Dear Palestinian Bomber
I shouldn’t laugh at this story, but I can’t help myself. Thanks to David for tipping me off to this one. Too bad they didn’t contact me because I could have a field day with this kind of thing. You know that I love telemarketers.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2005 — Officials at JP Morgan Chase have apologized and promised to improve their screening policies, after a credit card solicitation letter sent to a 54-year-old naturalized American citizen came addressed to “Palestinian Bomber.”
The form letter for a Visa Platinum card arrived earlier this month at the home of Sami Habbas, a grocery store manager from Corona, Calif. The words “Palestinian Bomber” appear above his address and the salutation reads, “Dear Palestinian Bomber.” The document included the signature of Carter Franke, chief marketing officer for Chase Card Services.
Habbas is a naturalized U.S. citizen of Palestinian heritage. He told ABC News he is “extremely upset” at receiving the letter, pointing out that he has lived in the United States for 51 years and also served in the U.S. Army, receiving an honorable discharge in 1969.
“It’s upsetting, derogatory and slanderous,” Habbas told ABC News. “I have no idea how this sort of thing happened.”
Habbas was even more shocked when, on several occasions, he said he called an 800-number for JP Morgan Chase and spoke to operators in an effort to complain. Each time, he says the operators called up his information on a computer but apparently didn’t catch on. According to Habbas, “The operators always said, ‘Yes, Mr. Palestinian Bomber, how can we help you?’ “
Stupid telemarketers.Don’t they bother to read.
Jack's Shack August 25, 2005 at 7:47 pm
Hi Anglomom,
Glad to hear that you enjoyed it.
anglomom August 25, 2005 at 6:13 pm
OMG! I don’t know if you’ll even see this as it’s from several posts ago, but I wanted to thank you for posting that story. I literally laughed out loud! I read it to my husband and it tickled him, too. Thanks for the giggles!
Jack's Shack August 24, 2005 at 2:47 pm
Hi Irina,
I have only seen part of the movie.
PT,
That makes plenty o’sense to me.
MP,
She sounds like a wonderful roommate.
SJ,
Glad that you enjoyed it.
A Simple Jew August 24, 2005 at 1:58 pm
That story just made me laugh out loud!
Melliferous Pants August 24, 2005 at 6:42 am
“Dear Palestinian Bomber.” Wow. That is unbelievable.
This doesn’t compare, but I used to have a roommate with the last name Conlan. Telemarketers would often call and ask for “Mrs. Colon.†Amazingly, colon accurately describes her personality.
Irina Tsukerman August 24, 2005 at 12:21 am
Have you seen “The Legend of Ron Burgundy”? This story reminds me of the movie! LOL!