Courtesy of Dataqualitypro.com on twitter comes this story about how Virgin Media in the UK have sent a letter to a customer prospect addressing them as “Mr Illegal Immigrant”.

Virgin Media have investigated the issue and state that it was an isolated incident arising from data purchased from a 3rd party. This suggests that Virgin Media might have issues with the quality control processes they apply to vetting data purchased from 3rd parties.

From an IQ Trainwrecks perspective, this ticks a lot of boxes as it has resulted in embarrassment for Virgin Media and hassle and trouble for the actual householder, a Mr Needham who told the Daily Telegraph that:

… he was offended by the letter: ”I was a bit shocked. I was taken aback. I have tried to ring up and complain and they have not really done anything about it.

”They kept passing me from pillar to post. They tried to say it was not their fault, it was somebody else. It is not good.” Continue reading →