international nut of pastry - I think this lines mostly filler.

On Friday, I had a small victory against what I call the Evil Credit Card Application Mailing List Machine.

I actually managed to get my name removed from the mailing list for Earth and Westpac credit cards with only 3 phone calls, being transferred around 4 times and speaking to 4 different people.

Their mistake? Including an application enquires phone number on the back of the application - something I will be looking for on any further mail outs.

Call #1: The 1300 number included on the back of the application letter. The customer service operator said that was only included for existing customers to opt-out of mailing lists and that she couldn't help me unless I was a customer. She transferred me to a different department. Again, the person that answered couldn't help me unless I was an existing customer, gave me the original number that I called and hung up on me.

Call #2: Speaking to "Tim" this time, I told him of my story thus far and that I had no intention of becoming a customer I just wanted the mail outs to stop. He must have been new to the business as he had far too much energy and willingness to help. He let me know that he didn't know how to handle this, but that he would be the last person I spoke to about this matter - he was going to handle it. And he was right... After he spoke to his supervisor, he let me know the procedure from here. He did have to give my call to a "senior operator" but he was going to explain my situation to her first.

I didn't even speak to the senior operator for more than two minutes. She let me know that if they put a request into their system to have me removed from the list it would take 3 months. But if I this number it would be removed immediately.

So... I'm going to share that phone number with everyone now.

When you call this number, a recorded message explains that when you leave your full name, address and phone number, your name will immediately removed from any further Earth and Westpac mail outs.

Next on my list? American Express.