-way street. Both parties have to be willing.

I don’t have time to check into every little thing people send me, but rest assured, I will not forward or state something to others without checking the facts first.

Research is easy. All you have to do is paste the first sentence of the chain letter or e-mail in question into a search engine, and up pops a variety of choices to educate and inform. Here are a few:

•Snopes.com is a source we use all the time to check urban legends.

•Scambusters.org is another excellent site for researching scams.

•Bbb.org will often tell you what you are in for when doing business in North America.

Checking a variety of resources and using search strings on the Web will ensure you get a balanced selection of reports and opinions. Just don’t confuse facts with opinions and endorsements with evidence. They are not interchangeable in the real world.

Before you complain to us about a bad experience with a local company, send business cards to Craig Shergold or forward a bogus e-mail, do your research and begin to contribute to truth, because from truth springs trust in almost all affairs.

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