DMA's Ethics Committee Leaves Unanswered Questions
I just finished reading the story about the DMA's ethics committee (“DMA Ethics Panel Starts Naming Names,” Sept. 28). The story describes how Marsha Goldberger of the DMA tried to file a complaint with a company and it didn't respond.
This is laughable. I have been filing complaints with the committee since 1993 and I have never received a response, except letters saying I would receive a response in the future. DM News even wrote an article last November (“Consumer Activist Files DMA Ethics Complaint Against AOL”) where I filed a complaint against AOL. This complaint has never been answered.
Through the Internet I have been in contact with numerous consumers who have filed complaints with the DMA, and I have not been able to find even one who says his complaint was resolved by the DMA's complaint process.
It looks to me like the DMA is trying to do two things here. First, it's giving the false impression that its ethics committee is actually functioning in a consumer protection role. Second, it is a membership drive. The information release of nonmember complaints clearly sends out a signal to companies: “Join us or we will give you negative publicity.”
Russ Smith
Director,
Consumer.Net
