Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated

[jsiegel]

In June 2014 I returned from a Princess cruise and two weeks later had my travel agent try to book another cruise for me. She had trouble because Princess had me purged from the database as deceased. After several hours she was finally able to talk to a representative at Princess who was able to reinstate me. Once she explained what had happened I realized that must have been the reason that I had stopped receiving brochures from Princess. They had started coming to my home addressed just to my husband, not both of us.

 

 

I noticed recently that Princess brochures were again being addressed to just my husband.

 

I just called the Princess and the representative could not find me in his database. He checked with the Captain's Circle Desk representatives and they confirmed that I had been marked deceased again. The Captain's Circle representative reinstated me (again)

 

 

The phone representative said that Princess uses a service to purge the database using Social Security files or something. He was not able to find out the name of the service or company.

 

I'm a little concerned because it sounds like some sort of identity theft may be the problem with their supplier's database.

 

Has this happened to anyone else on these boards? Suggestions on how I should pursue this? I did send an email to Princess explaining what seems to be going on and asking for the name of the service company. I hope to take me seriously and respond.

 

Jackie

[Corinda]

I would first check with the SSA then with a credit bureau.

[GUT2407]

Personally I'd accept it and stop paying Tax.:D

[Mom33]

I would check your credit reports and medical insurance to see if there are any reports or insurance claims on your record that isn't yours. That will give you some idea as to whether or not you have an ID problem.

Perhaps there is a mix up of names in the Princess database. Someone else with your same name may have died and that is what is causing the problem.

[RocketMan275]

I would check your credit reports and medical insurance to see if there are any reports or insurance claims on your record that isn't yours. That will give you some idea as to whether or not you have an ID problem.

Perhaps there is a mix up of names in the Princess database. Someone else with your same name may have died and that is what is causing the problem.

 

Rather curiously, I encountered the opposite problem just today when I received a notice addressed to my father advising him that he could save several hundred dollars on his car insurance. Trust me, Dad hasn't driven since his death in 2000.

Edited October 6, 2014 by RocketMan275

[Mom33]

Rather curiously, I encountered the opposite problem just today when I received a notice addressed to my father advising him that he could save several hundred dollars on his car insurance. Trust me, Dad hasn't driven since his death in 2000.

 

Sounds like that insurance company needs to update its database.:D:D

[SLCfirsttimer]

In June 2014 I returned from a Princess cruise and two weeks later had my travel agent try to book another cruise for me. She had trouble because Princess had me purged from the database as deceased. After several hours she was finally able to talk to a representative at Princess who was able to reinstate me. Once she explained what had happened I realized that must have been the reason that I had stopped receiving brochures from Princess. They had started coming to my home addressed just to my husband, not both of us.

 

 

I noticed recently that Princess brochures were again being addressed to just my husband.

 

I just called the Princess and the representative could not find me in his database. He checked with the Captain's Circle Desk representatives and they confirmed that I had been marked deceased again. The Captain's Circle representative reinstated me (again)

 

 

The phone representative said that Princess uses a service to purge the database using Social Security files or something. He was not able to find out the name of the service or company.

 

I'm a little concerned because it sounds like some sort of identity theft may be the problem with their supplier's database.

 

Has this happened to anyone else on these boards? Suggestions on how I should pursue this? I did send an email to Princess explaining what seems to be going on and asking for the name of the service company. I hope to take me seriously and respond.

 

Jackie

 

It can also happen if you have a similar/same name as someone who has recently passed who has other things in common with you (i.e. same city, same postal code, etc...) While it is somewhat rare, false positives can occur when there is a name that shares some common identifying characteristics. It does not always just use your SSN.

 

I would however agree with the above posters who mentioned you should probably run your credit report and double check to make sure that nothing shows up there that shouldn't be there.

[USNUZULOOSE]

You know Social had me as dead, I can not tell you what a nightmare that was for me. I could not get an apartment for myself. I had to prove to them I was alive. So I had to go there and show myself , my Id. Even then I still had problems. :(

[cb at sea]

That's the "catch 22" with Social Security....your SS card is NOT ID....not even with them! This is big Government....and it's incredibly stupid bureaucracy!

[Cruisin' Chick]

Hope the OP can find out the why so that it can be corrected for good (and that it isn't a matter of identify theft.->

[geoherb]

Princess has created a wife for me. I finally got them to correct the mailings we receive, but her name still shows up when I go through the booking process on the Princess website. I have to type DH's info every time.

[piper28]

Yeah, I'd definitely at least run your credit check if you haven't done one recently. annualcreditreport.com is the legit free credit report that you're entitled to once a year.

[baggal]

My bank once closed my account, sealed my safe-deposit box and bounced back my electronic paycheck deposit (that's how I found out -HR told me the deposit has been refused!) because they received a death notice from an attorney with just one incorrect digit in that person's social security number. (the incorrect number was my real number). Thank goodness the misinformation didn't reach the Social Security office - that would have been a nightmare.

 

I would suggest to the OP to be more persistent with Princess to try to locate the source of her "death." She should also contact her local Social Security office for help as well.

[sailinglisa]

20 years after my Mom's death, I STILL get stuff addressed to her at my address.......unbelievable! Now, my Dad died 3 years ago and I get nothing for him. Go figure!

[RNGALNG]

You seem to have received some great advice here. Glad to hear you are still on the side where the grass is green!

 

Happy sailing!

[snowflakesb]

I get all kinds of mail for my husband who died in 2003. The strange thing is,he has never lived at the address I now live at...

[gcvt]

Glad to hear you're still alive ;)

[PenguinLife]

Shortly before her own death my grandmother went through something like this back in the early 1980's where the Social Security office had confused her with another woman with the same name that lived about 40 miles away who had died. It took several trips to the the social security office and a few months to get the mess straight and her social security checks reinstated.

[pablo222]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/17/pf/social_security_deaths_mistakes/

[jsiegel]

I just registered myself on the secure Social Security website. I'm still alive according to them. All my records there look OK.

 

My travel agent is pursuing this with Princess too. She is pretty sure that Princess doesn't collect or save SSNs. She will try to find out what database the erroneous information is coming from and also wants Princess to train their phone reps to not imply that they have SSNs. She's one of their major accounts so her influence is much greater than mine.

 

After Princess revived me I checked "My Princess" They changed my Title, from Ms. to Mrs. I don't have the same last name as my husband so I'm not Mrs. Siegel. When I tried to change it back I got a message that I have to contact 1-800 Princess. I think I'll wait a bit to get this bigger matter settled first and then deal with my profile on "My Princess"

 

I still get statements from my bank accounts so I'm not on any official death record. I'm kind of thinking this might be internal to Princess. Both times happened soon after returning from one of their cruises.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

Jackie

[Corinda]

Changing your title later is a good plan....with most large companies...do one thing at a time :)

[GalCruzer]

Personally I'd accept it and stop paying Tax.:D

...LOL...

 

But to the OP, I hope this gets resolved...

[RNGALNG]

I would work on the name now as well. It must match your ID when you board the ship.

 

Good luck with all this!

[azdmelani]

Princess has created a wife for me. I finally got them to correct the mailings we receive, but her name still shows up when I go through the booking process on the Princess website. I have to type DH's info every time.

 

please let me know how you got them to stop. I still get mailings addressed to myself and a faux husband.

[Pia1913]

SSA is mixed up now and has been for 40 years or more. My father was not collecting when he died in 1977. Shortly after that a check started arriving addressed to him every month. It took almost a year with lots of intervention to make them stop.

 

My mother saved them all, kept calling and they said to come in and return it. No........... she did not. She didn't drive and their office was not locally situated. Had she returned one, it wouldn't have mattered. The checks kept coming until we were able to intervene.