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Virginia Masons - yellow card

Number4

Registered User
How many masons in the Old Dominion have responded to the yellow card sent (purportedly) by the Grand Lodge - and how many have been alarmed by the experience? I ignored the first one as junk mail as the GL has all the information it needs to know about me already, but when a second one arrived my wife said I may as well call them.

The call went to a company called PCI - or a call center handling their business; whatever, the person I spoke to was definitely not a Brother. I became concerned about the increasingly intrusive personal questions which he informed me were needed to compile a Masonic directory/year book for the GL. Then came the hard sell, trying to get me to by various 'packages' including the hardback book, the electronic version, travel baggage and other items. He was very persistent - what part of "I'm not interested" didn't he get when repeated three times?

I hung up and emailed the GL and received a reply from the Grand Secretary to say both the company and the project were legitimate and I need not purchase anything, but urged me to co-operate with them.

Ain't gonna happen, as I checked out PCI on line and found a whole slew of complaints from universities and the BSA who have had the same 'yearbook' operation foisted on them complete with pressure sales and billing issues.

Also I am very concerned PCI will not safeguard my personal data and possibly even sell it on to third parties. As it happens, my wife had an email from them the same day and I have no idea where they obtained her details from.
 

Winter

Premium Member
Sounds like a well intentioned Brother at the GL level got suckered in to thinking this was a good idea for your jurisdiction. I'd pass on it as well. Was it announced prior that they were contracting with this company?

I recall getting the same kind of notice and hard sell last year regarding my American Legion membership as well.

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Number4

Registered User
While there was something posted on the GL web site, nothing was ever announced at lodge level prior to the cards arriving. At practice this morning some of the other brethren were also saying they would not touch it with the proverbial 10 foot East European
 

bro.william

Premium Member
I used to get all kinds of marketing calls from life insurance companies that "had worked out a special deal" with my trade union. In fact, that seemed to be the main benefit of my membership and dues: life insurance marketing. So I quit. Not likely to do that with the Brotherhood, of course. But this kind of stuff is *not* why we join things.
 

Bloke

Premium Member
We had a similar recent incident in Victoria, but the GL said they had not given data to anyone, rather, well meaning masons (it is a masonic project around property) had collected email addresses for a year before launching it..
 

Brother_Steve

Premium Member
NJ used this program. I ignored it all.

It was done to gather information about the membership of the State and then they hard pitched a yearbook.


I told them "no thanks."

Your Grand Lodge is basically doing a fundraiser by trying to get every brother guilted into buying one.
 
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